Having some trouble with my 02 ES
11-17-17, 05:27 PM
#16
Dysfunctional Veteran
Thread Starter
Jason called me today and told me we could go another route. Since my county doesn't require emissions testing, we came up with a more cost effective solution:
step 1: Replace MAF.
step 2: Gut cats and precats.
step 3: move o2's away from gutted cats and precats to bring temps more inline with what they should be seeing.
step 4: put in resistors to bring voltage within range to fool car into thinking cats are intact.
step 5: remove flexpipe (leaking), resonator(s) and weld in straight-pipe sections instead, leaving muffler where it is.
All total should be around $1000 parts and labor for the fix and as long as I don't move to commiefornia I should be ok.
step 1: Replace MAF.
step 2: Gut cats and precats.
step 3: move o2's away from gutted cats and precats to bring temps more inline with what they should be seeing.
step 4: put in resistors to bring voltage within range to fool car into thinking cats are intact.
step 5: remove flexpipe (leaking), resonator(s) and weld in straight-pipe sections instead, leaving muffler where it is.
All total should be around $1000 parts and labor for the fix and as long as I don't move to commiefornia I should be ok.
Last edited by ArmyofOne; 11-23-17 at 08:28 AM.
11-20-17, 05:13 PM
#17
Lexus Fanatic
took the ES to JP Euro (formerly JP Importz) in Dallas. Jason has been my go-to guy for all things automotive that seem to be not figure-outable for 15 years.
He called me this morning to tell me some good news and some not good news.
good news: the problem with the car originally started as a MAF sensor. Sewell couldnt figure it out because they didnt test the cars fuel trims under load. They were hooking it to the computer, putting it in neutral and revving the engine. Jason put it on his dyno, and ran it with the scan-tool hooked up and it was barely getting any fuel above 4500 rpm. Then, at 5500, it was dumping tons of fuel into the system. This was causing the cats to deteriorate.
there's the bad news. As soon as he replaced the MAF with a denso part, it through codes for bank 1 and bank 2 cats.
there goes 2 grand.
He called me this morning to tell me some good news and some not good news.
good news: the problem with the car originally started as a MAF sensor. Sewell couldnt figure it out because they didnt test the cars fuel trims under load. They were hooking it to the computer, putting it in neutral and revving the engine. Jason put it on his dyno, and ran it with the scan-tool hooked up and it was barely getting any fuel above 4500 rpm. Then, at 5500, it was dumping tons of fuel into the system. This was causing the cats to deteriorate.
there's the bad news. As soon as he replaced the MAF with a denso part, it through codes for bank 1 and bank 2 cats.
there goes 2 grand.
Illustrates a point I've made over and over though, when you have an old Lexus (or any car), don't take it to the dealer!. One reason is cost, you spend half the cost of the new cats with them floundering around trying to diagnose stuff. Other reason is, they're not very good at troubleshooting old cars because they rarely see old cars. They're very good at changing oil and swapping out air filters, but when it comes to actually "being a mechanic", they're lousy.
11-23-17, 08:27 AM
#18
Dysfunctional Veteran
Thread Starter
Its fixed. Jason gutted the cats, moved the O2 sensors, and placed a fouler sleeve on each air/fuel sensor. That, along with the MAF change, its running like a brand-new car. So, $959 later, I am back on the road.
08-11-19, 06:31 PM
#19
Driver School Candidate
Beautiful looking car for sure. I'm selling my 08 ES 350, giving up, just way to many guessing issues at my wallets expense. These cars are junk. If they only had the good old 3.0 liter engine with a simple 4 speed trans I would be a #1 customer for life. Toyota is going backwards in reliability and workmanship. The 3.5 engines sound like a ticking time bomb, and the transmissions have a mind of there own with no dip stick. WTF !!!.
08-12-19, 08:29 AM
#20
Lexus Fanatic
Having had an 03 ES300 and a 2010 ES350, I don't agree with any of that LOL. The 3.5L is everywhere, and there's no reason to think its not a reliable engine. Transmission in the 02-06 ES is a 5 speed, not a 4 speed. Same as the ES350.
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RXGS (08-12-19)
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