After getting the headlights back on and replacing the blown fuses and bad coils…

The car still pulls a P0500. ABS light on, brake light on and engine light on.

Speedometer, odometer cruise and shifting out of park don't work.

After scouring the forum here and the internet it turns out it’s the speed sensors on the transmission. That being said

I have been able to find and replace the one under the starter. What I can’t find is the other sensor with the gear on it. I’ve taken out the battery and tray and did not see anything that could be the sensor. I thought it might be the one by the transmission dipstick tube.

anyone have any idea or can explain/ show where the other sensor is??

-J

 

I would still highly encourage you to check the alternator, there is definitely a strange array of problems happening all at once in your car, and they don't seem to have an obvious connection, an overcharge can easily cause all that.

ABS system can be the root cause you the issues you are experiencing. See if the rented scanner will be able to pull the ABS codes, if not, try pulling the jumper between Pins WA and WB, and then shoring Pins Tc and E1 in the Diagnostics Connector under the hood, then count the number of times the light would flash, giving you a two-digit code. If none of that will give you codes, visit a local mechanic with a multi-brand equipment like Launch, which should be able to diagnose some brand-specific systems that are not part of a standard OBD2 protocol.

Brake light can only come on if the Parking Brake is On/The switch is bad or if the Brake Fluid level is low/the float got hung up on the bottom. Check the Brake Fluid level, if it is low, do not top it off until you check the brake wear and for any leaks, otherwise you may run into some not so happy, not so little accidents. If the level is good, disconnect the pigtail on the master cylinder to see if the light will go out, if so, then there is something with the float in the reservoir. You can also disconnect the Parking Brake switch to see if that will get the light to turn off.

You have a 1999 ES300, still pre-facelift, but with new internals, so it doesn't seem like those cars have that sensor, and the speed is taken from the ABS ECU. At least on my 2000 ES300, I also wasn't able to find that sensor either. The problem is that all parts catalogues, manuals and wiring diagrams show it being present, so I have no idea what pins to check coming to the instrument cluster. Try checking if you can see 12V signal on the Pin 9 of the instrument cluster, and 5V signal on the Pin 22 of the ECU. To me, it sounds like some issue with the instrument cluster, those were common on the previous generation ES, but I didn't see much records of those being present on 3rd-gen ES, at least not in such quantities as in the olden days..

Speedometer, odometer and cruise control are more than likely sharing their root cause with the P0500 code you have, so I would focus on it for now, and only come back to those system if fixing the code won't get those working as well.



Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

Arsenii,

Ok checked the alternator and here is what I found. Seems within range to me:

Battery: 12.77
Idle: 14.84
@ 2k RPM 14.90
@Alternator 15.04
@2k rpm @ Alternator 15.07

Bad ECU?

-J

 

What was turned on when you checked the voltage? Stuff like headlights, radio, etc.

15V is an overkill for those cars, it should not go higher than 14.8 with no load, which may or may not be a sign that your voltage regulator is on the way out. I just checked my 2000 ES300 and the voltage never went above 14.2 with no load. While your case doesn't seem as severe, I would still keep an eye on it, mostly for the peace of mind. The thing is that the battery can act as a buffer, cancelling the majority of an overcharge out and saving other electrical equipment by taking the brunt of an impact, but it doesn't mean that it really likes it a whole lot. Check your battery, if you see signs of it boiling over, the alternator has to be replaced.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

Arsenii,

My bad I had the lights and radio on.

At Battery: 13.6
At Alternator: 13.66
At Battery at 2000 rpm: 14.45
At alternator at 2000 rpm: 14.67

Should I pull the ECU and let it discharge? I'm not sure where to go from here

-J

 

I would verify your test meter is accurate.

 

The meter was tested against 2 different meters and was within .05 of each other.

what about pulling the ecu? How can I test it?

would pulling it discharge it’s settings?

-J

 

There is no real benefit in pulling the ECU out, to reset it, you just need to disconnect the battery for a few minutes.

It is a little strange that the voltage actually dropped when you turned the radio and headlights off, try loading it as much as possible, turning everything on to see what voltage will you get. Also, make sure to take a look at the battery, as I described above.

For the rest of the codes, one of my previous posts should still be relevant.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

ok....I think the ABS ECU is bad.

I have done everything I can to reset the ABS ECU.

Next steps, physically removing and possibly replacing the unit.

I know the unit is located on the passenger side somewhere behind the glove box or that side wall.

How do I get in there? I've looked for videos or step-by-steps and haven't found anything

-J

 

Why are you so sure there is an issue with the ABS ECU? Thee fact that the light is on doesn't exclusively mean that there is an ECU fault, there can be a number of other reasons, which can also cause or be caused by the P0500 code you have as well..

Have you performed any of the steps I described above? Try using a paperclip to pull up ABS codes, a regular OBD2 scan tool is not capable of doing so, since it is not a part of the regular OBD2 protocol, which was designed for emissions rather than safety, only that will give you a definitive answer on where to go next with the diagnostics. Physically taking the ECU out won't do you much, there is not a lot to see there unless you understand what you are doing.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

Frustrated and too damn cold out to work in. No garage to speak of.

I'll go back through the thread and write down the troubleshooting

Probably order the wrong ABS ECU any way

 

The ECU is located under the glove box, besides the engine ECU, here is a Parts Catalogue for your car, Part Number for it is 89540-33130. With that, I would really suggest you to go through the diagnostics before getting a new ECU, throwing parts on problem rarely does any good..

There are places like My Mechanics Place available, they basically rent you warm space and all the tools you may need to work on the car, see if there is anything like that in your area.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

Arsenii,

Ok. Finally got out there to do some work.
On pin 9 I had 11.95 volts and on pin 22 I had 5.01 volts. Seems to be withing range.

I did manage to get rid of the brake light (stuck float)

Invested in a scanner that can read the ABS codes. Figure it would be a good tool in the arsenal

Thanks again for your help! Hopefully this scanner will point me to the problem

-J

 

There shouldn't be just a constant voltage, it should be a pulsing signal from 0V to 12V on Pin 9 and from 0V to 5V on Pin 22. In the olden days, it was 4 pulses per each revolution of the sensor in the transmission, but nowadays it is formed by the ABS module. In any case, in your case it is important to see the signal pulse and not just sit at constant voltage, that could very well be the cause of P0500 code.

Since you now have the scanner that can read ABS codes, see what you can dig up before returning to the wiring, since it is the system that forms the speed signal for the cluster and the ECU.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

Ok, it's finally thawed here.

Ran the tests through a Topdon artidiag500 (if that helps with anything)

Received the following information from the tests:

P0500 - Vehicle Speed Sensor Malfunction
P1346 - VVT Sensor/Camshaft Position Sensor Circuit Range/Performance Problem(Bank1)

Before all of this began I did the test with External air and auto (forgot what the test was called) and I remember getting a code 21.
I entered that into the diag tool and got:

FR Wheel Hydraulic control solenoid valve (#3) open or short. (1) ABS actuator fault. (2) circuit and connector between ABS actuator and ECU open and short. (3) module fault.

I no longer see the 21 error code when I do the test

So it's the camshaft positioning sensor giving me heartache as well as something between the right front wheel and the abs ecu??

Grasping at straws here

-J