02ES300Jeff

I dont know. I have not messed with the amp at all, but i want to add one. (also, your subwoofer might not work at all if you just pull it out.) i would consider buying a new amp to replace the old one instead.

Ive got a 2002 ES300, I believe there have only been 2 owners before me I paid about 4k for it, and I bought it privately from the last owners I have had the car for two years now and I have already replaced the timing belt, power steering pump, alternator, knock sensors, and a few other things. in total I paid about 3k to 4k for repairs and cosmetics If I can, I do it myself, but if I cant figure it out, or its too complicated, I take it to a local guy. I added LED headlights, a spoiler, carbon fiber exhaust tip, electric exhaust cutout, new subwoofer and head unit, I made all of the chrome trim (except window frames) black, including painting the rims, calipers, lexus badges, and tinting the tail lights, spoiler light, reflectors, and fog lights. I also replaced the green and chrome spoiler with a black and chrome one.

INTRO Hi all, I have an ES300, and ever since I got it, the engine starts bucking when it has been running for a while and/or I floor it. THE PROBLEM What specifically happens is when I accelerate, before it shifts into second or third, (it only seems to have problems with these gears) the RPMs spike to 5,500 to 6,000, the car slows way down, the engine seems to buck (it feels like I hit a speed bump going about 30mph). POSSIBLE COINCIDENCE The bank 2 (front) catalytic converter code starts to show whenever this happens. I don't know if this is a coincidence, but it's frustrating. I see the problem isn't the catalytic converter because I bought a new one and put it on, and it didn't fix the problem, so I cleaned the old cat and put it back on. after that, the code for the catalytic converter didn't come back on for a while. WHAT THE MECHANIC SAID The mechanic said that it was most likely either the transmission or the catalytic converter. I mentioned knock sensors but he said that he has never had a knock sensor not throw a code when it died. WHAT I DID My friend had the same problem in his ES300 that was from the previous generation, and he said that they replaced the knock sensors and fixed the problem, even though the dealership told them it was the transmission. So I replaced the knock sensors and all the gaskets we took off in the process. THE FIX It seemed to work, I took it on the freeway and kept flooring it to get the engine hot, and it didn't buck when I had previously tested it, and it failed, with the new catalytic converter. So to make sure, I took a drive that was pretty much the same drive I had taken the summer before when I realized this was a big problem. This time, with the engine only resting about an hour or two before I drove back, the car had no issues. all seemed well in the world. THE PROBLEM RETURNS the other day I wanted to race my friend, and for the first time since I had tested the car on the freeway, I floored it. but this time it bucked again when it was trying to shift into second or third (I can't remember which one) and a few days later the same cat code I had before appeared. POSSIBLE FACTORS since I got the car, it has jerked whenever I put it in reverse I think there are 5 motor mounts in the car, and 3 or 4 of them are bad the power steering pump was leaking very slowly for a while, which made me burn through belts very fast (fixed now) I appreciate any tips that you guys have for diagnosing this, I want to get this fixed but i don't want to pay a mechanic an insane amount of money to diagnose it and be wrong. Thank you all for your help.