EvilNCarna

I picked up a used ES300 that will be my sons first car next year. When I talked to the dealer they noticed it didn't show in drive when you put the gear selector in drive. I on my way to pick it up I had time to google it and discover the most likely cause. So after owning it a day or three I came up with a way to fix it. Cost me 1.40 and some string. I had to order some motorcycle parts so I went ahead and threw in a spring thats used to connect the rear brake pedal to the rear brake pedal sensor.

First, the cause, you can see the white "fork" is broken, that should move the electric switch back so the ECU or TCU knows the car is in drive.


Finally my fix: I just lassoed the arm with a piece of hemp twine I had, then hooked the spring (loops facing down) wrapped the hemp around one end of the spring and then anchored it up on the side of the shift assembly. Just a small amount of tension to keep everything in place so the spring wont fall off. If you look at the pic while its in 4th you will see the spring is 'barely' stretched.



Loops on the spring have to face down so the plastic slide piece wont catch as you shift the transmission.


On a side note, does anyone have a service manual for this generation, my googlefu has come up empty.