dropthatta

So I've never owned a Lexus before now, but i was a senior certified Lexus tech way back in the day (01-05), so I definitely know the cars from that era and earlier up and down, inside and out. I was not actually looking for a Lexus per se but I've always had a rager for the 01-05 GS430's. They were underappreciated, IMO, being that they were rated the fastest of all the v-8's of the era, even beating out the SC430 in 0-60, despite having 2 more doors lol. Anywho, I came across one where the guy had a pretty clean 01, with a misfire/hesitation/running rough problem that he just couldn't fix to save his life. Kid got frustrated, and i picked it up for a song as a result . I get the car home, and find a big ol mess under the hood: missing bolts here and there, some stuff half installed, others very noticeably recently serviced (brand new injectors, brand new coils, brand new plugs), the whole nine yards. First things i repaired: wire pulled out of #2 injector connector harness -probably the initial problem, massive lower intake leak from the front two mounting ears BROKEN OFF the intake manifold, replaced the 4 plugs on the left bank of cylinders from fouling... but guess what? STILL NOT FIXED! The car still lacked power and wouldn't get out of it's own way at anything more than 10% throttle, bad misfire when free revving, and very rough idle for about a minute after a cold start. So, back to the drawing board... I got out the old fuel pressure tester and did an injector balance test and guess what?? all 4 injectors on the left bank were hardly contributing squat, but the right sides were fine. So, knowing full well that all 8 injectors were new, i took off the "fuel pulse dampener" aka fancy banjo bolt, from the affected bank of cylinders, and WHADDAYA KNOW?? The guy who previously worked on it installed the wrong crush washer in the dampener! It has one that was too small, which went up into the hole meant to supply that rail with fuel, so the injectors on that side were constantly starving for fuel, but the other side went on as designed. Moral of the story: NEVER ASSUME ANYONE KNOWS WHAT THEY'RE DOING LOL.

Sorry for the long rant, but i figure if anyone would want to hear this story, it'd be y'all.


P.S. I'll post a picture of the dampener with the washer stuck in it when i get one snapped, it's at work.

Alphaman19

I feel you. Dealing with a similar issue. Missing / wrong bolts make me question everything.

tmf2004

iTrader: (15)

Welcome to CL.. Any plans for modding or are you keeping it stock?

dropthatta

I'm currently looking for some L tuned stuff for appearance, maybe lower it an inch... and exhaust. That's all lol

dropthatta

So that is supposed to be an open space between the hex and the bolt shaft... it's where the fuel flows from the dampener into the rail...

ThomasGS4

iTrader: (19)

Glad you got 'er all sorted out. Let's see some pictures of the car!

dropthatta

Are you having any driveability issues?

dropthatta

When i first got it
After putting new tires/wheels on it