AlaskanLS

Hello everyone! Few days ago I was driving my car on a highway and at some point the check engine light came on along with the Trac Off. I understand code 12 is for RPM Signal, 24 is for AFM and 71 is for EGR.
My question is, if my car has a problem with AFM, Camshaft Positioning Sensor and EGR valves, why would it still run smooth and fire up on half crank?
As I was in a rush and never had time to fully diagnose the causes of all those DTC codes because I had to leave for work. I work out of town on two weeks on and one week off rotation. I am wondering what could cause those error codes.
I had done timing belt job on my car not too long ago and I learned from reading other car blogs that if the timing is off by a teeth, it will cause code 13 not 12.
After doing timing belt job on my car, the car ran fine and still it runs great but the check engine light and TRAC Off light is really bothering me.
I did a quick test on AFM before leaving for work and the resistance was .880 while the car's engine was still hot.
I ruined the original AFM last year by cleaning it with spray. I bought another used AFM off eBay last year and installed it in the car, ever since it hasn't caused a problem. If the AFM is bad wouldn't cause rough idling?

AlaskanLS

Bought myself a headache. I am getting tired of spending money on this car. I have already spent more 3 grand on my car. The looks and the brand of car convinced to buy this car. I never had soo many issues with Toyota in my whole life. I have had problem with the battery for almost a year. Replaced the battery and now I found my car's alternator is putting out 13.4 volts. My almost new battery is dead.
Hopefully it's the last issue with my car. I have yet to fix check engine faults.

spuds

Can I ask the condition of car when purchased and how much you paid.Mileage? Also did you have service records? Theres a saying thats been floating around that if you dont have service records then maintenance hasnt been done.

AlaskanLS

I bought it for 1500 from a pot head lady. It was running fine, I bought it as hobby car. This car has made me a full blown Lexus certified mechanic. . It has 300k miles. It's almost restored. It was missing a bunch of parts that i found out after I bought it. Battery tray was missing, engine splash shield was missing, intake air duct was all beat up, driver seat belt was worn out, radiator fan shroud is still missing. The damn radiator started leaking after months when I bought it. Power steering was leaking by default from very beginning. I didn't buy it to make money off it. I bought it to keep me busy at home. I love restoring cars but I have never made money from selling any of my cars.

Amish

I would normally agree with you on this one but sometimes a vehicle can be well taken care of and have no records. I'm in this boat with my Harley. I had a huge file with all receipts and paperwork. I have owned my HD since 2012 and have done every single service on time, receipts for the engine build, all the extra custom bits and bobs and then my wife left a box in the back yard that I assumed was junk, it wasn't. I eventually discovered all my files for my vehicles where in that box. We had moved homes and she forgot my files were in that box when she placed it on back patio. It rained big time last winter and ruined everything. I was really upset with her. Luckily I keep a speadsheet of my multiple cars, trucks and motorcycle so I can at least see what I have done, when I have done it and the mileage at the time. It is better than nothing. Oh and I do not let my wife handle the files any more.

So my point is I had all records and receipts and lost them due to stupidity. So it is possible to buy a used vehicle with no records and it's actually been kept up on just fine.

spuds

My point is...their are 'other vehicles' and there is our Lexus.

Now what you stated sounds very frustrating,and we hear it often....the expense of repairing these cars.We see a few threads where someone has brought a car back to life successfully and a LOT of threads where its a very expensive headache.Yours sounds like the latter per your post.

The point on service records is that a well maintained lexus,with service records available free,online,from lexus,is very likely to be a very reliable car.....one without records is going to be the car with the headaches.Newbies to Lexus often dont know this,I DIDNT,thanks to the folks here I LEARNED and got a reliable car.Which is what I think most people want.

As for us aficionados,who buy a car with records,we tend to keep records of our own work going forward,As you Amish do on your vehicles.

But buy a hoopty,or from a pothead,you get the vehicle Alaskan got,a lot of headaches and expense.Thats the point of my post.When I read....
Bought myself a headache. I am getting tired of spending money on this car. I have already spent more 3 grand on my car. The looks and the brand of car convinced to buy this car. I never had soo many issues with Toyota in my whole life.

I did not read that as you are a happy camper.Hence my asking history and service records to point out to others who dont know the difference and what to expect when you buy one or the other.

AlaskanLS

Update on my issues.



I found out from reading other forums that if you get couple error codes, it means one or the other is false positive. Because the ECU codes starts from lower numbers like 12 or 13 and then it goes to the higher number. One of which will be false positive error code.
So far I have replaced the EGR Vacuum modulator with a new OEM that cost me 78 dollars. Three weeks ago I clean the modulator and couple days after my check engine light came on. So I was sure the EGR modulator was bad.
Anyway I did the resistance test on camshaft position sensors and found both tested fine, left side was 165 ohm and right side was 166 ohms. I checked the timing of the camshafts and crankshaft and they were all lined up.
I also got rid of garbage Denso spark plug wires and replaced it with OEM Yazaki wires. The cost of wires was 175 with shipping. OEM wires are more strong than aftermarket junk.
And finally I also replaced the alternator with re-manufactured ND alternator and tested the output after installation, which was 14.27 volts.
I took it for 4 miles ride and it hasn't turned on check engine light yet. Fingers crossed. Hopefully it stays like this.
Reason of giving an update, is to let other people help that come across issue like mine.