Tuesday, August 12, 2014 - 08:16 pm, by: Rob Charles(Pearl_white)
I think I should just fix this IACV and go from there. - Will do water temp sensor after that also. I just find it interesting how many things can go wrong with these good looking cars. It's like they were a huge experiment or something - that work great when at 100%.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014 - 05:20 am, by: Matthew Sharpe(Madmatt)
Rob Charles wrote on Tuesday, August 12, 2014 - 08:16 pm:
They are old and many of them have been treated poorly - often you don't even have any idea what kind of life they had in Japan, let alone what successive local owners have done/failed to do over the years. On top of normal wear and tear, luxury cars of this era are the first to have a lot of really complex electronics incorporated into them, and unfortunately many electronics have a definite use by date - mostly because the chemicals and resins used break down over time.
However, find a good one and compare it with a similar age/spec/well maintained German car, EG a 1990's SL Mercedes though and they are more reliable and cheaper to maintain.
Monday, October 06, 2014 - 05:39 pm, by: Rob Charles(Pearl_white)
No idea yet Tom. Been working hard - also can't find anyone to work on this car at a decent price. I was quoted $900 for a power steering pump rebuild by sports n luxury cars (what a joke), and 300 bucks for a new iacv, or $150 for an iacv clean /bearings replacement from another shop, and so on. Toyota wanted to charge me $220 for their guy to do a diagnostic on my car. Gtfo.
Been fixing things myself instead at under half the price.
These forums are most helpful (aside from moron gronks who like to troll others)
Power steering is not a top priority at the moment as the leak is very very slight. Have not had to top up for 2 months now. I think it's the idle air up valve on the thing which is sucking up the juice straight through the intake, so it's not going to leak all over the alternator. Can't notice any fluid spots in the bay either, so yeah.
Seems that I was losing steering fluid for a month or two at the same time the engine was idling too high (due to ecu, iacv, or so on). I've since played with the TPS and idle 'usually' stays low without also looping revs in park. Since adjusting tps, my 2000rpm misfire has gone also. I have the specs here, just need a feeler gauge to set it properly this time.
Sometimes the thing will loop, but it is rarer these days.
Adjusted TPS again today as the idle loop happened. Took the car out for a spin, now have even more of a lack of power than before, and when foot is down the car just loses revs. With foot down from a standstill it revs up fine, then around 6000rpm it dies and goes back to 3000rpm as if nothing happened - almost as if it conks out but doesn't. It just loses power and completely dies (car still runs) if you floor it. Only thing i've done is move the tps, so I'll fix that again tomorrow and put it back where it was yesterday before i had this issue...
future planned fixes: Ecu recap Fuel restrictor reseal New alternator Steering fluid leak check. EMV TV removal and wirechecks (air con screen gone but still works via the knob).
Vacuum leak in power steering can cause a lot of issues - lack of power, and looping idle in park/neutral is two of them. It's all vacuum related. (I don't think this is my issue however - as I have not leaked for 2 months - and still have a lack of power. I think it's the tps. Spark plugs are new, so are leads.)
I'll run a proper diagnostic check this week when I get a paperclip or some wire... Wonder if it'l actually show anything though...
Tuesday, December 30, 2014 - 03:08 pm, by: Rob Charles(Pearl_white)
UPDATES!
Ok, fixed the idle surging.
The idle surge was due to the TPS being misadjusted.
The cause of this was a vac leak from the steering pump. Pressure switch was shonky, thus causing vac issues when fluid was low.
If tps was aligned properly, the car would rev at a stable 3000rpm. If misalinged it would surge from 1000-2200rpm over and over.
Fuel restrictor was fixed - $10 total cost. No more leaks!
Still have the same alternator.
EMV TV screen still won't work - it's usually just 'off' now. I'm pretty sure some wire has been wiggled loose either from taking the rear seats out (as that is where ALL radio wires n things are), or putting the new headunit in.
So, power steering still has a slight leak, but keeping fluids up has prevented idle issues. I'm waiting on a new pressure switch now.
Car does not auto accelerate or have any problems in that respect now. I still have a lack of power in 1st... I'm going to recap the ECU in Jan.
Slowly but surely, car is coming back to life!
(sorry bout the delay in reply - totally forgot about this thread.)
Sunday, March 08, 2015 - 11:55 am, by: Rob Charles(Pearl_white)
Update:
Gave it an oil flush, coolant flush, topped up trans fluid (dex 3, as T4 sounds like nonsense) - gained 20-30% midrange power. Still can't wheelspin from take off however - but the car is now much more perky.
Guess the next bet is the plugs and wires.
Must now change oil filter, have a trans service also due to the fact the ECU is throwing error code 63 (solenoid 2) - although I can still get all gears when in D... Sigh.