Please help! Engine dies after shifting from park!

[NOSAJ]

2001 Lexus lx470. Around 240,000 miles on the clock. So on the way home stopping at a red light the truck turns off. I restart the truck and engine sounds great NO check engine lights etc. I shift into drive and engine dies. I get the truck towed home. I then do a couple of tests. I can get the truck moving only if I start it in neutral, transfer case in low, rev the engine and shift to drive quick and hit the gas. It moves fine. As soon as I come to a stop the engine dies. I have searched and there are at least 3 other old threads when this has happened to others. However, none that I found complete the threads by actually saying what the problem was. I read one post where it could be a locked up torque converter. Nothing definitive. Please help!

 

[nissanh]

How about the fuel filter? May be clogged real bad. Buy Oem if you plan to replace it.

Can you start and move on 2nd (with 2nd button pressed in on center console)?

 

[NOSAJ]

Fuel filter replaced with Oem about 2 years ago.

I’ll try with 2nd button pressed.

Engine runs great idles and revs fine.

 

[NOSAJ]

Dies with 2nd button pushed.

As soon as I shift truck from park it dies

 

[Eicca]

Not sure if this will work, but try putting it in D, engine off, and seeing if it will roll.

My theory is that in D but engine off, there’s no fluid pressure to engage the clutches, so it should roll as if in N and rule out the torque converter or not.

Also, I feel like if it was the torque converter you’d feel a pretty good jolt when switching to D with engine running, like not giving enough gas to a manual gearbox car and stalling it.

 

[12guns]

I've recently been through some throttle body sensor issues that caused my idle to go crazy. Have you ever replaced your Throttle Position Sensor? They can / do go bad from time to time. They need to be adjusted when installed. My Autozone part was garbage, but a Toyota TPS cured my problem. Have you disconnected your battery to see if things "reset"? If it's an electronic issue, that might help.
Are you able to shift with RPM's up slightly and keep it running? I'm guessing no, since it was towed...that might help rule out a mechanical / trans issue. Good luck, hope you find a solution!

 

[KillerBox]

Please advise for stall Problem Codes P0172 & P0175 - banks to rich?

I am looking for help before I shoot my LX 470!!! I purchased my 2001 LX 470 in March of 2017. The LX 470 had no known problems when I purchased it but, since I plan on keeping this LX 470 forever I took straight to my local Toyota dealership to get a baseline on all maintenance items. From...

forum.ih8mud.com

This is my write up on my 2001 LX stalling issue and the solution.

I don't know if you have a more severe stalling problem than me or if something else is going on.

My check engine light would never set and I could only read the codes while the problem was occurring.

 

[Jason YY]

Do you top off when filling up? Have you tried the fuel cap, same issue with the cap open ?

 

[NOSAJ]

Thanks guys! Yes tried to reset by disconnecting battery. Also there is only a little over 1/4 tank of gas. I also took off gas cap. Same issue. If you rev engine shift into drive from neutral you can get it going. As soon as you hit the brakes the truck acts like it wants to keep going and stalls engine and dies. If you do not rev engine and do a normal shift into gear it immediately dies.

 

[Eicca]

Try my suggestion above, and also try reading your fuel trims like in the post KillerBox shared. Bad MAF can cause really weird things.

 

[NOSAJ]

Thanks again guys for the help! So yesterday the MAF sensor read low resistance at the 70 degree temperature. I’ve got a new MAF coming today from Toyota. I’m holding my breath though. The truck still seems to want to go forward when you press the brakes. It seems like seems like something in transmission not releasing and stopping the vehicle is what kills and stalls the engine. I also talked to my transmission guy who works on some of my commercial trucks. He thinks it’s the torque converter locked up. I haven’t done the roll test in drive yet. I plan on that and new MAF this evening. We shall see...

 

[KillerBox]

Thanks again guys for the help! So yesterday the MAF sensor read low resistance at the 70 degree temperature. I’ve got a new MAF coming today from Toyota. I’m holding my breath though. The truck still seems to want to go forward when you press the brakes. It seems like seems like something in transmission not releasing and stopping the vehicle is what kills and stalls the engine. I also talked to my transmission guy who works on some of my commercial trucks. He thinks it’s the torque converter locked up. I haven’t done the roll test in drive yet. I plan on that and new MAF this evening. We shall see...

I hope it is the MAF sensor but, no matter what please update your thread to help others with a similar problem in the future.

 

[Eicca]

Interested to hear of the outcome. I’d be shocked if it was the transmission. I’ve never heard of an Aisin box having torque converter unlocking issues. That kind of stuff happens to Fords.

 

[NOSAJ]

I totally agree! I used to work at a transmission shop just doing R&R so I don’t know much about the internals, but we saw plenty of fords Dodge and Chevy’s I think I remember one Toyota the whole time I worked there.

 

[NOSAJ]

So it wasn’t the MAF. Truck rolls easy in drive or reverse with engine off. But does seem to jolt and get going if you give it gas. If I let off gas it seems to still try to pull forward then die.

 

[NOSAJ]

Ok so earlier tonight I replaced MAF and it didn’t seem to fix the problem. As soon as I shifted to drive the truck would die. I decided to wait until less traffic out later this evening. I got the truck moving by starting in neutral and shifting to drive quick with engine reving. It died a couple of times but I finally got it going with some jerking and the right amount of gas. I then learned to shift to neutral before coming to a complete stop. I then made it out to the main hwy and got the truck up to 55-70 mph watching rpm, temperature, and listening to shifting of the tranny. Truck seemed to vibrate a little at first then things smoothed out. Everything seemed good with the tranny, shifting smoothly, not slipping etc. I then came to a point to turn around and put on my brakes came to a complete stop and everything was fine. Truck was back to normal! So at this point I don’t know if it was the MAF and I didn’t give it time earlier to calibrate. Or something locked up in tranny that decided to let loose. Or something else random just waiting to reveal itself again. I’m going to test the TPS tomorrow and check its resistance. We will see...

 

[Eicca]

Did you reset the computer after replacing the MAF?

 

[wvrx]

It sounds like a torque converter issue to me in that you’re essentially killing the engine while braking because the transmission doesn’t disengage the wheels from the engine...but this may be one of the first I’ve heard of going bad.

Kind of like a manual transmission car, if you don’t disengage the clutch the car will definitely die when coming to a stop. Hopefully freeway speeds freed up whatever locking issue you had.

 

[NOSAJ]

@Eicca Do you mean disconnecting battery by resetting computer? Or something else involved? Thanks

 

[KillerBox]

I don't know what the procedure is for resetting the MAF but, my guess is it has to be reset to a certain range (since the computer was compensating for the messed up MAF) or you need to drive it for a little while to give the computer a chance to relearn the new inputs the MAF is giving it.