96 Es300 Looses Power After Warming Up

[kinzerhaus]

My 96 es300 is having multiple issues. First it overheated I replaced the thermostat and radiator cap. Old thermostat tested good but was a bit slow to open. The seals on the cap were shot so that may have caused the overheat issue.EDIT I just found a small leak at the hose clamp on top going to the engine. This is where I lost enough fluid to cause the original overheat.

Now the problem is that sometimes when I start the car the tach and speedo do not move at all.

when the car warms up the cel comes on and the car looses power. You can barely keep it running and it pops and stalls and will not move.

After it cools down for about 30-45 mins it runs fine again but only for a short distance. Onc,e it cools down the CEL goes out and there are no saved codes

I just had the car painted and the body shop told me the battery went dead on them several times in 2 weeks. After the first time the needles went dead on the tach and speedo I changed the battery cable ends. I haven't checked the other ends of the connections yet.

I have started the car and have had it running for about an hour with no issues. I have driven it around the block no problems

Checked battery voltage before start and it was 12.4

While running i am getting 13.6-13.7 volts at the battery

After running for 30 mins i have noticed the battery cable ends get hot but if you leave the hood open they cool down enough to touch them. while hot i tightened them both up

Any ideas?

Thanks

[landar]

Try getting a CEL code reading while it is showing. That is your best way of tracking down this issue.

However, I am afraid that you are ultimately doomed. The gods have noticed that you spent some $$$ to have her repainted and now that it is looking nice again, little annoying mechanical and electrical issues will plague you. (jk'ing. look for the codes) ^_^

[kinzerhaus]

Ran the car in the driveway for an hour then took it for a ride. Took a test drive up the street and went twice as far as last time with no issues. For me it still points back to charging or battery. Going to check the ground and positive connection today.

[kinzerhaus]

Well after sitting a couple of hours I checked the cables and they seem to be carrying the correct voltage. Started the car and the tachometer did not work again. Restarted and it worked fine again. Talked to my mechanic and he thinks it is not getting he correct voltage to the ECM. Checked the voltage at the ECM and it is correct. Also tried to replace the ECM but all I can find are used ones no one has a rebuilt unit. Well except for Lexus and they want 1041.00 and it is a refurb. Refurbs from advance etc are listed at about 350.00 of course they don't have any and apparently cannot order one. Had the battery tested out of the car they said it was discharged and would need to be charged to be tested odd since it has been out of the car for two days. After they charged it up it apparently tested 100% BTW this battery is only 3 months old.

Any ideas out there? This thing is driving me crazy

[landar]

Any ideas out there?

Yeah. Check for codes. OBDII.

[kinzerhaus]

Sorry I can't check for codes. The CEL comes on when the car is running rough but when it cools down for a while the next time you start it the CEL is back off and no codes have been stored. I am currently carrying my scanner in the car for the next time it starts acting up. I am guessing though that the codes I get are going to be all over the map. I do agree it is worth a try to read them though.

This is just one of those flaky problems that is extremely hard to duplicate.

[kickflipsandcoffee]

I had the same problem w/ my ES...

The problem was the idle being set to low.

Normal rpm is set at around 1500 but mine was bottoming out under 0. Especially when I slowed down from braking.

When I started my car my rpm would barely jump.

It's a really simple fix..

Just as yur Mechanic to turn yur idle control up.

Yu can actually do it yourself no problem.

Hope it helps....Keep me posted

[kinzerhaus]

Thanks for the reply Kicks, but it runs fine most of the time it only drops the idle speed below 800 rpm when the CEL light comes on and the car wont move.

Since I keep hearing that this could be a electrical power related issue i have done the following:

I have tested the battery (it is good)

I have tested the Alternator (it is good)

I have tested the positive cable (it is good)

I have replaced the negative cable. It did not test bad but the advice I have been getting locally is that this sounds like a bad ground.

I have a used ECM coming from EBay that I am going to keep in the car. The next time the car starts acting up I am going to swap the ECMs and see what happens. I havent test driven the car again to since I dont feel I have figured out what caused the problem. Once the ECM arrives I am hitting the road until the problem repeats.

Someone mentioned a sensor on the transmission that could be the source of my won't move in drive but will move just fine in reverse. Anyone know what this sensor is called?

Thanks

[kickflipsandcoffee]

When it slows below 800rpm does the steering wheel fight yu when it shuts off? And does the battery sign come on along with the CEL?

[kinzerhaus]

The steering does become sluggish. It almost feels like the car has gone into some kind of limp home mode. I don,t remember if the battery light came on or not.

[kickflipsandcoffee]

Sounds like your idle is set to low.

[kinzerhaus]

Swapped out the ECM for a used one to test it. Now the car has power but feels like the transmission is not shifting or slipping did throw a cel code of p0753 shift solenoid A. I thought I read somewhere that when you swap an ECM you have to let the car idle for 30 mins then drive it while it continues o be sluggish until the ECM relearns the new car. Can't find he post I read about this does anyone know if this is true or does it need to go to the dealer?

[landar]

Yes, the ECM has to relearn your driving habits after it loses its stored memory. Drive it around and see it if learns. Honestly, I would stick the old ECM back in and see how it behaves. Often, just disturbing the ECM connector fixes the problem. That is because there is a poor connection all along. Then when you plug in another ECM, it "seems" fixed. But sometimes it fools you because it was the connector all along and not the actual ECM. Clean the connector and try the original ECM again. BTW, you can buy contact cleaner at your local parts store. Spritz some of that on the pins and work the connector on and off a few times to clean.

[kinzerhaus]

So I took Landar's advice cleaned the contacts on the ECM and the plugs and re-installed the original ECM. Drove the car and it died after 13 miles. Started it back up and it went about 100 yards. Started it back up agin and drove the last 2 miles to work. After work I drove it all the way home with no issues and it died pulling into the driveway. Started thinking this might be a fuel delivery issue. Threw in the towel and took it to the local Toyota dealer. Even though the CEL was not on they were able to pull codes using their interface to the system and determined it was a bad ground connection. Took them 2 hours to figure out which one it was. Told me that when I had work done recently, which they thought might be valve cover gaskets (this was correct) that the ground straps near the rear valve cover were not tightend up and had worked loose. I would say this was the fault of my regular mechanic that did the valve cover gaskets, but these were replaced about 1 to 1-1/2 years ago. So while they may not have been as tight as they should be it is hard to say hey it was your fault when it took this long for a problem to occur.

I am picking the car up today I am going to get them to show me where the grounds are. If I start having weird issues again I will start with those first. I started out thinking this was a ground issue and replaced the battery ground and cleaned the contact points for the couple of grounds I saw on top of the engine I just need to go a little further.

Will post after I drive it a couple of days and let everyone know the result.

Thanks!