opened up hood. saw some mouse activity. cleared out some minor debris. lexus slow to start. took three times. fired up. but with check engine light and traction control light lit. i drove it 100 miles. all was seemingly fine. but my temperature gauge stayed on "c" and never moved. plenty of antifreeze.

any thoughts?

 

Plug in a scanner and get the codes.

 

^this. Also, your thermostat might be stuck open. either that or mickey chewed through the wire for your coolant temp sensor.

 

thanks for the replies. yes, mickey and minnie mouse had their way. the wires (starter, thermostat, others...) were chewed through. and that's what made everything go cahoots. got all the wires spliced, new front brakes, turned the front brake rotors, rotated the tires. all for a nice $170! the lexus now purrs like a kitten (which will hopefully scare away the mice!).

 

$170? Not bad, where at? Or was it a DIY?

 

north carolina!