So far all is good on the Lexus, but the MIL came back on with the blinking Trac off light. The OBD II said P0420. I ran a Code 6 report and this is what it said...

Mode 6 Report
Mar 31, 2019 4:51 PM
Make:Lexus Year:2003
• Rich to lean sensor threshold voltage
✅ Status: Complete and Pass
TID:01 ID:01 Min:- Val:0x00 Max:0x80
• Rich to lean sensor threshold voltage
✅ Status: Complete and Pass
TID:01 ID:02 Min:- Val:0x00 Max:0x80
• Lean to rich sensor threshold voltage
✅ Status: Complete and Pass
TID:02 ID:01 Min:0x4C Val:0xFF Max:-
• Lean to rich sensor threshold voltage
✅ Status: Complete and Pass
TID:02 ID:02 Min:0x40 Val:0xFF Max:-
• Lean to rich sensor threshold voltage
✅ Status: Complete and Pass
TID:02 ID:03 Min:- Val:0x00 Max:0xFF
• Lean to rich sensor threshold voltage
✅ Status: Complete and Pass
TID:02 ID:04 Min:- Val:0x00 Max:0xFF
(constant)
(constant)
(constant)
(constant)
(constant)
(constant)
• High sensor voltage for switch time calculation (constant)
✅ Status: Complete and Pass
TID:04 ID:01 Min:0x00 Val:0xFFFF Max:-
• High sensor voltage for switch time calculation (constant)
✅ Status: Complete and Pass
TID:04 ID:02 Min:0x00 Val:0xFFFF Max:-
• High sensor voltage for switch time calculation (constant)
✅ Status: Complete and Pass
TID:04 ID:10 Min:0x00 Val:0xFFFF Max:-
• High sensor voltage for switch time calculation (constant)
✅ Status: Complete and Pass
TID:04 ID:20 Min:0x00 Val:0xFFFF Max:-
• Maximum sensor voltage for test cycle (calculated) ✅ Status: Complete and Pass
TID:08 ID:01 Min:0xB8 Val:0xFF Max:-


So it seems as if all of my O2 sensors are good.
(I just replaced B1S1 and B2S2 a few days ago)

I do smell exhaust fumes.... but I don’t have a lift, so I have no idea what’s going on under there.

 

You can try doing a "smoke test" by injecting a party fogger machine's fog into the PCV line. You want to pump the intake full of vapor w/ the throttle held open, or at least partially open. Your throttle is cable connected to the pedal in the car so you can open the throttle without the car being on or the electronic throttle stuff actuating.

So fill the intake w/ vapor and see if you have any vapor coming out of any vacuum line connections. This should make it really obvious if you have a leak somewhere.

I'm not sure what to make of the readings you pasted, does that mean they are all in "complete and passing" status?

 

Yes...It says they all passed.

Took a bunch of new pictures under the car. Gonna post to a new folder and if you get time, once I load them, check it out and tell me what stands out to you.
One thing I did notice is that it looks like a muffler pipe was replaced... wondering if something’s missing ... not sure yet.

 

Sure I'll have a look when you get them online.

 

Okay... they are there. In the...
”Lucy” the mess below ... folder! Lol

She is a mess... I’ve got to get that torn up front cover off of there!
chevk out the rail marks and scrapes everywhere.

if anything stands out ... let me know !
Thanks!!

 

https://www.clublexus.com/g/album/13383490

 

That really looks like they removed the 3rd large rear cat from the car and replaced it w/ a pipe. Can you count 3 cats total on your car? One should be attached to bank 1, one to bank 2. These are the "exhaust manifold". Downstream of that when the two banks merge.... there should be another cat after that.... and your rear most o2 sensor. Was all that intact? There should be 2 o2 sensors in the manifold. One o2 sensor between the manifold's cats and the rear cat.... and one sensor after the rear cat.
I also see what looks like a lot of dirt/oil leaking on the pan. I would clean this up very well. Buy a $40/case of brake cleaner and go ham on cleaning that stuff off. I'd lay cardboard on the ground because the drips that this will make will stain your concrete pretty easily but it will soak into cardboard and not make a mess if it's there.
I see an oil pan bolt that is almost all the way backed out. Be CAREFUL when tightening this because it's easy to overtorque and break the bolt into the block and then you have a pretty fun problem on your hands to extract it.
It looks like there's a valve cover gasket leak.... that will need to be addressed. I'd clean the entire engine bay, put dye in the oil, then drive it for one day of normal driving and then go back with the UV light to see where you can source leaks.
The steering rack could stand to be replaced. It has pretty bad rust on it and while it may not be an immediate problem this could cause a safety issue one day. FIGS Engineering sells poly mounts for the steering rack. I replaced mine and used the poly mounts, it worked out great and wasn't TOOOOO crazy to do.
The steering rack, despite the rust, also looks like it's leaking. This could be something else leaking badly onto the rack but it looks like the rack is leaking. How is your P/S fluid level? Is it "consuming" P/S fluid?
I would get a small prybar and stick it in the joints where you have bushings. The rear control arms for the front end of the car have bushings that were completely destroyed on my car. This was making for a very rough ride and when I found the bushings in bad shape it made sense. It's easy to overlook these so I'd jack the car off the ground and wiggle the wheel in every direction and use the prybar on anything that has dampened movement in it from the factory.

Those are all the things i could see on the pictures you posted.

 

It’s a mess... that’s for sure!

 

Fortunately the engine in these cars is rather robust. So is the auto trans (except the 3rd gear sprague). You just can't put a bunch of high torque shifts from 2nd to 3rd through the trans, even the built IPT one I have in my car has the stock 3rd gear sprague on it.

In any case, barring any damage to the motor, cleaning up that stuff and fixing the leaks should yield you a car that lasts for a very long time.

 

Mine is the automatic with the manual option and the buttons on the wheel. We are not using it other than in automatic mode.
I really hope this car lasts... I’ve put a lot of time and energy into it so far!