missfire on LEXURF III

[AlexKzn130]

yep Alex I think you will get a lot more MPG if you do, 10 is about the same as running a Chevelle 440 (my fave US muscle car) but with the Chev you are getting close to 500 hp for your 10 mpg.
Mine still isn't fixed, put new coil on as I was sure it was that and it's exactly the same , so now I'm thinking is it the distributor on the right hand side (looking at engine from front), it's now p155ing me off as I have no way of testing anything so it's more a case of disconnect and see if it makes it worse .
Oh for the days of carb's and contact points, ha ha ha .

Yes i said exactly that in my orignal post about my mpg when you think 8-10mpg u think 1967 mustang hahahahaha

Have you tried removing the HT leads on the suspected broken side 1 by 1 and touching the engine and seeing if they spark?

I can send you some factory service manuals for the engine if you want i have them on pdf just send me your email i think i have 2 or 3 files concerning the igniton system

[AlexKzn130]

Ps just googled chevelle 440.................effing amazing

If you like chevelle's google chevelle recoil ring brothers....900bhp

[3 LIONS]

just had a look at that monster, looks like art on wheels , awesome looking car.

I have had to order a MAF on fleabay from over f'kin seas believe it or not.
Contacted all the breakers advertised with LS 400's breaking and parts available in UK , most had sold the MAF and the rest wanted close to £200 for a second hand MAF that might only last a short time? So I ordered one form the states and it's on it's way for about 1/5 the price including postage, I was wondering is these MAF's are getting rare that could the later model MAF and unit it sits in be swapped on to the old LS400 air intake system so long as the connection is the same?
In other words I wonder if a MAF from say a LS or SC 430 or even a GS 300 will work on the old 400 engine ?

[AlexKzn130]

just had a look at that monster, looks like art on wheels , awesome looking car.

I have had to order a MAF on fleabay from over f'kin seas believe it or not.
Contacted all the breakers advertised with LS 400's breaking and parts available in UK , most had sold the MAF and the rest wanted close to £200 for a second hand MAF that might only last a short time? So I ordered one form the states and it's on it's way for about 1/5 the price including postage, I was wondering is these MAF's are getting rare that could the later model MAF and unit it sits in be swapped on to the old LS400 air intake system so long as the connection is the same?
In other words I wonder if a MAF from say a LS or SC 430 or even a GS 300 will work on the old 400 engine ?

I'm gonna go with yes, at the end of the day a maf is a sensor for air it's not specific to and engine so I can imagine lexus used the same maf on the 430s and 460s for a good few years before a redesign
Best to check on a lexus forum doubt a dealership will have a clue

[3 LIONS]

yes Alex, anyway it arrived yesterday evening time and I have only just unpacked it and it looks almost new, apparently you can not get a new one , Lexus stopped making them , kind of strange they didn't have a load of extra spares for folk who bought their cars ? I mean some company's still make new parts for escort mk1's, it must have been a major weakness as when you ask most breakers they have the car and engine but the MAF or ECU has already gone and that's usually a clue that it's a part that fails a lot.
Hey Alex , strange how no one else has had any input on the post ?

[AlexKzn130]

Hey Alex , strange how no one else has had any input on the post ?

Hahaha yea I thought it was strange too, I might check out my maf then, it could be a contributing factor to low mpg

[Ultimagtr21]

Hahaha yea I thought it was strange too, I might check out my maf then, it could be a contributing factor to low mpg

No other contributors-could be that not many other 1uz-fe people on here.

[AlexKzn130]

No other contributors-could be that not many other 1uz-fe people on here.

No I know that but usually a least one person pipes up

[AlexKzn130]

just had a look at that monster, looks like art on wheels , awesome looking car.

I have had to order a MAF on fleabay from over f'kin seas believe it or not.
Contacted all the breakers advertised with LS 400's breaking and parts available in UK , most had sold the MAF and the rest wanted close to £200 for a second hand MAF that might only last a short time? So I ordered one form the states and it's on it's way for about 1/5 the price including postage, I was wondering is these MAF's are getting rare that could the later model MAF and unit it sits in be swapped on to the old LS400 air intake system so long as the connection is the same?
In other words I wonder if a MAF from say a LS or SC 430 or even a GS 300 will work on the old 400 engine ?

well flipping eck 3 lions, i cleaned my maf yesterday and effing hell did it make a difference, MY TRUCK HAS ACCELERATION!

I mean i still ain't cruising like a 440 chevelle but 1st and 2nd now move with haste hahahahaha

Stand by for a MPG check

[3 LIONS]

True Ultimagtr21, I guess as Bushwhacker has left ?( has he ?) I haven't been on here for a while but I do know there was a problem with one of the poor guys on here not getting his truck finished and a tow truck was needed and etc etc the guy ended up with half a job done and I think Vince had some family problems, that's all I kinow !! it sounded like a sad situation for all party's . Vince was a mine of information about the 1UZ-fe V8 and I could do with his info right now, never mind.
From what I remember of the site there was always a bit of input from him or one or two of the other Lexurf lot so to say, perhaps they have all sold them on , I saw one of his engine swapped jobs on ebay a while back , same colour red as yours and Vince's , had the Lexus LS engine , big tyres etc etc. was being advertised from Reading I think.

Well done Alex , I was not sure if it's great idea to clean the MAF but I managed to get some air flow meter spray cleaner , sadly it did not sort mine , I fitted the US MAF today and it's a little better but is still got a slight miss, it's going to have to go to a diagnostic guy, local mechanic. At least he can say it's trashed or it's something as simple as a O2 sensor failure.

[AlexKzn130]

True Ultimagtr21, I guess as Bushwhacker has left ?( has he ?) I haven't been on here for a while but I do know there was a problem with one of the poor guys on here not getting his truck finished and a tow truck was needed and etc etc the guy ended up with half a job done and I think Vince had some family problems, that's all I kinow !! it sounded like a sad situation for all party's . Vince was a mine of information about the 1UZ-fe V8 and I could do with his info right now, never mind.
From what I remember of the site there was always a bit of input from him or one or two of the other Lexurf lot so to say, perhaps they have all sold them on , I saw one of his engine swapped jobs on ebay a while back , same colour red as yours and Vince's , had the Lexus LS engine , big tyres etc etc. was being advertised from Reading I think.

Well done Alex , I was not sure if it's great idea to clean the MAF but I managed to get some air flow meter spray cleaner , sadly it did not sort mine , I fitted the US MAF today and it's a little better but is still got a slight miss, it's going to have to go to a diagnostic guy, local mechanic. At least he can say it's trashed or it's something as simple as a O2 sensor failure.

Yea I haven't got a clue what's happened to vince but something is going on, he doesn't even answer his phone.
Some of the v8 owners on here have been a great help thankfully

Let us know what the mechanic says

[Ultimagtr21]

It'll be interesting to find out what the cause of your misfire is - almost certainly electrical - so you've established that with a certain HT lead disconnected there is no difference ( those particular 4 cylinders aren't firing ) and with the other one disconnected it fails to start ( meaning that those 4 cylinders are firing fine.
As you said it looks like coil for that group or something that controls those 4 cylinders. Where is the ecu positioned? hows it mounted? Have you opened it up and looked at components? Anything obvious burnt out? Although failing ecu normally affects fuelling on all cylinders - may be wrong.
There is only one MAF, yes? so this controls the air/fuel ratio for all 8 cylinders?
I may be wrong - just thinking out load and logically. So highly unlikely to be this.
Have you joined Lextreme? loads of info and people who can help on there.
I haven't got into the electrical/ECU side of the 1uz-fe yet.
Be also interested in how the mpg on Alex's truck comes on with the air flow meter clean and also re-gearing. Speaking to a guy yesterday with a 1998 Mitsibushi Pajero Evolution that had just been imported ( mint) V6 petrol. Running perfect - it does 11mpg! think he's got a lead foot!
Regarding the Vince situation ( can't comment on what happened to the other guy's truck ) but this is quick recap on what went on with mine and probably why he disappeared from here ( his choice )
He had mine for conversion, He told me it was ready for collection. Collected, drove it home. Things started leaking so I started looking it over. The more I looked, the more poor work I discovered. I put it to him ( a list of things I thought were badly done ) . No response. Put it to him again - a few times, no response. Eventually he replied. There was no apology, no offer to make good, no response on how to move forward on this. All I got was " I don't know what to say really". Unfairly treated I think. I gave him chance to put over his side. No comments. He started a build thread ( not many pictures like he had done with the other builds ) Then he deleted the whole build thread. When questioned, responded " having a photobucket tidy up and must have deleted some pics"! Yeah right. He said he would do another build thread - never happened.
I posted descriptions and pictures of my truck conversion on here and he disappears from here and deletes his parts list etc. Yes, he's entitled to do that if he so wishes, but if he'd offered to make amends sooner then I wouldn't have put pics on here. Eventually he offered some recompense to put some of the things right. Still waiting for this. From all my emails to him,(gave up with the phone!) the only 3, responsive mails I get back from him were, "I don't know what to say really" and " I only reply when it's convenient" (downright ignorant and rude in my opinion) and " Are you looking for some kind of compensation?" Which I'm still waiting for.
If that was me doing work for someone, I'd be doing anything I could to make amends and put right any issues. Sorry if it sounds like I'm ranting, but just putting you in the picture of why he's not on here.

[AlexKzn130]

interesting

yes i've heard similar from others

sad times

[3 LIONS]

wow that sounds not good at all, I did read the other post about the guy who had to go and collect the truck half done, you had a rough deal there Ultimagtr21, is it all sorted now? your truck I mean not the relationship with Vince.
I had another look at the plugs yesterday and though they look a bit black tested a couple and they spark ok ,BUT as I was looking at them I moved number 8 cylinder HT lead while taking off one of the other HT leads and found a massive gouge in the insulation that seems to have gone through into the silver paper bit of the no 8 MAGNICORE lead that I paid over 160 squid for when the conversion was done. It looks as though this could cause the no 8 cylinder to not fire or fire now and then . no 3 cylinder had the same but not as deep, it looks as though they have been rubbed by the cam pulley, my HT lead holder on the top of the pulley that keeps the leads out of the way broke about 3 years ago and I guess unless I get them just right one or two have dropped a bit and the pulley has worn through the insulation and into even the core (the holder broke because the MAG HT leads are so thick compared to the standard. I got the blue 8.5 mm ones), will have to rig something up that keeps any new ones up away from the pulley, I would do away with the cover if I wasn't worried about shit getting down in there.
Yes I had a look on Lextreme, it's quite a informative site isn't it, lots of how to sections.
Alex, I hope you manage to get your mpg up to a economical level, by the way did either of you cut off the big useless bit of plastic that hangs under the air intake pipe , it's like a un-used box that obscures the plug leads on the left bank ? perhaps you both have that custom silicone pipe bend you can buy on ebay like the street racers use, if so is it worth getting ?
Will try to test the dodgy leads for 0hms resistance now, should have done that first I guess, story of my life like, buying shit I didn't need to, ha ha ha .
I'l let you know how it went. Thanks for the input guys.

forgot to add my ECU is under the carpet in the passenger foot well , no one has stood on it as most of my family are too ashamed to get in the thing and I don't 4 wheel it on the lanes , also I would be dubious about even attempting to open one up. I did manage to change the disc drive in my kids PS3 and that was about as confused as I can manage electrical wise. So no I have not looked into the ECU, are they expensive second hand ?

[AlexKzn130]

Alex, I hope you manage to get your mpg up to a economical level, by the way did either of you cut off the big useless bit of plastic that hangs under the air intake pipe ?
Will try to test the dodgy leads for 0hms resistance now

i dont recall seeing this piece of plastic, the oem spec ht leads state ohm reading should not be more than 25, i think leads like magnacore have really low resistance something around the 1-2 mark