My 2000 lexus ES 300 has a little over 108,000 miles! I noticed Thursday that my coolant appeared to be a little low. I went to the dealer and bought the coolant. The directions on the coolant said to use distilled water and to flush it.

I didn't flush it and I mixed it with tap water. Today while driving to work I notice my engine light is flashing. The car is running a little rough and when I am at a stop the car seems like it wants to move.

What could the problem be? Could it be the coolant?
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if the check engine light was flashing you might have been overheating, it will flash if you are over heating and a for some other things too. did you look at the temperature gauge. i dont know about it trying to creep forward on you tho

 

I did not look at the tempature gauge will do that after work. Thanks for the advice. I just know that when I take the car to the dealer because of the engine light they are probably going to rape my wallet no matter what the problem is.

Do you think it has anything to do with the coolant?

 

When the check engine light is flashing, it means your car is misfiring, which would explain the "wanting to move at a stop". With these cars, its common to have an ignition coil fail. You would need to see what the code is first. The coolant is likely completely unrelated, however, if the coolant is low then you likely have a leak somewhere. Get the car checked out...

 

I went to autozone today and they said that Cylinder 1 is misfiring. Going to the dealer tomorrow. I wonder how bad they will rip me off.

 

You most likely had a bad #1 ignition coil. The part, as far as i know, isnt available aftermarket. Let us know how it goes.

 

I went to the dealer today and they said I need an appointment! The next time there available is the 21st of December! There are other locations close to my area but this is the dealer I prefer being that it is closest to my house. The other ones are 25 miles away.

I think I am going to drive my wife's car RX 300 in the mean time.

I will let everyone know how much the dealer rapes me.

Also can I continue to drive this car or do I risk further damage?

 

If the light is flashing, i would NOT drive it.

 

during a misfire you can drive the vehicle, it will not create any more issues.

However, you will be putting excess unburnt fuel into that cylinder which can prematurely cause more wear than normal, but will take prolonged time driving on that bad coil.

Have no worries, VW is known for having coil pack issues and plenty drive on blown coilpacks to get to a destination, no harm will be done, just get it done as soon as you can.

 

You're kidding me, right? You're sending raw fuel into the cylinder, which can wash down the cylinder wall causing scoring and damage to that cylinder. You are also sending raw fuel into the catalytic converter, which can prematurely wear it out and cause it to fail.

It is never ok to drive a car while it is misfiring.

 

Bingo, good catch RTIS150...You are exactly correct. Burnt out cats, prematurely worn/stuck injectors, soaked valves, worn rings, combustion by compression (a.k.a. dieseling) are some of the many problems to arise. Not to mention it confuses the crap out of the cars computers and just generally runs like garbage. Any of you ever use gasoline to clean something? you see it strips oil away. So if you have fuel dripping down the cylinder wall, ITS REMOVING THE OIL USED TO LUBRICATE THAT CYLINDER. If you drive a car on a misfiring cylinder and it blows a cat or ruins your block, well...let just say warranty wont cover it.

 

could it burn out 02 sensors also?

 

Now I'm wondering what happened to this guys car. Nice job RTIS250 (Ryan). It's nice to have you and other mechanics on the forum.