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.

 

As we mention on the phone. If you can get us the datas from your vehicle. We need to know the Long Fuel trim through the RPM,s. There is an option in the MasterTech scanner, Or you can video tape the datas and then send them to us. Also, We would want to know what percentage and what cylinder misfired. Let us know if we can further assit you.
JPI

 

bichkikr,
You have the GS 300 correct? The main bolt on the blower broken is odd. Did Powerdyne give any possible reason how that bolt broke? It's not like you pushing 500hp @ 20psi.
Does LMS give any possble reasons to any of the issues you having?

 

Powerdyne said that either the belt was too tight, or maybe the charger was not aligned correctly, etc. Either way they will fix it under warranty. As far as the other problems, LMS claims no responsibility at all, of course, because then they would have to fix it for free. When I blew the piston rings on the old motor, they said it was because the motor had 80K+ miles on it and it was under alot of load and couldn't take it anymore. Now i have a new motor with less than 40K miles on it and the CEL keeps coming on with the same code, but everytime i bring it to LMS, they say everything is tuned right, even though they have not once put it on the dyno to tune it, it's always been street tuned. I'm not very technical at all, so i can't point the blame too much, but I just find it strange that ever since I put that thing in, all this has happened.

 

Did you get a rebuilt motor. What code so you keep getting??
Did the engine code come on right away w/ the engine replacement or take a few weeks?

 

according to them, i got a stock motor from a used IS, not rebuilt, just taken out of a wrecked one. the check engine light is recently, but it seems like everytime i drive the car. i dont drive it much at all now since each time i do it has problems. the code is always the random cylinder misfire, and cylinder number 1 misfire, and one time was intake temp too hot. ive had the same code with both engines, and with my stock motor, when i got that code, thats when the piston rings were blown. it's not lookin good, i think i may just have to remove the FI and go NA again. i cant afford all this labor all the time.

 

Intake temp got too hot? There isn't a code for this! If you have a chance gimme your Long Term fuel trim.
JPI

 

Do you have any of the engine code #'s that you are getting now and have gotten?
So are you saying that when you first got the new motor you did not have any problems and it is just now that you are getting the engine check light?

1.Are you running any FMU( fuel mangagement Unit) w/ that kit are you running the booster pump w/ your kit
2. when you drive it do you boost it a lot or stay off the boost.
3. do you have the Pro-street or Super-street kit.

 

Well, before i got the set up, i never had a single CEL come on. A month after i got the set up, i blew piston rigngs going to work which is a mile and a half from home, through a school zone, so there is no way that i was boosting that much. After they put in the new motor, or used motor i should say, i have gotten the same code as when i blew the piston rings, which is 300 and 301 i believe. It says random cylinder misfire, and cylinder 1 misfire when the dealer hooks it up to the computer. they said it's not really misfiring, which leads them to think it was the plugs. so they pulled out the old plugs and put in some new ones, and then the next day the lights came on again, so now they move on to looking at the coil, etc. It's been nothing but problems. I run the LMS i-manage, PLX wide band, and the booster pump. I NEVER go full throttle on the car, and like i said i work 1.5 miles from home, so i barely get to boost at all unless i go on the freeway somewhere. I baby this car, its a show car and i dont have the money to blow motors, so i do take really good care of it. I think its really rich since the dealer said my plugs were black and it smells like gas when the car just sits there at idle, but LMS has told me over and over that it's not too rich. I just dont know what else to do. I even thought about selling the car the other day, that's how bad this is to me. I can't take having an expensive car that i cant drive reliably. That's not why i bought a Lexus.

 

oh, and i have the super street kit. sorry.

 

That sounds really sad.......maybe you should change your approach a bit?

Sell your SC kit, save some cash and built pretty nice turbo?
I belive there is alot more people, especially IS owners doing it "turbo way" with lots of luck
Why would you sell? Your sig seems like you've spent alot of time and money so far, just do it right this time............

 

+1........damn 10 character minimum

 

Well my thought was that it was leaning out or /or when you were boosting it a lot. Just a thought.It sounds like you are baying it and still getting that misfire. Trust me I can feel your pain. Did you give JPI a call? he sound like a really knowlegable tuner It would be nice if you could have JPI look at it. Too bad he is in Texas. Some times another person that knows FI & Lexus motors looking at it helps. He can only do so much by phone and e-mail.
I know it suck throwing lots of money at the problem hoping that will do it.
I would sell the S/C or take to some where like XS engineering I hear that they know thier stuff and would get to the bottom of it. but they are pricey.
Can any one else chime in on a good shop in Cailf. that will diagnose/ analysis his problem. If the CEL say it is misfiring and Lexus says that it is not- May be a bad ECU from the used motor

 

What kind of psi were you running? How were the Long term fuel on both bank? I would take they were in the 10% range, and sync together. What were your A/F look like at WOT? What were your fuel pressure at your max boost? I'm would make an educated guess you are in the 10's for AFR. What kind of plugs are you using? And how were they gap? The NGK 3330's work great and try to stay in the 7 heat range. If you blew the motor why not swap it out with the gte bottom ends. Deeper valves cut, stronger rods etc. If you can't me provide all the datas I needed, I wouldn't be able to help you out. I need datalog files and the runs that you made. A simple lexus would be able to do all of that. Your vehicle doesn't run rich at idle, the booster pump isn't activate at idle, so fuel pressure would stay around 35-40's. Why not get a second pinion at the local shop? Todd AT TMM is very knowledgeable about 0BDII system. BTW, I hope you run a thicker h/g because high boost and high compression doesn't go together very well. You have my number.. Gimme a call anytime.
JPI

 

Wow, that's alot of info that i don't have at the moment. As far as PSI, they tell me it's a 8 or 9 pound pulley, so I guess if i'm at WOT, it would be that much, but i have never, ever gone WOT in my car, so i dont think i've ever boosted more than 5 PSI at most. As i said, i baby this car. I only got FI for more show points, not to race it. A/F with almost WOT drops to the 10's maybe 10.7, 10.8. The plugs in there right now are the recommended factory iridium ones. When i blew the motor, i either had to pay 2500 for a used one, or over 6K for a GTE swap. I don't have 6K laying around after I had just spent over 5K the month before. I wish I had money like that. I"ll try to get some data, but the car is in LA now, so i have no access to it for a few more weeks. If the booster isn't on at idle, what other reason would the car smell like gas when it's just sitting there? Does that mean i have something else wrong too? I'm pretty sure the h/g is stock. the claim they make is that this kit it bolt on power, with no need for engine builds and no check engine lights. That's all i wanted out of it. I can't seem to get that yet. Where is TMM? I'd love to have someone else look at it. I tried SP, but they won't touch it after these guys did. Bottom line, i don't have another few thousand to throw at this problem, i just want it to run like they said it would, with no issues. You can be sure that i will make changes later, but for now i can't afford to redo the whole thing. Thank you all for your input, i'll try to get some data as soon as i can.