hey guys i have a 99 gs400 with around 40k on it. lately i get pretty low idle when the air is not on car tech idle is on the second line on the tach. It only gets like that only in drive position. Also car died on me twice last month. When i go to the dealer they sad that they cant get any codes and they don't know what to do. Car runs very wierd some times and feels like is shaking bad. what should i do ???

 

Do you have this problem with the AC on? If not, try driving with either your lights or AC on. This may also prevent your car from dying on you at idle. Do a search -- you will find many threads on this subject.

 

welcome to club lexus full of crap corp.


we all just about have to live with the lies the lexus /toyota corp want to hand us , they know what the problem is , i always believed this problem is software related in the programming of the ecu but of course this type of recall or service fix would be very expensive for them to fix seeing how many 98 99 and 2k are on the road today with the problem


so we have to live with it

 

Thanks guys. Yes its fine with the ac on. if thats a software problem how come did not start from the begining it just started now. And if lexus cant recole that screw them will never buy another car from them is a lexus not a geo serviced and take care of you costumers like a lexus.

 

Yeah there's a very long thread about this and we all have had the same experiences.

Just keep the A/C on or the lights on.

If you turn the A/C off because it's not cold or for the performance gain, if it makes you feel any better, the A/C on our cars automatically turns off when you floor it, and the computer will actually turn the A/C off if there's no need for it, but mine usually stays on even in the winter to help balance out the humidity inside the car.

Oh, and FWIW my dealer changed my charcoal canister about 6 months back and it hasn't died on me once since although it still idles just as low.

And fortunately for us, if this problem ever escalates past what it is, it will be covered under warranty no matter what your milage is... just make sure it's documented with your dealer and then at 200k miles if it's dying even with the A/C on and all the time, then they'll have to fix it for free since they didn't fix it from the beginning.

 

Just spent 2 hours installed the new TM plugs, went for a test drive and noticed the rough idle has improved a lot. Now with tranny in D and no light/AC on, car idles at close 3rd line on the tach. May be the bigger spark fire ***** helped

 

And a happy new year to you too.

That's about the most overblown reaction I've seen in a while. Did you buy your 99 GS with 40K new? If not, maybe the previous owner put CRAP 87 gas in it or drove it hard, or never changed the oil, or let it idle for hours, or maybe you do these things, who knows. Even if not, your car may have dirty plugs or a dirty throttle body, or any of a number of things that could cause uneven idle. These cars are designed to be run with the climate control on Auto all the time. I noticed my 2000 GS with 43K on it idled SLIGHTLY rough one day when I turned off the A/C. Big whoop.

Listen guys, cars aren't perfect. If have a slightly rough idle on a Lexus is the biggest problem you have, get over it.

 

This might help:

Clean your MAF or just replace it. A clean one really helps based on experience but it will not stop the rough idling...it'll just refine it a bit. Seeing that you have only 40K, it may be that the previous owner have put an oil-based K&N filter and that can coat the wire sensors in the MAF therefore fooling the engine a little bit.

 

I have not had that problem this past year since I put my TM spark plugs in, Before that I noticed it every day.

 

I will post this in my original post of "rough idling" but I hope it will also cure your issue. My dealer just replaced my oxygen sensor (2 of them) and my rough idling is gone. My idle is now just above the 3rd line where before it was exactly on it. My shaking before was bad...but this is only when the car is cold. They found this when they hooked up the OBD-II and saw that my fuel trim was about 20% while idling. It should be under 10%.

 

O2 sensor eh? Hmmm...sounds interesting. Gonna look into that.

As for the MAF sensor, i've cleaned mine and no luck. Idled a bit smoother for 1 day and back to the same roughness.

 

This is exactly what happened at the dealership. They replaced my MAF with a brand new one and test drove it. It was fine and so they released the car to me (after I paid them hundreds and hundreds of dollars, no kidding).

The following morning, the shaking was back.

Long story short, took the car back to the dealer. They hooked up the OBDII and let the car idle and also revved it. That's when they discovered that the car was leaning bad.

Ask them to hook up your car to the OBDII analyzer to check your fuel trim. It may not be too bad at this time to cause it to trigger the check engine light or leave a trouble code. But if you're feeling it, something is wrong.

My car now runs fine, thank goodness, even with the old MAF part back in.

 

Guys my 98 GS did the rough idle thing until i had my throttle body cleaned. Well, I had the plugs replaced also but I think it was cleaning the throttle body that did the trick. My mechanic said it had a build up all around it. Try cleaning yours and see what u get.

BCLIV

 

ive heard of this k&n filter problem. so anyone know hig flow drop in filter that has no oil? the trd one, does it have oil? im getting the same thing,and i have a k&n . what if i cleaned the maf with a q tip and some rubbing alchol, and cleaned the filter, but didnt oil it, just dropped it back in? wait doeswnt the oils catch the dust???

 

I also had my throttle body cleaned but it did not fix the problem. But. this should be done anyway.