HELP, opinion needed, FI issues
Lexus Champion
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 2,079
Likes: 2
From: Texas
8 psi is what I would go for stock h/g. I would advise you to find out the problem before putting another shortblock. I've seen people blow their engine up at 6 psi. Hook up the scanner and drive around. Best of luck.
JPI
JPI
done
Well, it turns out it's the same problem as last time, according to LMS. They are saying that i have at least one blown piston ring. OF COURSE they are not willing to take any responsibility, or to admit that this can only happen as a result of a lack of proper tunning. So, either way, the S/C kit will be removed completely and I will have to reconsider if I even want to go FI again with all these headaches. All I wanted was a safe, reliable, daily drivable FI kit that won't cause any issues. I don't drive the car hard at all and I never race it, it was for show purposes mostly. I suppose i'll have to do more research this time to see what a resonable solution will be. Thanks all for all your help and comments! That's why this forum is the best!
Jeremy
Jeremy
They are saying that i have at least one blown piston ring. OF COURSE they are not willing to take any responsibility, or to admit that this can only happen as a result of a lack of proper tunning. So, either way, the S/C kit will be removed completely and I will have to reconsider if I even want to go FI again with all these headaches.
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
From: CA
THOUGHT i would chime in on here after talking to a good friend....I've had the LMS stage one kit installed on my is300 01 with over 100k miles for almost 2 years now and have not had ONE problem besides regular maintenance. my experience along with MANY others prove that the kit is reliable and runs very well and was designed correctly, im sorry that your experience was not good with the kit, but please do not place blame on steve and others at LMW, because they do a goodjob, im sorry you had a ****ty experience but dont point fingers and blame steve , your car ****ed up and you need to take responsibility for your own actions, any questions about the kit from anyone else can respond here or PM me, i wont come on here much just thought i'd throw my own 2 cents down
sorry that i just saw this thread, jeremy. i guess things didn't work out the way you wanted. i agree with your decision, just take it off and move on, there is almost no point in dealing with a shop like this.
i have known move than 5 blown engine issues with LMS stuff, now you are just adding 2 counts in my book. i wouldn't go into that, it always ended up ugly, sad
i have known move than 5 blown engine issues with LMS stuff, now you are just adding 2 counts in my book. i wouldn't go into that, it always ended up ugly, sad
Jeremy,
Sorry to hear of your problems. Try Todd at TM Engineering:
TM Engineering
1129 E. Dominguez Street, Suite B
Carson, CA 90746
(310) 537-6800
By appointment only
todd@tmengineering.net
I think he's either at or on his way to Sema so might take a few days to reach him. (He mentioned this to me last Saturday.)
Good luck!
Sorry to hear of your problems. Try Todd at TM Engineering:
TM Engineering
1129 E. Dominguez Street, Suite B
Carson, CA 90746
(310) 537-6800
By appointment only
todd@tmengineering.net
I think he's either at or on his way to Sema so might take a few days to reach him. (He mentioned this to me last Saturday.)
Good luck!
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 11,243
Likes: 6
From: USA
Everything I have ever read or heard about these clowns over at lms is always the same. Its pretty obvious that they don't know what the hell they are doing. How can you replace the motor and blow it again 
Either just eat it and take your car out of their hands or gather up all your receipts and logs of how the transaction went and take them to court.
"DanLuvsLMS" are you kidding me? 1st your screenname tell us all we need to know, 2nd how the hell is it his fault. How have they blown so many motors in the past and than blow his twice and its his fault?
Either just eat it and take your car out of their hands or gather up all your receipts and logs of how the transaction went and take them to court. "DanLuvsLMS" are you kidding me? 1st your screenname tell us all we need to know, 2nd how the hell is it his fault. How have they blown so many motors in the past and than blow his twice and its his fault?
Lexus Champion
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 2,079
Likes: 2
From: Texas
OK here it goes. I've had the LMS s/c kit on my car for a little over a year maybe. I've had, what seems to me, nothing but problems with the car since the day it was installed. I've blown 1 motor a month after I got it, the shop says it was not their fault, etc. I replaced the motor. Then, a short time after that, the bracket broke. They replaced the bracket, no problem. Then, the main bolt for the blower broke. It's now at Powerdyne waiting to be shipped back to LMS. There was an oil leak coming from the top of the valve cover causing my headers to smoke like a forest fire everytime i drove the car, so I put in a oil catch can. I have had the check engine light come on several times, causing me to replace spark plugs, air flow sensors, and now it came on again after the dealer just put in new plugs 3 days ago. I am at the point where I am ready to tell LMS to take it all off and give me some type of compensation for all this and just put it back to stock. I've spent enough money there in the past year that I could have got a fully built GTE swap by now, and all I have to show for it is a car with no blower and a check engine light that won't quit. Do any of you have any suggestions? Do i have any legal backing if i ask for money back? I've contacted other shops and none of them will touch the car since they have heard of these guys reputation. That doesn't leave me feeling too confident. What do i do? Does anyone have any GOOD stories about this place? Anyone have a car that actually works with no problems from that shop?
Thanks for your time.
Hopeless in Cali.
Thanks for your time.
Hopeless in Cali.
JPI
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,084
Likes: 2
From: illinois
Originally Posted by bichkikr
OK here it goes. I've had the LMS s/c kit on my car for a little over a year maybe. I've had, what seems to me, nothing but problems with the car since the day it was installed. I've blown 1 motor a month after I got it, the shop says it was not their fault, etc. I replaced the motor. Then, a short time after that, the bracket broke. They replaced the bracket, no problem. Then, the main bolt for the blower broke. It's now at Powerdyne waiting to be shipped back to LMS. There was an oil leak coming from the top of the valve cover causing my headers to smoke like a forest fire everytime i drove the car, so I put in a oil catch can. I have had the check engine light come on several times, causing me to replace spark plugs, air flow sensors, and now it came on again after the dealer just put in new plugs 3 days ago. I am at the point where I am ready to tell LMS to take it all off and give me some type of compensation for all this and just put it back to stock. I've spent enough money there in the past year that I could have got a fully built GTE swap by now, and all I have to show for it is a car with no blower and a check engine light that won't quit. Do any of you have any suggestions? Do i have any legal backing if i ask for money back? I've contacted other shops and none of them will touch the car since they have heard of these guys reputation. That doesn't leave me feeling too confident. What do i do? Does anyone have any GOOD stories about this place? Anyone have a car that actually works with no problems from that shop?
Thanks for your time.
Hopeless in Cali.
OK here it goes. I've had the LMS s/c kit on my car for a little over a year maybe. I've had, what seems to me, nothing but problems with the car since the day it was installed. I've blown 1 motor a month after I got it, the shop says it was not their fault, etc. I replaced the motor. Then, a short time after that, the bracket broke. They replaced the bracket, no problem. Then, the main bolt for the blower broke. It's now at Powerdyne waiting to be shipped back to LMS. There was an oil leak coming from the top of the valve cover causing my headers to smoke like a forest fire everytime i drove the car, so I put in a oil catch can. I have had the check engine light come on several times, causing me to replace spark plugs, air flow sensors, and now it came on again after the dealer just put in new plugs 3 days ago. I am at the point where I am ready to tell LMS to take it all off and give me some type of compensation for all this and just put it back to stock. I've spent enough money there in the past year that I could have got a fully built GTE swap by now, and all I have to show for it is a car with no blower and a check engine light that won't quit. Do any of you have any suggestions? Do i have any legal backing if i ask for money back? I've contacted other shops and none of them will touch the car since they have heard of these guys reputation. That doesn't leave me feeling too confident. What do i do? Does anyone have any GOOD stories about this place? Anyone have a car that actually works with no problems from that shop?
Thanks for your time.
Hopeless in Cali.
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
From: CA
first off, I am in no way affiliated with LMS at all, just a loyal customer who has ALWAYS been taken care of and never had a problem with them. Second, "blown so many motors" may be a bit of an overstatement dont ya say? Gather up some proof before you go slandering someones business and see how many happy customers they have compared to the disgruntled ones, remember this.. when everything goes fine, you rarely hear about it, but its when something goes bad, they want everyone to know about it.
first off, I am in no way affiliated with LMS at all, just a loyal customer who has ALWAYS been taken care of and never had a problem with them. Second, "blown so many motors" may be a bit of an overstatement dont ya say? Gather up some proof before you go slandering someones business and see how many happy customers they have compared to the disgruntled ones, remember this.. when everything goes fine, you rarely hear about it, but its when something goes bad, they want everyone to know about it.
together with the other dozen stories i heard about this shop, that says a lot to me. i am not saying everyone gets bad service (and apparently you don't), but for sure i have heard too many bad stories, too many to count.
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 11,243
Likes: 6
From: USA
first off, I am in no way affiliated with LMS at all, just a loyal customer who has ALWAYS been taken care of and never had a problem with them. Second, "blown so many motors" may be a bit of an overstatement dont ya say? Gather up some proof before you go slandering someones business and see how many happy customers they have compared to the disgruntled ones, remember this.. when everything goes fine, you rarely hear about it, but its when something goes bad, they want everyone to know about it.
Are you kidding me? I personally know of 4 with this one myself. I also won't name names out of respect for those people who told me the issues they had in confidence cuz they didn't post it on this forum. Proof is in the pudding and it seems like these guys are working with sour milk. I'm glad that they have been good to you but you had the ordasity to blame the customer here? They told him his engine was getting old cuz it had 80k
Than they drop a new one with 40k and blow that one too and its his fault cuz he decided to drive it back from home to work? Your 100% right the bad does get noticed more than the good but when the bad adds up to this much and this many and the company/shop keeps throwing it off like its not their fault than we have to realize sooner or later to just keep driving past this shop to another. Shoot when a huge shop like SP engineering won't touch the car because they were told who worked on it before that speaks volumes about the shop.
one thing that sticks out about your two motors. (trying to pull away from the shop bashing and get back to this guy's problem). Sounds to me like there is SEVERE over fueling going on. Probably to the point that it is washing out the rings, there by causing the compression loss. Do me a favor.. pull the dipstick and smell the oil. Strong gas smell? The gas that cannot be burned due to the fouled plugs is draining past the rings and washing out the cylinders, making them too slick to seal properly. It also creates a dangerous condition with the oil, where it is too thin and loses it's lubricating properties..very easy to spin a bearing at this point.
I would look at the engine management or fuel system. What does the LMS kit consist of? Larger injectors? Maybe they are faulty or of the wrong impedance? Maybe the injector driver in the ecu has gotten fried and the injectors are static.
When you put the other motor in, you didnt fix the problem. The shop that can design and install such a kit should be aware of these points..
I would look at the engine management or fuel system. What does the LMS kit consist of? Larger injectors? Maybe they are faulty or of the wrong impedance? Maybe the injector driver in the ecu has gotten fried and the injectors are static.
When you put the other motor in, you didnt fix the problem. The shop that can design and install such a kit should be aware of these points..