My Hair dresser ( has a 99 ES and coming to work today, she called me because the oil light came on and then went off a couple of times. I told her to stop and check the oil. She said it was fine. She proceeded to go on to work ( about 2 miles away) and the car started idling really rough at a stop light and died. She cranked it back up and took off. She said it started acting like it was missing and started to lose power. She drove it in town about 1 mile and stopped at Walmart. When her husband came to check everything out, he cranked it up and it was making all kinds of noise, bucking, and knocking. He had autozone guy come check it and this guy says it could be an oil pump failure. They just had the timing belt changed about 1 month ago. ANy ideas?

 

Take it to a shop and have the oil presure checked with a mecanical gauge. If it is low, the engine will need to be rebuilt/replaced.

 

It sounds like the damage has been done. It's true that the lack of oil pressure can ruin an engine, in very short order. The fact that you mentioned about a recent timing belt change made me think that if the belt tension was low, it could have jumped a cog, thereby screwing up the valve timing, and in turn, causing the engine to run rough, knock, and misfire.

 

Thanks for the advice and input. I guess I'm somewhat concerned for them in that they took the car back to the mechanic that did the timing belt work. He did some work for me several years ago where I specifically stated he use Toyota OEM timing belt and brake pads and I found out he didn't. My secretary's husband was the Advance Auto Mgr in town and she told me what I was getting done on my car...hmmmm??? She knew I was a stickler for OEM parts. Yep, this same mechanic mentioned above had bought a timing belt and front and rear brakes the same day my car was repaired and when I asked him about the old parts and "stuff" they had just carried the trash to the dumpster. Hmmm.....

Heck, he only charged my hairdress $220 to change the timing belt. Lot cheaper than the Toyota dealership. (Lexus dealer is over 90 miles away).

 

This is important engine maintenance info that can be shared on all Lexus platforms, so I'm moving this to the Maintenance forum.

Keep us updated on your hairdresser's ES gebo.

 

Just talked to the husband. He said he cranked it up and the oil light did not come on. He drove it around the Walmart parking lot and it did not miss, stutter, buck, etc. He stopped and went into Auto Zone and they suspect it is an oil starvation problem. He then started to drive it to the mechanic's shop mentioned above (the timing belt changer) and the oil light came on and the engine started making a noise. He decided to have it towed. When the tow truck got there, he cranked it up again and all of a sudden the light went off and the engine noise quit.

Does this intermittent problem help any of you mechanics with diagnosis?

What would cause the intermittent missing, stuttering, bucking?

Would low oil pressure cause this?

 

Here is my take on this - timing belt should be done by someone who is experienced in such work and worked on Lexus cars and know how to do it and has a manual on how to do it on Lexus in particular. If the engine wasn't aligned properly at the time of timing belt change, it could cause the ignition being off and that would make the car behave the way you describe. When the car is running more or less normal for a short while, I think it just a computer controlled ignition trying to compensate. It will most like not be right again unless the timing is re-done/engine re-aligned. I personally would drive to a lexus dealer, bite the bullet and let them re-do the timing, but I gues at this point the car does not seem like it could be driven far, so let this guy do it, just see that he does it properly and make sure that he has some sort of repair manual that indicates how it is done on Lexus ES300 of that model year. good luck.

 

Audphile,

I told them to take it to local Toyota dealer to begin with. A local mechanic that we go to church said the same thing. They had asked him to put the timing belt on and he told them to please carry it at least to the Toyota dealership. He didn't want to risk it. He even told them which mechanic to ask for at the dealership. I believe it was the fact of a cheaper price and the convenience of the local mechanic (who "specializes" in Toyota's).

I'm with you 100%. I'm just trying to help them not get bamboozled...........

 

Timing belt problems tend to have very reproducible problems the car just doesn’t have any power, backfire etc. It sounds like the car is making very large mechanical sounds, like someone hitting a metal plate with a hammer. If this is the case, the problem sound like the oil pump is not being driven…loose bolt? What was removed/replace when the belts were replaced? I haven’t check this model/year but it isn’t uncommon to have the oil pump driven from the same bolts that are required to do a timing belt change.

 

Hey, can anyone tell me if what beab951 says about the oil pump applies to a '99 ES300?

Excellent point, beab951!!

 

The oil pump is driven off of the crankshaft, and would not be disturbed whatsoever by doing a timing belt. The oil pump itself slides over the snout of the crank, and doesnt even need to be touched when doing a timing belt, as the pump is bolted to the block, and is not in any way in the way of doing a timing belt. Does the car only run bad when the oil light comes on?

 

I think so. THis entire incident happened Friday in a period of about 3 minutes. THe oil light flashed at first and then came on and stayed constant. It went to skipping and it died at idle at a stop light. She cranked it back up and the more she accelerated, the more it seemed to lose power. Then the light went off. As they were checking it out in the parking lot, the bucking and skipping stopped and it ran "normal" but they did hear some internal noise in the engine. They said it didn't sound like a valve but it didn't sound like a hard thump either. The AutoZone guy said it sounded like the top end wasn't getting any oil.

How was the '99 for sludging?

 

How is the oil? Did you bother to pull the stick and give it a quick look? These v6 engines are known to have the sludge problem. Take it to an independent shop to have it a checkout.
JPI

 

Oil level is perfect. It is at a shop. It just so happens to be at a shop that I don't trust but the owners took it there because he was the last person to work on the car (he put timing belt on it).

 

I would pull the valve cover off and check for sludge. If you need any further help call us at the shop. Hopefully the guy knows what he is doing.
JPI