Any opinions, ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Figure out the code first. It's a fairly easy process. I just bought small alligator clamps for my car b/c it's OBDI. If your car is OBDII, you can just go to autozone, and they have a tool to scan the code.

 

go to your dealer and ask them to run a diagnostic ... Lexucan, your name says loaction: BC ... go to Regency Lexus (if your anywhere in the GVRD) ... diagnostic will cost you $23 ... and then they'll tell you what and how much

whats ur lex?

 

Thanks for the responses guys.
I got the code checked at the local Toyota dealership a few weeks ago.
It was a knock sensor code. They did a further diagnosis of the problem last week and determined that part of the wiring harness to the sensor was bad, not the sensor itself. My Lex is a '93 ES300 so I guess after 14 years, the wires got a little brittle from being close to the hot engine all the time. Actually everything was ok until some noob (so-called)mechanic at an independant shop (not Toyota) messed with the harness while doing a t-belt replacement on the car. That's what caused the CEL to start coming on. Of course, the indy shop denied any responsibility for it.

Anyways, I got the knock sensor problem taken care of today at the Toyota dealership. They even provided me with a loaner for the day at no cost. So, I've learned my lesson about trying to save a few dollars by going to some hole-in-the-wall shop just because their hourly rate is a little less than at a dealership. Never again! I saved myself about $50 at the time on the t-belt work but then ended up paying $450 to get the knock sensor harness replaced after the noob damaged it! It cost that much b/c they had to take the intake manifold off to remove and replace the harnness.

I found out a week after the guy did the t-belt job that he'd never replaced one before! Like, I really wanted my car used as a guinea pig for him to practice on!

BTW, the Toyota tech spend about 45 minutes under the hood examining the harness for signs of wear after reading the code.......didn't charge me a dime for it. So guess where I'm going the next time the car needs servicing!

Oh yeah, and I got a call from the dealership at noon today saying the guy that used the loaner before me left an envelope in the centre console by mistake. So, he came to where I work to get it a half hour later. What was in the envelope? ......$1,000 in CASH! Needless to say he was very appreciative that I hadn't made off with it!

Faymester: I'm in Abbotsford.