Hello all, I new here and I'm having a bit of trouble with my car. It is a 2002 ES300 with about 160k miles on it. About 2 weeks ago the Starter went out and I replaced that. Maybe a week after replacing the starter I noticed that the car surges while accelerating between about 1000 and 3000 or so RPM. Its not rough or very violent, its a very slight surge. My wife doesn't even notice it, but it really bugs me.

I have done a few things to the car to try and narrow it down. Changed the spark plugs, changed the fuel filter and strainer, and went thru most of the Vacuum tubing in the area I was working on when I replaced the starter.

Does anyone have any ideas? As of now no check engine lights have come on. Thanks in advance.

 

I think I may know what you're talking about, even though I have never heard anyone describe it as a "surge." Do you mean you'll be cruising at lets say a hypothetical 30-40 mph and either floor it or give it a lot of gas and the car takes maybe about a half a second to realize you pressed the pedal down, so it hesitates/surges/ gives a burst of power before smoothly accelerating like it should? If that's what you're talking about, that is very normal for the 2002-2006 ES models. The transmissions had some issues. Some people noticed, like you and I, and some people don't, like your wife for example. Have the dealer flash the ECU and reset it so the car can re-learn your driving habits (yes it does that) and putting in premium gas definitely does help the hesitation I don't care what anyone says. Otherwise, that's just the way the car is. There's no fix, just a few things you can do to help prevent it/have it occur less frequently. Hope this helps.

 

And by the way, I have a 2003 ES 300 with a little less than 70k on it and my mom had an 05 ES 330 with about 55k before trading it in awhile back for a 13 ES 350. Both my ES 300 and her ES 330 had the hesitation, although I believe the ES 330's were a lot worse than the 300's. We both put premium gas in and the ride quality improved. Funny how she puts regular in the 13 ES 350 and I have to fill up with premium in a car 10 years older! It's worth it, though. The ride really is simply therapeutic at times.

 

Thank you for the reply, does unhooking the battery for a set amount of time not reset the ECU? I had the battery unhooked for about a day while working on the spark plugs and stuff. We bought I from my wife's parents and haven't used premium fuel at all bit ill give that a go.

 

yes it does. about 5 minutes should do it. but the longer the better. overnight is a definate.

also .. I suggest getting the trans fluid changed (and filter).

 

Thank you, I think this will be my next step.

 

oh you're welcome. My other thought was to have the fuel pump replaced (or checked) for surges in pressure (or decreases). but I'd temper that with the warning that throwing parts at a car to solve an issue can be very expensive and leave you feeling quite silly when the fix is a $10 part. .. of course I'm not speaking from personal experience at all, ... I'd never do ~that~.

 

1. Clean your throttle body.
2. Reset your ECU again, driving aggressively so the car learns to react more responsively.

 

May want to do a drain and fill on the transmission, made a huge difference in our ES330 in terms of power delivery and shifting.

 

It improved the ride quality, huh?

Haha, just kidding. I know what you meant!

But, yes running premium fuel will improve the hesitation issue, the TSB for the re-flash states that as well.