ejohnson15

i own a 1994 es300 with 242k miles on it. iv owned it for 25k miles or about 1 year. iv done only routine maintenance (tires, struts, oil changes). It is a great running car especially for 242k miles but it does have one issue that seems to be getting worse. when i first start it after its been sitting a while (in the morning or after work) and try to accelerate it doesnt get any power. the rpms dont go up, the engine doesnt rev it barely moves for the first 10-20 seconds. then it suddenly gets power and the problem doesnt occur until its been sitting for a few hours. any suggestions? (it also seems to lack power in general compared to my friends 97 es300) could this be a fuel system problem? electrical ? or even transmission? i would appreciate any suggestions.

dfj240

Had this problem on the Lexus I just bought a week and a half ago. Start it up cold in the morning and no matter how hard you press the accelerator it doesn't move for a few seconds. After initial acceleration, it does just fine. I did a full transmission flush and the problem is gone. 3 days straight so far with no hesitation whatsoever. Might try flushing the transmission and see if that does the trick.

kjr11mjr

interesting...im having the same problem these days....so what you are suggesting is taking out alll the transmission oil....flushing the area...then put new transmission fluid?

dfj240

Yes. Do a full transmission fluid flush. Sediment, sludge, dirt build-up, etc. can cause almost every component of a transmission (especially an automatic) to fail to work properly, or even completely fail. Auto transmissions rely a lot on fluid pressure to work smoothly. If the fluid level is high or low, or you have tainted ATF in your transmission, you are not allowing valve bodies, solenoids, and other key components to work at full potential.

What I suspect is happening is that the fluid has lost much of it's viscosity if it's old, and therefore until the fluid warms up it has trouble flowing through it's necessary channels, which is why the transmission would fail to accelerate the car.

After having flushed mine, I can tell a noticeable difference in the overall performance and smoothness of my transmission, both at cold start up and normal operating temperature. I suggest you give it a try as it is not a costly bit of maintenance.