Hey guys... First off I have a 2000 SC300 automatic(120k mi).Yes it has goodies,but all in suspension (Kei Office C/O) and brakes( Hawk/EBC yellow),not my issue,ONLY engine type mod is cold air induction unit.
I was leving work, in the middle of accellerating uphill, 4500-4800rpm and the car simply shut off.After I pulled off of the road, it would turn over fine and it would want to hit/crank, but wouldn't. Towed it back to shop(I am a machinist at a perf shop)
After two days I tried to crank, but it would only spin over,not crank. So, I have checked the timing belt - not broken, marks seem to line up. Thought well it is not getting fuel or fire - back to basics. went ahead and replaced fuel pump with the new Aeromotive 340lph pump. Now I can def hear the pump when spinning the engine. It would then crank!! but only for 3-5 seconds without responding to throttle input - at all. Fire seemed weak when I pulled a plug(red,not blue)...so I replaced the Ignitor. No dice.... At this point I started looking for gremlins(wire probs), but never found anything. I have since replaced Cam Sensor, Crank Sensor, Throttle Position Sensor, Accelarator Pedal Position Sensor and Fuel Filter! Still doesn't want to crank. I know the Fuel Pump ECU is notorious on these cars, but I have around 7.5-8v at idle going to pump..and what seems to be plenty of fuel(can smell unburned fuel when it's not firing.) Can it cause the car to not RUN though?
Update...I have another ECU, same serial and code.swapped with my computer,again same issue.
W T F ???
btw - all of the components I swapped were from a spare,running fine 2jze VVTi, not new,except the fuel pump.
ANY and ALL help is much appreciated....especillay when it works! - William

 

have you tried starting fluid?

 

Yes I have tried starting fluid. It will run for a few seconds while fluid is being sprayed,but barely. Almost as if it still hasnt got Fuel pressure. I will run another test on it tomorrow . I will see if it will continue to run the entire time starting fluid is sprayed(30-60 seconds) I wish I had a fitting that would work with the banjo fitting on the returnless fuel system to gauge pressure.
Any idea if Injectors would not pulse for some reason on these engines? I have been through all fuses and swapped around known-to-work relays without any luck.

 

How old is your battery?

 

The battery is three years old and still holds a decent charge-dwell time can kill it quick though. Are you suggesting that there may not be enough constant regulated volatage supply? I can go with that, and replace the battery ...and move it to the trunk at the same time...just got to get some 1/0 fine strand pure copper welding cable. Production style battery cables have always sucked, at least the ones I have seen. When running car audio for years I always used weld cable/shielded with loom of course, for less interference and less resistance per foot.
If that doesnt fix it then I guess I could try an alternator next....BUT I forgot to mention that the two scanners I tried to diagnose it with both said "please connect to computer",even though both are not battery powered and only come when hooked to the OBDII port...and the car hasnt lit up the check engine light or anything... which why I have an extra identical ECU.

 

Yikes! You are certainly throwing parts at this thing!! It's not battery. The car is turning over just not starting. I guess grounding issue is possible... Just to be extra clear, you turned the key to "ON" then plugged in an OBDII scanner and it didn't read the computer at all and just say please connect? You probably blew an ECU/ECU fuse/popped an ECU cable off. I guess it's also possible that the ECU not reading is unrelated, but then I would be looking at something like a broken key. But this would not cause the car to just stop in the middle of driving, but just to be extra through, do you have an extra key to try? The engine will crank but not start if it cannot read the transponder. This is true for the 2JZ-powered SC and GS and IS, I don't know about any others.

Any chance your radiator fan comes on when you turn the key to "ON"? I guess either way, I'd be leaning toward ECU issue.

 

bad distributor??? I had a similar issue and that is what was wrong with mine

 

a 2000 2JZ engine does not have a distributor.

 

didnt know the sc switched to cop. I knew the IS were cop. I assumed all sc were distributored cars. learn something new every day.

 

I believe it was changed when the 2JZ went VVT-i in 98.

 

What happens when you jump start the car?

I had the same issue with one of my mustangs and it was in fact the battery. You never know with cars sometimes.

 

Jumpstart?....I did mention that it is an auto, as all 97-00 sc's were. As far as jumper cables and high and low amp charging and high amp connected while cranking the engine over - same conditions.
Battery will be here today. EXIDE, as three aquanitences that have BMW's have learned that other batteries wil only run the BMW system while the batts stay stress free. one cold week,or extreme heat and all others,except Braille brand batts,will start to show codes and cause the cars to run rough.

 

Ido you have a check engine light? If you had a lowered vehicle I would say you could have rubbed through the wires on the drivers side but doesn't sound like you are dropped. maybe a fuse or relay. the ignitors don't go bad that often really.

 

I have had the key in th 'on' pos when two scanners wouldnt connect. I am stating to lean towards a failed key setup, or the ecu dropping the key program. I had keys made from an independent programmer here in birmingham,al. Will be calling him today to ask if such is possible. I have even swapped the ecu's back and forth with the same results...now the car will not crank at all with either. Probably b/c i wiped the program on my old one completely by disconnecting it? I have checked all fuses and fusible links and relays, but will HAVE to try again I assume. Frustrating