Check Engine And Trac Off Light On At Same Time, Have Error Codes!

[ml30306]

I own a 2000 Lexus ES300, 127k miles, changed spark plugs, timing belt, tensioner, and water pump a few months ago, no problem.

Today I was driving, at an intersection the CHECK ENGINE and TRAC OFF buttons came on at the same time, I also felt the engine run a little rough for a minute. Turned the engine off, then on, ran smoothly, lights still on. I also tried to operate the TRAC OFF switch, nothing happened.

Went to the nearest Autozone, they checked the error codes. Read out as follows:

P1300, P1305, P1310, P1315, P1320, and P1325 - all Igniter circuit malfunction (bank 1 or no. 1). Probable cause: 1. Open or short circuit condition, 2. Failed ignition coil/igniter, 3. Ignition secondary fault.

I drove the car home with both lights still on, turned the engine off, then on again. I then pressed the TRAC OFF button, the light and check engine light both went off, TRAC OFF button behaved normal again, both lights are off.

QUESTION - Anyone know or have a good guess what is going on? I am pretty sure that the lights will come on again. Solutions I have researched range from dirty gas cap, failed ingition coils (highly unlikely in my opinion that all 6 would fail at once) to bad MAF sensor. Also read that people were not able to operate the Overdrive button.

ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED!

[ml30306]

UPDATE: I disconnected the neg. battery wire and decided to start with the easiest fix, cleaning the gas cap (more wishful thinking though). Sure enough, today on my way the lights cam back on, this time the check engine light flashing. I have researched this topic in the forum - there are plenty of cases with the lights on but none with these error codes. I doubt that my case would be the very first on this site - anyone?

[ml30306]

Just heard back from the shop. I am not sure if disconnecting the battery truly clears all error codes or whether they are simply not visible as lights on the dashboard anymore.

Their reading gave them the same error codes - P1300 - P1325 plus P1201. Their primary suggestion would be to drive the car until it picks up any new codes. Their secondary recommendation would be to either replace all ignition coils or perhaps test every ignition coil since one of their machanics stated that one bad ignition coil can feed back to all others. In other words, they really don't know what is wrong. Any comments/suggestions?

[ml30306]

I have gotten 0 replies to my post, either everyone on Lexus Owner's has the perfect vehicle or are not sharing DIY people. Either way, another update in case someone may have somehting to add:

Thanks for all your suggestions, here the latest update:

A certified Toyota Shop in Decatur, GA that had my car called me and suggested to drive the car until the codes came back and to immediately have the codes checked hoping it would give a more specific code output. Sure enough, after about 2 miles driving around 40 mph the codes reappeared, rough idling and running of the engine. I returned, their Mastertech reader showed me the same codes, P1300-P1325 plus P1201. They also tried to clear them, but that did not work (any input here?). I am not sure if they ever physically checked the cylinders coils, I would hope so since in the end a code only indicates a problem and is not the source, though my charge for the checking was $0. You get what you pay for.

They suggested changing all 6 ignition coils since there may be "feedback" into the other coils (not sure what that really means). Their quote to do the work was around $870.00. I told them that my concern was that I do not want to end up throwing money at a problem in the hope that it will solve it. They offered to credit me for the coils in case it would not solve the problem - a nice gesture but that leaves me asking if they are really confident in the diagnosis.

I understand that these codes are unfortunatly pretty generic, here my questions:

- Is there really no way to test the ingition coils individually? My amateur idea would be to take each one out individually while connected, attach a spark plug, and with the help of a friend test them by turning the engine on, see if it sparks, then quickly turn off. I don't know if one could read a misfire that way, any suggestions? How would be the best way to test an ignition coil?

- "Feedback into other coils" - valid statement or are they too lazy to test each one individually?

- The codes could not be cleared - does that reveal any problem with e.g. the ECM?

- Ignition coils - I will most likely have to replace at least one coil. They retail at around $101, any sugegstions on OEM vs. Aftermarket? I found a seller on EBay, 6 new Denso coils for $220 (with VVTi) plus $20 shipping. Other aftermarket coils start around $30.00. Any suggestions?

- @yeskay - why cylinder No. 5? Which one would that be facing the front of the engine? What is this suggestion based on?

Thansk again. Looks like some other people may have the same problem, I have done a good amount of research but have yet to find a solution online with these specific codes.

[namklak]

I had these codes. Replaced the coils. Ran fine for 15 months, 4 coils died again! Fortunately Toy gave me new coils even though they were a few months out of warranty.

Question: Did Toy sell me bad coils, or is something killing my coils? My wife babies this car around Denver, 100k miles.

[Beach-GT]

I have a similar problem but different. I broke a vaccuum hose coupler that was rotted and the check engine light and trac off light came on. I fixed the line and figured all was well. (The skinny lines that follow the radiator hose down on the right have poor couplings)I went to auto zone and read the obd to find P1135 which is Air fuel ratio sensor heater circuit malfunction. or failed AF ratio sensor. I turned off the lights but they came back on in a minute so I guess there is still a real problem. I was hoping to find a clue here. Any help would be appreciated. I will check the gas cap as noted above. I do not have all the ignition codes so can't help with the first guy's problems.

[lexis lexus]

Beach, year and milage info would be helpful. Given that you have AF sensors, that would put it in the 98 or 99 year and younger.

I can't understand why you'd get an 1135 due to messing with the vacuum lines up front, could just be coincidence, but AF sensors go bad with age, and you won't lose a lot to replace the sensor (bank1, sensor 1 for 1135), even it if doesn't solve the dtc (which I bet it will).

LL

[ml30306]

MY SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM:

OK, here is what worked for me:

I swapped the 3 front ignition coils with the back one's. I noticed that the center coil in the back (#3) was an aftermarket coil which I then placed in the center front (#4). Drove the car, the check engine and trac off lights came on again after 2 minutes. I went to a Lexus shop, they read out the codes ($60 - I think worth it since it could have been the camshaft sensor or something more serious upstream of the cylinders), this time I had error codes P1300-P1325 plus P0304. That is the new position of the aftermarket coil.

I ordered a DENSO Aftermarket coil on EBay, the shipped me their own house brand, which I will return since it cost $47 (if I wanted aftermarket I could have gotten those for $20/piece.) I found a seller on EBay who sells the OEM DENSO coils for for $50, ordered one of those, will send the other one back. Have been driving 4 days now, no check engine light/trac off lights.

[fpt2001]

I had this happen on my 1999 ES300. VSC and VSC TRAC lights and the check engine. Had to replace a $40 valve on the VVT system.

About a year later the lights came back on and the dealership found a code they had never heard of. They reset the computer.

I get this about every 6 months. I disconnect the battery for a few hours and the lights go out.

[Beach-GT]

Beach, year and milage info would be helpful. Given that you have AF sensors, that would put it in the 98 or 99 year and younger.

I can't understand why you'd get an 1135 due to messing with the vacuum lines up front, could just be coincidence, but AF sensors go bad with age, and you won't lose a lot to replace the sensor (bank1, sensor 1 for 1135), even it if doesn't solve the dtc (which I bet it will).

LL

Here is what happened and how I fixed it. I thought I would post for others to learn from. The P1135 was from a failed heater element in the upstream o2 sensor on the rear of the engine. It is a 2001 ES300 with 65,000 miles. I bought a Denso 234-9021 sensor from Amazon ... the best deal I could find and was $98 delivered. I let the car cool over night and in the morning started it and backed it out of the garage to make room to work around it. I didn't know if I was going to jack the car up and work underneath. I sprayed some liquid wrench on the sensor and let it set while I rounded up a 22mm open end wrench. The elecrtical plug was not too difficult to separate. You can only get one hand to it from the top so you have to press the release tab in real hard with your thumb and wiggle the connector appart by pullung down on the connector and wires for leverqage with the rest of your hand. I got it in a few seconds. I put the 22 mm open end wrench on the sensor from the top and it was too hard to break loose. I positioned the wrench to the left side of the vehicle and got a short pipe and mallot and put the pipe on the other open end of the wrench (slipping one side into the hole) and gave it a couple raps with the mallot and the sensor broke free. After that it was simple to change out and plug the connector back in. The sensor came with some anti-seise compound for the threads. I was done in 15 minutes. I had to use a reader to re-set the engine light. I don't know if it would clear on its own. I hope this helps someone. I find tips here help me.

[Lexlogic]

Beach, year and milage info would be helpful. Given that you have AF sensors, that would put it in the 98 or 99 year and younger.

I can't understand why you'd get an 1135 due to messing with the vacuum lines up front, could just be coincidence, but AF sensors go bad with age, and you won't lose a lot to replace the sensor (bank1, sensor 1 for 1135), even it if doesn't solve the dtc (which I bet it will).

LL

Here is what happened and how I fixed it. I thought I would post for others to learn from. The P1135 was from a failed heater element in the upstream o2 sensor on the rear of the engine. It is a 2001 ES300 with 65,000 miles. I bought a Denso 234-9021 sensor from Amazon ... the best deal I could find and was $98 delivered. I let the car cool over night and in the morning started it and backed it out of the garage to make room to work around it. I didn't know if I was going to jack the car up and work underneath. I sprayed some liquid wrench on the sensor and let it set while I rounded up a 22mm open end wrench. The elecrtical plug was not too difficult to separate. You can only get one hand to it from the top so you have to press the release tab in real hard with your thumb and wiggle the connector appart by pullung down on the connector and wires for leverqage with the rest of your hand. I got it in a few seconds. I put the 22 mm open end wrench on the sensor from the top and it was too hard to break loose. I positioned the wrench to the left side of the vehicle and got a short pipe and mallot and put the pipe on the other open end of the wrench (slipping one side into the hole) and gave it a couple raps with the mallot and the sensor broke free. After that it was simple to change out and plug the connector back in. The sensor came with some anti-seise compound for the threads. I was done in 15 minutes. I had to use a reader to re-set the engine light. I don't know if it would clear on its own. I hope this helps someone. I find tips here help me.

Beach-Gt I did the same except after positioning the wrench 22mm , I went under and pull down to loosen the O2 sensor. And I was on top of the engine just to reach the plug connector. Great job! Here is a photo

o2sensor 1997 bank1.pdf

[John in Nashville]

Thanks! Bought 234-9021 on Amazon and installed it within 10 minutes. Had to jack the car up and then reach from underneath near the front driver wheel side. Had luck with a large adjustable wrench.

My funny story: I originally was lazy in my research and ordered an oxygen sensor (234-4137). Without thinking, I installed it on my car and then realized the plug had the wrong connector. Thinking I was so smart, I removed the old connector and installed it on the new plug (the pins are removable by lifting the plastic tabs inside the connector). When it didn't clear the CEL, I found this posting and the reference to Air/Fuel ratio sensor part 234-9021. Thank you!

Beach, year and milage info would be helpful. Given that you have AF sensors, that would put it in the 98 or 99 year and younger.
I can't understand why you'd get an 1135 due to messing with the vacuum lines up front, could just be coincidence, but AF sensors go bad with age, and you won't lose a lot to replace the sensor (bank1, sensor 1 for 1135), even it if doesn't solve the dtc (which I bet it will).
LL

Here is what happened and how I fixed it. I thought I would post for others to learn from. The P1135 was from a failed heater element in the upstream o2 sensor on the rear of the engine. It is a 2001 ES300 with 65,000 miles. I bought a Denso 234-9021 sensor from Amazon ... the best deal I could find and was $98 delivered. I let the car cool over night and in the morning started it and backed it out of the garage to make room to work around it. I didn't know if I was going to jack the car up and work underneath. I sprayed some liquid wrench on the sensor and let it set while I rounded up a 22mm open end wrench. The elecrtical plug was not too difficult to separate. You can only get one hand to it from the top so you have to press the release tab in real hard with your thumb and wiggle the connector appart by pullung down on the connector and wires for leverqage with the rest of your hand. I got it in a few seconds. I put the 22 mm open end wrench on the sensor from the top and it was too hard to break loose. I positioned the wrench to the left side of the vehicle and got a short pipe and mallot and put the pipe on the other open end of the wrench (slipping one side into the hole) and gave it a couple raps with the mallot and the sensor broke free. After that it was simple to change out and plug the connector back in. The sensor came with some anti-seise compound for the threads. I was done in 15 minutes. I had to use a reader to re-set the engine light. I don't know if it would clear on its own. I hope this helps someone. I find tips here help me.