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1994 Lexus ES300 with Automatic transmission is cruising at 80 mph and the tachometer is on 4 rpm. Is this normal or is it not shifting in to 4th or 5th gear.
Does anyone have a fix or suggestion?
My 94 es300 did that for a while, the overdrive was not kicking in.... it would jump back and forth .. in and out of overdrive....drove it that way for about 2 months, after much research no luck in finding what the matter was.. assumed my tranny was going out. One day while driving, I turned my headlights on.. it dropped out of overdrive at the same time..... did it 3 more times and it dropped out of overdrive... called a transmission shop and they told me they didn't know about lexus, but that some Chryslers did that with a loose battery cable connection. I replaced my battery connecter/cable and never had that problem again. Sure was cheaper than a transmission!
Yea its been a long road with this car because I got it 3 years ago and its been in the family since 94. Sometimes the overdrive light will flash and eventually stop flashing. recently the light for the button right below the shifter handle, (not the overdrive thats directly on the handle but the one below it that says normal what ever). That light was coming on when I turned on my headlights. When I pushed the button on and off, the light would just stay on but when i turned the head lights off, it would go off. I just replaced the battery but not the positive cable itself. Its worth every bit of a try to go through your scenarios other than worrying about the transmission because it shifts perfectly, it just doesnt shift to 4th or 5th, I dont even know how many gears it has but I know it shouldnt be at 4 RPMs when Im goin 80mph. Thank you for your response.
It's not the headlights turning on and off the light, it was the electrical current that was not flowing fully to the solenoid on the transmission. As I turned the headlights on, it took more current and therefore reduced electrical current to the sensor/solenoid on the transmission... I only discovered it as I turn my headlights on and off, the transmission would jump in and out of overdrive at the same exact moment... I realized that it was an electrical issue, not a mechanical one with the tranny. Hope that is more clear... my battery cable clamp was broken and I didn't have a tight connection. replacing the clamp secured the electrical current and my issue resolved. Hope that helps. I was 3 months figuring it out.... by accident.
That Ect switch stands for Electronic control transmission . By engaging that. your transmission shift gears at a higher RPM shift point providing more power in heavy traffic or needed for passing cars.
Yes that makes total sense!! So get this, I had been trying to press the overdrive button on and off and the ect button on and off while I was at 4 RPM and 80 Mph just to see if it would engage and do what it was supposed to do but nothing happened and this was actually earlier today when I took that pic. So tonight I get in and drive down the street at 30 to 40 mph and I turn on the overdrive button and the transmission shifts like its supposed to when you engage the button on and off. so its definitely the electrical connection on the transmission that Im going to have to trace to clean it off or what ever I need to do to it to get that electrical current steady!!. Stay tuned!! and thank you!!!!
Is there any other abnormalties youve had with your 94? do you still have it?
I Just drove the Lexus to Tulsa and Back.. no issues with Tranny. You asked about quirks with the car. I got my engine codes read last week.. I have o2 senor bad, and it showed P0100- mass air flow senor, p0110 Intake air temp signal, P0135 o2 senor bank 1, P0500 Vehicle speed sensor signal, and a P1600 or p0600(mechanic wrote P1600... don't know which is right?) Electronic control module battery. I don't know if these popped up because one time couple of months ago, I replaced my starter, and removed the air intake tube to have more room to work. I forgot to plug mass air flow sensor back in when I took it for a test drive it ran very badly.. even died... I opened hood and realized I didn't plug it back in... upon doing so... car ran fine.
I did find out that this year/model the engine code connector under dash and on engine... those two places are OBD I,,, these cars are prewired for OBD II... that one was located in the fuse compartment (lower left of steering wheel on dash) ( even the service manger learned that same time I did)… a mechanic showed us both. I had gone to a total of 6 places, auto zone and O'reillys.. no one had a connector to read the OBD1.... and Lexus dealership wanted 155.00 to read engine codes. Toyota dealer didn't charge me anything to write down the codes. That lesson should save someone several hours of time! LOL.
Back to the questions about quirks.. keep an eye on the humidity in the air and relationship of tranny OD working! It was rainy heavily the night the tranny acted like it was going out! Hope this helps... and i'll take any information on the codes if anyone wants to share!
Yes, I Knew about the code reader connector being under hood on the left side of the engine. This car has had a massive leak going on for a while and its going to cost 1200 to get it sealed correctly and it includes changing the water pump and timing belt while theyre at it. The engine light is on but I dont want to run any codes till I get that leak fixed. Other wise, yes the OD thing acts up from time to time, I will start taking heed to when it actually does it.
So if there is anyone still on this thread, On a 1994 Lexus ES 300. I recently found out the same exact thing. Ive had the radiator replaced because they said the transmission is cooled by the radiator and it was time for a new one anyway, and the speed sensor on the side of the transmission replaced. still doing the same, not changing out of 3rd gear. They replaced the top speed sensor, the one that reads the revolutions and still the samel!! Last code that hit was the P0125 The coolant temp sensor. the computer has to read that the temperature is good before it will **** into overdrive or pass 3rd gear. I changed that. They told me if I changed it and if it didnt work to bring it back and they would clear the code and see what it does. So now since i changed that, when I start off, it just dies!! With the ECT on normal and no O/D button, it just dies! I push the ECT Button in and it takes off like a bat out of hell and changes the **** out of all gears, drives normal as all get out. Im guessing the code needs to be cleared because the check engine light is still on. Im gonna take it back in tomorrow and have them clear the code and see what it does because it should drive normal with any of those buttons activated.
03-16-19, 06:12 PM
Tac at 4rpm speedometer cruise at 80
