Applications Lexus 1UZ-FE
Verified on the variant named in the note. Still set offset with a timing light on this car before enabling fuel.
Lexus / Toyota 1UZ-FE
Toyota’s 4.0 L all-aluminium V8. Two trigger families: 12-tooth crank on early engines, 36-2 plus VVT-i from 1998. Race Core F7 is the only Core platform with eight sequential injector drivers and eight logic coils.
Recommended: Race Core F7. Sequential fuel and COP need eight injector and eight ignition pins. Factory twin-distributor engines can run wasted-spark on Ign 1 and Ign 2, but most swaps convert to logic COP. Dual ETB or the factory 6-wire stepper occupies both H-bridges — pick one.
- Cylinders: 8
- Displacement: 3969 (1UZ) · 4663 (2UZ) · 4292 (3UZ) cc
- Firing order: 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2
- Orientation: 1, 3, 5, 7 left bank from the driver’s seat. Cylinder 1 front-left.
Variants
| Variant | Years | Trigger | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1UZ-FE non-VVT-i | 1989–1997 | 12-tooth crank VR + 1-tooth cam VR | Twin distributors, two coils, 6-wire bipolar stepper, cable throttle. Soarer UZZ30/31, Celsior, LS400, SC400, Crown. |
| 1UZ-FE VVT-i | 1998–2000 | 36-2 crank VR + 3-tooth cam (UZ decoder) | Intake VVT-i both banks. Some ETCS-i. Sequential injection from factory. |
| 2UZ-FE | 1998-on | 36-2 + 3-tooth cam | 4.7 L truck. Often COP. Land Cruiser, 4Runner, Tundra, GX/LX 470. |
| 3UZ-FE | 2001-on | 36-2 + 3-tooth cam | 4.3 L. COP + DBW. GS430 / SC430 / LS430. |
Recommended pin assignment (Race Core F7)
| Pin | TunerStudio | Function |
|---|---|---|
| B5 / B13 | VR 1+ / VR 1− | Crank VR |
| B4 / B12 | VR 2+ / VR 2− | Cam VR |
| A3 | Lowside 1 | Injector cylinder 1 |
| A15 | Lowside 2 | Injector cylinder 2 |
| A4 | Lowside 3 | Injector cylinder 3 |
| A16 | Lowside 4 | Injector cylinder 4 |
| A5 | Lowside 5 | Injector cylinder 5 |
| A6 | Lowside 6 | Injector cylinder 6 |
| A7 | Lowside 7 | Injector cylinder 7 |
| A19 | Lowside 8 | Injector cylinder 8 |
| A35 | Ign 1 | Cyl 1 logic COP (or Ign 1–2 to factory distributors) |
| A34 | Ign 2 | Cyl 2 logic COP (or Ign 1–2 to factory distributors) |
| A22 | Ign 3 | Cyl 3 logic COP (or Ign 1–2 to factory distributors) |
| A33 | Ign 4 | Cyl 4 logic COP (or Ign 1–2 to factory distributors) |
| A32 | Ign 5 | Cyl 5 logic COP (or Ign 1–2 to factory distributors) |
| A31 | Ign 6 | Cyl 6 logic COP (or Ign 1–2 to factory distributors) |
| A30 | Ign 7 | Cyl 7 logic COP (or Ign 1–2 to factory distributors) |
| A29 | Ign 8 | Cyl 8 logic COP (or Ign 1–2 to factory distributors) |
| C20 | Analog Temp 3 | CLT |
| C30 | Analog Temp 2 | IAT |
| C13 | Analog Volt 1 | MAP 0–5 V |
| C24 | Analog Volt 2 | TPS 1 |
| C34 | Knock 1 | Knock bank 1 |
| C35 | Knock 2 | Knock bank 2 |
| A20 | Lowside 10 | Fuel-pump relay coil |
| A21 | Lowside 12 | Main-relay coil |
| A12 | Lowside 15 | Radiator-fan relay coil |
| B7/B6 + B15/B8 | ETB 1 ± / ETB 2 ± | Factory 6-wire stepper — or ETB 1 for DBW, not both |
| A2 | Highside 1 | VVT-i bank 1 (intake, VVT-i engines) |
| A1 | Highside 2 | VVT-i bank 2 |
| B17 / B16 | CAN 1 H / L | Dash / wideband |
| B18 | Battery Sense | Ignition-switched 12 V (5 A fuse) |
| B23 | +12 V MR | Main-relay 12 V into ECU |
| A17 A18 A24 B14 B19 B20 | Power GND | Engine block → battery − |
| C9 / C21 / C32 | 5 V Sens 1 | MAP, TPS 1, pedal 1 |
| C1–C8, C29, C31 | Sensor GND | All 0–5 V and thermistor returns |
Trigger
Treat early and VVT-i engines as different cars. The 12-tooth crank has no missing tooth, so sequential injection needs the cam. The VVT-i 36-2 is a normal missing-tooth crank; the cam uses the Toyota 3-tooth UZ decoder, not the 2JZ 3-tooth decoder.
Crank
| Early (’89–’97) | 12-tooth reluctor on the crank, VR, two-wire. No missing tooth. |
| VVT-i / 2UZ / 3UZ | 36-2 on the crank, VR. |
| Location | Crank sensor at the front timing cover, passenger-side on most longitudinal installs. |
| Wiring | VR+ → B5, VR− → B13. Shield to sensor ground at the ECU end only. |
Cam
| Early | Single tooth (G2) VR. Required for sequential and cylinder identification. |
| VVT-i | 3-tooth cam. TunerStudio cam/VVT mode: Toyota 3-tooth UZ (TOYOTA_3_TOOTH_UZ). Do not pick VVT Toyota 3-tooth (2JZ). |
| Wiring | VR cam → B4 / B12. Hall conversion: Digital 2 (B1), 12 V or 5 V per the sensor. |
TunerStudio
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Trigger / wheel type | Early: 12-tooth crank + single-tooth cam. VVT-i: 36-2 + Toyota 3-tooth UZ |
| Use only rising edge | Yes on MAX992x VR (typical) |
| Invert primary | No — swap VR+ / VR− first if the gap is inverted |
| Cam as VVT input | Yes when the cam is used for sequential or VVT |
| Firing order | 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 |
| Trigger offset | Confirm with a timing light. 12-tooth family often lands near 60–90° — do not copy a 2JZ 65° blindly. |
Offset: Lock 10° cranking spark, light on cylinder 1, move offset until the damper agrees. Recheck at 3,000 rpm.
- On MAX992x VR a correct missing-tooth is one long gap, not a long-low then long-high pair. Swap VR+ / VR− if inverted.
- Twin-distributor engines: cam still wanted if you convert to sequential COP.
Injection
High-impedance port injectors. Early 1UZ is batched 1+7, 2+8, 3+5, 4+6 in the OEM loom — cut the pairs if you want sequential. VVT-i, 2UZ and 3UZ are sequential from the factory.
| Impedance | High-Z (~12–16 Ω). Race Core low-sides are saturated only. |
| OEM flow | 1UZ ~190–240 cc/min at OEM pressure. Measure; do not trust a forum number for required-fuel. |
| Mode | Sequential, one low-side per cylinder, cam sync required on the 12-tooth crank. |
| Dead time | Start ~0.7–0.9 ms at 14 V for a typical Denso high-Z; confirm on a flow bench or by pulse-width vs AFR at idle. |
Ignition
Factory early engines fire two coils through two distributors (Ign 1 bank 1, Ign 2 bank 2). Race Core logic outputs will not drive a dumb coil negative. Use an igniter, or convert to Toyota 1ZZ/LS truck logic COP.
| Factory twin dizzy | Ign 1 (A35) and Ign 2 (A34) into the two igniter trigger wires. Dwell per the igniter datasheet. |
| COP conversion | Ign 1–8 in cylinder number order. Firing order is set in software. |
| Dwell | Logic COP 2.0–2.5 ms running. LS truck coils 2.5–3.0 ms. If a coil is hot after 30 s idle, dwell is too long or the 12 V/ground is poor. |
| Coil 12 V | Main-relay output, fused. Coil grounds to the head, not sensor ground. |
Idle
Non-DBW 1UZ uses a 6-wire bipolar stepper. That stepper is driven from the two H-bridges. A 3UZ / ETCS-i throttle uses ETB 1 instead. You cannot run both.
First start
- Load the matching variant configuration in TunerStudio before the harness is live — injectors and coils stay disconnected until the decoder is confirmed.
- Fuel pump fuse out. Coils unplugged or spark outputs disabled. Crank. Open Diagnostics → composite / high-speed logger.
- Confirm crank teeth are even, the missing-tooth (or named pattern) is a single clean gap, and cam is one pulse per two crank revolutions for sequential four-stroke.
- RPM during cranking should sit in the 150–350 rpm band. 0 rpm or 12,000 rpm means the decoder is lost — polarity or wheel type, not offset.
- Lock timing to a fixed 10° (idle control off). Timing light on cylinder 1. Change trigger offset until the damper agrees with 10°.
- Recheck at ~3,000 rpm. If timing walks with RPM, it is VR polarity, a delayed Hall, or the wrong decoder — not offset.
- Enable spark. Confirm a healthy burn (timing light or plug colour) with fuel still disabled.
- Enable fuel. Prime, then crank. Catch the first idle on a rich-safe VE, then lean toward stoich at idle.
- Only then enable closed-loop idle, VVT, boost and traction. A base map is a starting point, not a dyno tune.
A base map is a starting point, not a dyno tune.