94TA Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 Just like the title says, I just picked this car up 2 days ago. Its a 1999 ES300 base with 162k miles on it. It drove GREAT until tonight. When the car was hot...Trans jerking/shuttering symptom, power cutout at cruising speed, High idle in Park/Nuetral. Rough idle in Drive. Had the stiff Brake pedel feeling as well. Ive done alot of searching and im sure ill get told Oil Control Valve. Autozone pulled the 1354 and misfires on bank 2. I drove it home which wasnt far, let it sit and then tried it again and it ran fine untill it got warm and then started the same symptoms. So when it cools down it seems to be ok. The odd part is that put probably 120 miles on the car in the last 2 days with zero issues. Today it only saw about 40 miles. Befor it happened - I drove it all highway for about 30 minutes, parked it, left a few hours later and when the car warmed up it started this mess. first started as a low rpm "missfire feeling" in overdrive at about 45mph. I figured maybe the OCV was gunked up as they are prone to sludge, i had half a can of seafoam so i put that in the crankcase in hopes to help with sludge. I also read that old broken down oil can cause this problem, is that true? I have a few questions... 1. Should i use synthetic? i havent had a chance to check the engine for leaks yet, but i hear synthetic is the best way to go to help with engine sludge. 2. should i try to clean the bank 2 OCV? I also read there is a filter that can get cloged aswell. 3. Why is the car only affected when its hot? 4. Do OCV's commonly fail on high mileage engines that arnt affected by sludge? I havent had a chance to pull the valve cover to check for sluge. Thanks for all the help, i will be doing an oil change tomorrow, i normally use mobil 1 clean 5000 and wix filters in my cars. Does anyone think the M1 clean 5000 is a bad choice for a sludge prone engine? I want to get this seafoam out befor i do any harm, its been drivin for 10 minutes with the seafoam, thats long enough for me!
lenore Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 If you think you have sludge beware, the sludge can starve the engine and the gunk can clog the oil pump screen. I would take the front valve cover off and see if you indeed do have sludge. You absolutely need to know whether your engine has sludge before you proceed. If it does you may have to drop the oil pan and make sure the engine oil pump pickup is clogged. If it is the Oil control valve could be starved of oil pressure and that is why you are getting the intermittant missfires. When the engine is hot the sludge may be moving around causing the problems. If you dont have sludge replace the oil control valve and switch to synthetic. I have found that Castrol oil 0-30 Synthetic European blend really cleans the engine...good luck
lenore Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 here is what a sludged engine can look like after scooping two coffee cans of gunk out.
94TA Posted January 10, 2011 Author Posted January 10, 2011 I was waiting to get around to it until this morning, i took the Valve cover off and found this... IM SOOOOOOOOOO HAPPY! If sludge was that big of a problem i dont think my seafoam wouldve cleaned it in the 10 minutes i drove it, however this morning she didnt want to run :( hopefully a stuck/failing bank 2 OCV is what it is! Honestly for an engine known for a huge sludge problem, i see small amounts on the camshaft but nothing as bad as what ive seen possible. Perhaps this engine was replaced, or else everyone just really took care of it. Very amazing considering the fact it has 36 carfax records!!!
lenore Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 Yea that looks great. Maybe the OCV is bad....The other thing that happened to my neighbor is the VVti camshaft timing gear failed. we tried to clean and repair but ended up replacing it. The Gear moves under oil pressure and changes the valve timing....
94TA Posted January 10, 2011 Author Posted January 10, 2011 good news, i took out the OCV, it was all sludged up. i set it in a bath of seafoam for awhile, scrubbed it with a tooth brush, used a metal pick to get the big chucks out. put it back in the car and everything is normal now. Not driving it till i get its oil changed. My normal method is mobil 1 clean 5000/wix filter changed out every 3000 miles. I think ill stick with that on this car, and hopefully everything will be ok. Worst case i replace a OCV which is a 5 minute job, dont know how people can spend 30 minutes changing that out, i guess beer needs to be drank and married men need an excuse haha. My guess is the seafoam dislodged enough sludge that it found its way to the OCV which is why she didnt want to run this morning. Can anyone tell me where the OCV filter is located for bank 2? do i take he OCV out and its behind that? i found a bolt head undernear the OCV but on the side of the block, thinking this is possibly it but cant seem to loosen it!
lenore Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 cant tell you but the filter is only $5.00.....maybe it is that bolt....yOu could go to Toyota or Lexus and buy one but tell them to show you on their drawings where it is...
94TA Posted January 10, 2011 Author Posted January 10, 2011 what i thought to be it was it, just needed a tad more leverage. doubt its ever been opened. I cleaned it with seafoam/parts cleaner and used compressed air to blow it out, looks good. It had some build up on it so good to know that its clean again. I dont see why this wouldnt fix it unless the OCV gets gummed up again or is sticking/failing. Only time will tell. Thanks for all the info! If i were to go to toyota, i hear the OCV part is cheaper with them rather then lexus, would i tell them its for a 1999 camry, or would it be a different year?
retdep Posted January 14, 2011 Posted January 14, 2011 Hi, Where is the Ocv screen located on a 99 ES 300
94TA Posted January 14, 2011 Author Posted January 14, 2011 I will go take a picture Think this would be Bank 2, i have not located bank 1 but i have not checked either. If anyone can Give me a general location of bank 1's ocv that would be awesome.
94TA Posted January 14, 2011 Author Posted January 14, 2011 Heres the Bank 1 OCV, The PITA bracket will probably need to be persuaded out of the way by 1/8th of an inch or so. I opted for a hammer and a 3 foot extension. The OCV filter is a bit harder to access on this side as well, it should be the only 14mm bolt head on the side of the engine though. I just checked the ocv filter, and cleaned my ocv as well. The filter was probably twice or maybe three times as filthy as the one on bank 2. I cleaned both filters with a tooth brush and metal picks, parts cleaner and seafoam bath in a cup. Then used my air compressor to blow them out. I took the car out for a test drive, WOW. It idles way better first of all, Secondly it doesnt feel like its slightly misfireing when you accelerate aggressivly but not full on. Amazing that these filters affect the car that much!
Mawbell3 Posted February 13, 2011 Posted February 13, 2011 so is this engine the same as the rx300's? if so these are excellent pics for locating the OCV for my rx300.... Thanks, Tracy wilson knoxville TN
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now