cisconj

hi all,

my 98 es300 seems hesistant to take off when pressing on the gas, it feels like it has to work its way up to really take off. I am not getting any codes on the scanner and also no cel. It also takes a really long time to warm up but not sure if that has anything to do with it. Any Ideas? Car has 136,000 miles on it. Thanks

PFB

Does it also do it in reverse?

cisconj

No it doesnt

PFB

Chances are you have a crack in the large rubber snorkel hose behind the Air Filter, after the MAF. This will let unmetered air enter the engine bypassing the MAF.

It it will not happened when you are in reverse as the torque of the engine will close the crack. Going forwward will cause the crack to open.

Remove the snorkel hoses and examine them VERY closely. If you see a crack, You can tape it temporarily with some duct tape.

a cracked snorkel hose is a pretty common cause on older Lexus. No CEL code will show up under these circumstances.

WILLYumD

What do you mean by the engine taking a long time to warm up?

skwon

does it do this everytime you take off or sometimes? my 95 does the same thing but only 1/2 of the time...I think it could be a transmission issue? My gear "pops" out to neutral quite frequently so I thought it was coming from the same issue...

cisconj

To reach normal operating temp takes longer than usual. The car doesnt seem to always do it on every take off but most times. I want to say it might be the transmission also, but just not sure. Sometimes when shifting into reverse and back again it shifts really hard. While driving on the road though it appears to shift as it should. I checked the trans oil and it appears to have a little more tans fluid than needed but not sure how much of a difference it makes. When i took it to the mechanic to have it checked they didnt mention anything about it so i assumed that it was ok.

nsghtbrwry

Do you know how long it takes? All my 1MZ cars take about six minutes to stabilize the needle...always been that way, these engines warm up pretty slowly.

TOLex168

+1 2005 ES330 at 185K miles. Take longer than normal to warm up, rev rpm to 3 still doesn't want to move, reverse seems to ok/ a bit better. No CEL, no code, 230-250 miles for every fill up (use to get 300-320 miles).

I reset battery almost every fill up and no help. Just replaced coolant temp sensor, and see if it helps. Next would be coolant thermo stat. Also noisy (tick/click) sound when the coolant fans are on. The coolant fans are on a bit than off, too often. The noise is not coming from the fans. Any help would be great.

WILLYumD

I hope you guys aren't just letting the car idle to warm up. That's a waste of gas and horrible for the environment.

My 98 with 180k miles took about 5-7 minutes of gentle DRIVING to get to operating temperature.
1-2 minutes of idling in the driveway (when I was naive enough to let it do so) would get the needle to start moving.

Hard shifts could mean worn engine mounts which is likely for a car of this age.

Maybe your kickdown cable has some slack in it and is retarding the downshifts to accelerate.

nsghtbrwry

This is what I do...I put it in gear a couple seconds after the revs drop to fast idle, then drive around gently for six minutes or so (hah, right in the middle of your 5-7). I'll back up what you're saying about wasting gas and increased emissions (not just 'cause I'm a CA boy)...if the engine is taking increased wear while idling, why not put it to use getting somewhere.

My parents used to driveway-idle their '89 Accord (carbureted) until the idle stabilized. Several minutes, at least. Engine bit the dust at 130k.

skwon

i usually warm up the car for about 30-45 seconds. Any more would be a waste of gas.