Wiring Harness Issues?

[Ceel]

Hello all -

First off, I'm new here. I've had my 1996 ES300 for a little over a month now, and love it. Very fun to drive and very smooth.

Mechanically, I have zero complaints. Everything runs great in the drivetrain.

However, there are some electronic issues. Namely, my headlights do not work. When I turn on my standard low-beams, all four headlights come on - two low-beams and two high-beams. However, my passenger side low-beam is the only light that comes on bright enough to be of any value. When I turn on the high-beams, only the passenger side high-beam comes on. There are no signs of life from my fog lamps at all. In addition, my tape deck is non-operational and my antenna, unplugged when I bought the car, ejects itself from the trunk when plugged in, exposing a greasy white plastic center. Needless to say, something is slightly off.

I took it to my friendly neighborhood Lexus dealer, who, after tweaking the headlights around for a couple of hours and replacing a couple of connecters, concluded that my car needed a new $1200 wiring harness. As I am not in any way, shape, or form a mechanic, I must ask; what exactly does replacing the wiring harness entail, and could a faulty harness account for these symptoms?

Thanks,

ceel

[George_Jetson]

Download the factory service manual, they are located in the sticky at the top of the page. Then find either a friend with good knowledge of electical systems, or take it to a independant shop. The friendly neighborhood dealer sounds like he is just trying to rip you off. Chances are your present harness can be repaired, but the dealer would rather sell you a overpriced harness instead of reparing your current on. Unless something really bad happened to you current harness, ie electrical fire, or something along those lines, your harness should be repairable.

[Ceel]

Mr. Jetson,

Thanks for your reply. I'm going to call for a second opinion tomorrow.

Anybody out there ever had to replace the wiring harness on a 1996 ES300? I am curious as to how much I should be expecting to pay.

[dave t]

Mr. Jetson,

Thanks for your reply. I'm going to call for a second opinion tomorrow.

Anybody out there ever had to replace the wiring harness on a 1996 ES300? I am curious as to how much I should be expecting to pay.

I don't know about the cost (or practicality) of replacing the harness, but I would guess that your problem may be a bad ground. One of the headlights may be grounding through the others. Try cleaning the headlight grounds before investing big bucks in a harness. Your best bet may be an auto electrical specialist or a good, honest, neighborhood mechanic familiar with electrical systems.

dave t

[Champion Touring Agency]

Download the factory service manual, they are located in the sticky at the top of the page.

I'm not exactly sure what, or where the "sticky" is but I have been trying to find a manual for a 1995 lexus es300 for days.

Please help!

Thank you

[George_Jetson]

Iam not sure exactly what sticky stands for, but it means the post at the top of this section. I is labeled merry christmas factory service manuals

[BillyShaft]

Download the factory service manual, they are located in the sticky at the top of the page.

I'm not exactly sure what, or where the "sticky" is but I have been trying to find a manual for a 1995 lexus es300 for days.

Please help!

Thank you

Seriously? Welcome to the internet.

1. Go to the 92-06 ES250/300/330 Forum main page (that is the forum you are in by the way)

2. At the top there are "Stickied" or "Pinned" posts of Frequently Asked Questions for people to access frequently asked topics. They are called "Sticky" because they stick to the top of the forum no matter what gets posted afterwards.

3. One of those, the very top one in fact, is titled "Merry Christmas, here is your Factory Service manual that you have been searching everywhere for days on the internet for and can't seem to find even with specific instructions" or something similar.

Good Luck, man...you'll need it.

[BillyShaft]

Mr. Jetson,

Thanks for your reply. I'm going to call for a second opinion tomorrow.

Anybody out there ever had to replace the wiring harness on a 1996 ES300? I am curious as to how much I should be expecting to pay.

I don't know about the cost (or practicality) of replacing the harness, but I would guess that your problem may be a bad ground. One of the headlights may be grounding through the others. Try cleaning the headlight grounds before investing big bucks in a harness. Your best bet may be an auto electrical specialist or a good, honest, neighborhood mechanic familiar with electrical systems.

dave t

X2

Harnesses don't just go bad. Typically you will see problems at connectors and grounds.

An auto electrical repair shop won't be intimidated by this type of problem, and they can probably do it faster (and cheaper) than either a dealer or general mechanic.

Lexus is sure that replacing the harness will fix the issue, just like replacing the engine will fix a bad spark plug. Neither is a good solution to what is likely a very minor problem.