Brittman

If anyone could help me it would be greatly appreciated. I have a 2000 LS400 with over 200k miles. I'm in medical school, so I'm trying to make her last, but she has just recently started cranking out, one thing has led to another. I have to be honest and admit that I have not been using the highest grade of fuel, and I believe it's coming back to haunt me :-/
A few months ago the check engine light (cel) came on, so I took it to auto zone to get help in diagnosing the issue/s. I was given the codes p0171, p0300, p0301, p0303, p0305, p0307. After finding out that my engine was misfiring in those 4 cylinders (1,3,5,7) I had all eight spark plugs changed, a new fuel filter, and air filter. The check engine light remained I was then told that I would need at least 4 new coils, possibly an oxygen sensor, timing belt and water pump. While considering the cost of parts and labor, and medical school, the car ended up sitting for about 4months.
Last week I finally took the car to a mechanic who was going to replace the coils, water pump, and belt. He actually came up with a different reason for my misfire, the charcoal canister/vapor canister, bc he deemed it highly unlikely for just one side of coils to suddenly stop working. He did however change the timing belt and water but insisted that I get the canister fixed ASAP. I then decided to take my car to the actual lexus dealership, and the mechanic told me that I could have either an issue with my cam shaft or clog in my oil system (btw the dealership would charge at least $3-4k) bc he got additional codes p1346, p1349, along with the original codes.
I am a struggling medical student, I want to fix my car but everyone is giving various recommendations . I know that a lot of people have solved possibly 5k jobs by taking the advice of fellow club members. If anyone could help, again it would be greatly appreciated.
:-)

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

What is the history of the timing belt replacements? Was it ever done previously?

Brittman

The car had a major tune-up at 100k and a minor tune-up around 140k before I drove it from Cali to Florida

emarknot

saw a similar situation somewhere else.


had a p0300,p1346 and p1349. timing was good.
unplugged the vvt-i selonoid and drove the car. car was smooth with no issues. plugged the selonoid back in and car started running rough just shortly after.

ended up being the vvt-i oil control valve. and was about $140 from the dealer

hope this helps

Brittman

Thank u so much, how hard is it to unplug the solenoid or replace it?

etex

It's not the solenoid, but the oil control valve. Billy Powell has a link for the cleaning of this. Search for "oil control valve cleaning".

Brittman

Is it possible that if my ocv is dirty or not working, it will cause the engine to misfire, the way mine is, or is it still recommended to change the ignition coils as well as the ocv?

deanshark

Actually it's "billydpowe", I used to think the same. But anyway, he had different codes that came up when his OCV was dirty. These are his threads about it;

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...98-and-up.html

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...lights-on.html

Brittman

I'm getting a quote of $900 to change the ocv is this highway robbery, or is this really a 9hr job

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

3 hours in my sleep...