Lexus Es300 2003

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Bulletins are notices put out by manufacturers in conjunction with the NHTSA to notify the public of manufacturing issues or changes.

• Unwanted and unintended acceleration investigation # DP09001

  The office of defects investigation (odi) opened dp09-001 on april 8, 2009, to evaluate a defect petition requesting additional investigation of potential throttle control system defects unrelated to floor mat interference with accelerator pedals in model year (my) 2007 lexus es 350 vehicles.The petitioner referenced an earlier odi investigation concerning floor mat interference with accelerator pedal return (pe07-016/ea07-010), which he stated was too narrow in scope as it did not include all incidents of unwanted acceleration and consider all potential causes of vehicle speed control concerns.The petition also requested an "investigation of my 2002-2003 lexus es300 for those longer duration incidents involving uncontrollable acceleration where brake pedal application allegedly had no effect that were determined not to be within the scope of investigation pe04-021." as background, the petitioner owns a my 2007 lexus es350 that allegedly experienced an unwanted and uncontrolled acceleration event (odi complaint number 10261660).Toyota concluded that the incident was caused by an unsecured floor mat. To assess the petitioners request, odi interviewed the petitioner, inspected his vehicle, reviewed information submitted by toyota, reviewed owner complaints alleging incidents of unwanted acceleration in the subject vehicles and material related to the investigations cited by the petitioner.Odi identified 64 complaints alleging incidents of unwanted acceleration in my 2007 lexus vehicles, resulting in 8 crashes and 15 injuries.Odis analysis of these complaints determined that 50 (78%) involved incidents of floor mat interference, including 7 (88%) of the crashes and all 15 injuries.Therefore, odis analysis found that the only defect trend related to vehicle speed control in the subject vehicles involved the potential for accelerator pedals to become trapped near the floor by out-of-position or inappropriate floor mat installations. On october 5, 2009, toyota initiated a safety recall (recall 09v-388) to address concerns with potential accelerator pedal entrapment by floor mats in approximately 3.8 million vehicles, including the subject vehicles.Except insofar as the petitioners contentions relate to that recall, the factual bases of the petitioners contentions that any further investigation is necessary are unsupported. In our view, additional investigation is unlikely to result in a finding that a defect related to motor vehicle safety exists or a nhtsa order for the notification and remedy of a safety-related defect, as alleged by the petitioner, at the conclusion of the requested investigation.Therefore, in view of the need to allocate and prioritize nhtsas limited resources to best accomplish the agencys safety mission, the petition is denied.This action does not constitute a finding by nhtsa that a safety-related defect does not exist.The agency will take further action if warranted by future circumstances.Please see thefederal register notice for further details.
  

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• Vehicle speed control investigation # DP05002

  In a letter dated july 8, 2005, and after experiencing two incidents (and one crash) where he alleges his model year (my) 2002 camry accelerated without driver input, mr. Jordan ziprin petitioned the national highway traffic safety administration¿s (nhtsa) office of defects investigation (odi) to commence a proceeding to determine the existence of a defect within the etc system in my 2002 to 2005 toyota and lexus vehicles, or to reopen a prior investigation preliminary evaluation (pe) 04-021.In a letter dated august 18, 2005, mr. Ziprin amended his petition to include allegations of interrelated brake and acceleration problems that allegedly result in inappropriate and uncontrollable vehicle accelerations.The 1172 vehicle owner questionnaire reports cited by the petitioner involve 4 lexus and 15 toyota models defining a population of 7 million vehicles.The reports typically alleged a defect in the brake system, the throttle control system, or a combination of both systems.In its review of the reports, odi a) failed to find evidence to support the existence of a brake related defect in the cited models, and b) determined that many cited products were not equipped with etc.Accordingly, odi restricted its analysis to the 432 petitioner reports involving my 2002 to 2005 camry, solara, and es models (all equipped with etc) that alleged an abnormal throttle control event (see the january 3, 2006 federal register notice for further details).About 40% of the 432 reports involve a driveability concern where the operator intentionally applies the throttle pedal, in expectation that the vehicle will accelerate, and then experiences a delay or hesitation in vehicle response.These reports involve vehicle response to intentional driver commands which odi considers unrelated to the allegations raised by the petitioner.Therefore, the reports do not provide support for the investigation requested.About 20% of the reports involve incidents where operators allege vehicle acceleration without driver input and an inability of the brake system to control the vehicle when applied.Neither the reports, nor the interviews conducted by odi, identified any vehicle-based cause to explain the incidents or disclosed evidence to support that a failure of the brake or throttle control system had occurred.Because these reports do not indicate a distinct safety defect for investigation, the reports do not provide support for the investigation requested by the petitionerthe remaining reports (~ 40%, similar to the petitioner¿s and those of pe04-021) typically describe incidents where a vehicle is being maneuvered at slow speed in a close quarter situation at which point the operator alleges that the vehicle accelerates without driver input and crashes.In the aftermath, operators are unsure of whether the brakes were applied or not, sometimes stating there was insufficient time to use the brake; a crash occurred and the operator believes an uncommanded acceleration caused it.In spite of the effort expended during pe04-021 and during this analysis, odi has not identified any vehicle-based cause to explain the reports, or uncovered any evidence to indicate that a throttle control system failure occurred.Therefore, the reports have ambiguous significance and do not constitute a basis on which any further investigative action is warranted.Based on the analysis conducted, it is unlikely that the nhtsa would issue an order for the notification and remedy of a safety related defect at the conclusion of the investigation requested in the petition.Consequently, in view of the need to allocate and prioritize nhtsa¿s limited resources to best accomplish the agency¿s safety mission, the petition is denied.
  

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• Throttle control system investigation # PE04021

  The lexus models were the subject of defect petition (dp) 04-003.Twelve odi complaints are duplicative to toyota reports, including the two minor crashes.The v6 equipped solara models have been excluded because they do not contain the subject throttle control system.Toyota introduced electronic throttle control (etc) on the subject vehicles beginning in model year (my) 2002.Odi opened the investigation to determine if the system could be the cause of complaints alleging the engine speed increased, or failed to decrease, (for a short duration) when the accelerator pedal was not depressed (the alleged defect).During the course of the investigation, odi analyzed agency data and reviewed vehicle owner questionnaire (voq) reports, conducted interviews involving 113 voq and 36 toyota reports, inspected two complainant vehicles, reviewed relevant toyota service and new car feature documentation, reviewed and analyzed toyota¿s responses to odi¿s information request letter, conducted a limited control pedal assessment, and attended a toyota technical presentation that included the assessment of two demonstration vehicles.Through interviews, odi identified 14 voq and 6 toyota reports (20 unique vehicles) where complainants report multiple occurrences of the alleged defect.In some cases the condition was experienced by different vehicle operators or was witnessed by other occupants.Odi was unable to make a determination as to the cause of 9 toyota and an additional 37 voq reports (which describe 28 unique incidents) due to insufficient information.The remaining complainants interviewed (62 voq, 21 toyota) described conditions not caused by a failure of the throttle control system and were thus considered unrelated to the investigation.None of the complainants interviewed reported a component failure (or other indicator of a system failure) as the potential cause of incidents relevant to this investigation.In many cases, the complaint vehicles were subsequently inspected by dealership or manufacturer representatives who also failed to identify a fault within the vehicle.Toyota identified 43 related warranty claims, 24 of which were for diagnostic purposes only (no repairs performed).Odi found nothing abnormal in the control pedal configuration of the subject vehicles.A defect trend has not been identified at this time and further use of agency resources does not appear to be warranted.Accordingly, this investigation is closed.The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by nhtsa that a safety-related defect does not exist.The agency will take further action if warranted by the circumstances.See the attached summary for further detail.
  

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My driver headlight keeps shorting out.I bought another bulb and same problem .

(xxxx) air/bag busting thru dash ( * need help ) (xxxx) year: 2003 make: lexus model: es3 parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.S.C. 552(b)(6).

Sir/madam, i am trying to help my friends (xxxx) and (xxxxx), long time residents of huntington beach and a very sweet couple. Peggy was driving her husband to a doctor's appointment and due to a fault in the engine (there is a recall and they were not informed), the engine caught on fire. If it hadn't been for the driver behind them who ran to them and got them quickly out of the car and walked them to safety, the outcome would have been very bleak. They are an elderly couple and the husband, (xxxxx), has great difficulty walking and the car burned very quickly. They, thank god, made it to safety in time only to watch their car burn. They informed toyota and since they are on fixed income asked toyota for help with the purchase of another used reliable car (the lexus they were driving was 15 years old but in good condition and more than enough car for their trips to local stores or doctor appointments. Surprisingly, toyota only responded with one letter from customer service. (xxxx)'s follow up calls and letters to customer service, eco mark templin were never acknowledged or answered. Please help this couple believe in humanity again. Toyota is a reputable company and to have something like this happen without so much as a phone call from the company is surprising to all that know of this case. I am attaching all the evidence: pictures, copies of letters for your reference. Please provide case number. Thank you so much for your help. (xxxxx) for (xxxxx) parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.S.C. 552(b)(6)

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 lexus es300. While driving at an unknown speed, smoke was noticed coming from the engine compartment. The contact managed to pull the vehicle over as it was stalling. The contact exited the vehicle, lifted the hood, and noticed flames coming from the battery. The contact called the fire department who extinguished the fire. The contact mentioned that the fire department cut the battery cord and informed the contact that the vehicle was unsafe to drive. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The dealer and manufacturer were not notified of the failure. An independent mechanic diagnosed that the battery needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 156,000.

Sudden acceleration, in motion in reverse

Unwanted acceleration while applying the break while slowing down the rpm gauge pins itself to about 3000. The car will not down shift until it jolts forward just a little and the you can feel the lower gears engage. I bought it as a used vehical about 3 weeks ago with 80,336 miles . I see lots of complaints for the same thing on many other vehicals of the same make model and year. I'm assuming it's a bad speed sensor . Why is this not a recall? This started happening after we took a ride on the highway. And it only appears to happen while the car is in motion. Sometimes the car will not accelerate when the accelerator is applied it just makes the rpms rev up, and these doesn't go any faster kind of the same effect you would get if it was in neutral and applied the accelerator.

I purchased a used 2003 lexus es30from used car dealer. After a couple days of driving it i noticed it was shifting gears innormally. It would surge up to 4000rmp before shifting to 2nd gear and at one point wasn't moving while i hit the gas the acceleration very fast out of nowhere. My mother also had this same year make and model vehicle a few years back and it had the same problem before the transmission went out. I did some research online and found many other lexus customers experienced the same problem. I found a web site that claimed that there was a tsb put out for this vehicle and that the lexus/toyota dealerships would fix this problem with an upgrade. I was wondering if this upgrade is still available and if my vehicle would qualify? And if so how would i go about this process.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 lexus es300. While driving approximately 60 mph, the contact heard a beeping noise. The front end of the vehicle started shaking and the traction control warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where an unknown code was cleared. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 97,000. The vin was unavailable.

I was pulling out of the garage slowly to pause on the driveway to close the garage door and when i step on the gas in reverse the car flew out of the garage and i couldn't stop it with the brakes. There was a small roofing across the street which stopped the car. No one was nearby so no one was hurt. The accelerator seemed stuck for this incident to happen. However, lexus had an inspector check the car and didn't find anything wrong that showed on the computer so they won't take responsibility for this occurrence and they closed the case. I tried to speak to someone to send this to arbitration but no one would speak to me. Case closed. This was a very frightening experience with no control in the car. *tr

Common OBD-II Error Codes

• U150E [1] U150E
• U151E [1] U151E
• U151F [1] U151F
• P0031 [1] HO2S Heater Control Circuit Low (Bank 1 Sensor 1)
• P0051 [1] HO2S Heater Control Circuit Low (Bank 2 Sensor 1)
• P2241 [1] O2 Sensor Positive Current Control Circuit Low Bank 2 Sensor 1
• P2238 [1] O2 Sensor Positive Current Control Circuit Low Bank 1 Sensor 1