All My 1993 Es300 Problems... Oh, And It Won't Start.

[Merrill]

Hi guys, new member here. this is my first post, hence the length. I have a '93 es300 that is loaded. and loaded with problems. i'm a jeep guy personally, but my wife doesnt like my 1957 cj-5 because... well.. its not a lexus. so i got her this nice piece of... work.

i paid 3000 for it. i am the 3rd owner. it has 131,700 miles. we've owned it trouble free for about 3 months(except for the harmonic balancer -- main engine pulley for those who dont know what that is--- with vulcanized hard rubber that decided to just fall off at a random stopligth with anice clunk ching ching ching sound. --a 90 dollar part, HUGE air wrench, and 20 minutes of shop time fixed this). here are its current problems, but i only care about the first one.

1. it wont start. i was backing out of my parking space 4 days ago and it just quit driving. it turns over fine, with a few random 'pop' ignitions occasionally but nothing that starts the car. the random pops have since ceased. i think its either the fuel pump just quit, the timing belt broke, or something else... what does it take to replace the fuel pump? what does it take to replace the timing/waterpump/seals? i usually do all my own work, but not on these space age complicated things that they make on jupiter or mars or japan or wherever. (i'm a jeep guy...) does the fuel pump whine when the key is turned on like other cars? i hear no whine. also i checked the skinny fuse/relay box on the drivers side fender under the hood. there is a felay slot marked 'fuel pump' with no relay in it. did someone break into my car, pop the hood, and take out the fuel pump relay while i was in walmart, causing my car to die shortly after starting it on presumed residual fumes? do you guys have that relay there? mine is missing, along with a couple other relays from the adjacent relay/fuse box in front of that. not sure if whats missing shoudl be, or not.

2. the water pump needs to be replaced. it leaks about a gallon a week of radiator fluid. this also indicates the age of the timing belt, see above.

3. needs a new seal on the valve cover, which drips a bit of oil onto the exaust manifold (not much, just a few drips).

4. when i steer, i can feel a slight jiggle/wobble right to left when its in the sweet spot from just starting a turn or just pulling out of one to the 'straight' steering position. it is more noticeable when braking, but less noticeable when accellerating. could this be the front CV joint axles going bad? its getting worse with time. alignment possibly?

5. the tires are almost bald. (maybe this is causing, at least in part, the above problem?)

6. the dash red LED's on all the gauge needles are bad. they flicker occasionally but mostly remain in the 'off' position. with black needls its practically impossible to read the gauges (speedometer, fuel, tach, etc). what a great feature.

7. the trunk/gas open button pair in the drivers door 'popped' through the hole it is clipped into. it now sits conveniently inside the door next to the speaker. how do i undo those door panel clips so i can pop it back in (with epoxy)?

8. the antenna mast is broken, every time i start the car, the antenna buzzes for 20 seconds but nothing moves.

9. its missing the remote. and it only has one key. how much is a new remote and a new spare key?

10. the rear view mirror high/low thing is broken, so the mirror just dangles swinging up and down when you accellerate or decellerate. it is mounted through the glass and the glass has a crack starting wher ethe rearview mirror mount hole is. presumabley this mirror was hit, breaking the mirror and cracking the windshield.

11. it needs a new passenger side taillight, the outside cover is cracked off.

12. it needs a new front fender, passenger side, which has a decent dent affecting slightly how the headlight is mounted/aligned.

13. the lexus logo hubcaps rattle all over the place, but seem intact enough. nothing some epoxy wont fix.

14. the tranny (auto) likes to ''lunge' when it shifts under load. my 50 year old jeep shifts better, although that may be because its a standard....

15. i thinkt thats it. can you guys tell me how to get my car started so i can at least drive it to the shop to fork out my non-existent life savings to get this thing fixed?

[Toysrme]

Just remember... It's a nice piece of... work. For a nice piece of... !Removed!!

Ah, gotta make it through the day right.

Look. This is 10x less complicated than any old pushrod wonder. Get use to that idea LoL! The EFI stuff isn't complicated. Look. It's 1980's Toyota engineering. Quit bitching LoL! It's basically copied, then massively upgraded Bosch's L injection. (Yes i'm joking around...)

Is the Check engine light on?

1) Spark + Fuel + Compression & all at the right time. It's the same as any CJ. The only differance is the computer decides the ignition & fueling! My immediate thought is alittle different that in your case. The timing belt probably jumped teeth with all the damned coolant dumping on it.

The fuel systems on Toyotas are, for the most part, ungodly reliable compaired to anything else you'll ever find. Old, or new. Injectors *almost* never fail. Fuel pumps hardly ever fail & the damned fuel filters generally don't get touched the first time until around 100,000-150,000 miles.

That being said, you could be missing spark, or missing fuel. There are some pretty simple ways of testing for fuel. Turn the engine over a few seconds & *crack* the bolt on the cold-start injector. If you get a face full of fuel @ around 25psi. It's got fuel. ;) You can also pull the air filter box top up, turn the key to ON, reach in & push the Air-Flow Meter's (AFM) flap open. That will turn the fuel pump on & you'll hear a rush of fuel to the injectors & the cold-start injector will spray fuel into the manifold.

For spark... What can you say. Pull the coil wire off & touch it while baby-doll turns the engine over LoL! Not. using a timing light & just make sure it sparks.

No you're not missing a fuel pump relay. ;) It's a re-used fuse box. They also like labling them! :D

To change the timing belt / water pump it takes... Patience! If you really wanna know. I'll tell you. I suggest buying a 92-96 Camry Haynes manual, and downloading the factory service manual for a '93 ES 300. it's sticked on the forum. This is the 3vz-fe v6.

2) You're all on it. Replace the timing belt, water pump & acessory belts. Replace the thermostat & both radiator pressure caps. Flush the crap out of the block & radiator.

3) Valve covers are not too big of a deal. The front one is a joke, but it's always the rear one that leaks due to the angle the engine is cocked at (27* off vertical). The best thing to do is pull the entire upper intake manifold off. That way you can easily replace the rear bank spark plugs (DENSO or NGK ONLY), check the plug wires (This is not a domestic. Plug wires can last a hundred K & they could last a million.)DO NOT use generic, or domestic produced plug wires. Denso, NGK (Expect around $100 for a set), or go high performance wires. Vitek, or $250 for magnacores. (FYI, plug wires don't give imports more power. They come with plenty of ignition to begin with. ;) ) Check / Replace the distributor cap & rotor.

While the upper manifold is off. Clean out the ports on the inside of it & the lower intake manifold. This iwll give bakc some power & throttle responce from the carbon that cakes in there.

Also clean the throttle plate, The Idle Speed Control valve, and the EGR valve. As carbon causes all of the above to stick eventually.

4) I'm not too sure. it sounds like an alignment, or tire problem to me. Generally when the grease around a CV joint leaks out & it's worn. They make a poping sound. The car itself should drive the same until the axle fails. Which is really freaking funny LoL! If you roll the windows down & make afew full lock turns & don't hear <click click click click>. The axles are fine. Still... Chekc the CV joint boots. If they're cracked. replace them & put more grease in before the axles are perminantly damaged.

Don't buy replacement CV joints for $50. Buy complete axle half-shafts for $75. ;)

5) Depends on how they're bald. All tires go bald. :) That's why you rotate them! Just a word of the wise incase you don't know... Regardless of what wheels drive any vehicle, if you're only replacing an axle set of tires. The new tires ALWAYS go on the FRONT axle. rwd, fwd, 4*4, awd. It's all the same. Ask any tire company if you don't believe it. ;)

6) Yeah the needles burn out over time. :'( There are afew basic LED swaps you can do so they're visible, you can pay $180 for a small & $200 for a large needle from lexus. Or you can go to http://www.lextech.org/ That's run by a reputable forum member of another forum. Basically... For the same rough cost of Lexus to do one needle, he can do an entire cluster in whatever colors you want. If you want, he can change the OEM Climate control & radio backlighting also to match.

7) You just pull the panels off. It's a pain, but you can do it. Downlaod the stickied 93 FSM. It goes over stuff like that in the body section.

8) The plastic gears are stripped. You can replace it with a Lexus mast, or Buy a Camry mast. The differance is the ES ant is dual position. Down - low - high, the Camry is just down - high. For that matter you can be a pimp & do the little Honda S2000 short ant swap.

9) We don't have remotes. The master keys have a small button on the side that unlock the doors. There are acouple of lexus dealers online that can do keys at a descent price.

10) I've got no idea. LoL!

11) They're nearly imposible to find in a pullapart. But a 92-94 will work. Try ebay, and TAPRecycling.net.

12) No idea. A good bodyshop, or buy another panel. TAPRecycling.net

13) Don't do that. It's a bad idea... Toyota's don't roast wheel bearings, but the drive after the epoxy sets they'll fail. Or you'll need to do something like change an axle. You oughta know murphy's law. You got a CJ! j/k :D

14) STOP DRIVING IT NOW AND FLUSH IT. 90% of transmission failures are from fluid problems. ATF fluid life effectively halves everytime it's overheated.

If you don't know how to flush an automatic transmission, take the worse option. Buy two jugs of Dexron III Super-Tech @ Wallmart. Drop the pan, clean it refill the transmission. Shift into all gear positions for a few seconds, drive around the street. Park, shift to all gear positions. Drain the pan, refill, shift to all the positions, drive around the street & call it a day.

There is also the transmission's kick-down cable that is connected to the throttle. Once you change the fluid, THEN go back & adjust the cable if need be.

You can syphon the powersteering fluid (It's Dexron also), and change the differential fluid (Which is also Dexron)

15) Why the hell you want to go to a shop? LoL This isn't some new fangled engine with all kinds of trickery. It's extremely simple. You need absolutely no electrical, or specialty knowledge beyond, "don't drop a wrench on the battery terminals & don't touch the exhaust manifolds". I'm sure that applies to the old 57 CJ.

Besides... *Mechanically* you own a Camry. Mechinical repairs are cheap.

Anyways... We're all joking. But don't be some ornary old man just because there's not a carb on it.

[Merrill]

dude... i very much appreicate your awesome post... although, i'm 28. not some 'old man' that said, i will post side by side pics of the engine compartments just for reference. if you only knew how easy my jeep (basically a farm tractor) is to work on... *sigh* i actually put my feet inside the engine compartment, rest them on the frame, and sit on the fender when i work under the hood... there's that much room... and the only vacume hose (from a cam actuated mechanical vacume pump) goes to... yep, you guessed it, the windshield wipers. but i digress.

ok so i'm going to get all up into this car this weekend. hopefully by tomorrow night i'll have fixed it. no i'm not going to flush the tranny, although i'll check the fluid level.

i'm going to pull off the distributor, pull off the timing belt cover, (if i think it slipped, which way would it have slipped? maybe i can notch it back to where it was) check the fuel pump like you said from the air cleaner, check the fuel pressure, check the sparkage, etc.... we'll see where this leads. I VERY VERY much appreciate this forum and this post. thanks.

[Merrill]

ok here's the update. i starting pulling everything apart in my engine compartment today. i looked for the schrader valve ion hte front fuel rail but didnt find any. is there one no the back rail under the manifold? besides this, here's what i found:

1. the timing belt was broken into 4 pieces... shredded. i pulled all that out. what a pain. thats why my engine woudltn start (duh) and its what first went through my mind when i heard the engine trying to start but didnt seem like it was timed right. which it wasnt.

2. the thermostat housing has 2 metal parts, a part that bolts to the engine block, and a tube to which the lower radiator main hose is clamped. this metal tube fits into the metal thermostat housing with a rubber seal. this was leaking quite profusely. any suggestions? will reseating the seal fix this? what about RTV? i'm not going to buy another one if I can avoid it.

3. the water pump/timing belt thing was all full of both oil and radiator fluid. the radiator fluid that drained out of the engine when i took off the thermostat housing was green and in perfect condition. where does the oil come from that was inside the plastic cover?

4. i scratched my arm on my tire. the driver's front was partially delaminated with wires poking out all over the place. what are the best/widest tires i can get that will be reasonably priced?

5. the passenger's side axle boot covers are totally shot. one is totally peeled off at the tranny end and the other end is cracked almost in half. the drivers side only has a slit in the wheel side boot. can i get these boots without an axle? should i replace the axle? does a new axle come wiht boots?

thanks in advance for replies to these questions.

oh and one more thing, i checked the tranny fluid level, it was waaaay above the hot level (engine was cold, had been for some time). it covered the name of the type of fluid required. i havnt done anything to the fluid level this must have been the previous owner. is this bad?

[Toysrme]

1) That's what I figured. Be sure you get the cams & bottom end aligned to 0*btdc. Remember that the pickups for the ECU are cam driven (In the distributor). Make sure the bottom plastic timing belt cover is not damaged by the timing belt whippping around it. They're like $74.99 @ a Toyota dealer!?!?!?!?

2) No, buy a new gasket. DO NOT use RTV to seal a coolant passage like that. While I personally preffer high quality RTV's to many normal gaskets, RTV should never be used to seal any type of poassageway. It is far too prone to being overapplied & clogging / breaking off in the passage.

3) Probably the rear main seal, a valve cover could be leaking, or a cam seal.

4) That sux. Stock are P205/65 R15. Check out the famous Miata tire size calc.You could concieveably stuff 215/60's on there, but there's absolutely no reason! Without running a 75 shot of n2o on the engine, or bolint on a turbo. You shouldn't need more traction. S just gunna throw the speedo off a hair & 205 VS 215 really is nothing to write home about. :\

AFA what tires. Set a budget. I suggest reading reviews @ the tire rack, just remember to take everything witha grain of salt.

5) Yeah you can replace the boots & re-pack them with grease. The problem is that if it's been driven like that much the CV joints will be irrepruably damaged. Hence the <ticking> noise as you turn & eventually the joint (Axle) will snap. However... If they're not ticking yet, Do it ASAP.

No, not really. Transmission fluid levels can be hard to read in general. You know the levle is too high when you see foam on the dipstick, or fluid. Which means it's sucking in air & whipping it in the fluid. Otherwise, it's pretty much like an oil system. You can err alot more on the high side... You err no the low side when it's so low it can't keep the pick-up tube 100% submerged!

All that counts is the hot fluid level, on level ground, after being driven around until hot fluid has hit all the valve body & circulated back through afew times.

It's critical to keep new fluid in any automatic transmission. If it's not a bright pretty red color, get rid of it. $6 buys 4 quarts of Super-Tech Dexron-III @ wallmart.

[Merrill]

ok guys so i got my crankshaft seal installed, i got the new waterpump in, and i got the new thermostat installed. i have the crank and cams lined up at thier marks, but i was looking at the distributor, and it shows the rotor at the number 2 position, not number 1 like it should be. now i'm stuck because i cant figure out how to get the cam to move over 1 position. i have bought a new distributor and rotor, because the stock one is quite worn (i'm sure this car is all original at 131k miles-- absolutely amazing)

another question i have is the timing belt tensioner. i cant for the life of me press that spring loaded pin down.

i need to know 2 things.

1. how do i make the rotor and timing work correctly when i'm installing this new timing belt.

2. how do i install the tension pulley with that spring which is seemingly impossible to move.

i have pictures of htis installation and i will post them when i'm done so that i can save you some of the headache that this has been.

[Toysrme]

2) You have to put it in a vice to compress it. Honestly if you go real easy, you can use the bolts to get the tensioner on, but you must be careful. You will strip them if you go to far on one side at a time.

1) It's not as good as the wasted spark, or coil on plug ignitions, but yeah. That distributor oughta be able to go alot longer. You really just replace the cap & the rotor on them when they crack, or get out of spec. The distributor itself nearly never needs replacing. Only when the magnetic pickup sensors for camshaft & crankshaft have died. (Not very often.) They're magnetic sensors... All descent magnetic sensors have a very low failure rate regardless of what they're installed.

It sounds to me like they're not lined up properly. Make real sure the crankshaft is showing 0*btdc on the gauge & that the cams are dead on. There is a little notch on the valve cover that sort of gives you an idea where the distributor would line up. Remember the distributor does set the base timing, which is adjustable. If you've replaced it, line it up the best you can & if you get the engine running, let it idle a min, or two. Connect TE1 & E1 to put it in diagnostic mode & set the timing to 10*btdc with a timing light.

Make SURE those cams are dead on. Pull the valve cover off & align the cams using the actual alignment marks if you have too.

[94LexusES]

It seems more trouble than its worth. Good luck though. Toysrme is a mechanical genius!

[Merrill]

ok i'm getting desparate. i had the belt on how i thought it should go but it wouldnt run.. i need to know this: there is a little dot on the timing belt sproket on the crankshaft. when both cams are lined up with thier marks on the belt and on the engine, does this dot on the crankshaft sprocket line up with the CR>>>>>>>> line on the belt?? this would place the dot at about 6 oclock? (at the bottom) or does the dot line up with the tick on the actual engine, which would make the dot at 12 ocklock?? i'm trying to find out how to set my engine to piston #1 at TDC. keep in mind that my harmonic balancer is not on the crankshaft at this point in time. please get back to me this is day #4 of doing this stupid repair.... i've had the belt on and off so many times now trying different things i'm just at the end of the line.

[Merrill]

*SIGH* i got the car running finally. not smoothly, (fast idle, slightly rough) but obviously the belt is on okay. the timing needs adjusting most likely, and the rest of the belts need to be put on.

ok here's a summary of what i have learned... and i'll post pictures as soon as i learn how to do that.

1. the crankshaft seal can be pulled out with a hook shaped wire of about 3/32" diameter. it has to be very strong spring steel or piano wire or equivalent. slide the hook in against the shaft where the seal seals (or leaks as the case may be). there will be room there for the hook to slide in and then rotate the hook and pull out the seal with vice grips on the wire. this will destroy the seal, but be careful, VERY careful, not to scratch the driveshaft. if you do, carefully sand it out with super fine 400 grit sandpaper- but good luck since the seal surface is inside a recess in the side of the engine and it would be hard to reach in to sand. a new seal should be coated lightly with oil then pressed in with either even tapping (if you are brave) all around the edge, or with a peice of pvc pipe or a real seal driver to evenly seat the seal in the aluminum housing. if you mess your seal up by bending it or pounding it in wrong, kiss it goodbye. pull it out get a new one and start over.

2. the waterpump is self explainatory. plenty of how-to's out there for that.

3. the timing belt goes on as follows. the left camshaft is the one closest the radiator, the right camshaft is the one closest to the firewall. the crankshaft sprocket has 2 marks in it. one is a dot on the face of the sprocket close to one of the gear teeth, another is a SMALL notch in the back of the sprocket closest to the crankshaft seal. there is a mark on side of the engine at 12 ocklock above the crankshaft seal that corresponds to the notch on the sprocket, and the dot on the face of the sprocket will correspond to a white mark called CR>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> with a line accross on the belt. when the belt is lined up correctly, the cams will line up EXACTLy with the marks on the belt and on the cams themselves and on the engine. thats 3 things to line up on the left (radiator side) camshaft and 4 things on the right (firewall side) camshaft since there are 2 marks on the belt and 2 marks on the camshaft pulley. when the belt is lined up correctly, the distributor rotor, which is geared directly to the right (firewall side) camshaft pulley, needs to be lined up with spark plug wire number 1. this is approximately 12 ocklock. you have to pull off the distributor cap to see if this is correct. now with your right camshaft, left camshaft, distributor rotor, and crankshaft all lined up wiht eachother, its time to install the tensioner. just put the bolts in and tighten them down, and your belt will be tensioned. i had to do this 3 times before it finally worked, even though each time was identical... why? i dont know. pictures are pending... stay tuned.

[Merrill]

*SIGH* i got the car running finally. not smoothly, (fast idle, slightly rough) but obviously the belt is on okay. the timing needs adjusting most likely, and the rest of the belts need to be put on.

ok here's a summary of what i have learned... and i'll post pictures as soon as i learn how to do that.

1. the crankshaft seal can be pulled out with a hook shaped wire of about 3/32" diameter. it has to be very strong spring steel or piano wire or equivalent. slide the hook in against the shaft where the seal seals (or leaks as the case may be). there will be room there for the hook to slide in and then rotate the hook and pull out the seal with vice grips on the wire. this will destroy the seal, but be careful, VERY careful, not to scratch the driveshaft. if you do, carefully sand it out with super fine 400 grit sandpaper- but good luck since the seal surface is inside a recess in the side of the engine and it would be hard to reach in to sand. a new seal should be coated lightly with oil then pressed in with either even tapping (if you are brave) all around the edge, or with a peice of pvc pipe or a real seal driver to evenly seat the seal in the aluminum housing. if you mess your seal up by bending it or pounding it in wrong, kiss it goodbye. pull it out get a new one and start over.

2. the waterpump is self explainatory. plenty of how-to's out there for that.

3. the timing belt goes on as follows. the left camshaft is the one closest the radiator, the right camshaft is the one closest to the firewall. the crankshaft sprocket has 2 marks in it. one is a dot on the face of the sprocket close to one of the gear teeth, another is a SMALL notch in the back of the sprocket closest to the crankshaft seal. there is a mark on side of the engine at 12 ocklock above the crankshaft seal that corresponds to the notch on the sprocket, and the dot on the face of the sprocket will correspond to a white mark called CR>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> with a line accross on the belt. when the belt is lined up correctly, the cams will line up EXACTLy with the marks on the belt and on the cams themselves and on the engine. thats 3 things to line up on the left (radiator side) camshaft and 4 things on the right (firewall side) camshaft since there are 2 marks on the belt and 2 marks on the camshaft pulley. when the belt is lined up correctly, the distributor rotor, which is geared directly to the right (firewall side) camshaft pulley, needs to be lined up with spark plug wire number 1. this is approximately 12 ocklock. you have to pull off the distributor cap to see if this is correct. now with your right camshaft, left camshaft, distributor rotor, and crankshaft all lined up wiht eachother, its time to install the tensioner. just put the bolts in and tighten them down, and your belt will be tensioned. i had to do this 3 times before it finally worked, even though each time was identical... why? i dont know. here are some self explainatory pictures:

best of luck. now all i have to do is wait for the plastic timing belt covers to arrive in the mail from ebay, put hte belts on, adjust hte timing, and roll.