Loss of power and acceleration after timing belt
07-13-16, 10:07 PM
#1
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Loss of power and acceleration after timing belt
I'm looking at buying an LS400 (got rear-ended by a woman texting today and need a new daily driver). I found this listed on CL, and after reading around the Lexus forums it seems like it may be a faulty (or disconnected) coolant temp sensor. Does anyone else have any armchair mechanic diagnosis? Is this a common problem with a 95 LS400? Just weighing my options and I'm temped to make an offer on the car. Any help is appreciated, thanks!
95' Lexus LS 400 with low miles and new parts for sale. Only 102,472 miles on it. Just replaced the timing belt and water pump (due to a leak in the water pump) and immediately after leaving the mechanic, power and acceleration went away. Mechanic thinks it's a computer issue, but I didn't have the money to have them keep looking into it. Priced low since this is an issue that will need to be addressed immediately. Still drives though if you want to make sure it starts and check out the engine, it just doesn't accelerate very fast. Everything else is in good shape. call or text with questions.
07-13-16, 10:21 PM
#2
Could be any number of things. Maybe the timing belt is off...maybe it is the ECU capacitors.
If I were interested in this car, it would have to be discounted about a grand, otherwise why buy it?
As a matter of preventative maintenance you'd need to change the ECTS and have the ECU looked at anyway.
Can you do the work yourself or would you need to pay a mechanic?
If I were interested in this car, it would have to be discounted about a grand, otherwise why buy it?
As a matter of preventative maintenance you'd need to change the ECTS and have the ECU looked at anyway.
Can you do the work yourself or would you need to pay a mechanic?
07-13-16, 10:37 PM
#3
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
He wants $1700 for it, so it seems pretty cheap.
http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/5679848040.html
I'm familiar with bad ECU's, old DSM's are known for leaky capacitors as well. Most things (brakes, sensors, etc) I can do myself as long as I just need a garage and basic tools. If it needs more than that (lifts, cherry pickers, specialty tools, etc) then I'd probably need to take it to a shop.
I had a 91 LS400 back in 2001 and loved it, which is what's bringing me back now.
Will a Lexus dealer be able to check out the ECU for me? With DSM Ecu's the best thing to do is ship to a 3rd party that specialized in repairs, so I'm wondering if this may be a similar situation.
Thanks again!
http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/5679848040.html
I'm familiar with bad ECU's, old DSM's are known for leaky capacitors as well. Most things (brakes, sensors, etc) I can do myself as long as I just need a garage and basic tools. If it needs more than that (lifts, cherry pickers, specialty tools, etc) then I'd probably need to take it to a shop.
I had a 91 LS400 back in 2001 and loved it, which is what's bringing me back now.
Will a Lexus dealer be able to check out the ECU for me? With DSM Ecu's the best thing to do is ship to a 3rd party that specialized in repairs, so I'm wondering if this may be a similar situation.
Thanks again!
07-13-16, 11:13 PM
#4
I don't think the dealer is a place to go for the ECU stuff, if you buy it and it can sit for awhile just remove the ECU and send it out, there are places mentioned on here you can send it to.
But before condemning the ecu, did the engine run good before the work? If so the work goofed it up.
Evidently the "mechanic" was some guy that did the work for the owner, and couldn't or didn't want to figure out the problem. It could be anything from a plug not connected to a wire that was stretched too far and separated inside, to a timing belt not timed correctly, a sensor messed up by dropping it, like the other guy says it could be any number of things. Find out did it run good before the work? The miles look nice, how is the body and paint? If its all good, go for it, I'd still get em down more like 1400 or less. Tell em its going to take some bucks to get it running good. The main key to finding out whats wrong is how it ran before seeing the mechanic.
But before condemning the ecu, did the engine run good before the work? If so the work goofed it up.
Evidently the "mechanic" was some guy that did the work for the owner, and couldn't or didn't want to figure out the problem. It could be anything from a plug not connected to a wire that was stretched too far and separated inside, to a timing belt not timed correctly, a sensor messed up by dropping it, like the other guy says it could be any number of things. Find out did it run good before the work? The miles look nice, how is the body and paint? If its all good, go for it, I'd still get em down more like 1400 or less. Tell em its going to take some bucks to get it running good. The main key to finding out whats wrong is how it ran before seeing the mechanic.
07-14-16, 09:48 AM
#5
At $1500, if you had to put another $1500 into it you would still be only $3k into a super reliable car.
You certainly can't normally buy much of a used car for $3k.
It's a fixer upper now though.
Seems to me that the only real risk here is that the mechanic totally screwed up the timing and the engine is damaged.
Anyone know how you can check for that without tearing it apart and checking?
If I were committed to buying this and driving it another 100,000 miles, I'd probably take it apart anyway, just to check the work.
I just pulled my ECU and sent it off to be repaired, with mail time, I was without it for almost two weeks. It has to be done though so plan on it. $200.
Looks like a fun project if you have a garage you can work on it in.
You certainly can't normally buy much of a used car for $3k.
It's a fixer upper now though.
Seems to me that the only real risk here is that the mechanic totally screwed up the timing and the engine is damaged.
Anyone know how you can check for that without tearing it apart and checking?
If I were committed to buying this and driving it another 100,000 miles, I'd probably take it apart anyway, just to check the work.
I just pulled my ECU and sent it off to be repaired, with mail time, I was without it for almost two weeks. It has to be done though so plan on it. $200.
Looks like a fun project if you have a garage you can work on it in.
Last edited by ejthomp; 07-14-16 at 09:51 AM.
07-14-16, 11:08 AM
#6
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
I called him and chatted with him this morning.
Problem started ALMOST immediately after the timing belt change. After picking the car up from the mechanic it was running fine and he drove it for 2 miles before the problem started. After 2 miles the car went into the limp mode and he drove it back to the mechanic.
He trusts the shop, and they have good reviews on google, yelp etc. Shop thinks it's the ECU or some other sensor.
Car idles fine, sounds normal and quiet, no knocking or pinging noises. He says I can test drive the car but he says it's so slow it won't be safe in fast traffic, the car is like it's in a limp mode.
I asked him if the timing belt was done at 90k miles as well, he said he didn't know, but he can find out as his relative was the previous owner (car is from AZ).
So, where I'm at now is, I want to verify the timing belt was done correctly. If it was, I'm going to buy the car and fix it.
Does the radiator need to be removed to check the timing? Does anyone have a link to a good guide for a 95 ls400?
Thanks again!
Problem started ALMOST immediately after the timing belt change. After picking the car up from the mechanic it was running fine and he drove it for 2 miles before the problem started. After 2 miles the car went into the limp mode and he drove it back to the mechanic.
He trusts the shop, and they have good reviews on google, yelp etc. Shop thinks it's the ECU or some other sensor.
Car idles fine, sounds normal and quiet, no knocking or pinging noises. He says I can test drive the car but he says it's so slow it won't be safe in fast traffic, the car is like it's in a limp mode.
I asked him if the timing belt was done at 90k miles as well, he said he didn't know, but he can find out as his relative was the previous owner (car is from AZ).
So, where I'm at now is, I want to verify the timing belt was done correctly. If it was, I'm going to buy the car and fix it.
Does the radiator need to be removed to check the timing? Does anyone have a link to a good guide for a 95 ls400?
Thanks again!
07-14-16, 11:16 AM
#7
It could be the timing belt jumped. Its removing all the stuff in the front of the engine to see the timing marks.
The belt is probably just fine so just checking it won't show a thing. The first things to check before the belt are all the easy simple stuff like connectors and wires. You could remove the LH plastic cover that sits over the valve cover and timing belt and distributor and see if the belt is real loose, if it is then likely it jumped.
The belt is probably just fine so just checking it won't show a thing. The first things to check before the belt are all the easy simple stuff like connectors and wires. You could remove the LH plastic cover that sits over the valve cover and timing belt and distributor and see if the belt is real loose, if it is then likely it jumped.
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07-14-16, 12:06 PM
#9
A simple compression check should indicate whether the cam timing is OK. I'd also take a look at the throttle body and it's electrical connections... almost sounds like the electronic throttle is disabled and you're stuck with the 1/3 or so manual throttle travel. Either way there should be a engine code being thrown, if not I'd say ECU capacitors.
07-14-16, 01:55 PM
#11
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Yeah I don't see how a compression test would help unless I had compression test results immediately BEFORE the timing belt change to compare to.
07-14-16, 05:10 PM
#12
Problem started ALMOST immediately after the timing belt change. After picking the car up from the mechanic it was running fine and he drove it for 2 miles before the problem started. After 2 miles the car went into the limp mode and he drove it back to the mechanic.
He trusts the shop, and they have good reviews on google, yelp etc. Shop thinks it's the ECU or some other sensor.
He trusts the shop, and they have good reviews on google, yelp etc. Shop thinks it's the ECU or some other sensor.
07-14-16, 05:19 PM
#13
07-14-16, 05:44 PM
#14
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
I'd bet $100 the shop screwed up the timing job. Any shop worth a damn wouldn't have screwed it up in the first place, and in the second place, there wouldn't be a bunch of guessing as to what was wrong. A competent shop will nail down the source of the issue. No idea why people put trust in a shop like that.
07-14-16, 07:52 PM
#15
Is their work not guaranteed? I would surmise that if work was done at X shop and came out worse they would be liable for it or at least want to check it. It's their name on the paper. You should not have to pull anything to check the quality of their workmanship, but I may be wrong. Best of luck on the car