94TA

Well Hell, My rough/low idle came back. I have a code, i think it the VSV code. This cant cause a low/rough idle can it? Im thinking about buying a brand new IAC now. But im not sure if its the real issue Ive noticed that the rough/low idle, which is about 500rpm and the car hates life, happens when i fill up with gas. Could the VSV go into purge mode, the engine richens up clearing the charcoal canister, and then it goes into a rough idle? After cleaning my IAC i would come to a light and I could watch the RPMS slowly go from 550-650 up to the 750 mark. It still does this most of the time. Im kind of at a loss of where to put my money.

Once you get the code it could be a 75$ Oil control Valve. It could be a 150-200$ IACV. It could be something else. The code really helps, and your lights will come back.

Mine idles a little rough too, i drive it everyday. heres my routine. whenever you hit a light, and the car is warmed up it may want to idle low. I throw it in neutral when this happens. It also helps to not brake hard for a light. If i have to do this i throw it in nuetral. If your on the highway and not in stop and go your fine. it will drive like it always does. If you hit a light and it gets crazy, put it in nuetral.

Sounds idle air control related. Your act did nothing, it wouldve idled that way regardless. If the IAC is stuck or not fully opening/closing I think it can cause that. 2004 es330 might have a different cause/effect then my 1999 es300 though. You may go start it next time and it will idle fine. You need to get the codes read. Normally you can then search and find 100 other people who had the issue. Right now its just a guessing game. Maybe 2004 es330's just do that at 103000 miles though ;)

oops, double post.

Take it to autozone or any other parts store in the morning. Get the codes read. Report back with the info that you get. DO NOT start buying parts until you have done alot of research on the code thrown and your car. Alot of these codes state something is wrong, yet another part is causing it. Take for instance a multiple misfire on bank 1...possible causes are mostly coil packs or ignition related parts. Infact its more times then not a Oil control valve, something their handheld scanner and troubleshooting book doesnt say. Can you drive it....yup. CEL's are just a warning that something isnt right. If the car physically runs and drives, you can drive it. Mine has been drivin daily for a year with CEL and trac off lights on, they just get old to look at after awhile. I think even the gas cap being loose can cause CEL and Trac off lights to come on. bottom line....Get the codes read.

I took the IACV off today. The worst part was ripping one of those intake duct/sleeves that runs from the throttle body to the splitter. I thought it was going to be a nightmare but i got all the screws out without stripping any of them. I actually got to do it twice, moved the car back and found the throttle body gasket laying on the ground. So after a trip to lowes for the all mighty 2" rubber sewer hose coupler and scrubbing it with carb cleaner and an old took brush its all back together. It seems to Idle better, i picked up a nice squeal on the serp belt side, think its from the weather, the nissan titan with 38k miles was squeaking to when i went to lowes. The best thing so far is last night i replaced the rear sway bar bushings with a set of moogs. I could literally slide the sway bar back and forth. After doing front struts, front sway bar links and rear sway bar bushings i lost 90% of my suspension noise. I think when i do the front swap bar bushings it will be smooth as silk again.

I ordered the other Oil Control Valve last night, 173k miles...it wont hurt. When it arrives i was planning to put it in and also clean the idle air control. Thanks for the link, hopefully my issues will finally go away. These last 2 weeks have been good. I finally have no CEL or TCS light on, and i can actually hit the TCS button and turn it off and on!

**EDIT- Car is a 1999 ES300 with 173000 miles on it, currently getting 22-23 average MPG.** About 2 days after i got my ES300 I had to replace a Oil control valve that was making the car act insane. Right now as the car sits the issues that i get are... -Rough idle in Drive when car is warm/running for a long time...sometimes i put it in nuetral at a light just so its happy. - If i ever need to slam on the brakes the rough idle worsens alot and it starts to resemble what it did when it needed the oil control valve. Ive been driving it like this for about a year! (i try not to slam on my brakes or drive it for to long) The reason I think the other oil control valve is acting up is because I read somewhere that the engine will apply engine braking when you hit the brakes hard. This would mean the oil control valve would be used right? Same thing with the hill assistance, It senses the engine needs more power, and puts the oil control valves into the correct position. BUT, The IAC comes to mind because I can watch my idle go from 200-300rpm lower then normal idle, back to normal idle. So in my mind maybe its just slow and needs help? It idles pretty high for awhile in the morning too. However, It has no issues starting in the morning, after its sat 4 days, in 15º weather, when the car has been running and is started soon after...most IAC issues the car will not start or it will start and die. I want to sell this car soon, and I dont need someone on a test drive hitting the brakes hard and it acting crazy. My check engine light was on most of the year, it would go off and come back at random, It was a EVAP code, possibly charcoal canister or VSV, Could just be the gas cap too. Its been off since I filled up last, so thats why i think gas cap. When the oil control valve was very bad it set a code for misfires. Anyways, What would you throw your money at? Im thinking a new oil control valve for the side i didnt replace, and then taking the IAC apart and cleaning it? I guess go from there? (wish i could remember which bank oil control valve i replaced!)

1999 Lexus ES300, 163k miles. I commonly refer to it as a Glorified camry/Gcamry. Its nice a car, but lets face it, its a loaded camry. To me it just took the work out of finding an optioned out camry though, plus the es looks a tad better. Traded a lincoln LS v8 for it that had 133k miles. Ive had to replace a OCV - 60$ Car is in great mechanical shape, needs Detailed. Needs tires. So far im happy with her! i would like the split 3 spoke wheels in the future, but hey cant complain about the price of 15" tires!

I was under the impression that there are 2 different part numbers and they are not interchangable. Perhaps that is the problem 15340-0A010 LH 15330-0A010 RH are the part numbers i have found. I would like to know what happens if you remove the OCV filters on a car thats going to get new OCV's anyways. If it is sludge moving around inside the engine it would probably make it through the ocv and to the oil filter wouldnt it?

You are in the same boat i am then. The oil control valves probably need to be replaced. Mine drives fine until it gets hot. then a slightly rough idle and the same bucking feeling comes back. I am guessing its the OCV's malfunctioning and advanceing and retarding the timing and give the car that bucking feel.

Bank 2 is easy, bank 1 near the firewall is a pain. have a magnet handy ;). The ocv's are held in by 1 10mm screw and an electrical connection. the filters are a 14mm bolt on the side of the engine block near the ocv.

Buy a new OCV and new OCV filter. Multiple missfires and a 1354 is what i just went through. Dealership/toyota dealership will have them. If you want to do some Preventive maintenance then i would replace both bank 1 and bank 2. I pulled mine and cleaned them and the car is running alot better then it was. It still hiccups givin throttle amount and drivetrain load when hot, but ive spent 0.00$. I had a 1354 pulled from my car which points to bank 2. When i checked bank 1 it seemed to be twice as filthy, especially the filter. If you have the money, some paitence and some time Buy the parts and do it youself. bank 1 can be a pain. Bank 2 can be done in 5-30 minutes depending on your mechanical abilities. Bank 1 might take an 30 minutes to 2 hours. A bracket had to be persueded out of the way on my car which i left as a last option. Look at most of the other threads latly regarding 1354 codes or 1349 codes/ multiple misfires and you will find my pictures that show ocv and ocv filter locations. I am finding this to be the most common problem with these cars. If your getting a 1349 or 1354 code as well as 1/3/5 or 2/4/6 missfires, and it does it randomly, its almost gaurenteed an OCV malfunction.

I want to tell you what to do but i honestly cant. Im sure your Timing chain and exhaust will be the biggest issues. the intake manifold probably isnt that bad. Weigh your options, if its a daily driver then you may just be SOL.

they are supposed to come out with the 14mm bolt, i had to use a small pair of needle nose pliers to get them both out, the tabs break off. Bank 1 is a really big pain. Be prepared to have a magnet handy.

Feel like i just went over all this. Bank 1 is a pain to get to. Bu ti found my bank 1 filter ALOT more clogged then my bank 2. Since cleaning them and the ocv on a 160k mile car i havent had any issues for 120 miles. Bank 2 Bank 1

I honestly cant answer that. Im unfamiliar with 93 Es300's. If they use obd1 then your going to need an obd1 code reader, they are a little more rare then a obd2 but found in alot of early 90's cars. If your mechanic has a relativly large shop, he should be able to read them no matter obd2 or obd1. My information was givin just as general things to check on any car thats overheating while moving, and misfiring. Not to put bad thoughts in your head, but I wonder if it just jumped timing?

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!

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.

Have you checked the radiator hoses to make sure they are not collapsing?If it doesnt overheat at idle and does at 2000-2500rpm you may have a hose that is collapsing. Water Pump impeller blades can break/erode away as well, do you know what condition the water pump is in? it may not be circulating enough coolant at higher rpms. Does the car have a check engine light on? perhaps getting the codes read would help. A spark tester would help also, make sure you are getting spark to each spark plug. Test each spark plug wire first. If any arnt sparking, change the wire with one thats sparking to figure out if you need a new plug wire or a new distributer. You can also get spark but it can be irratic, just fires when it feels like it, thats also not good. Should probably test fuel as well. Compression test wouldnt be a bad thing either, i wouldnt beleive what anyone selling a problematic car says.

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?

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!

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!!!

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!