Es330 Cel Codes 2121 And 2128

[gbhrps]

Gentlemen,

My bride's 2004 ES330 went into limp mode 3 weeks ago and threw the CEL light on, as well as the Traction Control light and the Vehicle Stability Control light. Its 132 000 kms old and has never had a problem from new.

My code reader showed the codes P2121 and P2128, both of which refer to the Accelerator Pedal Position Sensor as being bad. A trip to my trusted independent mechanic backed the readings up and positively identified the APPS as the culprit.

A trip to the local parts store for the sensor discovered that our particular Lexus has a specific sensor that only Lexus can supply. A call to the dealership 70 miles away revealed that it only costs $876 CDN including the tax. Here's the catch .... the sensor comes attached to a new accelerator pedal, and because my wife's car has all the options available that year, including power pedals .... the entire brake pedal, accelerator pedal, and the entire motorized assembly for both pedals come as one unit, as one part!

You can't buy just the one damn sensor that is held on with 2 small bolts and can fit in your hand. You are forced to buy the entire power pedal assembly. Here's another kicker ...... After pulling the lower dash panel ... its obvious that to replace the entire power pedal assembly as a unit ... you would have to pull the steering column and the entire dash!

Now that you're all scared to death, I'll decribe what I did. After disconnecting the 6 pin connector to the APPS, I undid the one nut and one bolt that held the accelerator pedal to the power pedal assembly. Then I removed the same unit from the new entire pedal assembly I purchased on eBay from a Calfornia based parts supplier. An hour later I had the new pedal on the car, cleared the codes and the car is again running 100%.

And now I have an entirely new Power Pedal assembly, minus the accelerator pedal, to use as a paper weight.

Having all of the options is nice, its just that down the road its going to cost you at repair time.

I do have to thank "Ifoundtheparts.com", the lexus parts store on eBay for getting me the correct part I required. They are amazing people to deal with. Their support personnel bent over backwards to ensure I got the correct parts, and for about half what my Canadian dealership was charging, even with the shipping and the brokerage fees.

[gbhrps]

Gentlemen,

As a followup, I'd thought I'd share my findings for this problem for those of you who don't have the Power Pedal option on their ES330.

When I first started to look for a new APPS, the local parts store had the identical sensor for the accelerator pedal, but it only had a 4 pin connector instead of a 6 pin. The cost was about $150 CDN with tax.

Online, the genuine Lexus sensor, again with just a 4 pin connector, could only be purchased already attached to a brand new accelerator pedal, for around $300 CDN.

So for those of you who ever get the P2121 code, and don't have the Power Pedal setup, it would appear that you have a couple of much cheaper alternatives than those with a fully optioned ES330.