SRVCM

More than likely you have the U140 Trannny. I have rebuilt the A541E tranny several times and have only found them in the 1993-1997 year model es300's

Take care

check the service manuals that are listed at the beginning of the forum. the replacement instructions are in there.

Ummm I think the valves dont have anything to do with the tranny. What exactly did you do to the valves??It sound like the engine is out of time meaning the belt was not installed correctly. Recheck belt.

Hello:

Today I inspected and test drove a 1997 ES300 as a possible car for my college aged son. The car has about 95,000 miles on it, looks great and drives very nicely. However, the transmission fluid appears to have not been changed for quite a while in that it is a brownish (instead of pinkish) color. There are maintenance records up to about 45,000 miles, then nothing.

Researching Edmunds and other such consumer sites, these cars seem to have just about the highest ratings of any used cars. But after reading some of the threads on this forum, I am pretty concerned about the possibility of a lurking transmission failure. I am taking the car tomorrow to my mechanic for an evaluation.

Is there anything specific he can look for to determine if this car is a likely failure candidate? Are there any other things regarding the transmission solenoids or any other high cost repairs that I should be looking for?

Thanks in advance.

Hi,

In regards to the transmission really you wont know until it happens but I can safely say the repairs on tranny are not as bad as you may think. I can share with you my wife's 1994 lexus es300 had 189,000 miles on the tranny when it began to exhibit a slight hesitation that got worse each day until it just wouldnt shift to 2nd anymore. (2nd gear Clutch failure= rebuild). I rebuilt it myself for less than $500.00 as I am mechanically inclined and had more time than money LOL!!!

What I suggest is if you like to the car, go ahead and have the mech do a filter change on it and inspect the interior of the tranny. Then test drive it taking it on a long trip. If you satisfied with the car then buy it. As with any uesd vehicle anything could break at anytime but I doubt it would be during the inspection period. Depending on mileage as a rule of thumb if it was over 150,000 for a 97 I would not buy it. If it was less than 100,000 I would depending on its price.

My tow cents worth........

(tow.... get it LOL)

Nevermind I found it at napaonline.com the coil pack boot number is BEL702436 and its for the 92-96 ES300. The price is $11.39

FYI :This is the rubber boot that goes on the coil and connects to spark plug.

Anyone out there have a set of rubber spark plug boots that go on the coil packs?? I got a few that are toast and need to replace.

OK, so what the problem??

Blue Smoke = Oil

White Smoke = Antifreeze

No problems??? Drive it like u stole it!!!

SRVCM

hey bmack you just up the street from me. If you need help on your es300 give me a call at (270)268-4681. Pull A part up in Louisville has very many parts for your lexus and we also have a few down here in Radcliff. Give a call when u get the chance.

Srvcm

I rebuilt my own for $350.00 If you are mecanically inclined I can assist you with information/ parts list ect...

$4000.00 is Waaaaaaayyyyy too much. You can get a rebuilt tranny for $1650.00 or less from auto salvage yards.

Seriously? No one as any ideas? :-?

Same problem with my wifes es300. The "Fix" was a master rebuild kit from transmissionsusa.com where I rebuilt the transmission. Upon inspection of the parts it was found the 1st gear clutches were shot (car had 189,000miles on it). I thought it was the solenoids but after checking them they were found to be good. BTW if the solenoids go out there will be a code and the check engine light will activate. Anthing non electrical with the tranny will not show a code.

Check the shift position sensor to determine if the not has not slipped as that will affect shifting. Its location is on the front of the transmission where the shifter cable bolts to the tranny.

Srvcm

Recently our 2001 Lexus RX300 (AWD - 110,000 miles) has started to "whine" when the engine is started. The whine is getting louder and more pronounced. It is not clear whether the ambient temperature affects the "cold" noise level. In any case, the noise changes as the transmission shifts. After driving some distance, presumably after the engine/transmission warm, the whine decreases. There has been no affect on shifting, smoothness, or in the vehicle's performance. The transmission was serviced (flushed and new fluid at about 102,000 miles). The transmission fluid level is good.

My first thought was power steering pump so I listened under the hood. Checked PS fluid level - full. The noise doesn't seem to be coming from there. There is no change in the sound when the steering wheel is turned while parked. The noise seems highly correlated with the transmission shifting. Is there a pump in the transmission that would make noise if it where failing?

Any thoughts or ideas on this issue are greatly appreciated. Much obliged. Thanks.

The same problem occurred om my wifes es300 where it started to whine when started. Evuntually it affected performance as the car would not go over 30mph. I found that the whine came from the 1st gear clutches which were shot and just sliding against the steel plates when I rebuilt the tranny. It may be time to consider a rebuild as its not just going to go away and only get worse.

my two cents worth

Srvcm

Rebuilt tranny and found the direct clutch plates gone. A plastic spacer was broke just before the first sprag as well. I believe the noise was the clutch plates spinning as they were complete bowed out to the point they were not pressing against the steel plates. I completed the work myself as a cost of $233.00 for the master rebuild kit from transmissionsusa. com Total cost of project to include tools and materials $475.00. Better than $1,700 quoted fix from local tranny shop.

I just completed a transmission rebuild of my wifes ES300. As part of the tranny removal, I removed the sway bar but left the power steering rack still connected when I dissambled the a frame that holds everything in the engine bay. removal of the transmission only took two hours. I rebuilt the transmission myself because of more time than money and completed the task in 6 hours. I reinstalled transmission back into vehicle in 3 hours. I only have to reinstall axels, cruise control mod, battery and air filter and im done.

I found if you removed the two rear bolts for the botton assembly it will drop the rear where the rack is mounted 2-3 inches which should allow you to remove rack and pinion and sway bar. There are two bolts on top of bottom assembly on passenger side that go to the hoses for the rack that have to be removed first before you remove rear bolts or you will break them.

My two cents worth.

I had the same thing happen and it was definetely the alternator. I also had to change the battery as it was dead too because I was driving the car all day on battery power only which killed it.

red circle is where noise come from when I insert my key without turning just insert.

blue circle is a kind loose cable connect to red circled part.

Can someone tell me what the red circled part is? and if the cable is suppose to be loose. My camera is out of battery now, can someone with the same car post their photo? I want to compare and see if there is any different.

Thanks alot!

the red circle indicate your crusie control and throttle position cable. The blue circle is where the throttle position cable connects. If this cable is broken or not adjusted it may exhibit the symptoms that you describe. Adjustment manual indicates the cable should be adjusted so that there is some slack with very little movement.

Take black plastic cover off of red circle and check adjustment of blue circle. At blue circle there should be two adjustment nuts. each of the nuts will be on either side of the bracket and on cable. Loosen the one closest to the drivers side of the vehicle(your right facing engine). Turn the nut closest to the passenger side (The left facing engine) of the vehicle until all the slack is out of the cable then tighten the nut on the drivers side of the bracket. After you complete this, disconnect your battery cable for 15minutes to clear out all codes, reconnect and test drive.

For the past 3 days my car has been making a weird scrapping sound only when I have the car in drive everytime push the gas, it makes that sound for about 2secs. it doesn't do this all the time it did it more today sounds like its coming from the Transmission. I have lost some power when getting up to 50mph. The check engine light came on today, does this sounds like my Transmission is dieing?

I got the same sound and the same symptoms and am going to pull the transmission and replace the solenoids and the clutch plates as I believe the plates are gone.

hehe was 2 posts below this one actually -> http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=51118

all in all you can use whatever led/lights/bulbs you want, high low bright dim whatever. but for the backlighting you MUST have 14v and 3w going into them.

for the needles I actually couldnt find mini led's locally, so I just bashed up some diode-type red leds (the kind that look all cheap and oval shaped meh) I figured that it wouldnt matter because the needle is being blacked out anyways. shaved the sides down to the width of the needle, and made sure my resistors were centered for the most part.

Aside from that I used the needle DIY fix thread for all the other specs. the resistors etc all the same. works fine even with those cheapo types I used. the tip is just as bright and looks just as good.

oh the weight of the needle didnt even register on my ounce digital scale.... it was that light. I was actually shocked that it didnt even pick the needle up. so weigh your needles before/after. some people have had balance issues (not many tho - probably just a real heavy hand at soldering) so mine weigh'd 0 in and 0 out. good to go ;)

EDIT: in case you meant the actualy diy needle fix thread, that you couldnt find its here -> http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=217411

EDIT again: just realised that you meant the voltages coming off the needles themselves. Im not sure if someone multimetered this before, i completely forgot to myself =/ the dealership guy said the only thing that was not 12v in the cluster was the backlighting (8 green cap twists) the rest was 100% 12v. so the diodes I used were the ghetto kind, but still 12v rated.

I got about 20 sm leds left after my mod if you want a few ill send you 8 for free just need your address.

srvcm

Hi,

Yes, I'm a newbie on this board but that just because I haven't had to do any work on my ES300 yet. It's a 97 and I've had it for about a year and I need a new power steering pump which I already bought but I haven't had a chance to install yet. I'm looking for a rough estimate of time involved. Someone said four hours on a thread I found. Getting to the pump doesn't seem to bad but I'm mainly concerned with removing the high pressue fluid tubes since the FSM mentions a specialized service tool for that. Anyone have any tips/tricks they would like to share or am I worrying to much about this?

Thanks,

JR

I replaced the ps pump on my wifes car a few months ago. It was very easy and only took about 3 hours to replace. One thing I remember was the removal of the solenoid wires were a pain but I needed no special tools to remove it. I do recommend in gettting a few crows feet wrenches if you dont have them in your toolbox.

SRVCM

Well,

What normally happens is somone would help you. BUT youve only provided the codes and have not done your homework. You are going to have to dig into the book that is provided free at the beginning of the forum and locate the sensors and then ask for help in replacing them. In my experience with forums you dont just join the ask for help then never show up again until you have another problem. Not saying that is what you are doing but to end you request with "Now what" denotes you are expecting for someone to help and you are demanding assistance.

its pretty obvious its your air/fuel ratio heater sensor for bank one and bank 2. Where are they is beyone me, I do have a book and can look them up for you if you like but it defeats the purpose of my narration. Some things you have to do for yourself by looking it up and researching on the forum before you go asking questions for help.

Good luck

I have done the DIY needle fix on my 95 ES300. Problem is, when the car is off the needles don't go to Zero on the tach and speedo. They go up to about 3k on the tach and 50mph on the speedo. Anyone know why?

There area a few reasons you may be having this problem so lets start at step one

Check to see if needles are pushed in too far, if they are they will bind when they begin to move and wont go through their full rotation. This can be accomplished without taking the cluster out. See if they return to zero.

If they dont then there may be a problem with the guage itself.

Next take both needles off from the tach and spedo and with a paper clip straightened out, see how needles balance while holding paperclip horizontal. Rotate around a couple of times slowly by hand to see how needles behaves cause it may be too top heavy. I found when I did mine to get resistors as close to center for good balance.

If the tip after every rotation ends up pointing toward the ground the needle is top heavy. Reposition resistor(s) (make sure you are using 1/4 watt resistors which are very small anything else may be too heavy for the needle to move.

The center of the needle is where is the white plastic connector is that rests on the pin. The center is counter balanced with a brass weight on the opposite end of the tip. Make sure the brass weights are in place on the needle.

Putting the resistors too close to the tip results in the more weight for the motor to attempt to lift causing the needles to read incorrectly.

After checking this and reinstalling them back on the cluster start engine and check for normal operation. If they still do not return to zero after turning vehicle off. I hesitate to say that there is a problem with each respective motor contained within the cluster, so further checking may be necessary to determine the actual defective item, which is unlikely as I am under the assumption they worked prior to your mod, so it is more likely the needles are the problem than the cluster motors.

Be aware the TEMP and Fuel guage do not return to zero when key is turned off Just so you know....

Yes, it is not for the faint of heart. I recently completed my waterpump and timing belt replacement and it was for me a 10 level task. I have never done a lexus before, I mostly work on motorcycles and trucks so the only thing that help me was that I knew my way around an engine. I HIGHLY recommend that if you dont know a phillips from a flat head and have have never done any engine work, you get a garage or mechanic to do the work.

BTW if you were here in the KY ide do it for free beer

Well, I figured out the problem with the fuel guage not reading correctly. It appears that the extra weight of the SMT LED and the two resistors was enough to throw it off. I added a little bit of solder to the brass weight and semi calibrated it by spinning it seeing where it stopped. Once I got it to randomly stop in various position I felt it was aduquately calibrated not having the equipment and all to do a more professional job.

In essence, if the fuel sending unit is operating properly and you have original needles your guage should read correct. If it doesnt then the guage would be suspect.

years ago when I was young i did a few engine swaps and have come to the realization through experience that I semi rebuild the engine while its out of the vehicle before I do a swap. You might want to do a few things like change timing belt/ waterpump spark plugs/ valve cover and any damaged lines and wires before the swap

my two cents worth ;)

Well, I finally changed my timing belt and water pump on my 1994 es300 and it wasnt too bad. I thought I share share some secrets.

THIS IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART OR THE ROOKIE MECHANIC!!!!!!!!!

first of all I decided to change them since I had no ideal when the belt has been changed. My ES has 187630 miles on it and if it was changed at the 90k mark it would have been due now. Also the waterpump was leaking out the weep hole and I was constaltly having a wet spot under the car and with the weather cold as it is I didnt want to have the engine freeze and break something else.

I got the instructions from Autozone and studied the timing belt removal to get a feel for where everything was and began by jacking up the vehicle and setting jack stands under the vehicle. I then drained all the fluid from the radiator using the drain petcock located under the passenger side front of the radiator.

The first problem I encoutered was the camshaft bolts were very hard to remove. so I used the bolt holes that are used to hold the back cover to the timing belt cover as leverage by inserting longer bolt scews and letting the camshaft wheel set on the bolt while using a breaker bar with a short piece of pipe and slowly applying pressure to turn the bolt which work great without breaking any knuckels.

The second problem I encountered was with the timing belt tensioner that pushed on the # 2 idler(the bottom one) that takes up the slack of the timing belt. The book calls for depressing the pin and inserting a rod to keep the tensioner depressed. Well I inserted the pin too far and upon attempting to install it was smashed up against the recess and I couldnt pull the pin which resulted in me having to remove the tensioner again. I spend over an hour on this which was kinda agrravating.

When removing the belt it actually was very easy to remove following the steps listed in the autozone guide. However removing the waterpump was a little time consuming as it calls for raising the engine slightly for the two bolts to clear the side of the engine well. This was a little difficult due to the fact there are only so many places you can place the jack. I placed a board between the oil pan and the tranny pan lenghtwise from left to right between both wheels and used that as a jack point to prevent damage to any pans.

After you have removed the back cover to the timing belt(which is required to remove the waterpump) start by removing all the bolts to the waterpump. there are two guide pins that take nuts that run through the pump so remember that before installation.

Also in the installation of the pump I put the sealant on the gasket and on the mating surface of the engine and left the mating side of the gasket free of sealant which I pressed up against the engine. It could get messy with the sealant if you put it on both sides before you install the waterpump.

The third problem I ran into was the timing belt itself. The crankshaft mark on the belt was off which may have some to do with it being an aftermarket belt I insured that all the timing marks lined up prior to removal of the belt and made sure not to move them prior to installation of the belt. I ignored the belt mark and made sure the crankshaft dot was lined up the with arrow on the engine.

when I installed the belt the LH camshaft moved so I moved it back and followed the guide insuring all the slack was between the RH camshaft and the crankshaft so the tensioner could take up the slack. I then checked the timing marks on the cams and rechecked them insuring they were correct and started the engine prior to installing anything else. The engine ran perfectly so I reinstalled all components and filled the coolant with no problems.

It has been two days now and no problems with the timing belt or the pump and all is well.

if anyone needs any further infor let me know

by the time you spend all the time to remove the alt and change the bearing it may be cheaper and less time consuming to just replace the alternator. Unless you have specific knowledge or want to play around why bother? Hell who am I, if you find out the bearing size and can find it pretty cheap and have access to a bearing press it may be cheaper to just replace the bearings. Let me know what you come up with ide like to file that away for a day when I get to that point.