I have a 1999 es300 and the same thing just happned to me. Flashing CEL, starting running a little rough, and a bit of a bad smell. I drove it home...do you think that made it worse? It wasn't far but I didn't know not to drive it while flashing. Also, how much do you think the repair will run me?

 

Yes. Don't drive it till it's fixed unless it's straight to a very close AutoZone for a scan of codes. I'm personally a fan of every auto tool collection having a decent OBD-II scanner.

Likely culprits are any of the plugs or ignition coils.

*EDIT* I removed part of my post because it was related exclusively to a 2nd gen LS. I thought I was commenting on an LS for some reason.*

 

Whenever you see a CEL, read the codes (AutoZone as mentioned, or invest in a cheap scanner so you have it for posterity). That being said, a flashing CEL indicates one thing: misfiring that the PCM thinks is bad enough to damage the catalytic converters.

You'll probably get P0300 code, along with various other codes. Get them and post them back here with descriptions of each one (Google). You need a few things for a cylinder to make power: air, fuel, spark, and compression. Your misfire might be (again, as mentioned) plugs or coils on their way out (your '99 has a VVTi motor, coil-on-plug so no wires), problems with a fuel injector or fuel delivery, compression issues (bad piston rings, valve issues), etc. On these motors, the VVT oil control valves are also a possibility - there is no dedicated EGR hardware, so the system uses valve trickery to achieve the same thing and if the OCV isn't working, you'll usually get misfire codes all on the same bank.

Bottom line is, get the codes, post them here, let's do this scientific-like. And it's not a good idea to drive it like this, just in case fuel isn't igniting - that unburned fuel will be going to the cats, where it will be burned off and worst-case scenario, you end up with melted cats. A bit more expensive than the other stuff listed above.

 

I had the same issue when I bought my car. Flashing light, running rough at idle.
If this only happens at idle, mostly likely culprit is your Idle Air Control Valve is clogged and needs to be cleaned (easy job).
If this happens while driving, then it could a plethora of other components that you would need to isolate.

 

Purchased my wife a 2011 450h with 97k and it threw a p0300 code last week. We have only had the car 2 months. Check engine light went off 2 days later, now it's back. Rough idle, seems to clear up in about a minute. Where is the Idle Air Control Valve? Should I clean the air control valve first, then see if it runs better, or check plugs and coils? I would assume rear cylinders are hard to get to??

 

It's gonna be drastically different on a newer Lexus like yours, since a lot of sensors and engine designs have changed since 98.

Tradionally the IAC valve is part of the Throttle Body. The throttle body is a butterly valve that controls the amount of air that goes into the engine from the air filter box.

I would start by cleaning the Throttle Body. Purchase a bottle of Carb Cleaner, use an old toothbrush and some rags to wipe off excess carbon. You'll need to gain access to the assembly by removing a few clamps and sliding the intake pipe off.

Also get a tank of fresh gas and drive it a bit harder than usual to get the intake system working.

If it's still acting up, you can have it tested for spark plugs.

p.s.: What Lexus model is this?

 

I recently picked up an '01 ES300 with 162K miles...really enjoying it. After about 1,500 miles I had the CEL come on, along with the "fish strike" hesitation at highway speed and the rough idling. Had the codes pulled, and along with the P0300, 0301, etc. we got the P1349 code for the VVT on bank one. Read lots of comments on various threads here, and it seemed as though that Bank 1 oil control valve was the most likely culprit. My son-in-law is pretty good with a wrench, so I went online, bought the oil control valve for $25 on Amazon, and he installed it today in about 30 minutes. (He said the Bank 2 OCV could be done in about 10 minutes, but the Bank 1 OCV is a little trickier to deal with on the firewall side.) It seems to have solved the issue. Drove about 60 miles tonight, let it idle in traffic a couple times, and it's purring again with no CEL or any other lights. Many thanks to all of the folks on here who have written about the problem, it was great to have the value of your experience.

 

QUOT


I have an 2000 es300 codes p0300 p0301 p0303 p0305 and p1349

Also had all the same issues as the original post here. Engine not wanting to go when driving more trouble up hills and on ide funky smell but not a burning one check engine light blinking and unfortunately I had to drive it home over an hour drive like this because I had no tripple a or the money to tow it. Haven't drove it since wondering if this could all be a cause of my VVT. I know I might have caused more issues driving home like this but would like to know if maybe just maybe it's possible the VVT caused this. Pulled out coil 1 and it looked fine couldn't get out the spark plug for lack of spark plug socket. Help please!!!

 

2000 ES 300 same exact issues.

Codes:

P0300 - random misfire detected
P0301 - Cylinder 1 misfire
P0303 - Cylinder 3 misfire
P0305 - Cylinder 5 misfire
P1349 - VVT system malfunction
P0300
P0301
P0304
P0305

Computer pulled this exact list up in this order. Repeated the random misfire detected and cylinder misfires after the p1349 code

 

 

[Ok changed plugs,, and a couple fuel injectors,, runs rough,, engine light blinking and getting codes p0303, 0305, and so on but also a p1155... I've been swapping coils around and all for a few days and I need advice please