700bones

I must ask, does this mod improve performance over the stock configuration?

I did this mod a while back. It seems my LS400 is noticably quicker than stock.
I smoked a 370z yesterday. Yes we were both going all out starting from 15 mph to about 80 mph. I was able to pull ahead a car length and pass this jerk.

Seems like i should not be able to do that against a car that is 500lbs lighter, with an additional 80 hp, about the same torque, and with a manual transmission.
The thing was new and still had the sticker in the window.

Maybe Nissan Q.A. ain't what it use to be? heheh

ejthomp

So I'm doing the major 200,000 mile maintenance(timing belt, crank & cam seals, etc) on my 1997 LS400 and out of curiosity I pulled the ECU and opened it up. It looks fine. There are no signs of leaking capacitors and the car runs fine. But, now that I have the ECU out, should I just send it to Tanin Auto for preventative maintenance?

Anyone done this already? How much did it cost? I'm not up for soldering....

ejthomp

The ECU is in the mail. I hope to have the car back together in a week or so(no hurry). It will be interesting to see if there is noticeable difference.

Rdrcr

I did the same thing. I didn't have any drivability issues before the Tanin rebuild but, the car still runs great and the transmission shifts smoother than before.

Mike

djamps

Either he sucks at driving or has some issues with his car. 370's are around 2 seconds faster on the quarter mile vs the LS stock vs stock and over 2 seconds faster 0-60. You'd need alot more than ECU tuning to beat a proper 370. A older (non-HR) 350 or g35 might be a closer match.

GasBuggy

I just replaced all the capacitors myself. I'm pretty competent with soldering and thought I had what it would take to do this job. A Weller 35 watt pencil could not generate enough heat to remove the old caps on this double layer board. Even my butane gun was struggling. WTH kind of solder is on this board? I did, eventually, get the 47uf off after about an hour.

Then I thought why kill myself and possibly damage my ECU trying to remove these caps? I took the old caps off and left their legs, then built up solder on the old and new capacitor legs, then joined them together and built it up a little more. After cooling I bent them over. I know this isn't the proper way to do it and solder is not a weld, but I believe this will hold up. I already installed the ECU with 7 of the 8 caps done the "wrong way" and my car's drive-ability issues are gone. (My issues were; the engine was cutting out with more than a 1/3 throttle or so, the transmission was skipping 2nd and not down shifting unless for a complete stop, no torque converter lock up, and I believe the hot idle was too high)

jsulliva

GB,
I bought a Hakko Soldering Station with a much better iron as suggested elsewhere in this long thread, and I think it would have been impossible to remove and install new caps without it. Even then, I found the original solder very difficult to remove and wondered the same thing - "What kind of solder is this?" I think the suggestion to lop the caps off from the leads and solder to the old leads is a good one if there is no damage from leakage on the board from the old caps. Glad you weer successful. This really is a great thread for fixing these cars.
And now I have a much better Soldering Iron for other projects as they arise.

bdazzler

Maybe dumb question but how do you open up the ECM (already have it out of the car) to see the capacitors. On one side it's shut by solder points. Currently have the other side open so I assume one needs to pry up on the green plastic tray thing???

Thanks!

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Both circuit boards are screwed on so removing the screws will allow access to the topside or backside. Only the top board needs to be positioned out of the way to see the caps. Be gentle with the ribbon cable.

The factory solder was pretty tough to get it flowing. The Hakko soldering stations are

bdazzler

Many thanks, RA40!

SadSexus

I've been stalling out at the stop light every now and then thes past couple months. REcently the bastard has been dying out on me too and leaving me stranded twice including tonight. Got it back from my buddys shop today and he said it was a fuel pump relay fuse or something. I'm assuming this is An ECU related issue? Because im bout pissed off with this car.

PS ay first post

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Welcome to Club Lexus SadSexus.

What year and how many miles? Before throwing parts at the car, verify the ECU caps by doing the ripple test or a visual inspection of the ECU.

arnaudfabs

Don't talk bad about this car


People who don't really know the LS400 will tell you it the fuel pump, the MAF, the injectors etc but YES it sounds like the capacitors on the ECU have gone bad. If you know how to solder it will coat you $10. It will fix everything.




My car was shaking, white smoke, stalling, dying on me, gears acting weird and loss of power.

SadSexus

Ripple test?

1997,193k

RA40

iTrader: (6)

The 2-LS FAQ for supplemental reading:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...questions.html

Ripple test:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...-by-yamae.html