GrayES300

Finally got the bolts out. Ended up removing the two water hoses that are in that area, removed the throttle body and a couple of lines on it so I could pull it out of the way and the nut on a stud holding the wire harness on the engine. Of course when I removed the throttle body, the bolt that holds the bracket to it broke. After all of that, I used a 1/2" drive breaker bar with a 1/2" to 3/8" reducer and a standard 17mm socket. That combo made the length perfect to fit in the pocket where the bolts were. Still was a huge pain. After breaking loose the bolt, I switched to a swivel head socket wrench to speed up removal. You can only remove it so much. If you go too far, you will not be able to get the socket back off. Finished removal with a box end wrench. Now that all the bolts are removed, still trying to get the trans and engine separated. i think the dowel pins are corroded holding it together. Going to try thin scrapers at the seam between the two and move up to a chisel & pry bar to get them apart.

Been gone for a while. My car is a 2001 ES300. Had issues with my U140E trans no longer going in overdrive. After trying to fix it, gave up and parked the car for over a year. Now I have bought a used one from a junkyard and I am currently trying to remove the old trans. It has been a nightmare of a project. Broken bolts, had to cut off my stabilizer bar links because the nuts were rusted to them and the passenger side axle is frozen in the axle bearing housing. I'm at the point now where I am ready to remove the old trans. Just got the front brace removed. I cannot figure out how to get at the upper trans to engine mount bolts. Service manual does not help. Only tells me to remove the bolts. Pics attached to show the area on my car as well as on my new trans. Anyone done this before? I tried to reach them from under the car, but that did not work. Is there something that will come off easily on the top of the engine to make this easier? Any help is appreciated!

Found another listing for used transmissions. Range in price from $1,400 - $1,800! Makes the rebuilt ones on ebay seem like a good deal, even if they were not totally rebuilt. http://www.autopartsfair.com/lexus-used_transmissions/es300-2000-catalog.html?fit_notes=a8dc7d971db9f2d640e137dac905ec1f&seq_num=3

Thanks for the response. I wasn't sure what my trans options were or if anyone had done a swap with a Camry for feedback as to how it went. I see a used one on ebay now for $999. Seems a little steep. Others are offering "rebuilt" ones on ebay for $1,500.

I don't see why not. I had one repaired about 10 years ago. They replaced the tumblers to rekey it for me. It was not off a Lexus, but they all work basically the same. You should call ahead before taking the door apart.

Not sure about the problem with the remote, but the tumblers in the lock might be a problem for you. Maybe they are bound up for overuse or damage. Have you tried lubing them with graphite? Worst case you might have to remove the lock and take it to a locksmith for repair. Perhaps the tumbler damage keeps the power lock from activating?

I have had an ongoing transmission problem. My '01 ES300 has the U140E trans and it no longer goes in overdrive. I tried finding a new solenoid, but Lexus couldn't even get the right one after numerous attempts. Now I just want to swap out the trans. What are my cheapest options? It's very hard for me to find one out of a Lexus, but I heard a '02-'03 V6 Camry would work. Would it just bolt in or are there electronics that need to be changed? The earlier trans A541E is fairly cheap. Could it be installed with some electrial components or would it not work at all? This is not my daily driver so I am not in a rush to get the job done. Just want it done as cheaply as possible.

Has anyone ever bought parts from toyotapartszone.com? They have a solenoid for my trans that is a lot cheaper than I have been able to find. They say it is OEM too. Just want to know if it is too good to be true...

35230 is shift solenoid D. Awesome...Thanks! I do not have a Lexus dealer near me so I was at a loss. Tried to call the closest one's parts department but they were no help.

I have a '01 ES300 (u140E trans) with an ongoing P0765 transmission shift solenoid "D" malfunction code. The car will not go into overdrive. So far I have dropped the pan and inspected for metal shavings (none), pulled out the valve body and cleaned it out as well as the solenoids. Put it all back together and it still isn't working. My next step is to replace the solenoid. Can someone tell me which solenoid in this diagram is the "D" one so I order the right part? Thanks!

Call around...My Toyota dealer replaced the timing belt and the coolant for $350.00. I did not have him replace the water pump because I thought I was going to trade the car in less than a year. Wound up keeping it.

Hey guys, My parking brake froze up on my rear brakes. I tore apart the holding pin on the shoes forcing it off. Anyone know where they sell rebuild kits with the pins, springs, ect.? So far, I have only seen the shoes or the parking cable for sale at the normal parts places.

This is a continuation of my original post http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=57542 concerning the solenoid shift problem I am trying to fix. So I cleaned out my valve body and the solenoids. I tried to reinstall it, but while doing so I crushed the check ball assembly. I read somewhere else that using vaseline would hold it in place. I thought it worked, but I guess it slipped while I was wrestling with it to get it reinstalled. I noticed that there are three actuator pistons. Two face the trans pan and the other faces up, exposing only the spring. One of the pistons facing down is seated in it's postion. The other does not stay up in the bore. I have to hold it and push (with some force) to get the valve body on. Is this normal? Any tips/tricks for getting the valve body reinstalled? Right now, I have to make sure the check ball valve, the one accumulator piston, the middle spring and the shift selector valve all go in OK. This is a lot of juggling, not to mention the valve body gets pretty heavy trying to hold it up and pushing it against the transmission. If anyone can offer suggestions to make this easier while I wait for my new check ball valve, I would appreciate it.

Haven't gotten any advice on this. I soaked the solenoids in mineral spirits for a while and washed the valve body with it also. I'm not going to try to "test" the solenoids because I'm not sure if hooking it directly to the battery would burn it out or not. Does anyone have some tricks for reinstalling the valve body? I'm nervous about trying to get the check ball valve and the spring and pistons all to stay in place while fumbling to get some of the bolts back in. Maybe someone who has done this before has a system for doing it easier?

I used to have a '92. The job is pretty easy. You need a spring compressor to remove the top nut from the strut so you can take the spring off and put it on the new strut. New struts do not come with the springs. You definately need a breaker bar. My impact wrench wouldn't get the big nut off the bottom bolt. I had to use a huge breaker bar with a pipe on the end for extra leverage. I didn't want to put a lot of money in my car at the time either. I bought the cheapest shocks at Autozone ($50?). One of my springs had broken (forcing me to replace the struts) so I got one at a junk yard for $10. You should buy at least a Haynes manual if you plan on doing anymore repairs yourself. Sometimes you can find them at the library also. At the beginning of this forum there is a Merry Christmas post. A service manual might be listed there for your car.

You can rule out the bulbs. They will either work or not work. Dimming usually is a voltage drop. You could have a short somewhere in the wiring of the dash.

Is the oil filler cap on tight? Did you put the dip stick back in? Are you sure you are down 1/2 a quart? I know that when I fill my car and check it, it is full. Then I run it for a minute or two so the oil fills the filter. When I check it again, I have to put more in. Usually it takes another 1/2 quart. If you really are losing that much, it should be a pretty large leak. Maybe put a piece of carboard under the car overnight and see where the oil collects so you will know if it is in the front or back of the engine. Just some thoughts.

BUMP...I wrote this post in May. I have finally gotten around to working on the car and had some questions. Lenore was helpful originally. Maybe Lenore or someone else could give me more specific details on the actual cleaning process of the valve body. My thought was to take the solenoids off and clean the pistons and inside the cylinders with mineral spirits (lenore recommended). Will this be sufficient or should I soak the entire assembly? Are there other parts I should take off the valve body to clean? Should I spray carb cleaner or something on the gears that were exposed when removing the valve body, or just leave it alone? So far, I have removed the pan (no abnormal metal shavings, just usual powder on the magnets. Trans fluid was medium brown and did not smell burnt). Definately time to change it anyway. I now have the valve body out (surprised when a piston and two springs popped out of the top of it). If I remove a solenoid, can I test it somehow? Maybe hook it up to the battery with jumper wires and aligator clips to see if it moves, or would that damage it? Any help/advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Was your transmission shot or were you able to clear out the valve body to fix it? Thanks for the advice on the mineral spirits. Do the solenoids ever fail on their own without it being clogged? Hopefully I'll have time this weekend to take it apart and check it out.

Has the car been shifting fine? I just posted a problem with my car where the O/D would engage and disengage. Otherwise, my car shifts fine, but won't get good gas mileage on the highway.

Hey guys, I've been searching the forums and found some information about P0765 codes and what to do. I'm going to try to fix this myself, but need some support to get the guts to go through with this. Here are the details: My car, '01 ES300 with only 250k miles would shift into overdrive and shift back out. The check engine light came on. Scanned and got the P0765 which appears to be a malfunction in the solenoid D on the valve body. I change the fluid out of the pan every 20k miles. I have dropped the pan a couple of times also to clean out and just had the normal metal powder on the magnets. Fluid never smelled burned and always was still a good color before being replaced. Never had a tranny flush by a mechanic. Trans was performing fine until this point. Car still drives fine, but won't be very fuel efficient without overdrive. All other gears shift fine. Here are my questions: I've read here that most people need to replace the transmission because it is failing or at least the valve body. I want to try just the solenoid first with a cleaning of the valve body. 1. Am I crazy and just wasting my time and money? 2. Is the solenoid electrically controlled? Can it simply just wear out without it being shavings preventing it from functioning? 3. Is there a way to test the solenoid to see if it is stuck without removing it? How about if it is removed, can I test it with simple tests (I do not have a multi-tester) 4. Is there a source for generic solenoids outside of a Lexus dealer? Do Camry's use the same part that might be cheaper at a Toyota dealership instead of Lexus? 5. Are there any gaskets that need to be replaced on the valve body before reinstalling? 6. What should I use to clean out the valve body? Just normal parts cleaner? The only experience I have had with removing a valve body was on a '51 Packard. From the pictures I have seen, they look similar, except the Lexus has wires. I just want to be more prepared before ripping into my car. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

After removing the bolt, The caliper barely swings up. I have to use a pry bar or large screwdriver to force it up high enough to remove the pads. I think the pin must be bent somehow. The side with the piston goes all the way in and accepts the new pad, the opposite side won't open enough to get it on. Do you think I need a new caliper or is there a way of fixing this?

This does help a little. See figure 2...The bottom shows the bolt that holds the front of the caliper on. On the top, there is no bolt. The front calipers have 2 bolts. Is the front of the rear caliper supposed to slide off when the bottom bolt is removed? Does the fact that mine won't indicate that it needs replacing? Thanks for the help.

I noticed that on my last replacement of my rear brake pads, I couldn't get the rear calipers to open fully to accept the new pads. I think they might be warped or frozen. I was going to try a brake caliper spreader to see if that frees it up. Right now I use a C-clamp when changing pads. If the spreader fails, I will need new calipers I think. How do they come off? I only saw one bolt on the back. When I remove it, is the front supposed to slide off a hidden pin? The caliper does not rotate upward easily and won't slide off as far as I can tell. Am I doing this right? I don't want to force anything and break it. Any thoughts or step-by-step guides would be greatly appreciated. By the way, I have a 2001 ES300.

Have you made sure that all of the lights are off in the car? Does the trunk light turn off when the trunk is closed? Is the dome light left on? Since it is only a spare car and if you can't find the cause, you can put on one of those quick disconnect battery terminals and just leave the battery disconnected when you are not going to use it for a while. That will keep the battery fresh. I don't think there are any problems on a '92 having the battery disconnected for a long period, but I would check your manual and make sure your radio doesn't have a security code or something.