I can't believe I've had this car for 10 years, and it's a shame that I really haven't done anything with this car over the time that I've owned it. In the 10 years I've had it I've really only had to do fluid changes, and I've only put 10,000kms on it. It's been stored in a mix of indoor and outdoor storage over the 10 years. I always seemed to be buying another car that would take priority over this one (eg. fix up the one I bought and sell it). Since I had no plan to sell this car it always fell to the bottom of the priority list. A few weeks ago I sold my E39 M5, and I have no plans to buy anything else, so the Aristo can finally start getting treated right!

A few pictures from long ago when she was at auction in Japan:





After she was landed on Canadian shores:








These are mostly older photos, but she looks the same today with just a need for some cleaning. Spec list:

Factory Specs:

1992 Toyota Aristo V
Gun metal grey….ish
Cloth interior
Auto
Cruise control
12 Disc CD stacker in the trunk
Power folding and heated mirrors
Air purifier
Sun roof
Rear Spoiler
Power tilt steering wheel
Aristo trunk floor mat
Protective edging on doors (maybe not factory, but it’s a Toyota part)
Torsen LSD

Body:

Pronty aftermarket front lip. Broke this
Aftermarket skirts and rear bumper
Chrome edge on doors
Aftermarket chrome grille
Eyelids
Drip visor on top of windows

Wheels, Suspension and Brakes:

18” Work VS wheels (I think they are a version of VS…)
Bridgestone Potenza tires all around (235/40 and 265/35)
Slotted brake rotors (I think Dixcel rotors and pads)
Braided stainless steel brake lines
HKS Hypermax LS+ coilovers

Other Aftermarket Goodies:

Apexi AVC-R
Apexi blow off valve
Apexi AFC
Pivot Gauges (oil temp, oil pressure, water temp, boost)
PIAA fog lamps
Turbo timer
HKS Intake
HKS intercooler (probably Type S)
Remote oil cooler
Aftermarket horn
TRD 1.3 bar radiator cap
Fujitsutubo cat back exhaust

Of course, she's finally making me pay for leaving her for so long. I went to start her up and just a click and then everything goes dead. No power to anything. I'm pretty sure I've narrowed this down to a bad connection at the battery. I think I need to get the positive side more secure as I can move it a bit when it's "tight." I did finally get it started it was idling at 2000 rpm and seemed like crazy boost leak. Pretty sure this is the IACV, so I've taken that apart and cleaned. It was definitely stuck open. I haven't been able to start it up to verify the IACV was the issue. I didn't want to wake up the kids. Bedrooms over the garage is definitely not the best configuration.

Anyway, I'm hoping to post a lot more photos and updates as I get all maintenance up to date on the car and with any luck I'll have her out on the road for at least a little bit this summer!

 

Here's a short video I did a few years back just of idle exhaust note. Definitely hoping to do some other videos, but that's pretty low on the priority list.

 

Yeah a lose positive battery (being able to move it at all when tight) will eventually create corrosion and have a dead battery symptom. Next time If its been sitting a long time, you should pull your EFI relay and crank the car to get oil pressure first before starting. Also definitely sounds like a vacuum leak or stuck IACV like you said

 

Beautiful Aristo. Love to see what you do to it next.

 

That's a sharp car. Nice to see some activity from the first gens. I'd like to own a first gen, but can't justify it since I have a 2nd gen. I've really grown to appreciate their styling more though.

 

I had my first drive is one of these yesterday. The owner actually let me me drive it. Definitely a fun car to drive sports luxury. It's a built 1jz when I hit 20lbs its so smooth.

 

Alright, so I finally had a few minutes to look at the car today. I took the plastic pieces off both the negative and positive battery connections and that solved the battery short issue. I think the IACV is going to need a replacement though. Now I'm having the opposite idle issue. The car starts and dies right away. I tried several times with the same result. If I keep my foot on the gas a bit I can keep it running.

Does anyone know if the IACV motor is interchangeable with any other cars? It looks like it's the same for the 2JZ-GE and it's cheaper. Can it just be swapped to the body of the GTE housing? If so, it would save a bit of $$$

 

You may be dealing with a carbon build up issue around the throttle blade. That's usually the issue I find if a car has been dead for a while or a battery is replaced. The learned data is wiped out and reverts back to beginning parameters. But the car had learned to calculate for the build up over the years. I'll bet if you remove the throttle, scrub it out good and reinstall, you'll be able to start and idle.

 

Thanks for the tip. I'll have a look at that. It can only help, but given that I've only messed with the IACV and that has resulted in a change, I suspect the issue is there. Otherwise, the two part numbers for the IACV that I'm looking at are:

22270-46060
22270-46050

Where it looks like 22270-46050 is for the non-turbo, but does anyone know if they are interchangeable? I've been able to find a the question asked a few times before, but no follow up on whether they can be interchanged.

 

I've fiddled with the IACV a bit more, and after a few tries the car will start and idle, but idles really low. I took the IACV off the again, and it was only slightly open. It doesn't seem stuck like when I first took it off the car, but I'm wondering if it's getting power. I took a voltmeter to the harness and I couldn't get any readings. I'd guess it should read something if I have the key in the "on" position, but I'm not really sure. Checking the resistance on the IACV everything is within spec.

Next two steps are to clean the throttle body like @TrueGS300 suggested, and I think I should also check the ECU. Reading some other threads with other Lexus' from this time, leaking capacitors seem to be a potential cause for IACV's not functioning properly. Given that is a relatively common issue with the ECU's on this car, it's definitely worth looking into.

 

I had a look at the ECU last night. Bit of a surprise...


But really shouldn't be a surprise. This car seems to have almost every upgrade that was available for it in the '90's. My phone died after I took this photo, so I didn't get any photos inside the ECU, but the other good news is no visible leaks from any capacitors, so that's not my issue.

A little while ago I started doing some cleaning on the engine bay which is really needed.

Started cleaning:



More cleaning done:




I need to look into the best way to clean up the aluminum components.

Otherwise, here's how she sits right now.

 

I've started the car a few more times now and it seems to be idling better. At least when cold. I haven't been driving it, so I don't know how the idle is when warm. Since it's running better though, I was able to get the car in the garage, so I can get to work on it.




Anyway, it's a tight fit in the garage. Only about 2" of space to the garage door with it closed and maybe 5" to the shelving on the back side. I was hoping I could lift it with the Quickjack you can see on the wall, but the lift points are just a bit too far apart. I'll have to get the frame extensions when the Canada/US border opens again.

I washed the car and then did a clay bar on it with the original intention of doing a three stage polish, but then I decided that is silly because I'm sure I'll inadvertently put some scratches while I'm working on other things. Here's a photo of some of the water spots that are really in the paint. I'm hoping I can correct them out. If not, I'll have to take it to someone with better equipment and more knowledge on paint correction.




Otherwise, I have just pulled off the side skirts so I can get to the jacking points more easily. On the to do list:

• Adjust coilovers. Start just dropping 1" or so.
• Bleed the brakes since the brake fluid is old.
• Fuel filter
• Clean air filter or maybe change to factory air box.
• Spark plugs.
• Change oil
• Inspect timing belt. If it looks ok I might drive it for a month or so. Otherwise I'll skip and go to next step.
• Change timing belt, water pump and seals etc. that can be done at the same time.

I'm sure there will be more, but that's what I can think of for now. Might still have to replace IACV if I find issues if I drive it.

 

I got the wheels changed over to another set the other night and I tried fiddling with the coilovers, but I think I'll have to unbolt the coils to rotate the body to get them shorter. The tires on the Work wheels I removed are good from far, but far from good.

Good from far:




Far from good:



Unfortunately, I got so distracted with trying to adjust the coilovers that I was half way through putting the other set of wheels on when I realized I didn't bleed the brakes. Oh well, leave that for another day. Also, there were aluminum hubcentric rings stuck on the front hubs that were a PITA to get off. I have a set of poly hubcentric rings for the replacement wheels. The replacement wheels are the same specs as the Work wheels. The wheels don't actually look that great in the photos. I think they look better in person, and when I get the car a bit lower that should help as well. Still have hub caps to put on the wheels.





I also had a quick look at the timing belt last night and it looks ok to me. I don't know how old it is thought so I will need to get around to changing it.

 

Timing belt appears to not have cracks, but yeah those tires are shot lol. I would say it would be worth doing a timing belt/waterpump/FMS/idler if the motor hasn't had it already.

 

Thanks, yeah, plan to do all the "while you're in there" stuff so I don't have to do it again any time soon. I have probably half the parts, the other half are on order and should be here today or early next week

Got the brakes bled earlier this week. Current plan is to drive this car from mid August through September. I'll need to get some maintenance done on the Land Cruiser during that time so it's good to go for the winter. I think I just need to do an oil change and get the side skirts back on and the Aristo will be good to go for a DD for a bit. It will be a good chance to see if the IACV is fixed as well. If not, I'll have to suck it up and buy a new one.