Where I Start? Oh from here.

Bought a 2000 GS300 with about 132k Miles. For a year, oil was leaking. Found out where it was leaking from - valve cover gaskets. Since I was doing that, I decided to do a Timing belt job. Things that were changed -

Timing Belt ( duh lol), water pump, thermostat, valve cover gaskets, rebuilt VVTI gear, spark plugs,
left the main seal since it looks in good condition, changed the O rings, changed Oil and ATF fluid.

Now car was running fine except for a ATF leak from the lower lines at the bottom of the radiator. I said what the heck, bought a new radiator from online ( turns out it wasn't a DENSO even thought it said it was...) and two new ATF lines from Autozone. Car was running fine..

Till it overheated on the highway. Pulled over - Radiator and reservoir totally empty. Filled it back up drove home, double checked it and a coolant line was loose. Also changed the crank pulley since it was basically falling out. Fixed that and car was running fine again.

Next couple days, Idle started going HORRIBLE. Bunch of codes, misfires all over, ABS codes, etc etc. My coil pack wiring and connectors were shot to begin with, so I found a guy who cut the whole coil pack harness with connectors (almost brand new condition) and swapped that in. Cleared the codes and started driving. I should say before I did that, it was going into limp mode. So back to the story, coil pack wiring and connectors are changed. About to pull out the driveway, put it in D, Idle starts going horrible again ( no shutting off) and CEL starts flashing. Drive around a bit (WOT at one point, car picks up FINE with CEL flashing), drive back to my house, while pulling into the driveway flashing CEL goes OFF. Now usually, when I put it P or N, car idles fine, but now in all gears, its shaking the whole car, and idle is erratic. Also, no codes to pull since no CEL ( btw I did swap coil packs around and sparks are getting spark).

Any ideas?

 

Sounds like motor mounts need to be replaced.

 

Sounds like your ignition timing is out of control and going all over the place. Excessive Retarded timing will develop misfire, shaking and cause the car to run hot. Your getting spark ... but just at the wrong time. Your Crank Pulley is moving...

Therefore your Crank Pulley Locating Wedge or "Wood-ruff key" is probably missing and causing your pulley to slip on the Crankshaft. You must have lost yours... It's a half-moon shaped wedge that fits in the groove of the Crankshaft and Crank pulley so that they are locked together or in sync.

Luckily your bolt seems to be tight enough to somehow hold the pulley within a range that makes it driveable and no CEL.... but its not going to hold. Seriously, STOP driving it now...it's (pulley)gonna break free and the results will be catastrophic... in fact try not to start anymore it until you put a new "wood-druff key" back in. Probably cost you $6

 

...Update please?

 

shucks, no one had replied to this and just checked. Will def check this.

 

Where do I find this "wood-ruff key" to buy?

 

im sorry, where did you come up with this rationale?

 

HAHA! I totally laughed when I read that. lol

 

i mean its like the craziest advice i think i have ever seen.... motor mounts being bad wouldnt cause this and replacing a motor mount wont fix this. it sounds like something is off with the timing or your missing a part OP. it 100% isnt the motor mount

 

Well Wood-Ruff key is a bust. Its in there lol. Timing is correct to. I'm gonna buy new sparks and see what happens. Its driving me INSANE.

 

well happy hunting.... btw stop driving it with the CEL flashing. Have you tried pulling the HISTORY codes? if you had a flashing CEL you should be able to find a history code. Do you know what codes it was displaying when it went into limp mode?


i dunno why i just thought bout this but does it drive fine when its cold and then start doing this when it gets warmed up? if so might be your OCV valve/filter

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/per...ve-filter.html

 

My bad, I missed the part of the cel flashing.

 

even if you had, NONE of those symptoms are relevant of a bad motor mount

 

sorry... so your timing is right on. I doubt sparkplugs, worn or damaged sparkplugs wont cause your symptoms.

Understanding that your troubles began after the car had overheated... you could have a damaged ECT( Engine coolant temperature) sensor. A bad coolant sensor would cause multiple symptoms your having and not throw a CEL.
Cheaper than sparkplugs too.

 

You have had a lot of problems in a relatively short amount of time. . . Personally I believe in things such as cursed VIN numbers. You may have a case of that. Get out while you can.