mrparedes

In early Aug the CEL + trac off light came on in my 2000 ES300. I took it to the local Toyota dealer and was told that they pulled codes PO171 and PO330. They said the MAF was extremely dirty so they cleaned it. No lights for @ 3 days. Returned to dealer, this time they only pulled PO330 but the tech was confident the Knock sensor was bad and it would cost $510.00 to replace. I asked where the "knock sensor" was located and why the labor cost was three times more than the part, to put it bluntly I don't think the tech even new what a "knock sensor" was. I asked what further damage could be done if I waited until I had the $ to replace the "knock sensor" and was told I could expect poor gas mileage but nothing else. Two weeks later the engine seized and locked up tighter than a drum with at least one thrown connecting rod and severe heat damage everywhere. I found a 2001 ES300 with @ 40000 mi. that had been totaled in a rear end collision and hired a localed engine exchange company to do the swap. During the test drive the CEL + trac off light came back on. I had signed on to the Lexus owners club during this time and had read all of the various "cel + trac off"posts here. Since I was near an autozone when the lights came back on I pulled in and had them pull the codes. The only pulled PO330. I talked to the mechanic that performed the engine swap and discovered that he used the old air intake assembly with the old MAF in the swap. I purchased a new MAF for $115.00 off Ebay and installed it myself. I pulled the EFI fuse to reset the codes and took it for a test drive. NO lights, yea!!. Two days later the lights came back when I was kind off cruising @ 50 mph with my foot off the gas at low rpm's when I depressed the gas pedal I could feel the engine misfire and the lights were back. They guy that did the engine swap pulled codes PO300, PO302, PO304, PO306 and PO1351. He says that he rechecked all of the spark plugs, coils, and wires and all of the vacuum hoses. But he lost my trust when he told me he had to take off the upper plennum to get at the spark plugs. When I asked why he checked the #1, 3, and 5 plugs when the codes indicated the misfires were in #2, 4 and 6 he became real defensive and assured me that the cylinders closest to the firewall were #2, 4, and 6. I finally pursueded him to look at the drawing SKperformance had posted here. After performing all the checks on the other three cylinders he decided to swap the camshaft position sensor (PO1351) and reset the ECU. No lights for a day. Now they're back and Autozone pulled the same random misfire codes. I'm totally frustrated at this point and I don't think I can trust the engine swap mechanic but since his work is covered by the warranty and the dealer wants $110.00 just to do the scan I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. HELP!!!! :cries:

Steviej and wwest: Thanks for the quick response. I don't know if the codes are the same on the new engine as they were on the old. I'll ask the tech on monday. Would the old exhaust manifold and MAF module have been used with the engine swap. My guess is that the old exhaust manifolds with the O2 sensor bank 1 sensor and the O2 bank 2 sensor 1 were used, thus the reason for the CEL / trac off problem still exsisting. I'm not sure if the old MAF module would have been used, but my guess would be no. Any thoughts?

I have a 2000 ES 300.Back in Aug the check engine + trac off light started illuminating intermittently. By the time I took it to the local toyota dealer and had them run diagnostics the lights were on all the time. They pulled codes P0171 and P0330. The tech said he found the mass air flow senor contacts were "extremely dirty", and he cleaned them thoroughly and re-ran diagnostics no problems noted. He test drove the car and everything checked out fine. Three days later I was driving on the interstate at @ 80 mph when I accelerated to pass the CEL and Trac off light came on and stayed on. I also noticed that the RPM's increased significantly indicating, at least to me, that I was no longer in overdrive. I clicked the OD button on and off several times with no apparent change in RPM's. The next day I took it back to the dealer and asked them to re-run dignostics and check out my OD drive problem. This time the tech again pulled code P0330 and stated that the knock sensor needed to be replaced. He cleaned the contacts again and the lights went out. Since I didn't have the $510.00 the dealer wanted for a new knock sensor and the service manager assured me that the engine would not be damaged I decided to pospone the repair and look for a cheaper fix. By the way they couldn't replicate the OD problem and stated the transmission was functioning fine. The lights stayed off for @ three days and OD seemed to be working fine. An unrelated event but interesting anyway. Around two weeks later the battery died and was replaced. The lights went out and stayed out for @ a week. Now for the wierd part!!! Two weeks later I was driving home on the interstate when suddenly the engine seized the CEL and trac off light were lit and no overdrive. Turns out it threw a rod. Everyone I've talked to assures me that there is no relationship the the CEL / trac off light situation and the engine seizing. I decided to exchange engines. I found a 2001 engine w/ 35000 mi. and had it installed by a local engine exchange shop. During the test drive the CEL and the trac off light came on. The tech ran diagnostics and cleaned it. The lights went out. About two hours ago I decided to take the car for a test drive, three miles into the drive the lights came back on and I have no overdrive. WHAT THE HECK SHOULD I DO NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!