Haole

Aloha everyone, I'm Jack from Hawaii and new to this forum. Got a small issue maybe someone can help me with.

I drove my wife's ES-300 to my friends shop today and discovered that I couldn't shift into overdrive. Push the shifter over to D and nothing happens. Has anyone out there had a similar problem and can point me in the right direction?

Mahalo (thanks) Jack

mmatheny

I've seen threads that claim if the engine isn't up to temp it won't go into overdrive, but my experience doesn't support it. I can start it up, and hit the highway immediately and it goes into OD fine.

DRACO A5OG

Are there any CEL lights? Please post pic of gauges when it is at idle

hypervish

Does the gauge cluster show D or 4 when you put the shifter into D?

I suspect the little plastic piece in the shifter assembly has broken. Do a search here, and you will see some threads on it.

I recently broke that piece because of how violently I was shifting between R and D when we had our massive winter storm a few weeks ago, trying to get unstuck! I have yet to fix it.

Haole

Thanks for the inputs. Only CEL is a P0440 for Evaporative Emission System (which is not a problem in Hawaii).
When I shift over to D no D lights up and nothing happens. Could be a broken piece, that would be better than getting into the trans to check out solenoids. The wife is OK with it as it is cause she doesn't go far or fast.

DRACO A5OG

[D] Bulb is most likely burned out on the Instrument Cluster since it is used most.

Does your shifter light up at "D"?

Haole

As I mentioned no light, also it is not going into overdrive. I have '09 Tacoma with similar shifting and I know what it should be doing. I'm pretty sure it was functioning properly when we got the car, now it doesn't.

mmatheny

What's your RPM at 60 mph with the selector in D?

hypervish

So the "4" light is on when the shifter is in "D", correct?

If so, I am certain it's the little plastic piece in the shifter assembly.

Haole

Thanks Hypervish, had a hard time finding any info about the little broken piece. Vehicle is definitely not shifting to OD as there is no RPM drop like in my Tacoma when I put it over to OD. Would appreciate how to search it, Mahalo (thanks) Haole

hypervish

This thread should have all the info you need: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es-...n-drive-3.html

Haole

Thanks for the link. So the stealer (what I call the BMW dealer, I guess Lexus the same) won't sell just the little piece? Seems like a rip off, like the Tacoma where you can't just replace the console cover, you have to spend over $400 for the WHOLE console assembly. Sigh, corporate greed at work.
Aloha, Jack

mmatheny

Try eBay or a junk yard

alanthi

Same issue... Rpm close to red zone at 60

Arsenii

Hello,

Getting locked out of your Overdrive gear is usually a result of a Limp Mode, which is triggered if the ECU encounter a severe malfunction, like a knock sensor, which, if left alone, can quite literally destroy the engine. Knock sensor is not the only one that can cause this, so the first step would be to check if you have any codes stored, and go from there; without it, you are just pointing at the sky and hope it's the culprit. Do not try to erase the codes, they are there for a reason.

Hope this helps and best of luck!