1998 Lx470 Stalling Out

[tpham18nm]

I recently bought a used 1998 LX470 with 176,000 miles on it. Long story short, I always wanted an Lx470/100 series, but this one is really starting to disappoint me. I owned this unit for about 1 month and put 2000 miles on it. This week in the morning I heard a terribly loud tick which I believe was the tensioner pulley, I replaced that and the noise went away (as far as I can tell). There's a new squeak in it and I think that's the idler pulley, so I'm going to change that out.

The next day I took it out rock climbing which is a 2 hour drive away from home. The engine made a thud on the highway and when I stopped at a red light, the truck stalled out. I had to turn around, 30 minutes away to get it back home. Once I got it into the neighborhood, it was stalling out while turning and when stopping. I have to put it in neutral, put my foot on the gas, and crank it on. Its extremely dangerous turning the thing, especially in traffic with the engine stalled. I am pretty unhappy with my purchase. I just think I had the idea that these things were super reliable, but not this one. I ended up parking it outside my house and taking out my retired daily driver, the Nissan Frontier with over 200k on it. I owned the Nissan since day 1 and it's never left me like the LX.

Apologies for the rant, I'm just disappointed that I bought my dream truck after 8 years of lurking and it's bringing me lots of problems in the short time frame that I owned it. Please see my Youtube video of the symptoms. I believe it's the TPS. I triple-checked my work on the serpentine belt, it looks fine, so I don't believe the issue is related. Please share your opinions. After I fix this problem, I think I'm going to sell the truck....

 

[tpham18nm]

The previous owner replaced the Fuel pump, fuel filter, fuse box, and starter. The note said, "owner complained difficult start". This was done at around 170000 miles I believe.

 

[kevgentile]

If you're interested in diy then you'll need to get yourself fitted with a volt meter and Techstream or another suitable diagnostic device that can read live data. Could be a loose ground or connector. Data doesn't lie.

 

[tpham18nm]

I checked the grounds, changed the MAF to an aftermarket one, then changed it to one off of my Tacoma, and then back to the original one. Nothing worked. Perhaps it is a lose ground that I am missing, I looked at all the ones in the engine bay and everything seems to be in place. I'll look at the grounds around the frame later today. The battery is new, so I don't think it has anything to do with that. Still, no codes are showing.

I also cleaned the TB, double-checked the hoses off of the intake that I pulled to get to the serpentine belt, all looks good. The truck always cranks up, it just stalls when I come to a stop or slow down (even if I don't have my foot on the brake). I ran it without a gas cap, no luck.

Any other ideas?

 

[nissanh]

Any history of fuel filter?
If the engine stalls only after engine is warmed up, could be a bad fuel pump.

 

[tpham18nm]

Any history of fuel filter?
If the engine stalls only after engine is warmed up, could be a bad fuel pump.

It stalls hot or cold. And yes. I have paperwork that the fuel pump and fuel filter have been replaced at 170,000 miles. I am unsure on the brand. I checked the ignition fuse under the driver side and it's good.

 

[cruisin4bruisins]

Something similar actually happened with my 2003 Honda pilot strangely enough. Turned out the alternator was bad and wasn't getting enough juice to the battery, it was also very noisy because the bearing was failing on the alternator and would occasionally clunk and pop. It eventually stalled twice on me, once while driving 70mpg down the highway and other time I was in traffic. I would find a way to get it tested or replace with a cheap unit and see what happens. Good luck to you and i hope you get it resolved dont give up

 

[medtro]

The battery is new, so I don't think it has anything to do with that. Still, no codes are showing.

When was the battery installed? Same happened to me after I installed a new battery. It stalled about 5 times (liked in your video and at traffic lights). However I also have other 100 that doesn't have this issue with new battery.

 

[tpham18nm]

Something similar actually happened with my 2003 Honda pilot strangely enough. Turned out the alternator was bad and wasn't getting enough juice to the battery, it was also very noisy because the bearing was failing on the alternator and would occasionally clunk and pop. It eventually stalled twice on me, once while driving 70mpg down the highway and other time I was in traffic. I would find a way to get it tested or replace with a cheap unit and see what happens. Good luck to you and i hope you get it resolved dont give up

Thank you for that. If I put a multimeter on the battery, with the vehicle turned on, it should be around 14.2v-14.7v. With an electrical load it should be above 12.6v; ideally around 13.9 with headlights, radio, AC, on. Is this a good way to check it?

My friend has a diag tool/techstream. He's not going to get back until later this week though. Maybe that'll give me more information. I'm afraid its gonna be something big, like an ECU.

 

[tpham18nm]

When was the battery installed? Same happened to me after I installed a new battery. It stalled about 5 times (liked in your video and at traffic lights). However I also have other 100 that doesn't have this issue with new battery.

The new battery was installed roughly 164,000-171,000. It was shown on the paper work from the previous owners. I have a new battery on my Tacoma which is attached to a battery tender. Should I swap them out to check?

 

[cruisin4bruisins]

Thank you for that. If I put a multimeter on the battery, with the vehicle turned on, it should be around 14.2v-14.7v. With an electrical load it should be above 12.6v; ideally around 13.9 with headlights, radio, AC, on. Is this a good way to check it?

My friend has a diag tool/techstream. He's not going to get back until later this week though. Maybe that'll give me more information. I'm afraid its gonna be something big, like an ECU.

yes i think your estimates are correct. I would test it three ways.
first way let it run idly but put as much load as possible (Plug your phone in, blast the radio, lights on, etc) then see if voltage drops or if it stays steady.

second way, car off, no load on the car at all, put a tester on the battery see if its good, you never know could be a bad battery or maybe a constant drain you are unaware of.

third test figure out a way to test the voltage while driving and full load on the battery. You might be driving and all of the sudden voltage slowly starts going down until you stall. electronics can be weird sometimes

 

[medtro]

The new battery was installed roughly 164,000-171,000. It was shown on the paper work from the previous owners. I have a new battery on my Tacoma which is attached to a battery tender. Should I swap them out to check?

Probably a good idea for elimination test.

 

[tpham18nm]

yes i think your estimates are correct. I would test it three ways.
first way let it run idly but put as much load as possible (Plug your phone in, blast the radio, lights on, etc) then see if voltage drops or if it stays steady.

second way, car off, no load on the car at all, put a tester on the battery see if its good, you never know could be a bad battery or maybe a constant drain you are unaware of.

third test figure out a way to test the voltage while driving and full load on the battery. You might be driving and all of the sudden voltage slowly starts going down until you stall. electronics can be weird sometimes

I'll go ahead and perform these tests and report back.

After I will swap it out with a new battery and see if that helps. Talk to you all soon

 

[BullElk]

It seems that fuel pumps can be very sensative to battery voltage.

 

[Kamran Khan]

Remove the drive belt and rotate all the pulleys by hand, it could be a frozen pulley that stalls out your car's engine. Maybe the AC compressor pulley is frozen.

 

[Mike NXP]

I recently bought a used 1998 LX470 with 176,000 miles on it. Long story short, I always wanted an Lx470/100 series, but this one is really starting to disappoint me. I owned this unit for about 1 month and put 2000 miles on it. This week in the morning I heard a terribly loud tick which I believe was the tensioner pulley, I replaced that and the noise went away (as far as I can tell). There's a new squeak in it and I think that's the idler pulley, so I'm going to change that out.

The next day I took it out rock climbing which is a 2 hour drive away from home. The engine made a thud on the highway and when I stopped at a red light, the truck stalled out. I had to turn around, 30 minutes away to get it back home. Once I got it into the neighborhood, it was stalling out while turning and when stopping. I have to put it in neutral, put my foot on the gas, and crank it on. Its extremely dangerous turning the thing, especially in traffic with the engine stalled. I am pretty unhappy with my purchase. I just think I had the idea that these things were super reliable, but not this one. I ended up parking it outside my house and taking out my retired daily driver, the Nissan Frontier with over 200k on it. I owned the Nissan since day 1 and it's never left me like the LX.

Apologies for the rant, I'm just disappointed that I bought my dream truck after 8 years of lurking and it's bringing me lots of problems in the short time frame that I owned it. Please see my Youtube video of the symptoms. I believe it's the TPS. I triple-checked my work on the serpentine belt, it looks fine, so I don't believe the issue is related. Please share your opinions. After I fix this problem, I think I'm going to sell the truck....

Don't be discouraged, but I totally get where you are coming from.

You do have a super reliable vehicle, it just needs some maintenance to get to that point. ( assuming this current issue isn't something major ) The difference being, when you buy a old Honda or something going on 200k, it's usually not worth bringing back to life and throwing money at, generally speaking. BUT The 100 series with the 2UZ is worth bringing back to life, but your piggy bank is going to be sad. If you have a solid transmission and an engine that hasn't been overheated, you are going to be OK

That nissan that you've had since day 1 is still running good because, well you've had it since day 1 and probably maintained it , unlike the joker who owner your cruiser.

You have a vehicle that is well known and supported by a huge community, we can help. Well maybe no me but I can pretend to help


So focus on the symptoms and work towards a fix:
1st, you have a squeaky idler, bad belt, or whatever. This is totally normal and it sounds like you fixed some parts and are working to fix and diagnose a new squeak. Be sure to replace with the appropriate sized idler as these changed as did the tensioner over the years. I suggest replacing the entire assembly. OK sounds like a solid plan, remove the belt, spin all idlers and figure out who is squealing, fix and move on. You may even find something is locked up causing the engine to die but probably not.

Next up:
Now you've got some other major issue happening, you're driving along hear a loud "thud" but the truck continued to drive and operate just fine? Then you pull off, hit the red light and you stall out. Weird. But you can keep bringing it to life and limping it along before dying again, hmmmmm

To be fair I didn't watch your video.

TPS sensor has been seen failing on many thread forums and you may be on to the fix. Maybe fuel pump but symptoms don't sound as common to fuel pump failure. Don't condemn things like ECU yet, common troubleshooting practice is to start simple and work your way deeper. ECU is deeper on the list of things that will fail first.

You're on the right track. Keep digging, smoke a few bongs, and soak it all in.


Let us know when you want to sell it, if it's not rusty you are still sitting in one of the best vehicles on the planet. BUT there is a lot to keep up with on this vehicle it's not the same beast as your ol' trusty Nissan

 

[tpham18nm]

Don't be discouraged, but I totally get where you are coming from.

You do have a super reliable vehicle, it just needs some maintenance to get to that point. ( assuming this current issue isn't something major ) The difference being, when you buy a old Honda or something going on 200k, it's usually not worth bringing back to life and throwing money at, generally speaking. BUT The 100 series with the 2UZ is worth bringing back to life, but your piggy bank is going to be sad. If you have a solid transmission and an engine that hasn't been overheated, you are going to be OK

That nissan that you've had since day 1 is still running good because, well you've had it since day 1 and probably maintained it , unlike the joker who owner your cruiser.

You have a vehicle that is well known and supported by a huge community, we can help. Well maybe no me but I can pretend to help


So focus on the symptoms and work towards a fix:
1st, you have a squeaky idler, bad belt, or whatever. This is totally normal and it sounds like you fixed some parts and are working to fix and diagnose a new squeak. Be sure to replace with the appropriate sized idler as these changed as did the tensioner over the years. I suggest replacing the entire assembly. OK sounds like a solid plan, remove the belt, spin all idlers and figure out who is squealing, fix and move on. You may even find something is locked up causing the engine to die but probably not.

Next up:
Now you've got some other major issue happening, you're driving along hear a loud "thud" but the truck continued to drive and operate just fine? Then you pull off, hit the red light and you stall out. Weird. But you can keep bringing it to life and limping it along before dying again, hmmmmm

To be fair I didn't watch your video.

TPS sensor has been seen failing on many thread forums and you may be on to the fix. Maybe fuel pump but symptoms don't sound as common to fuel pump failure. Don't condemn things like ECU yet, common troubleshooting practice is to start simple and work your way deeper. ECU is deeper on the list of things that will fail first.

You're on the right track. Keep digging, smoke a few bongs, and soak it all in.


Let us know when you want to sell it, if it's not rusty you are still sitting in one of the best vehicles on the planet. BUT there is a lot to keep up with on this vehicle it's not the same beast as your ol' trusty Nissan

 

[tpham18nm]

Thank you for your words of encouragement. Although I am dedicated to fix this problem, I'd be happy to pass it along to another enthusiastic member as well. I baseline the diff fluid, transfer case, transmission drain and fill, oil, I have 600$ in OEM parts for brakes, flanges, gaskets, washers, pads and front rotors, fixed 4x4 CDL light not coming on, fixed 4x4 lo sensor. I listed it for 13800, but happy to sell to any MUD member for a 9000 cash. Rash decision, but it is what it is.

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In the meantime, I'm going to find out what's causing this problem sooner or later.

 

[Mike NXP]

Thank you for your words of encouragement. Although I am dedicated to fix this problem, I'd be happy to pass it along to another enthusiastic member as well. I baseline the diff fluid, transfer case, transmission drain and fill, oil, I have 600$ in OEM parts for brakes, flanges, gaskets, washers, pads and front rotors, fixed 4x4 CDL light not coming on, fixed 4x4 lo sensor. I listed it for 13800, but happy to sell to any MUD member for a 9000 cash. Rash decision, but it is what it is.

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In the meantime, I'm going to find out what's causing this problem sooner or later.

Sometimes, especially in business, it's makes sense to just call it quits rather then continuing to push forward.

All good, no big deal. Folks are on here to help try to fix your current issue and I would expect at under $10k , more if running, you will be able to get it sold.

 

[rexington14]

These are solid vehicles, as solid as they get. The reality is that at this point they are just old. Even if you buy a "clean" one - it's old.

I agree with MikeNXP that as long as it's not rusted it's worthwhile to bring back to life - by the right minded individual (with cash, haha).

Even in the case of a catastrophic overheat many will keep it going with an engine swap or rebuild. Any other vehicle would go to the crusher.

In general I've found that "maintenance" - DIY'ing / base-lining / learning / researching / troubleshooting / repairing - is an integral part of the 100 series ownership experience. If you don't accept this and embrace it as part of the game - you will get frustrated and move on, and that's ok.