93ES300HI

ok, i new too the lexus world, usually im under the hood of a BMW or Volvo, but i needed a get to work car so i bought my 93 lexus ES300 off my friend for $500. I find my self liking the car a lot. I was told the car had a clogged converter, so i thought no big deal, ill just remove it or hollow it out. well i did that and still it ran like crap. spitting and sputtering, stalling out at lights in neutral or drive smoking like a champ, im not sure of the color of the smoke seeing as how it was night, but i guess light black dark grey. To me it feels like the car is missing, while driving car on a flat road the engine feels like you just shifted a gear. it feels likes its missing. so i checked the usual things. plus the vehicle does NOT overheat. runs at about half.

1. first i had a diag. ran. it told me that it was pushing a knock sensor code.
2. i checked all plugs for tightness. on # 6 cylinder it was not even threaded in, much less tight, so i tighten that. i also checked all conections on the engine.
3. the spark plug wires were arcing through the rubber wire coating and arcing out on the valve covers. I replaced those. Fixed that problem.
4. The distributor cap has oil leaking from it. i think its one of the shaft seals. but for the time being i used elect. cleaner, and sprayed it out and cleaned it up. the internal cap connections are oxidized and so is the stator.
5. I put 30 dollars of regular in the car and drove 17 miles by which time the gas light was on. upon getting home the engine smelled like gas as did the exhaust, so i tracked down the smell and replaced the fuel pressure regulator.
So now after having new wires, fuel pressure reg. and the spark plugs tighten the car idles for the must part. but still spits and sputters and kicks a little bit. but its a lot better.

the led needles on the GC are dead and the passenger window is unhooked and sun roof does not move and makes clicking sounds like the motor gears is slipping. beyond this car is in good cond. and i like to give it the life it deserves.

Im thinking that i need to change out the Cap, rotor/stator, distributor, ignition coil plus the oil and filter and fuel filter. also it sounds like there is a vaccum. leak on top of the manifold by the egr valve any ideas, thanks in advance

donbryce

- The '93 ES300 uses higher octane than regular, although you might get away with mid-grade. That might explain the knock sensor code, in part.
- There's a large O-ring supposed to be around the base of the distributor to seal out moisture/oil, cheap from a Toyota or Lexus dealer. You likely have a bad seal(s) at the shaft as well. Sounds like a new cap, rotor, and seals are in order.
- Try a thorough 'mechanic-in-a-can' treatment: fuel injector cleaner, Engine Restore, and Seafoam. Can't hurt, might smooth things out a bit if regular maintenance has been neglected.
- Do a search on cluster needles here. I went the easy route and got replacements off EBay, all now work perfect, about $120.00 invested.

EEngineer

lol, sounds like my car when I just got it. Hehehe.
Change ur plugs! That did the job for me.

93ES300HI

Don, EE thanks for the advice. When i get paid I'm going to do the things i spoke about earlier. the car is a good solid car and trust me even with the current condition the engine is in if i lay my foot down all the way to the floor i still feel great power from the engine. I'm becoming quickly addicted.