I've recently moved back closer to my mother who has a 2003 ES which needs some TLC and I have a couple of questions:

1. I've been trying to find the service manual for a 2003 ES 300 and through searching these forums I saw a post about techinfo.toyota.com as a resource to gain access to one. The site looks slightly sketchy to me, but has anyone used it before to gain access to the shop manuals? (it seems you have to pay which I'm fine with, but is a semi-red flag to me) I bought the Haynes manual, but didn't particularly care for it as I found it a tad bit vague in instances and lacking all the technical information I prefer to have in a manual. I know they sell manuals on ebay, but dropping 160+ for the manual for a ~3k car seems a tad bit silly to me, especially since it's not even mine.

2. She is getting a CEL and when I pulled the code it is, "P0420 Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold Bank 1" my initial thought was that this was an indication of a broken 02 sensor, but after googling a bit, I saw a post by someone who claimed to be a Lexus "Master" on Fixya (not trying to imply he isn't) and he stated,

Is this a common issue? My follow up question is, if it isn't the regulator is there anyway to check the voltage/resistance on the 02 sensor to make sure it's broken and not something else using a multimeter? I've done it before on my Evo, but I was able to get some specific voltages/traits to look for which I thought were different for each model 02 sensor.

3. When the car is loaded with people and I turn full lock I hear the front tire rub against the body. It seems to only happen with the car full of people so I assume the suspension is shot and I did see the guide posted here on how to change it, but I'm not trying to sink too much money into this car. My question is, if I replaced the springs would this likely alleviate the issue or is there another common suspension problem I should look out for? I realize on a 20+ year old car all the bushings/dampers/springs should be replaced, but my mother is retired and doesn't drive often so I don't really want to spend a ton of money getting this car back to original form.

Thank you very much for any information/help, I appreciate it.

 

Apparently we are no longer allowed to share manuals on forum, so you will have to buy one.

For how sketchy that website looks, it is an Official Toyota website that they use to provide manuals, for $20 you get 2 days of unrestricted access to all the manuals for Toyota and Lexus vehicles, which is a descent deal.

Here is a link to a thread on how to diagnose Catalyst issue and one of those codes specifically. In short, use Engine Live Data function of an OBD2 scan tool to check the waveform generated by the O2 sensor, if it is stuck at one value, the sensor or the wiring is bad, but if it goes from 0.2 to 0.8V, it is likely the catalyst that is bad instead of a sensor.

Find a place where the wheel is rubbing against, which should be fairly obvious, that should help narrow down the list of parts that may cause it. While some state of disrepair will cause just mild annoyance, get it too far and wheels start flying. If the front wheels start rubbing, considering that most of the weight is towards the back, it may indicate some serious issues that really need to be addressed, but it is hard to tell without seeing it. I won't hurt to lift the car and go through all the components for peace of mind.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

Thank you very much for all the information. I really appreciate it.

I don't know if this is an appropriate question to ask or not as I'm not trying to break any rules, but on the tech info site is is possible to print out a copy if I pay? I don't mind at all paying $20 for access, but id really like to have access to a hard copy while working on the car.

 

Yes you should be able to print it.