sssgood

Hi guys,

I became the owner of a nicely kept/maintained gold 1999 gs300 this september. So far I have driven it 5k (kms) so its now at 120kms. The only mod it has is a k&n filter installed by the previous owner.

Here's the issue, the freaking winter in fort mac, Canada, is killing this car. It's been consistently below -30C for almost two months now. First the battery died, there is no record of it ever being changed....then the doors wouldn't close. Like it literally wouldn't lock up even if you banged it hard . This actually drained the battery a couple of times. Still havent found the solution for this. Then there is the rear defroster that doesn't get the job done (it tries but barely effective with snow/ice). Also, even after 10 minutes of warming up the steering is still kinda hard (initially). But here is the biggest problem that i faced yesterday, I put the car in reverse, backed out, then put it in drive and it doesnt move, giving more gas just increases the rpms and nothing happens. This happened even with the engine warmed up. The thing is it reverses just fine but doesnt go forward regardless of the gear its in.. so after trying 5 minutes or so it moved forward normally again. The thing I realized after was that the breaks were sticking as in there was a lag of about a second before the breaks let go......so could it have been the breaks sticking or a transmission issue? Anyone have any ideas? I almost officially hate winter now

fun fact: temperature indicator bottoms out at -30C

Thanks

egs21

Wow, that's crazy! I have to imagine the GS300 is not alone with having issues with temps of -30. Unfortunately I don't have any ideas as I don't deal with winter weather that is quite that cold. Best of luck.

aneidiaz

Seems like the cold is making all the components of the "stick frozen" and is preventing it from normal usage. I live in PA and its cold but dam -30 degrees is COLD. My BEST advice to you to try and help you thru this winter is to (1) keep your tank FULL at all times! and (2) let the car warm up and idle about 30 mins with the heat on halfway BEFORE even trying to drive it.. You have to let the cars components "thaw" before you use it. If this works please lemme know! Good luck my bro! Hope your ok thru this winter!

gsean400

Its the transmission. Its cold here also in az and on cold morning it seems to take a second to shift or change gears when driving on a cold start. So i could imagine the gs tranny not working very well for u in those extreme temps. However it could still be your breaks im sure something could get frozen and cause the car not to drive well

RXGS

iTrader: (2)

Mine does the same when it's about 5 degrees or lower, we'll the tranmission, not the doors. The rear defroster also isn't great. I just let it warm up for a while and I pump the brakes, especially if the car has been sitting for more than a day. My front brakes have been acting up recently, it's just part of the territory of dealing with temperatures like that

DosyBoy

iTrader: (1)

I had the SAME problem when I bought my car, I was terrified the engine or tranny was shot, not the case, the kid I bought it from said it had a fairly new battery, well it was bad, I would floor my car and it wouldn't move,my neighbor had to push me into my driveway to get me going then it would go like 2mph to pull in further, I changed the battery, voila all back to normal with all power back, u need a battery with high cold cranking amperage cause of the harsh conditions, replaced my battery 2 years ago and never had a problem again, I was terrified my engine or tranny was shot, not the case at all, get a new battery and report back trust me, these cars do crazy things with crappy batteries, hope u get it resolved... BATTERY!!!!!

azndriver

For extreme cold like you are facing:

Changing oil to a 0W30 will help with start up
Changing transmission oil to a synthetic (ie. Amsoil, Royal Purple)
Finding a new battery (just for piece of mind)
Gas line antifreeze - apply once or twice a month

and a engine block heater is critical to help your GS300 survive through the harsh winter:
http://www.toyotaofdallasparts.com/s...dproduct=-5128

Ava92

iTrader: (3)

Hey i am in alberta as well, and i stored my car during the winter to avoid this stress.

This may sound incredibly stupid, but did you wash the car in the past few days? The door latches could just be freezing shut. Try taking a girls' hair dryer to all the moving parts on the door, the hinges and lock "gates" (not sure what to call them), and then maybe lube them up with something like wd40 or some white grease.

Sorry i have no advice for the more serious problems.

Hope everything works out for you.

CAKETOWN

iTrader: (7)

Im in edmonton, no problems here. Although i did recently change my battery as it got old. They usually only last 3-5 years. I got a new one with 800CCA at canadian tire for cheap as my older battery had some warranty left. I really don't have any issues driving the car in the winter and it's the third winter ive had it. I read some good tips from the post above me.. maybe try those and go from there.

aneidiaz

Hey guys, what's the best cold crank battery you guys recommend here? It's almost time for me to get one soon.... I wanna buy the best one possible.. please, any suggestions appreciated!

T22

I just picked up a 99 gs300 for my winter vehicle and I feel your pain. My back doors have a hard time closing as well since washing it a few weeks ago. I tried adjusting the doors to help but no luck; you just need to close them hard and then do not use them. Also make sure your trunk seals are clear of water otherwise it is hard to open the trunk as my lock cylinder is currently frozen up. Otherwise, so far the car starts fairly easy and I still need to have a block heater installed.

DosyBoy

iTrader: (1)

Also grab a can of de icer in a can and spray the inside of your metal latches every other day to keep em free of ice so u can shut the doors, and hit the key hole on drivers side and trunk, or try not to open any other doors AFTER u clean the latches up with de icer and close them, keep it to a minimum, and see who can install a block heater for u and put thicker oil in if it's constantly cold where u at... Get a high cca battery like I said ASAP and watch your problem disappear...

Kyle Harty

iTrader: (17)

It's thinner oil you want in cold temps.

The extreme cold weather is hard on cars; glad my GS is in storage, letting the winter beater take the abuse of below zero temps.

DosyBoy

iTrader: (1)

Typo sorry, I use 5w-30 full synthetic Mobil 1 it's good for tempetures as cold as -30 , if he has a Lexus in weather colder than -30 every year with no garage, I don't think this is the right vehicle for him in those conditions...that sucks man, I know it gets pretty cold here I'm Pa , I dd my car and if I were to let it sit for 3 days it probably won't start, but it never "wont go" since I changed my battery 2 years ago and it's like 20 out now, starts right up, same power as if it were 75 out...

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

A lot of VW/BMW products come with a battery tray that is insulated out of the factory. I just insulated mine using a DIY method and a roll of insulation from Home Depot.

You can get an 'insulation blanket' made for your battery for around 30$ on ebay. Another decent idea would be to get a starter insulation blanket as well, since the starter takes a beating in Fort Mac as well.

There's ways of keeping the engine bay warmth in the engine bay as well, but it involves a little DIY engineering. I just did it on my ES, since we've been at a consistent -20, 25c all week plus windchill!