Peco

Howdy!

My kiddo just turned 15 and inherited a 2000 ES300 from a friend, who had just inherited it from another friend.... all they told me was that the transmission was acting up, and alternator may be dead..

Reviews on this car say that it's amazing, so I'm looking to address some issues with it, or determine if it's tragically, more expensive to repair... money is super tight, so the more investigative work I can do up front and keep from throwing parts at it, the better. We could really use y'all's help and wisdom!

CEL was on at first, then cleared after several minutes. Hasn't had battery connected in months bc it drains battery. So, reconnected battery and went digging. Car was totally unknown to me, but here's what I found:



Engine:

Engine was misfiring. It never cleared up.



The Transmission:

Transmission wouldn't shift into reverse at first. Raised RPMs and it finally shifted, though it was sluggish and rough. The shift back to drive wouldn't catch again, then with higher RPMs it caught again. After that, it shifted at idle RPMs, though very roughly (with a jolt). I took it around the block and it went into 2nd and 3rd smoothly. When I parked it again, Reverse and Drive were still jolting.



The Alternator:
11.9v at battery disconnected.
13.5v at battery connected and running.
14.4 at Alternator running

then I took voltages again after driving, with headlights and AC on:
11.9 at battery
12.2 at alternator

To me, it seems alternator isn't charging battery, and so what I'm wondering is if the transmission solenoid voltage is under-supplies, would that affect the shifting like I'm experiencing?

Or what other information could I provide to help diagnose this?

Thanks in advance!!

LeX2K

14.4 when the engine is running? That suggests the alternator is working, turn on a bunch of things like headlights, rear defrost, fan etc. rev the engine a bit and test again. Don't disconnect the battery when the engine is running that is a great way to blow the alternator and possibly other electronics in the car. Only hope for the transmission is to drop the pan and clean, clean the magnets and replace the filter. Fill with fresh fluid, drain, fill, drain until the fluid is bright red. If that doesn't work the transmission is probably baked, not uncommon on the U140E the worst transmission ever put into the ES.

Arsenii

Hello,

In those cars, CEL resets once you disconnect the battery, until the codes would come back, it may be a little tough to find out what causes the misfire. If you have a scan tool capable of checking Live Data, check the misfire counter, if not, Advance Auto can rent you one for free.

The voltage seems a little low, you may need to service the alternator in the future, try raising the RPM to see if the voltage would rise. ES300 stock alternators are notorious for being too weak for the car's electrical demands, I even managed to get it as low as 11 volts with my remanufactured Denso unit. While it is likely fine, you will be better off upgrading it to a 100A unit off of Avalon or RX300, here you can find a good replacement option that doesn't require any modifications, in fact, it is the one that comes stock in JDM Windom.

The other problem is the voltage drop from the alternator to the battery, it does appear to be a bit too excessive. Here you can find detailed information on how to check where that voltage drop comes from. In short, measure the voltage from B+ terminal on the Alternator to the Positive Battery Terminal, it should be as close to zero as possible. If that's good, check the voltage between the Alternator Housing and the Negative Battery Terminal. If there is a voltage drop, move leads to any opened contacts to pinpoint where exactly it happens, you can also try cleaning all the terminals you can reach to see if it will help.

To be brutally honest, it seems like that transmission is already beyond the point of no return.. You can probably force it to last a little while, but don't fancy an idea that it will be for long. The most common issue with U140E was with pins that hold planetary gears to the housing, they weren't fastened all that well, so they were developing an excessive backlash, to the point of falling out and wrecking the rest of the geartrain. All that is to say that there is not a whole lot of hope left for it unfortunately, so be prepared to service or replace the tranny.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

Peco

Thanks for all the info, guys! I'll look into the b+ as soon as I get a chance.

but in all actuality, if that's 2 votes for the transmission being toast, I might not invest much time into it. I got in touch with the previous owner and he had replaced fluid and filter in an attempt to fix the transmission. His next step was going to be replacing the solenoid. Would that have no effect? Or are there other tests I can perform to diagnose the tranny?

Arsenii

Solenoids are there to shift between gears while going forward, whilst you are starting to have pretty severe problems before even taking off. Shifting between transmission modes, like Park, Drive, Reverse, etc. is done via the valve attached directly to the Gear Shifter, and solenoids have no effect on them, hence they are probably not a cause of your abrupt shifts and slipping from Drive to Reverse and vice-versa.

Every transmission has a Fail-Safe function designed to get you home even in case of solenoid failure, which can be useful during the diagnostics as well - by disconnecting the wiring harness going to the solenoids, that way you force the transmission into the Limp Mode, excluding any electronic control the transmission has, if that would make no difference whatsoever, it would be an utterly pointless endeavor..

Hope this helps and best of luck!

Peco

Is the harness pretty obvious to see? I'm down for trying this out and seeing if it clears anything up.

If the transmission is kaput, then (for a teenager's first vehicle) do ya'll think it's more cost-effective to replace the transmission, or sell the Lexus off and start fresh with something working. Again, I have $0 invested in this thing so far, only time. I would appreciate any opinions on this.

Arsenii

It is possible to reach the wiring without taking anything apart, but you will likely end up scraping the heck out of your hands, to do it properly, you will need to undo the Cruise Control Actuator. Below is the picture of how it looks on the transmission.



As for whether it makes any sense fighting with that transmission, it all depends on your level of knowledge and willingness to go into it at all.. If you, your son or your friends have some mechanical experience, engine hoist/lift and at least a slightest bit of passion for cars and car repairs, it would make for a great adventure and give a ton of experience for a novice, not to say the sense of reward for fixing your ride. If you are not in any rush, working transmission can be found for as low as $300, if there is a person you know who has a good set of tools and experience, as well as the rest of the car is worth salvaging, it is definitely worth a shot.

With that, you need to understand that it is an involved task that can take quite a while, especially if it is the first time you are doing something like that, so a pretty spacious garage is of a requirement here; once the car is parted, it will be a heck of an anchor with no real way back. Other than that, you do need to have at least some substantial experience in car repairs, if it is the first time you ever opened a hood or don't have any tools, it can be too much of a project..

You know your situation better than any of us do, so you are the one to decide on whether or not to proceed with this whole endeavor. Other than issues with transmissions, those are about as solid as cars can get, easily passing over 300,000 miles with proper maintenance.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

Peco

I've replaced the C6 transmission on my old 86 f150 twice, as well as other motor work on a 302 and 351, but I feel like that's worlds apart from the transaxle stuff in this Lexus. We do have a 20x30' metal building with concrete floor that I use for woodworking. We could park the car there, and I do have an engine hoist, and a motorcycle jack that double as a transmission jack on my pickup. I guess that's to say that I have a decent amount of tools and ability, but what I lack is any knowledge on this generation of automotive repair. It's pretty daunting when you don't understand what's-what.

Also, I really expected to pay more like $1000 for a transmission. If I could really locate one around $300 to get this thing going, that would be a major attraction to doing the work.

I guess what would help me make a decision would be asking: are there lots of resources available for learning the process of removing the transmission? Like, whether it comes out up top, or down low, what you need to remove and be aware of, stuff like that? If its well documented, or if it wouldn't be asking too much of this forum to coach me along, that'd really help give me confidence with this project.

Again, I appreciate ya'lls help!

LeX2K

If you can raise the car high enough it's easy to drop the entire engine, transmission and subframe all as one piece. If you can't do that then pull the engine and transmission as one unit out the top you'll need a load leveler so you can get the correct angle. I prefer to pull everything out the top since that is the method I know very well.

There is nothing special or complicated about removing the engine and transmission on a FWD car.

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

These transmissions are really expensive and know to have issues. If you can get a cheap one locally, that would be awesome. I had one shipped to my job from LKQ for $1,300. It would’ve been much cheaper if there had been a clean 99-01 ES300/RX300 nearby.

Peco

When looking at used transmissions, I keep getting told that an A541E Is an alternative to the U140E that y'all are saying is terrible. Is that true? I get lots of results from same year Solaras and Camrys.

I'm looking to see what would be cheaper: rebuild existing transmission and know it's fixed, or purchase used and roll the dice with needing to reinstall (if the used one doesn't work), or buy a rebuilt used one for around that $1200 you mentioned. I imagine the rebuild would cost around that...

I still need to disconnect the harness and try it again though. Just waiting on the time.

LeX2K

It's been done but involved
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es-...541e-swap.html

Rebuilt vs. used is a tough one could get a used dud or the shop that rebuilds may not be good at their job.

Peco

There's a local joint that I trust to do a good job. They rebuilt a C6 for me in the past. Just need to call them and see what they'd charge,

Most used places I've found will let you swap out the transmission if it doesn't work (warranty), but that means I'm eating the cost of the filter and quite possibly the fluid, plus the time to re-swap the transmission...

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

If you have a trustworthy shop that can rebuild it, that may be the way to go. Buying a used transmission can be risky when it comes to the U140e. I would trust a rebuilt transmission over a used one, especially if you had a good shop do it.

Peco

Well, I called the good shop and he'll get it purring, for $1700 on the bench, $2700 if he's gotta pull it. I think I'll browse LKQ a bit and look forward to re-testing transmission without harness.