Sunday, March 22, 2015 - 03:54 pm, by: Joseph Kelly(Phenonix)
Hi, When putting the car from Park into Drive the car lurches, if that's the correct word, driving it goes through all the gears smoothly, its only going from P to D that it jolts, it does not jolt from D to P though.
This this a symptom of problems with the torque convertor?
Thursday, March 26, 2015 - 05:54 am, by: Joseph Kelly(Phenonix)
hhhmmm interesting Peter, i had looked at that before but was afraid to touch it with the comment "unless you have an idea of what you are trying to achieve" would you suggest i loosen it to see what happens?
Peter Nitschke Junk Filterer South Australia UZZ30 UZZ31
Tuesday, April 07, 2015 - 11:22 am, by: Rob Charles(Pearl_white)
Hi Joe, How is your transmission fluid level?
This used to happen to me when I had separate issues over the year.
1. The car was idling too high in park, then when put into D it lurched.
2. The car was low on trans fluid - and would lurch from Park to D.
3. Peter is probably right, but if you have never adjusted the cable before - and the issue only started recently - I think it's a fluid thing perhaps.
Are you using Dex 3, or T4?
Lots of turkeys claim that T4 is the best thing to use on the V8 as it stops transmission slippage, jerking, and so on - but I've got a few friends running dex3 with no issues, so yeah. I myself am running Type 4+ Dex3 (dex3 was used as a top up on top of type 4).
Tuesday, April 07, 2015 - 04:37 pm, by: Joseph Kelly(Phenonix)
Thanks Peter i had a look at the LPS cable yesterday and it was not too tight, as a matter of fact it was screwed all the way to the max loose, so basically as loose as it would go.
I tightened it up to test it and the lurching got worse, of course, but it did same the same kind on lurch/noise.
So i put it back to the way it was originally, sometimes the change of gear now the lurch is much more gentle, but on occasion goes back to a hard lurch.
Thanks Rob, The fluid levels look fine looking at the dip stick, maybe i will give it a top up and see what happens? How do i test when i have put in enough or too much?
Tuesday, April 07, 2015 - 04:45 pm, by: Joseph Kelly(Phenonix)
Is this picture, attached to the LPS cable it goes to a concertina type rubber bit, right above the watermark bit that say "Soarer" what is the function of that rubber? A screw hits it when the LPS cable is released after pulling.
Wednesday, April 08, 2015 - 06:32 pm, by: Rob Charles(Pearl_white)
Ok, so this is what you do to check the trans fluid.
1. The stick has a cold and a hot line. Hot means car is running - not actually hot from driving for 20 minutes or what not - but you could also drive for 20 minutes also if you wanted.
The mark should just say car 'off' or 'on' instead - but it does not - it says hot and cold. Some people debate this - and claim ATF does expand, so if worried simply drive for 20 minutes and go through all gears before checking the fluid, instead of just starting the car and checking it.
2. Turn the car on - leave it for a minute. 2(b). Move shifter from park to L, back to park. Leave it in each gear for 2 seconds. 3. Take the trans dipstick out and sniff it. 4. If it smells burnt - change fluid as per what Tom said. FULL FLUSH. Burnt toast smell is a bad sign. 5. Good fluid really has no smell. You will know if the fluid is bad as it stinks like burnt toast or similar. 6. As the car is on - the fluid should be right up to the maximum hot line as such. 7. Do not overfill as this can cause foamy fluid and trans worries (damage) at higher RPM's.
So - basically just turn the car on and take the dipstick out - give it a wipe - and put the stick back in for 5 seconds. Take the stick back out and sniff it and look at the level.
Note: Some people like to pull the handbrake up and put the car in D to check the fluid. Car will not move if brake is good and idle is at a steady 700rpm.
Oh - ignore the fact that the dipstick says to use DEX II also, use Toyota type 4. Dex III is better than II nowadays anyway, considering the car was made in 1991 when there was no Dex III.
Wednesday, April 08, 2015 - 06:50 pm, by: Rob Charles(Pearl_white)
Just a heads up.
If you checked the fluid wrong as such - you will get a false reading like what happened to me six months ago.
It said full - but was not. Turns out when the car was hot and checked properly - the fluid was still too low.
I checked it originally by turning the car on - leaving it in P - and looking at the stick which was way low. I then filled it with a litre of fluid and it was at the maximum hot line.
Still had issues.
I then took it to transmission place and they did it properly - put the gears from P to L, back to P, then blahblah and now it's pretty good. I'm smelling toast however so am due for a flush in the next month.
Did you go through all gears and so on?
Great sign that the fluid has no stench however.
The lurching from park to D - has to be the ECU, the IACV, or the fact the idle is too high i'd assume. Or transmission mounts perhaps?
A normal idle is 750rpm +/- 50. An idle of 850 will cause lurch.
The ECU retards timing or something when you go from park to D to stop this lurching. It was a heralded feature of the Soarer and one of the reasons why the transmission is slated to be one of the greatest transmissions ever made as such. Basically, if you feel the gears change - something is wrong.
Have you had an ECU recap yet? (I know it's like a broken record - but this could be your issue, and is only $100 or so to have fixed)
Your car should be at 750rpm when in D and not moving. You said you are at 600rpm. This suggests the TPS is out of alignment.
TPS affects gear changes,fuel, and idle basically. If it's set too low, your idle will be too low. If it's set too high, your idle will be too high. TPS also tells the ECU when to change gear or what not - so if not aligned properly, you will lurch - and also change gear too early. (plus use more fuel).
Lets say the tps was set wrong - you are getting a 600rpm idle instead of 750rpm. This would mean that in D, you would reach 2nd gear at around 25km/h, instead of 40kmh for example. (I don't know if the above figures are correct, but that's a pretty good example none the less).
It needs to be set properly with a feeler gauge by the sounds of it.
Wednesday, April 08, 2015 - 07:31 pm, by: Joseph Kelly(Phenonix)
Well i do have the combined issue of the lurch from "P" to "D", or "N" to "D"
AND low idle when in "D", sitting at traffic lights i have to put it into "N" otherwise the alternator does not charge
Checked the LPS..looks fine Checked the IACV..that's enclosed..so cannot clean it but it looked ok TPS out of alignment, just checked what that entails...that's well out of my depth!
Wednesday, April 08, 2015 - 10:11 pm, by: Rob Charles(Pearl_white)
TPS being out of alignment is not out of your depth.
It seems hard - but is not.
What you do is simply go to a wreckers or someone with a multimeter.
All they need is a feeler gauge - which is like a set of butter knives only thinner. If you don't know what one looks like - google it. Oh - and they need a multimeter which every single mechanic in the world has basically.
You can buy the feelers from supercheap for around $15.
You simply plug the multimeter to the TPS - and all you need to do is turn it clockwise or anti clockwise.
A wreckers will charge around $10.00 to have it calibrated.
(Just try searching for the actual Soarer specs with that feeler gauge; Unsure if the LS400 with same engine is exactly the same. For example, maybe soarer needs .40 gauge, but ls400 needs .45 - Info will be found on this site. It probably is the same as the link above.)
Wednesday, April 08, 2015 - 10:19 pm, by: Rob Charles(Pearl_white)
OR you could do this instead. This involves unplugging nothing - and using no gauges or multimeters.
(Car must be warm and turned off when doing this).
A Quicker but less accurate way is to simply loosen the 2 screws on the TPS - and move it clockwise to raise the idle 100 RPM without a feeler gauge and multimeter - hoping for the best.
A turn of around 5mm will raise idle around 100rpm. If you are currently at 600rpm whilst in D and stopped, a 5mm turn will take you to around 700 rpm.
Simply turn the tps, then start car, look at idle, and if wrong, turn car off, and turn tps more. (Car must be warm, not cold).
That's a rough guide - it will help. Better to go to a wreckers or something - even an auto elec or battery place - anyone with a multimeter and 10 minutes to spare.
Very very easy - very very quick. You have the specs above in that link I gave you - so simply tell the mechanic that you need that specific feeler gauge used. Or print out the page and show him.
Note: Lowest TPS setting brings the car to around 550-600rpm. Highest setting is around 1000rpm from memory. You are aiming for 750rpm. (think the dude made an error on that lexus site - he claims 650rpm is standard. I have a jap sticker which says 750 under the hood, and it says 750 in the manual also - so ignore what he said there )
Wednesday, April 08, 2015 - 10:59 pm, by: Rob Charles(Pearl_white)
It's probably the ECU though... If never been repaired - now is the time. Search the V8 mechanical section for "need an ecu repair? call this guy" - the dude does it for 80 bucks or similar.
The Soarer ECU capacitors have ALL failed. Every single cars ECU has failed - or is causing issues by now. The capacitors used had a life span of around 15 years MAXIMUM. Usually it was 10 years before issues start. (Most people sell their Soarer after spending 3-4k fixing things that don't need fixing - only to find out it was the ECU all along which could have been fixed for $100)
Once repaired - you have another 10-20 years of perfect car.
(caps cost 1 cent each if you can do the soldering yourself. Guides are online also.)
Please understand that any one of these symptoms can be a sign of ECU capacitors beginning to fail. - You do not need all or most of them to have this issue! Your ECU capacitors are strongly suspected if you have at least one of the following intermittent issues on your Lexus or Toyota:
● low idle or erratic idle ● idle speed rolling up and down, or sometimes too low and sometimes too high --------------------------------------------- ● transmission jerks from 1st to 2nd gear, and kinda slips from 2nd to 3rd ● problems in getting into diagnostic mode or scanner says "no communication" ● random dropping into "limp home" mode ● weird shifting problems ● OBD port is unresponsive, seems dead ● throwing random fault codes ● engine won't rev out/rev limits at 2000 or less rpm ● engine runs like crap, then suddenly runs fine again ● random not starting or cutting out ● often very hard to start, requires starting fluid ● transmission will not automatically shift, only manual shift is possible ● no A/C compressor operation ● speedometer not working reliably ● speed (cruise) control not working ● tachometer not working sometimes ● air bag light flickering intermittently ● A/C going into reset with flashing front defog light (front defog light typically flashing 10 times) ● check engine light on sometimes, but no codes stored, often in concert with ECT light ● ECU not communicating with scanners or not displaying codes with jumper installed ● bad sulfur exhaust smell in concert with not running right above
Wednesday, April 08, 2015 - 11:03 pm, by: Rob Charles(Pearl_white)
Oh one last thing. Just noticed your alternator does not charge unless in neutral - missed that before.
Are you losing power steering fluid? It leaks on the alternator and kills it. Usually it leaks from the pressure valve thing (idle air control on the power steering pump itself - not the one on the engine) and sucks fluid up the intake and causes a vac leak. Vac leak affects idle and so on.
Otherwise the seals have had it - and it's leaking into the alternator and thus killing it - explaining why it charges only in neutral or what not perhaps.
If the pump needs a rebuild - and if it is not the idle valve thing on the pump itself - you're up for around $600-800 bucks. A kit to rebuild the thing is only $30 dollars or so - the whole issue is the labour.
Big issue with Soarers.
Here is a video explaining the idle valve leak thing. The valve thing is only $60 or so - maybe $40 for a wrecker to put it in.