djencee

My 1998 ES 300 with 265k miles has developed a mysterious problem. Not every time, but lets say about 40% of the time I punch the gas and sometimes just a normal acceleration will cause a surge. RPM's will jump up and down multiple times and then release in which case the car will drive normally. If I come to a dead stop and accelerate again, it will go through the same surging routine. Also, the check engine light will flicker, but doesn't stay on.

• scanned - no codes
• cleaned IAC multiple times
• cleaned throttle body
• replaced thermostat which was also malfunctioning

The problem does seem to go away and is more prevalent in the afternoon after car has been parked all day. Has never happened in the morning.

Link to a video below


I was in traffic, accelerated, surging, then back to normal. Surge will continue upon the next acceleration.

Let me know if you have any questions.

speedkar9

Wow that's some violent surging!

Do you feel it is happening in the transmission or the engine?
Does it happen in other gears (L, 2, or N)?

A slight surging could be due to a blocked EGR port. Sometimes the symptoms show up before the code (like on Honda's).

It could also be a loose battery connection or a weak battery temporarily killing the engine. Have a parts store perform a load test on it to see if there are any bad cells.

You could also have a bad throttle position sensor that's giving foul readings to the ECU.

djencee

It really is some violent surging!

I feel like it is an engine related problem. It happens in L & 2, but not N.

I will try to clean the EGR port tomorrow & check the battery and connection.

djencee

Cleaned the EGR 4 days ago and the surging has yet to return. If it returns I will have to check the throttle position sensor. At the moment, it seems like the EGR was the culprit here. Thanks speedkar9

speedkar9

Whoa, well thats good to know so far. Suggesting the EGR was quite a random shot out there, usually the surging is less violent when it acts up.