Help. Missfire And 320 Miles From Home.

[sir john]

i got within 5 miles of my destination (315 miles from home) when the engine missfired. One of those you feel through the car like its just stopped for a split second. The petrol light had been on for about 10 miles. Straight round to Tescos for a fill up. Standard fuel not the premium stuff. Within a mile or 2 the engine management light came on. When i got to where i am staying it was still on. Engine turned off and then straight back on again and no engine management light. Since then its been coming on after a mile or 2 and staying on. Its also misfired a handfull of times. Again, quite big sudden missfires.

Any ideas? Im thinking of a trip to Halfords for some Redex until i can get home and check all the ignition components.

[Nitmoi]

I always use Tesco 95 and there are no problems with mine.

[steve2006]

Borrow a paper clip and pull the codes 1st then let us know the results.

There again get the rescue service out if they can't fix on the spot get them to take you home and save £80.00 in petrol.

[sir john]

Borrow a paper clip and pull the codes 1st then let us know the results.

There again get the rescue service out if they can't fix on the spot get them to take you home and save £80.00 in petrol.

"Borrow a paper clip and pull the codes 1st"?

I like the other suggestion though. Problem is I will have a rhodesian ridgeback, 4 young geese and the wife in the car with me. The AA man might not like having my wife in the cab with him. Sorry, I mean the geese.

[jeastham]

Two things you can do with minimal tools....

[a] Find the diagnostic socket beneath the steering wheel. Mine (a 96 mk3) is white and circular. Short pins TE and E, which should be bottom-right, and two to the left of bottom-right. Turn ignition on, and count the amount of times the engine light on the console flashes (It will flash x times, pause, then flash y times for each fault code stored).

In my case, I had :

1 flash, pause, 4 flashes, longer pause, 1 flash, pause, 5 flashes, longer pause, 2 flashes, pause, 7 flashes, longest pause, before repeating the entire sequence. This signified error codes 14, 15 and 27.

Post your fault code(s)

Find the two igniter units, mounted near the O/S/F suspension turret. If the wiring will reach; move the wiring from the top igniter to the bottom, and vice-versa. If the wiring won't reach, you'll have to remove the igniter bracket, and physically swap the igniters in the bracket.

That's about all I can suggest without adequate tools and a multi-meter.

HTH

Justin

[steve2006]

Borrow a paper clip and pull the codes 1st then let us know the results.

There again get the rescue service out if they can't fix on the spot get them to take you home and save £80.00 in petrol.

"Borrow a paper clip and pull the codes 1st"?

I like the other suggestion though. Problem is I will have a rhodesian ridgeback, 4 young geese and the wife in the car with me. The AA man might like having my wife in the cab with him. Sorry, I mean the geese.

Code reading on a 1993 LS400 something you can do fairly easily "with a paper clip" to short the pins, once you have them look on the list provided on the link and this should help diagnose the problem.

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/intro/codereading.html

[Mybikesacx500]

Borrow a paper clip and pull the codes 1st then let us know the results.

There again get the rescue service out if they can't fix on the spot get them to take you home and save £80.00 in petrol.

"Borrow a paper clip and pull the codes 1st"?

I like the other suggestion though. Problem is I will have a rhodesian ridgeback, 4 young geese and the wife in the car with me. The AA man might like having my wife in the cab with him. Sorry, I mean the geese.

Code reading on a 1993 LS400 something you can do fairly easily "with a paper clip" to short the pins, once you have them look on the list provided on the link and this should help diagnose the problem.

http://www.lexls.com...odereading.html

There is a second diagnostics port on top of the engine, Battery side. I find it much easier to get to than the one below the steering wheel

[sir john]

Thats brilliant. and thank for the tips. We managed to get back under our own steam. Engine management light on all the way and a few missfires, mostly on the over run and up hills. Only 2 accidents in front of us on the A14 added 4 hours to the journey.

At work now but will try the paper clip later. My gut feeling is weak ignition not igniting all the fuel.

Tip for all Lexus owners: dont transport 4 young geese in your Lexus, over 320 miles, for 9 and a half hours on the hottest day of the year.

[sir john]

Well impressed with that! Paper clip too thin but bit of wire from old washing machine is made for the job.

Faults 13, RPM Signal #2 and 25, Air-fuel ratio lean malfunction.

Any ideas of what to change first?

And where are the disi caps? betting that they are shot along with rota arms.

Cheers

[jeastham]

Well impressed with that! Paper clip too thin but bit of wire from old washing machine is made for the job.

Faults 13, RPM Signal #2 and 25, Air-fuel ratio lean malfunction.

Any ideas of what to change first?

And where are the disi caps? betting that they are shot along with rota arms.

Cheers

RPM signal comes from Ignitor #1 (with 5 wires going to it).

Try swapping the Ignitors round; worked for me.

Justin

[sir john]

Well impressed with that! Paper clip too thin but bit of wire from old washing machine is made for the job.

Faults 13, RPM Signal #2 and 25, Air-fuel ratio lean malfunction.

Any ideas of what to change first?

And where are the disi caps? betting that they are shot along with rota arms.

Cheers

RPM signal comes from Ignitor #1 (with 5 wires going to it).

Try swapping the Ignitors round; worked for me.

Justin

What are the ignitors? I havent come accross this before.

By the way i have ordered new disi caps and rotas. £32.50. magic.