jamesott777 Posted August 4, 2004 Share Posted August 4, 2004 My 1999 ES 300 has been a great car thus far. The only problem I have had is the trac off and engine light come on. The Lexus dealership said it was the throttle postion sensor, and that I could get it fixed any time. The only thing I might notice is the engine cutting out. On my last long distance trip I noticed that the overdirve was not kicking in on the highway. Also all of the lights started to pulse. They would get brighter then darker like a heart beat. The radio started to shut off on turn back on, and the acceleration was very jerky. My wife usually drives the car and when I asked her how long it has been doing this she didn't know it wasn't working properly. In any case we I got back from our trip and took it to the Lexus dealership. They siad the throttle position sensor needed to be replaced. The service consultant said that should fix the problems I am having. I drove the car back home a 50 mile trip and the lights came back on. The dealership hooked it back up and pulled the codes, then they said the knock sensors needed to be replaced. After I gave them the go ahead to replace the sensors they called back two hours later and said the transmission had a frozen cylinoid. The cost to replace the transmission would be $4,200. After I got back up off the floor I said to hold off on the replacing the trany and knock sensors. Long story short, I bought a used trany and had a local trany shop replace the trany for $1,400. When driving the car back from the trany shop the overdrive was working fine. I took the overdirve off and everything was still okay. When I had to accelerate hard to enter traffic the trac off and engine light came back on and the trany would not kick into overdirve again. Will relacing the knock sensors fix this problem, and does anyone have an idea on the plusing of the lights? The plusing usually is happening on start up and will stop after about 10 min. I would appreciate any help anyone can provide. Thank you in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesott777 Posted August 17, 2004 Author Share Posted August 17, 2004 My 1999 ES 300 has been a great car thus far. The only problem I have had is the trac off and engine light come on. The Lexus dealership said it was the throttle postion sensor, and that I could get it fixed any time. The only thing I might notice is the engine cutting out. On my last long distance trip I noticed that the overdirve was not kicking in on the highway. Also all of the lights started to pulse. They would get brighter then darker like a heart beat. The radio started to shut off on turn back on, and the acceleration was very jerky. My wife usually drives the car and when I asked her how long it has been doing this she didn't know it wasn't working properly. In any case we I got back from our trip and took it to the Lexus dealership. They siad the throttle position sensor needed to be replaced. The service consultant said that should fix the problems I am having. I drove the car back home a 50 mile trip and the lights came back on. The dealership hooked it back up and pulled the codes, then they said the knock sensors needed to be replaced. After I gave them the go ahead to replace the sensors they called back two hours later and said the transmission had a frozen cylinoid. The cost to replace the transmission would be $4,200. After I got back up off the floor I said to hold off on the replacing the trany and knock sensors. Long story short, I bought a used trany and had a local trany shop replace the trany for $1,400. When driving the car back from the trany shop the overdrive was working fine. I took the overdirve off and everything was still okay. When I had to accelerate hard to enter traffic the trac off and engine light came back on and the trany would not kick into overdirve again. Will relacing the knock sensors fix this problem, and does anyone have an idea on the plusing of the lights? The plusing usually is happening on start up and will stop after about 10 min. I would appreciate any help anyone can provide. Thank you in advance I have replaced the battery and this has seemed to fix my electrical problems, does anyone know where the knock sensors are located on a 1999 ES 300? :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmail188 Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 My 92 ES300 has the same problem. Overdrive will not engage. No other apparent problems. I have not consulted the dealer yet (there is actually a very good one here in San Diego) for an analysis as the car is loaned out to my daughter while they save the $ to fix the trans on their Dodge van. If I get a solution I will send it to you. Hope you will do the same for me. By the way, I see you are in OK. The daughter and her family took the ES300 to Tallequah in July with no overdrive. Held it down to 4500 rpm and got 20-21 MPG. Not bad. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monarch Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 The transmission shift control solenoids normally start wearing out at around 125,000 - 250,000 miles causing all sorts of shifting wierdness. But that doesn't mean the transmission is bad. The solenoids can all be replaced for about $500 - $750 (or even less if you replace them yourself.) Removing the transmission oil pan will give you access to the solenoids. If the transmission isn't slipping and if the fluid has never gotten burnt then chances are the transmission is still in good condition. Don't let someone fool you into thinking you need a new transmission just because some sensor or solenoid is bad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesott777 Posted September 7, 2004 Author Share Posted September 7, 2004 My 92 ES300 has the same problem. Overdrive will not engage. No other apparent problems. I have not consulted the dealer yet (there is actually a very good one here in San Diego) for an analysis as the car is loaned out to my daughter while they save the $ to fix the trans on their Dodge van.If I get a solution I will send it to you. Hope you will do the same for me. By the way, I see you are in OK. The daughter and her family took the ES300 to Tallequah in July with no overdrive. Held it down to 4500 rpm and got 20-21 MPG. Not bad. Dan Dan, From San Deigo to Tallequah, what a change. Tallequah is only about one hour from Bartlesville where I live. In any case I have had the tranmission replaced and the overdrive still did not work. I had the knock sensors replaced and the tranmissions overdive has been working fine ever since. If the check engine light is on, this may throw the computer into a fail mode. Other things unrelated to the trouble code could be effected. My advise do not change the transmission unless until you get a second opinion, even if it means driving two a different town. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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