jsmcdo

My U140E tranny has developed a serious leak and needs to be repaired/replaced. Any advice re: repairing seal vs. rebuilding vs.replacing with used/rebuilt tranny?

The VIN tag on the door; look for "A/TM"=XXX/XXXXX.

Okay, I got my door open believe it or not. I actually don't believe it myself at this point. I am posting my reply on this thread instead of my own in the hopes that someone else with this problem can fix theirs as well. I will post pictures when my actuator comes in and I install it.

First, I took off the part of the door panel that goes around the inside door handle. Mine is the taupe interior and the part I removed is the lighter color part. It attaches with metal tabs to your door panel.

I then cut a hole in the panel underneath to access the lock and handle rods.

I then used a reciprocating saw to cut the piece of metal in between the two access holes to better access the door lock actuator.

I then used trial and error to find the latch that opens the door. Door opened and I screamed my victory cry. (It took three hours to get this far!)

From there I took the whole door panel off, and was able to see the broken spring that caused all of my woes.

I still need to install the new actuator and when I do so I will take pictures of my work and explain where the latch is to open the door!

Can anyone help with actuator installation tips or tricks?

I hope I helped someone with this. The only tip I can give is that the latch moves DOWN to open the door, so don't waste your time trying to pull anything up!

With the knowledge you now have, do you think you could have opened the door with any particular lock-pick tool frfom the outside? If so, can you describe how you might accomplish this feat?

I have the same problem with my 93 ES300. Does anyone know if this is a problem with the ignitition switch, headlight switch or headlight relay?

Dim headlilghts are sometimes an indicator of a suboptimal ground connection and/or plug connection.

The headlights on my 93 ES300 are staying on after the ignition is shut off. Any idea why this is happening?

The power door lock actuator in the driver's door on my 1993 ES300 apparently has failed. The door is locked and will not unlock at all (the other three doors work fine).

I get two answers from the nearest Toyota dealer: one is that it will cost ca. $300 to fix; the other is that the replacement part alone costs $421.

I called the nearest Lexus dealers (ca. 500 miles). The answer I get is that the only way to fix this problem is to remove the door panel from the inside at a cost of ca. $800! Apparently, the rods that connect the actuator to the lock knob and to the latch itself have disconnected/broken?!

Which leads me to my next question that remains unanswered: why am I not able to mechanically unlock that door?

Can anyone help with a cheaper fix and/or some other way to open that door? Crawling across from the passenger side is really convenient.

Thanks in advance.

The power door lock actuator in the driver's door on my 1993 ES300 apparently has failed. The door is locked and will not unlock at all (the other three doors work fine). I get two answers from the nearest Toyota dealer: one is that it will cost ca. $300 to fix; the other is that the replacement part alone costs $421.

I have another question that remains unanswered: why am I not able to mechanically unlock that door?

Can anyone help with a cheaper fix and/or some other way to open that door? Crawling across from the passenger side is really convenient.

Thanks in advance.

I have a 1992 ES 300 with 50,000 original miles. The cluster lights went dark one day. I ran thru the fuses and found a burnt one replaced it, everything worked fine for a week or better. Then all went dark again I checked the passenger cabin fuses, all good. I then went under the hood and removed all the fuses in the two boxes on the driver side wheel well, all good. After that the tach, speed, fuel, temp, all were working. The Odometer is black. I tried each option and reset to no avail. I only have a Chilton manual which makes no mention at all of odometer. I don't know how exactly the digital readout is repaired?

If the failure is mechanical would the illumination still display. Is it a "backlight" type of illumination? I used a flashlight to examine, and realized that no readout as well as no illumination. Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

I have a similar problem with my 1993 ES300. The odometer does not display. Some of the information I have found indicates it may be a failed battery backup for the odometer (in order to retain odometer/trip odometer information when the car is shut off). In any event, it seems that the instrument cluster will need to be removed in order to determine the exact nature of the problem. The local Toyota dealership quoted me ca. $450 to repair, assuming it is something they can fix.

If you search for "lexus, es300, instrument, display," you may find some information about removing the display. The Haynes manual for 1992-1996 Camry has comparable info.