supersleeper

Can I hook up a portable dvd player to the stock stereo system through an rf modulator  like a non-factory cd changer or no?

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Sure. If you don't mind the sound quality, anything with line-level or headphone out can go through an RF modulator. Including an iPod. I prefer a cassette adapter for sound quality, but I completely replaced my stock stereo with a Pioneer aftermarket deck. You can do this and sell your factory unit for nearly the same price you buy the replacement deck. I broke even, because I sold my CD Changer that I no longer need because I have the iPod interface.

hi i have a 98 lexus es 300 and it has no cd changer and i called car toys this morning and asked if i was able to use a after market cd changer with stock head unit he said they might make an adapter that plugs into the back of the head unit... he found one. he said it is called a toyota pioneer something will this work for me i have a after market pioneer cd changer the guy said all i need is that adapter/

is that the right adapter?

please help

kevin

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Don't know if you've already made your choice, but CD changers are quickly becoming antiquated. With iPod hookups interfacing into nearly any type of stereo system, it is far more convenient and economical.

The EGR is the rusty pipes by the throttle body with 2 mushroom looking things.

If it gets stuck open you get poor performance but great milage , if stuck closed you get great performance but poor milage.

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Rusty pipes?!?! Not on this car B) . Not even on the exhaust manifold! The car has always been garaged, but I think I know what you are refering to. I have removed the filter box and intake mass airflow meter, and everything is super clean inside thanks to my K&N . I don't use the K&N oil with it, only rinse it every so often. Can I tell if the valve is working by testing the vacuum of the tubes? I don't have a vacuum gauge though.

Hello everyone.  I am new here and this is my first Lexus.  I bought a loaded 2006 ES330 with Navigation, Chrome wheels, etc...  I have been looking at a number of different vehicles for a while now and really wanted a Mercedes but, my wife (even though this is not her car) really loves the ES, so I bought the ES.  Did I make a good choice?  I have been reading several posts about the transmission hesitation in previous model years - does anyone know if they were addressed in the '06?  Anyone know anything about teflon coating the paint?  Sorry if these questions are covered somewhere else, if they are, I didn't see them.

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I own a 94, and took it in to the dealer for service a while back. They gave me a 2004 model ES300 as a loaner. I had two problems with it. One, it was not as powerful as my 94, but I understand they fixed that in the 330 model (larger motor). The second problem I had was that it had less visibility (more blind spots). In general I felt it had less visibility than the average sedan. I felt nervous about parking it in tight spots because I wasnt sure how close I was getting. I didnt get that feeling from my car. I am used to sports cars that are low to the ground, but these days it seems that all sedans are raising the cars up for better visibility while driving. I don't agree with that, but I personally enjoy sitting lower, with a lower center of gravity. Better performance :D . I was actually impressed with its ride and handling despite its center of gravity. I wonder how well it would corner had they lowered it a little. It is a nice car over all.

You haven't seen transmission hesitation until you've driven a 94-2003 Mustang. Those things had at least a 2 second delay before the power started to kick in. Same goes for the BMW Z4. That thing (for a performance roadster) is VERY laggy in first gear. I always prefer stick, but my luck lately is that there are VERY few used cars these days that are stick, and are hard to find. My best deals have all been automatics. <_<

i had this problem on my 87 supra turbo.

I had a Check engine light thou for knock sensor and come to find out both knock sensors shared a common ground and one of the sensors positive wires chaffed into that ground causing retarded ignition.  I found this with a multimeter and the haynes manual.  I ended up eliminating the ground shield and this way the 2 sensors would not touch and this fixed my problem until the oil pump blew but thats a whole other story.

BTW your sensors should be under the lower intake manifold a real pain in the !Removed! but if you plan on changing them I would be worth it to ohm out those wires your an engineer you should be able to fiqure that out.

ICE

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Yeah, I can, I'm just lazy :D . Too bad the issue isn't consistant enough to give me an error code <_< .

Before going off and ventureing into new areas ,look at what i asked you to which is your egr ,then you can start coming to conclusions.

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I haven't opened the hood since I started this thread. Where on this motor is the EGR valve located? I'm sure its easy to find, I just want to be prepared before I go in...

You're right in that tming & shifting is unrelated to your issue.

The moment the TCCU decides to shift a transmission, it retards engine timing to lower output & have less power going throguh the transmission during the shift (softer engagement & less wear)

The timing returns to normal as soon as it's in gear.

Putting new knock sensors in isn't a foolproof way of fixing the problem. You have to do something like swap to GM knock sensors.

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Interesting. You'd think the dealers would know something about that. I had them take the car for an entire month, and they couldnt fix it! They tried replacing the TPS, but there was no difference at all. I can't really complain, because I got to drive an RX330 for free the entire time! AND they didn't charge me for any engine work ;). I guess you can say that they want my business, but if they can't find the problem...

Thanks to you two, I should have a much better idea next time I take it in. Knock sensors I hear are a common issue, and I know that anything affecting air flow mixture/sensors will cause it also.

One more thing I've noticed while driving. It seems to be consistant per acceleration. i.e. If I acclereate this time, it may be slow and retarded, next time it may be faster and closer to the proper ignition timing. And even sometimes the timing will be dead on. There never seems to be a time where I accelerate, and it is retarded, and then all of a sudden it is dead on. Is that odd or what?

So does your scanner montior the EGR flow temp?

I would bet that is your problem with the car as it is with most.

Give it a good cleaning in the throttle body while you are at it as well.

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It does give intake temp, but not EGR temp specifically. I have noticed that EVERY time I take the damn car in for an oil change, they always spill some oil on the engine. Probably the evaporation is cloging up my intake systems. It seems no one can do a clean job or no one bothers to clean up after the spill. I have to run my car with recirculate for the next 2 months.

1mz-fe's are notorious for overly sensative knock sensors. They give up 10-15 horsepower from running in limp mode when the knock sensors go crazy. If high octane gas doesn't 100% cure the problem, the only solution is to swap the knock sensors to something else. That project is a completely pain in the !Removed!.

Here's what a '94 1mz-fe (A/T) dyno looks like that's suffereing from over sensative knock sensors. Note how the ECU is pulling timing & trying ot add it back in. Keep in mind this plot was also smoothed. There would be several times as many spikes all over the board if it were not.

For compairison, this 1mz-fe is also suffering from over sensative knock sensors, but not nearly as bad. Dyno smoothing takes out any plot of it also. (But it's still about 5lb-ft / bhp low across the board)

My vote is if 93 octane doesn't fix it, live with it. Even DIY it's going to be a semi-expencive & very, very crappy project to do.

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1mz-fe? I suppose that's the engine model? I wonder what my mechanic would charge me to replace the knock sensor? I used to work on non-computerized engines, but I won't touch these. Too much work. I'm a Network Engineer by trade, and deal enough with computers that I don't want to mix the two. I guess part of that is a lie since I bought a ScanGauge B) , but I do love how much info I get out of it.

It has a full mileage computer coupled with a fault code, realtime customizeble gauges, and it can even deliver commands to the ECU. Not that I would know anything about sending commands, but I would sure love to learn. I know it sends hex codes, and it can save up to 10 preset commands. I wanted to see if there were a way to send a code to disable the knock sensor temporarily and see if it would make the difference in the timing advance.

I read in another forum that the !Removed! in timing is to smooth shift points. Might that reflect some of the drops on the dyno? I havent noticed that random of a power fluctuation, it is fairly linear wheather or not the ignition is retarded or normal. I've observed some light roughness at idle and I have noticed some slight roughness in my transmission shifting. I personally hate automatic transmissions, and never would have bought one on purpose. I don't think that this is the problem I'm having with my ignitio !Removed!.

With a scanner that shows you ignition timing you should be able to figure it out pretty simply.

If you are looking for directions ,what causes the ignition to !Removed! or not advance?

WHat octane gas do you use?

Always the same gas station?

A/C on?

Does you scanner show you if the knock sensors are being triggered?

Can you monitor the egr flow temp with your scanner?

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Yeah, I've tried all the usual. Plotting intake temp to octane rating in gas, to octane boosters, to different gas stations. I never run my AC, because the seat of my pants can feel the difference, and I'm an hp hog. I wish it had a knock sensor warning on my ScanGuage, but it doesn't. It is totally random. Often times the loss in hp will last a couple days, then dissapear.

Hey all,

I've got one of those lousy intermittent problems. Sometimes the car accelerates fast, sometimes the car doesn't want to go faster than 0-60 in three days. I bought a ScanGuage for my ODBII hookup, and when I get acceleration issues it shows the ignition !Removed! as low as -1! When it wants to move, the ignition is arround 19. I have absolutely no error codes. No check engine light. Its driving me crazy. I have noticed strong exhaust fumes and the buildup of black soot on the rear of the car. Any help is much appreciated.

I just got a computer to read the ODBII info that comes off the ECU for my '94 ES300. It also has the capability to send codes. I'd like to know if there are any performance enhancing codes or any codes for that matter to send to the ECU and see the responses.

The computer is pretty neat. I can read engine load, air temp, mpg, gpm, rpm, speed, etc. and also comes with a trip computer and code reset utility.

<_<

1994 ES300 Special Edition (or so it says on the floor mats)

Pearl White

Premium Sound (for what it's worth) W/ 6disc changer

IMHO, this car is a lemon. 3 out of 5 stars for reliability in Consumer Reports is not great for a Lexus. My grandmother bought it new, and had all service performed from the dealer at proper intervals. Always garaged, and never commuted. Never used the sunroof (bad move).

I got it from her at 70K. 6 months later, capow! The left axle drops at 55MPH. Mechanic says it looked like an aftermarket axle. From the dealership??? at under 70K??? My mechanic managed to fix it for $350. It took out the ABS sensor with it. Didn't fix it right away, and then it decided to take out the adjacent sensor $800 job. Bad short? Anyway, month after that and the sunroof breaks. I found that it had been missing two brackets. They didn't just dissapear, because the screws were still in place! Did the dealer decide that my grandmother didn't need the parts? Dealer told me the wanted $250 just to diagnose the problem. That same week my antenna overdosed on Viagra and won't come down. It just sits there and whines the motor for 30 seconds before it gives up. Oxygen sensor goes out. Left turnsignal started blinking faster. The typical dark needle problems. Bad alignment causes me to burn through $300 worth of tires, and possibly some wheel bearings. Sounds like I'm riding on mud tires or something. Now I have an intermitent power issue. Sometimes it takes off, other times I floor it, and it barely accelerates. It's like a friggen stubborn mule.

Yeah, I'm a bit harder on my cars than most people are, but most of my cars last a very long time, because I also take care of them. I service them when they are supposed to be serviced, and not just when they need to be serviced. I've owned and shared over 12 cars in my life so far, and have never had so many problems in this short ammount of time. I think its time to buy American again. At least the parts and service are cheap. I understand the Ford Focus is more reliable. Maybe I should get one of those. I get the fealing that my car was assembled on a hot Friday night at 5:00pm and the workers just wanted to go home. My Mustang never gave me this much heat, and i drove the hell out of it.