Hello everybody, I am new here, but have seen there is a lot of knowledge on this site. I have a question and need some help or advise. I have a 99 RX300, 125,000 miles, 3.0 2WD. It is showing a code of 1354 and just recently the brakes are now giving me trouble. I have been trying to clean out the OCV's and that actually cleared the code. While i went for a test ride, everything went back to the way it used to be, normal. Went for about 30 miles or so, went back out to town and about 10 miles or so the CEL went off. Everything was like normal until I wnet to apply the brakes and then I noticed the pedal was hard. Got to the house and pulled the codes and got the same 1354 again. Nothing for the brakes though. They would stop like normal and then the pedal would get real hard like manual brakes. Is there anybody here that could advise/help me with this? Also I never noticed a difference in my timing until I stoped at the house and I could tell the timing was off. The truck had a surging effect in Park and the RPM's was around 700. I cut the truck off and back on the RPM's were around 1000 and not surging like before but still had the 1354 code. Would it be alright to drive like normal since the only time it is acting up is at a stop but not while under a load or will I tear something else up? Thank you in advance for any help and advice from anybody out there who can help me.

 

Welcome to the Club.

I'll get to that code last, and I've added it to our running total of codes reported.

With regard to the surging RPMs, take a look here https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx3...-write-up.html and clean out that part as shown. I too get a surging RPM from time to time and know this is usually the culprit.

Now, the vehicle still may have surging itself, even if the RPMs don't show it. For that you want to take a look at your transmission fluid level and also the color and consistency. Low or even old transmission fluid can cause a surging sensation (or noticeably delay) before switching gears, though I do think your issue is related to the previous paragraph.

Sometimes with the brakes (especially when I lived in Mexico), I would get the feeling you described. I would check your brake fluid level and consistency, but there is also a chance they need bleeding as you may have air in the lines. One other possibility, and I 'd verify after you clean the IACV valve out, is the brake booster line may be having some issues, but it might clear itself out after cleaning the IACV valve, as any issue with that may be creating some pressure problems. My problems gradually decreased with my brakes after this.

On the P1354, the OCV or oil control valve is one possibility. Take a look here, https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...ease-help.html

In your case, being bank 2, focus on this post, https://www.clublexus.com/forums/4768156-post3.html

Cleaning the oil control valve is just one possibility there, but one also needs to clean or replace the oil control valve filter. Notice the white circle in the last photo on the previous link. In addition, what is the condition of the oil, type and mileage?

Another possibility is the valve timing is off. There could be a stretched timing belt or possibly a broken tooth, or the timing is just clearly off a bit.

 

I was having the same P1354 code on my ES300. I bought it to one place and he couldn't figure it out. I then found a Lexus specialist which had the car for 3 days before he could figure it out. No sludge no timing problems. I told him about the oil control valve and he said he didn't know if that would be it, that he would need one more day. The next day he called telling me it was the vvt control valve. Got the car back today and so far so good but we will see and btw it cost me 400. The part itself only 100 the rest in labor. I'm guessing the three days of not finding anything bumped that up, even though I diagnosed it for him

 

The oil control valve is easy to replace. Tops 20 minutes. My concern is hopefully you have no sludge. My neighbor has the same engine in the Highlander and what happened is the VVTI gear on the end of the Camshaft seized up and wore. Ended up replacing the Gear, and that fixed the problem. The OCV feeds oil to that gear and provides advance or retard to the camshaft timing....

 

Hello,
I am new here also and see that I have come to the right place. My 2000 es 300 is giving me both p1135 for the air sensor and p1354 for valve timing. The air /fuel sensor should be no problem but am not sure about the other. I do my own work with the help of a great friend who can fix anything I just dont want to burden him with it if it his to hard. Any advice? Thank you very much!

 

Where can you buy the part other than dealer?

 

Which part are you talking about?

 

Thanks for the pictures Lexmex. However on my 1999 ES300 I think my bank 2 is the same as the one you labled bank 1. I had P1354 code for my 1999 ES300. I tried cleaning the filter and oil control valve. My ES300 ran better but still had the same MIL code. Swapped the oil control valve and ES300 ran perfectly. Put suspected bad oil control valve in my other ES300 and almost immediately the MIL came on. I've order a replacement.

Anyway my purpose for this reply is to thank Lexmex for his pictures and information.

 

Great post with links to helpful knowledge. I had P0441 with P1354 on my 2000 ES300. I was able to check and clean my OCV's and filters quickly and rule them out. Noticed my bank 1 cat was red hot and realized I had a cracked hose on my throttlebody from the airbox, replaced it and all is well.

Amazing how a vacuum leak can make your cat red hot. Hope I didn't damage the cat.

 

I have the same problem. I bet thats my solution.

 

Great information here, I ran across this post using Google when my car produced the same code. You guys are putting out great information for folks, so I decided to join and contribute as a first-timer.

My 2000 ES300 has 130,000 miles and the VVT-i engine. The car started idling rough a couple of weeks ago, and gradually got worse until it was rough under acceleration. Eventually it threw a P1354 code just like Croc reported on his RX300. (VVT system malfunction, bank 2) I followed you guys' post and cleaned the Oil Control Valve filter with some throttle body cleaner. It was pretty clean already, no signs of sludge. So I pulled out the bank 1 filter to compare, that one was clean too with no sludge. I put them both back to see if it made a difference. Over the next couple days the roughness got MUCH worse, the car started surging during all acceleration and the CEL started blinking constantly in 10-15 second intervals during the worst parts. When I pulled the codes I had a P0300 multi-cylinder misfire, P0302 cylinder 2 misfire, P0304 cylinder 4 misfire, P0306 cylinder 6 misfire. For any new guys like myself, this is all of Bank 2. Needless to say, I parked the car and ordered an Oil Control Valve.

Don't know if it's frowned upon to give details, but I ordered the part from Partsgeek because RockAuto and none of the local guys had one. So you know, they call it a Cam Adjust Solenoid on there, but they mention Lexus calls them OCVs. They also say "left" or "right" for the parts description and not the bank numbers. Bank 1 is the solenoid on the right, and nearest to the firewall. Bank 2 is the left solenoid, and closest to the radiator. It was $63 with free shipping and a genuine Lexus part showed up, not too bad. I saw some other guys paid ~100 at the dealership so I sprung for the cheaper one.

Got the part in today, it took about 10 minutes to pop in there and tighten the retaining bolt. The car immediately ran great, highly recommend this job as a DIY. Thanks again guys for the good info, hope I helped someone too.

 

Welcome to Club Lexus!

Thank you for posting your experience, I'm sure it will help others in the future!

 

FYI - I've learned to goto the Toyota Dealer (not the Lexus), tell them I have the 1MZFE engine in my 2000 ES300 and they get me Toyota OEM parts cheaper than the Lexus dealer. On the first few visits to the parts dept, most of the counter guys didn't know what I was on about, but now I've taught them a thing or two and they know which models match and have been able to help others.

 

Good point, it would be a good comparison to see the price difference between Lexus or Toyota dealerships for this item. On another post a user mentioned that Club Lexus members get a pretty significant price discount from Sewell Lexus on www.sewellparts.com

If you register, be sure to include your Club Lexus username and sign up as a member of the forum. We get discounts there. Their normal price for this part is $82.69, or $60.65 for Club Lexus members. I don't know if that includes free shipping, but for this particular part Sewell looks like a good dealership source that's competitive with online retailers like PartsGeek.

 

how to pull the solenoid out? I can turn it into different angle, just could not get it out.

UPDATE: never mind, I figure it out. I use a Basin Wrench which is for faucet repair. it works great.