GrayES300

Hi, I'm new here and checked the forums to see if anyone else has had this problem. I only found one post from '06 that was not much help. I have a 2001 ES 300 with 216,000 miles. While driving home, I noticed the car took itself out of overdrive. Then the check engine light came on. I could press the overdrive button off and back on and it would go into overdrive for a couple of seconds and then kick back out. I got a code P0765 which is a solenoid shift problem. I reset the code and drove the car, but it still did it, but the check engine light stayed off. I've read on the Internet that this could be anything from a clogged solenoid to a bad transmission. My plan is to clean the control valve to see if that helps. I took the pan off and there wasn't any abnormal metal shavings. Has anyone cleaned their control valve before? I don't know how much I can safety take off to clean it. Also, do I soak it in something or spray it? Any help/advice would be appreciated. I'm determined to fix this myself as I'm pretty sure the transmission is still good and I refuse to take it to the dealer.

GrayES300

Haven't gotten any advice on this. I soaked the solenoids in mineral spirits for a while and washed the valve body with it also. I'm not going to try to "test" the solenoids because I'm not sure if hooking it directly to the battery would burn it out or not.

Does anyone have some tricks for reinstalling the valve body? I'm nervous about trying to get the check ball valve and the spring and pistons all to stay in place while fumbling to get some of the bolts back in. Maybe someone who has done this before has a system for doing it easier?

GEORGE_JET

As far as keeping the check valves in place, a little bit of petroleum jelly will stick them in place. Once heated up it will desolve (old trick, don't think you will find a professional garage that does not have a jar of this).

GrayES300

Awesome! I was hoping there was a trick to it. I'll give it a shot as soon as I can. Thanks!