Grif Posted December 12, 2003 Posted December 12, 2003 I just bought a 92 ES300 from a family member who owned it most it's life. Under load (acceleration, or going up hills whileon cruise) I'm getting a hesitation that obviously isn't right. Any ideas of the non-obvious nature? I suspected a fuel filter or something, but once a constant speed is reached, there's no hesitation, only under acceleration. If I put my right foot far enough into it to cause a downshift (automatic) then it appears to go away, though I suspect it is simply the increased RPM masking the sensation of the hesitation.
Grif Posted December 13, 2003 Author Posted December 13, 2003 Forgive my ignorance (newness to Lexii), but should I look before, or after the air filter?
SKperformance Posted December 13, 2003 Posted December 13, 2003 I doubt you would be able to look before hte air filter as it is located inside the fender to see it .Plus it is a big plastic box not a pipe. The intake hose is the ribbed one from the air filter box to the intake manifold.
Grif Posted December 13, 2003 Author Posted December 13, 2003 Just checked, the hose is in good condition.
RPrindl Posted December 14, 2003 Posted December 14, 2003 Do you have any more details about the car and it's service history? A weak spark plug wire could cause this.
Grif Posted December 14, 2003 Author Posted December 14, 2003 The car was my father's and has been pretty well taken care of. Is there a check I can make to the plug wires with my volt/ohm meter that would test the plug wires? The fact that it only does it under load is interesting. Most things I suspect would seem to be a problem all the time, but once I get to any speed and stay there, there's no hesitation at all.
Lextech2k3 Posted December 14, 2003 Posted December 14, 2003 ok here is a list of stuff to check 1.) recheck the intake hose...pay special attention to the underside right before the throttle body..that model had a problem with that hose developing a crack there that cause unmetered air to get into the engine..causeing it to go lean and miss out. 2.) check all the vaccuum hoses..these usually stay in good shape but you never know. 3.) make sure that the plugs are made by DENSO if not put them in it...these engines were designed to run that spark plug....it sounds stupid but you have to run those or it screws it all up (if it's been dealer serviced skip this it will have the right ones) 4.) check the oil...see if it's over full....once again a stupid little thing but it happens..(make sure the engine is off when you check this) 5.) check the trans for the same thing....(make sure the engine is running when you check this) 6.) clean the IAC (Idle Air Control) valve...i know you probably have no idea what this is but it's really easy...go buy a can a brake cleaner...and take off the black intake hose...right before the little gold colored flap ther is a small hole in the bottom of metal intake...spray the livin heck outa that then take some sort of compressed air ( a can of computer duster works great) and dry it out...this will also fix any rough idle problems you may have. 7.) if all this fails take it to the dealer and let them look at it....it could be out of time in which case they are really the only ones that are going to be able to fix it... i hope this is helpfull and not too confusing
RPrindl Posted December 14, 2003 Posted December 14, 2003 The car was my father's and has been pretty well taken care of.Is there a check I can make to the plug wires with my volt/ohm meter that would test the plug wires? The fact that it only does it under load is interesting. Most things I suspect would seem to be a problem all the time, but once I get to any speed and stay there, there's no hesitation at all. How many miles on the car? Were the spark plug wires ever replaced?
Grif Posted December 15, 2003 Author Posted December 15, 2003 Plugs and wires (not sure if they are Denso) werre replaced 25K mi ago. The cap and rotor (does it have these) were supposedly also replaced then.
Grif Posted December 18, 2003 Author Posted December 18, 2003 UPDATE - I had the car in to my repair guy and we found that the Cap, rotor, plugs and plug wires that were replaced 20K mi ago were all shot. Apparently the Bosch platinum plugs installed are not that good (my repair guy reports NO manufacturer installs this particular plug as original equipment) and have a very thin layer of platinum. The platinum wore away, increasing the gap in the plugs, and causing the spark to seek a path of lower resistance. That path was between the plug wires and the block, which wiped out the plug wires. The distributor got involved next and you can see where this is going. I had them all replaced w/ original equipment (Denso) and now it runs beautifully. Cautionary note - Install original equipment.
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