MikeAround

Hey everyone! I've been a long time troll on club Lexus forums the search bar has done wonders for me, but the time has come to register and post my experience/problems with the car. My brother purchased the car new back in 2000 his wife used it as a daily driver until 4 years ago then it was passed on to me with roughly 200k miles. (The odometer stoped at 177k). I imagine not much service was performed in that time and if so was done by some local mechanic that usually doesn't have the experience compared to the people driving and working on them here. Below I've posted issues with the car and current codes the scanner has pulled. There is also a list of resolved problems that may help others with similar symptoms. If you have any advice towards my current problems feel free to post.

Current Codes:

• C0200 - RF Speed Sensor Malfunction
• C0205 - LF Speed Sensor Malfunction
• C0210 - RR Speed Sensor Malfunction
• C1223 - Antilock Break System Malfunction
• C1201 - Engine Communication Circuit
• P0141 - O2 Sensor Bank 1 Sesnor 2

Current Issues:

• No reading from speedometer/odometer (I'm having a hard time removing the sensor, I unbolted the 10mm holding it, but it still wont budge any suggestions? I checked the cabled running to it and they seem fine.
• VSC OFF
• Check Engine Light

Resolved Issues:

• Inaccurate fuel reading. Guage will not go below 1/4 tank, low fuel light will sometimes flash when I'm very low. When I put fuel in the car it seems to raise normally. After pulling the sensor I found something strange. The black float valve was actually stuck up in the top corner of the tank. I managed to free it and do some testing with the sensor. The first picture is how the unit was sitting in the tank. Was this previously installed backwards? I figured it would make more sense for the float to point towards the larger part of the tank, not the wall/corner to get stuck again. After turning the key on and moving the float all the way up and all the way down the needle will not fall below 1/4 and will not rise past 3/4. This is as far as I've gotten and would appreciate some help. The blue tab represents the fronts of my back seats and the shallow part of the tank. The float sensor looks very worn almost charred I'm not sure if this is from being stuck or just constant movement over 17 years.
• Multiple cylinder miss fires. (Replaced leaking valve cover gaskets, cleaned out oil/debree in plug bay and coils then replaced plugs.)
• Weak 400 RPM Idle. (Cleaned mass flow sensor, then cleaned throttle body and replaced air filter.)
• Weak/Squishy breaking and constant loud beep under dash. (DO NOT IGNORE THIS LOUD BEEP EVEN IF IT GOES AWAY FROM TIME TO TIME AS MINE DID! YOUR BREAK BOOSTER IS FAILING TO PRIME AND WILL DROP PRESSURE IN YOUR BREAK LINES .) I was driving down the road, slow luckily around 30 mph when the beep noise started, this was before I knew what was causing the sound. All of a sudden I lost the ability to break, it took all my leg strength to push the pedal hard enough to get the car to stop. I imagine if this happend on the highway it could have been deadly. The next day I picked up a clean 02 master cylinder/ booster from a local wrecking yard out of a gs430. These are supposedly redesigned from the 00 model with a way lower failure rate. There is only issue was the pressure sensor hookup was different. I simply cut the wiring harness on the wrecked gs and soldered it onto my harness

• 
• Low gas peddle response. (After fixing the valve covers, cleaning the throttle body, putting in plugs, adjusting the throttle cable and resetting the ecu the response seemed to be normal)

HLamar

Hello Mike- I'm familiar with this sensor. Just did some right front suspension and brake work. This speedo pickup/sensor can be problematic. Most likely never been removed after factory install. I have had success using a delicate touch with small thin flathead screwdriver underneath the edge along with a long soak with penetrant. Work carefully on the edge while twisting. Spray more juice, wait , twist, screwdriver around edge, repeat. Work carefully the part is expensive as you probably know. I have pulled two of these at the PNP with slight damage on the edge but nothing which precludes use. It's a tight fit. Once out, I use scotchbright pad to clean up the sensor, swan with anti seize and reinstall. Plug the hole when you remove the sensor to keep trash dirt out of hub. I just completed lower control arm r/r along with the Camber Adjusters. 17 years cold weld in old control arm.Blue wrench on Aft side to cherry red and 3lb sledge. It will eventually move. Blue wrench on the #2 control rod to control arm and top bracket bolts also. Toyota/Lexus uses evidently bearing retainer on these bolts. Large Impact without blue wrench will pull the threads out of the lower control arm. Torch makes the job easier. Don't even think about a Butane torch, acty/o2 torch heats it quick.

HLamar

Pliers to give a twist to sensor. I use channel locks. Don't squeeze to hard. You will mar the edge of the sensor but it's the only way i have found to get it to move. Don't squeeze it hard or it can crack. Also don't let the pliers slip.

HLamar

I haven't dealt with a Lexus fuel sender but have with other autos. Here is what i would do. Clean the frosted contact trace and contact arm contact with 600 grit or commutator paper. Check the float arm for excessive play at pivot point. Bend the sweeper arm contact to trace a new route if able. Check float for leak, clean all connectors and grounds to bare metal. Put a multimeter on the piece and OHM the sender operation and see what the results are before reinstall. BTW most of the time aftermarket fuelpump gaskets do not seal well. Buy OE if able, if not able seal with a decent fuel resistant compound with use of old gasket. I use Permatex on planes and autos it's worked for 40 years.

MikeAround

Thanks for the info just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything
, I'll start on them tomorrow. What are the odds of 3 speed sensors going bad, do you imagine they need cleaned? They've been like this for a while, the wires leading to them seem fine. I've gotten a few things done today including a trunk lid swap from a 02 gs430. Everything bolted up no issue. It will be painted with the rest of the car once the body work is done. I had to cut and solder the wire harness together I'll post a few pics soon. I also purchased a complete fuel pump and float sensor from the same wrecked car. This time I cut the rubber fuel line back, then pointed the gas float sensor towards the long end of the tank. The line needed trimmed in order not to kink when placing the unit down into the tank. I'm hoping this is the correct way the float sensor is supposed to point. It made no sense to me how it could go towards the short walls of the tank and have room to float it would probably just get stuck again how I found it. I'm wondering if anyone has worked with the fuel pump in the past and installed it this way. I'm hoping my gas meter will display correctly now I'll see tonight. Also I got a great deal on the whole rear seat I'm about finished with the swap they're way cleaner then my olds ones. Again I'll post pics In a half hour. Thanks for the reply.

bruceb58

I wouldn't put a used fuel pump in. Just recently, I replaced both the fuel pump, fuel filter, fuel sock and fuel sender on mine for just general maintenance. I replaced with a Denso fuel pump and an OEM fuel sender. The first time I put the sender in, the hose must have hit the sender and it kept if from reading empty. I re positioned the hose and all is well now.

MikeAround

I heard those denso send sensors are $100.00 and the float sensor is $60 otherwise I would have just purchased them. I got the whole assembly with fuel pump for $40.00 from a 02 gs430 wreck. just took it out for a spin and verified I'm now getting accurate readings plus a low fuel light! Also here are the pictures promised earlier.
Here is the way I reinstalled the fuel pump relative to standing in front of the rear driver side door. The sensors plug is facing the rear the front drivers side seat
My new rear seats! Way cleaner, my old ones had horrible wear. Direct bolt on from 02 gs430. Just need cleaned, what protective product would you guys recommend?

SpectraBlu

iTrader: (1)

FYI, you usually can't see the broken wires on the abs/speed sensor just by looking at them. I had to cut the insulation around the wires to find the break on mine, the wires are the thickness of a human hair Most of the time they break within an inch or two of were they go into the sensor. A lot of times you can solder them back together. I soldered mine, but it was my first time soldering anything so it only lasted 6months before it broke again lol. I actually just got a new oem one in the mail today Anyways, good luck �

MikeAround

Thanks for the reply I'm sure you're right, you must have a good eye to spot your break! I'll check the lines for continuity tomorrow with my meter. Also does anyone know how to go about testing these speed sensors would I use an OHM setting? What numbers should I expect? I'm just suspicious of having 3 sensors break I'm really hoping they just need cleaned and the wires trouble shot but knowing my luck there broken. Good luck on your install aswell!

SpectraBlu

iTrader: (1)

Haha, forgot about the multi meter. Good sensor is 1.6-1.75k ohms.

MikeAround

Yeah always good to have a cheap one around and elimate as much guess work as possible. So after about 10 mins of pulling up and turning with a pair of channel locks I got the front passenger speed sensor out. It's covered in some kind of weird substance as well as the the threads I'll post pics below. There's no way they should look like this right?! I'm going to OHM test them shortly.
Dirty threads and big chunk of gray substance actually blocking the hole for sensor.
Strange substance all over speed sensor.

MikeAround

Great news I think. Well bad news to. The cleaning didn't help the sensors. At first I was getting no reading from OHMS testing method at the abs plug under the front wheel well, next I tested with the ACV spin rotor test and nothing again. I ended up pulling the whole sensor and wire, clipping the sensor wire very short and testing there with OHMS. Heres the good news Right around 1.7k. So the sensor is working there is a break somewhere in my line or my plug is messed up. Will give an update later today hopefully my speedo will be back by then!

SamsonLow

iTrader: (1)

A lot of the guys on the detailing forum like to clean and condition and I guess to protect as well. Personally I use meguiars express wax. If you look into what "leather" seats are made of these days it's not true bare leather. It's got some synthetic coating on top to help them combat wear and tear as well as uv from the sun. If you go to the detailing section on CL there is a sticky with all you need to know about Lexus leathers 😁

MikeAround

Thanks, I'm installing some 22in status knight 5 rims today after that i'll pick some up and start detailing the interior!

MikeAround

Just got done doing my breaks and rotors all the way around it was a pretty simple job. The only annoying part was having to hit the front rotors from under the front of the car to get them to budge. I almost have my 22s on, one of my rims has a slight bend and is being sent off to be repaired when it's back I'll take some pictures. I'm wondering if I'm going to have rub in my rears if the back seat is loaded with people but as of now the clearance looks fine. Also up front I'm more then likely going to have to trim the upper part of the plastic flaps. Still working on my speed sensors with no luck... Has anyone ever installed a 22x9.5 114.3 with a 235/30 low pro tire?