bcplumber

I read someone else's post about both front doors losing control of the outside handles and having to open the doors from the inside. My case is a little more tempermental, i guess. See if you can make sense of this:

I recently drove my 1991 ES250 cross-country and at certain rest areas, the front passenger-side door would not completely unlock. Whether toggling the lock button manually inside or turning the key back and forth in the door lock, the lock button on the inside panel of the passenger door would move back and forth but when controlled to unlock, it would not go completely to the unlock position, and the door was unopenable. You could not push the button manually fully into the unlock position either. It was simply unable to be opened.

And then, as if by way of a miracle the next time we stopped, I would unlock the doors and it would work perfectly as if there was never a hitch. My passenger and I, although pleased to have the door working again, were baffled by it's inconsistency. This change from functioning properly to utterly unopenable occurred at least 3 times along the ride. When arriving in LA, my alternator completely went out. I am wondering if this is linked to an electrical malfunction. Any ideas??

hey im having the same prob with my pasenger door lock. did you ever figure out the prob?

this is what i was looking for!!!! i have an 02 es300 and the rear looks hard as crap to get too. im not sure if i could pull it off! i wish there was an actual photo DIY

pull off your hood (4 bolts) and u can get in there with a few extentions. i think i used a 8" and 3". put the sp remover w/extention in the sp hole then attach the handle and spin the mo fo. no prob. 15 mins done. easier than removing intake.

will need helper removing and replacing hood. ok bye bye now

this is what i was looking for!!!! i have an 02 es300 and the rear looks hard as crap to get too. im not sure if i could pull it off! i wish there was an actual photo DIY

pull off your hood (4 bolts) and u can get in there with a few extentions. i think i used a 8" and 3". put the sp remover w/extention in the sp hole then attach the handle and spin the mo fo. no prob. 15 mins done. easier than removing intake.

will need helper removing and replacing hood. ok bye bye now

I am posting again to another very old post but my 250 had the same problem. When I checked the coolant level it was extremely low. There wasn't enough to fill the engine and the heater core which is why the air was blowing cold. Once I refilled it the heat was working perfectly...

you might want to find out why your coolant is so low. could be a possible leak somewhere?

coolant rarely gets that low w/o some sort of leaks. you might also see a performance difference once you topped off the coolant.

check your fuses under the steering wheel left side or under the hood in the black box

we swapped intake manifolds, wiring harnesses, ecms. the 90 block had a knock sensor port but not the 89. if you use the lexus ecm you'll have a check engine light from the lack of knock sensor signal. the difference is because of the model year changes.

hey thanks for your help. i finally got it running after letting it sit all winter. it only took me 60 man hours!! your right there is a check engine signal. i was wondering if i could just plug in the sensor from the lexus engine block. or jump the wire somehow?

i dont have the code for the radio. any idea where to find one? also how important is the vcv/vsv valve. its broken and not even pluged in lol. shes still runnin like a beaut.

hello all, new here, not so new to the world of car forums. :)

my husband and i just bought a 90 ES250 with a bad engine to fix up. we have an 89 Camry LE V6 that got smashed up by a hit and run driver from the local bar, and the engine in it is great. the ES is great in every other way. needs a few things beyond the engine, as expected (axle seals, rack, somethin else i don't recall) but the swap should work out just fine. kinda irritated that it needs a rack and we can't just use the one out of the camry we put in a couple months ago... damn!

husband is a toyota tech so he knows toyotas inside and out. particularly the camry, that was the 3rd one we've owned. lexus isn't quite as familiar though it should be similar enough. looking forward to having a second car again! this one's beautiful too, much nicer than the camry.

do you know if you have to switch out the wiring harnesses and the intake manifold? or are they the same anyway? ive been swapping engines from a smashed up 89 camry into my 91 es250 for the past 3 weekends. it's taking me forever. dont really know what im doin.lol. kinda learnin as i go.