Mr Ponkerson

Might be worth clearing the code and run for a bit and see. Could well be a duff sensor or bad connectors.

first thing I'd suggest checking would be vacuum leaks and spark - plugs, leads, coils, dizzy caps. There are loads of things it could be, but these are probably the simplest and most obvious places to start. I had a similar issue with a mk3 ls400 and went through lots of things - turned out to be dizzy caps and a coil. It started intermittent for me, but ended up constant.

Hi folks, as my mk3 is my daily and I live just west of Edinburgh, I thought a set of winters may be prudent (I'm self employed so snow days aren't really an option). I have just bought a cheap set of standard wheels so am now looking to get the rubber to go round them. There seems to be an awful lot of choice and a vast array of prices, so I was just wondering who here has had 1st hand experience of running winters on a large rwd car and any recommendations/avoids like the plague. My priority will be grip in snow - there's a slope up to my house and down to the gym I work in.

Sorted! In the interest of completion for any future searches (a lot of threads I found had no conclusion), the issue turned out to be knackered dizzy caps. This also took out one of the coils so they've been replaced too. Happy man!

I'd love this (big fan of rat/survival style bikes - have "built" a couple for commuting on, not as extreme as this though). it would have to be about 2k cheaper to be worth a punt IMO. Change the passenger window, get rid of the skulls and I'd be happy.

Thanks chap, I haven't as yet - I've been using the wire across the obd terminal trick. The lad that's working on it has a work mate who thinks he may have an old reader at home so they're going to try that. I may have to bite the bullet and take it to Lexus for a reading though as I believe most obd readers can't read the old pre-obd2 Lexuses (lexi, lexopodes? Not sure what the group noun is). I'm fortunate in having a very helpful client who doesn't use his car much and, as such, lends me it Mon-fri. I'm starting to feel like I'm taking the P now though.

Thank you again sir - one more for the list and some more hope for future barging.

Thanks for the advice chap, I'll give them a bell after I get confirmation on whether my "the man" has found anything in the wiring or injectors.

well, sensors did naff all and the TPS adjustment just made the revs go way too high or low apparently. Boot wiring and general wiring check next. Still runs much better before it warms up apparently. Time to start shopping for something else though methinks

Yep - getting both checked and done. I'm also going to.put a list together of.other possibilities: Coils (doubtful as I unplugged one today and the revs dropped significantly, but worth checking) TPS IAC wires behind left hand boot lever Injectors Maf (although if it's unplugged the car stalls) Cooked and blocked cats Lack of sacrifices to the LS god Feel free to suggest anything you think I may have missed. Biggest frustration is the lack of CEL and/or codes

Thanks, am getting both sensors done on Wednesday

Cheers guys, had a full service done (maybe not fuel filter though, will check). Goes better at part throttle and higher revs, so will look at fuel filter too. Using the old wire across obd terminal trick and reading flashes on dash. The reason for coolant thinking is the gauge barely works (sometimes not at all). It's never really worked, only occasiinally coming off the bottom and never much below the lowest gauge line. The car wasll ok before the service with a slight misfire every 10-20secs while idling, things started going really funny a week or so after the service.

Just to add to the above, ecu now in - still rough idle (that gets worse as it warms up) and really hesitant and misfiry under load (if I bury the throttle it just bogs down at about 1500rpm). No error codes bar the battery one for abs (code 41). Starting to get really fed up and might just scrap the thing as I'm getting fed up of under 15mpg and spending money on non-fixes.

My 97 mk3 ls400 is still running like poop. Just had the capacitors replaced in the ecu, but have a feeling this will not resolve the issue. My next port of call will be the above as it runs much worse once warm (vacuum pipes checked, new plugs n leads, throttle body cleaned, exhaust fixed, maf unplugged to check - stalls) My question is, are normal motor factor parts like ecp good enough or are they really an oem replacement only option.

Thanks guys, I'll pass this on (and will recheck engine codes)