Vinodh

I had the exact same problem a couple of months back. I took it to 'Royal Transmission' and they said I have to rebuild the transmission :(. I think the clutch is slipping which is why the gear is not getting engaged. If you have a good mechanic friend who can rebuild the transmission, that is the only solution I can imagine. Sorry it happened to you. Mine was U140E type of transmission (can be seen in the label from driver's door) So I was given a quote of 2500$ to replace with a transmission from another car. There is another type which is little less expensive than this. Don't accelerate the car too much it will burn the inside of transmission.

I have a 99 Lexus ES300 auto transmission with 126k in it. It was going smooth when last friday, while driving, the vehicle slowed down. I can see the engine running at 3000rpm and move even to 5000rpm when i press the accelerator but it was moving as if a the clutch is pressed down in a manual transmission vehicle. I stopped it, turned off ignition and swithc it on again. It was driving normal for another mile and the gear shift was not proper. It ran at 2500 rpm and when it shifts gear it moved to 4000 rpm and came down to 1500. And then it acted as if there was no gear in the vehicle. Took it to a Royal transmission and they are telling that we need to rebuid the transmission and going to cost 2000-2500. 1. Anyone had this problem before? 2. Will it cost this much to change the transmission? I was about to sell it this week as I'm moving and this happened :(

I use a cassette adapter. It works great.

Don't worry. I have heard it always displays a safe expected mileage based on how you were driving in past. It will give you 16-18 in city based on your style of driving. My 99 ES300 gives 14-16 in city, but almost doubles it in highway, I drove a little above 200 for 1/2 a tank and ended up with 350 when I had to drive in city+highway(still had 2-3 gallons left when i refilled).

Did you clear up the code after changing the air filter and fuel filter? I had this code couple of weeks back read out at Autozone. I just did the oil change with air filter changed. I did not feel anything different when i drive, so we just reset code and it did not come again after that.

I did a code check in Advanced Auto Parts. It read out P0171 (for oxygen sensor/air filter??). The guy asked me if there is anything different in drving or if it drives the same. I didnot feel any difference, so he did reset the code for me. All the three indications went off. 2 days passed and nothing happened and still drives smooth. Thanks for your advice.

Hi Guys, I have a 99 ES300. Today while driving I got this VSC OFF indication, VSC indication(on the left of the panel) and the Check engine indication all at a time. Are they all interlinked? Engine did not overheat and the heat indicator needle stayed little less than halfway in it's scale, as usual. I did an oil change on February. What do you do when you were in such position, like a self check for problems? I looked into the user manual and could not find any link between VSC and check engine. Any help is appreciated. Thanks

I don't much experience in details of it. I recently bought a 99 ES300 with 119k miles on it. I just did whatever I've written below. For past 3 months i had no problem other than the battery. But my dealer replaced it for free. If it has good maintenance records and if you find the engine is smooth after driving at 75mph and also at little slower speeds, then I'd say go for it. See when the important things like timing belt, water pump were replaced. Be with the car for 1/2 or an hour after initial driving, start it again and see if it works good. Open the bonnet and start the engine, see if you hear any strange noise. See if the engine is maintained clean. If properly maintained, they will really be a good one. If something really goes wrong, it will always going to cost you more than other cars.

Yes it is right after i shut down the car. I'll try testing with the engine running. If i don;t find anything encouraging, I'll take it to the auto parts store.

I have a 99 ES300, 125k, bought it from a dealer 3 months back. The car recently started giving me a starting problem. Most of the times now it doesn't start. Jump start works. Assuming it must be a battery problem, today afternoon I jump started it and drove like a mile and sat in the car idling it ocasionally rising it to 4000-5000rpm. After 1/2hr, i switched off and switched on immediately. Damn.. it didnot start again!!! Took my multimeter and checked the battery, to my surprise, it gave a green light and showed 12.04Volts!! Last time when I jump started the car, i didnot have to do it again and the battery showed me 12V and thought it was good. Now today it isn't starting even if the battery shows 12V. Any one had similar problem? Any clues? :o :(

Hey Lex92, Can you please share the photos if you still have them? Thanks. Vinodh