Hi, and thank you for your time.

I just bought a 1997 es300 off my uncle about 2 months ago. So I'm the second owner. The car has 115K on it and has been taken care of.

The problem is that I was on the expressway coming home the other night and the engine just shut off. The car still turns over but won't start. Is there any initial steps on to what to check for on these cars?

 

Start with a scanner. If you don't have one, invest in one. It will pay for itself the first time you use it. Checking the fuse box for blown fuses is also a good start.

 

If you were driving down the highway and it just quit, It could very well be the timing belt cause if the timing belt broke the engine would just shut off. You dont have to worry about it jumping time and screwing any thing internaly but thats my guess from the info you provided.

 

Maybe it is the crankshaft position sensor. Like said above check for any codes but it just might be the timing belt. A couple days ago my engine just stalled and died in my Legend in the neighborhood but luckily it was able to be started back up. It turned out to be the main relay. But that isn't a problem with ES300 that I know of.

When you turn the key do you hear the fuel pump turn on or know for sure that there is fuel pressure? If it will crank but not start it might be a fuel delivery problem.

 

sound like a fuel pump to me try putting starter fluid in the air intake to see if it runs

 

My father and I cleaned out the air intake all the way up to the throttle body. I read that these areas gum up in these cars and stall them out. Unfortunately that wasn't the fix.

We did spray some starting fluid in the throttle body when we had it apart but had no luck with it starting. Typically can you hear the fuel pump start up like in most cars? Being I only had this car for 2 months, I don't recall hearing the pump or not. Currently there is no fuel pump noise.

Bottom line is, I'm going to take your guys advice and get a scanner tomorrow. I'll be back with codes.

I really appreciate the advice

 

+1 Thats my guess too.

 

Hey man when you say get a scanner it wouldent be able to tell you any thang bc you say its not throwing any codes or if it is should be able to pinpoint your prob. And yes you should be able to hear maybe 2sec wining type noise for fuel pump to see if it is working. If you want to be sure, just lift up the back seat so you could hear it better or have a friend put his ear to it just to be sure, but fuel pumps are fairly easy to replace.

 

Timing belt was shredded and broken . Thanks for the tip.

Been working on it, kind of a pain though lol. Not much room.

 

How many miles on it?

 

do you have pictures?

 

115K

and no I didn't take any pictures.

 

While you are changing out the timing belt be sure to change the water pump as well! And the timing belt tensioner. Buy the Toyota coolant too when you refill your car after changing out the water pump.

 

I am sorry, but what I would like to know is whether the broken timing belt had been already replaced at some point before.

 

From what I know about timing belts breaking, they usually don't just break by themselves. It is usually a water pump that seizes, a camshaft that seizes from lack of oil, the tensioner breaking or the water pump leaking coolant on the timing belt weakening it.