Starting Issue

[michael300]

Hello, I bought a lexus is300 on friday (was sercived about 500 miles ago), this morning it took a bit longer to start it but once started runs very smooth and nice, now i went out at lunch today, after 4 hours i finished work and left to move it upto to the front door of work becuase i was polishing my headlight lenses. Struggled again to start, i had the bonnet open and noticed this metal pipe with no hose on each side....see pics....it runs underneth the cam cover.....

and i noticed that 2 pipe inlets on the inlet manifold were blanked off, is this fine or should i restore it ?

Should i wait for the dash lights to clear before starting maybe ?

[noby76]

Hi Michael, i was told the metal piping was for boosting(Turbo) dont ask what it does exactly as i have no idead at the moment but the 2JZ engine was primarily designed by Toyota with Turboing in mind. I have the same piping on mine too. and yeh best to turn on ignition wait for dash lights to go off before cranking. you are not alone with regards to the starting problems i get it from time to time and i think Panya on here does too. dont know if an ECU flash or upgrade will resolve it but to my knowledge, there are no records of Lexus recalling IS300's for these symtoms when the model was released in 2001 but i might be wrong. and even changing Battery and spark plugs to Toyota ones wont cure it and i have already done these. I noticed a huge improvement after switching to high octane fuel and after running the fuel in for a day or two the car starts first time everytime regardless of how cold the weather is or how long the car has been left sitting. Panya also confirmed an improvement after switching to high octane stuff so that means i wasnt seeing things.

[michael300]

hey noby, oh really that would explain it but why have it there in the first place anyway but that could be the over the top jap way of things. I think im going to check all the connections, even tho its had a service recently, im still going to check things. I read quite a few other posts and alot of people said about the Battery and alternator causing problems. At the moment i have normal unleaded in the car, i will try some high octane in there next week but its so expensive and burns quicker. It could be the nature of the spark plugs needing that extra octane to fire up, so maybe some reseach into other plugs...

[noby76]

yeh you might be right, but definately not Battery related as I am running brand new Toyota batteries and the problem was still there. worthc checking your alternator to see if its holding charge ok but trust me if alternator was faulty, your Battery would have died by now..high octane is pricey as you confirmed but i have noticed it burns as normal unleaded if not floored. regarding plugs either Toyota or NGK's are recommended and nothing else. not even Bosch plugs can work in this engine as the engines is quiet fussy to which plugs its fed with. otherwise you will end up with misfire and ignition coil issues..

and regarding the piping being there, Jap car companies tend to detune thier cars from factory and leave room for enthusiasts to mod and the IS300/Aletezza RS200 engines came detuned but bits were already ready to take mods if you decided to take it there. maybe some one else can double confirm this but i was told those piping connectors were for boost.

[michael300]

ok i will check the alternator today with a multimeter, ill have to check the plugs at the weekend and reply back then with the results. I spose thats good about the turbo part, what about other stuff like will the internals take a turbo and the ecu ?

thanks noby for all the help :)

[noby76]

from what i have read off the internet and the US forums, the stock engine should be good for between 300 - 500 bhp reliable everyday car if done properly without changing cams, pistons, conrods and valves. but obviosly the higher you push the boost PSI, the more rigid parts upgrade you will need. I personally recon 400bhp should be enough for any one looking to boost the IS300. even if the Turbo parts and brake upgrades takes the weight of the car from 1500kg to say 1580kg, thats still a power to weight figure of 253bhp per ton the 5 litre V8 IS-F has 247bhp per ton power to weight. so the boosted IS300 will match it in every way. the Auto gearbox in stock form can handle upto 325bhp rear wheel horse power but will need valve body and transmission cooler upgrade to take anymore power. I havent done any of this just info i gathered from the net. see below link from SRT tuners in US regarding how much bhp you can make from the stock motor. you will need a standalone ECU to run the boost aswell and all is included in thier price. if interested best to phone them and ask if it will fit a right hand drive IS300.

http://www.swiftracing.com/SRT/item.aspx?id=10&u=2000005

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

My 200 struggled to start a few times. Filled it with high octane, Ran 3 tanks of it about 900 miles and it's never struggled since. I now use a tank of high octane every third re fill. My car always fires up instantly now :)

[michael300]

lots of info there, so the 2jz can be turbo'd on stock internals, ive been told by a few ppl that theres not enough compression for a turbo upgrade. To be honest im only looking for 300 - 350bhp, Can the supra/soarer turbo parts be used, i imagine their a straight fit to the manifold and inlet ?

As for the weight to power ratio of the IS-F, pretty good upgrade for the IS300 :D

[matt-c]

Please, whatever you do, don't take tuning advice from noby. Take it from a professional or at least someone that has actually done the type of tuning you're thinking about. I'd hate you to wreck your car because you listened to the wrong person....

[noby76]

@matt

Here we go again.. but will i give you that attention you yearn? NO.

@Michael

keeping this thread on topic for you, just go onto http://my.is/ forumn and most guys are running IS300 2JZ-GE with boost. the stock 10.5:1 compression ratio from factory is too high if you boosting so will need to be dropped to about 8.0:1 or 8.5:1 to be on the safe side but as i confirmed mate give Swift Racing tuners in US a ring and hear it from the horses mouth if what I said in post number 6 is bull crap from guys on the US forumns, SRT tuners know thier stuff when it comes to boosting and most of them are running thier parts. if they confirm the 2JZ-GE can take boost on stock internals then you are on your way...

have a read through this michael

http://forum.clubna-t.com/showthread.php?t=10

[michael300]

ok i had a quick read, very helpful indeed. Seems like alot of money and hassel but worth it if i was going for 400bhp but as i dont want it over 350bhp! Maybe just buy better engine parts to get upto 300bhp....

[michael300]

Still happening, put in £40 of super in on sat lunch, drove and started fine that day, went to drive it home about an hour ago, was even worse than before, just kept kicking over for about 10 secs till it started. volt meter still reads 14v on running and 12v when turning it over.. should i give it a bit longer for the super to get the normal unleaded out ?

[noby76]

Yeh see how it does on the super stuff but if no luck then spark plugs might need inspecting to see if they due new ones. not sure if resetting the ECU would help but worth a try. to do this, unplug your negative Battery for about 20-30mins and replug back in again.

[michael300]

yeah, i think its got to be the plugs or iginition coil, i might take the afternoon off to check it over, i have a service stamp a 1000 miles ago but i dont know where it was serviced. i kind hope it has the wrong plugs so its an easy fix.

[michael300]

just an update, i had a good look at the tops of the coils and at 1 spark plug, they dont look like they have been changed in awhile, so going to take them all out at the weekend and i phoned lexus today.. £60 for spark plugs and £133 for coil packs! dam thats expensive little coils!

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

£60 is a good price for plugs. That's for all 6 right? That's what I paid from eBay.

£113 per coil? That's disgusting! IanS200 had some for sale for about £20 each I think a while back.

[michael300]

i think that the spark plugs price is ok and £133 is for all 3 coil packs, still expensive tho,

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Coil packs got cheaper from lexus then. I got quoted £90 per coil!