My Sister's 1995 ES300 Problem

My sister has an 1995 ES300 with about 94,000 miles. She changes the oil regularly.

Last week she was cruising down the highway and the car lost power. She pulled off the highway and turned the car off. She turned the car on again and it started, she hit the gas and it "crawled." (moved, but at much reduced power). She had it towed and then it started up fine. And now it works fine. The mechanic said he couldn't diagnose/fix it until it breaks again.

At some point she said the battery and oil lights went on, but she's not sure if it was when it stalled on the highway or when she restarted it.

She was only driving for about 10 minutes, so it's not overheating.

Does any body have any idea what the problem is? She's now afraid to drive it very far.

Reply to
David Z
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A little more information would be helpful for a guess at a diagnosis.

When she said that the car "lost power," did the engine run normally or faster than normal but the vehicle just "crawled," or did the engine fail to rev up when she depressed the gas pedal?

What is the condition of the automatic transmission fluid?

When is the last time that the car had the spark plugs changed?

What is the condition of the engine air filter?

How often is a "regular" oil change in terms of time and mileage intervals?

Reply to
Ray O

I'd need the answers to my questions before I decided whether or not she has something to worry about. I'll keep an eye out for the answers.

Reply to
Ray O

"Computer read the code and fixed itself"? That dealer is full of it.

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Not nearly as full of it as you are.

Reply to
David Z

Well, my sister requested the service record from the shop that maintained her car, but never picked it up. In the meantime, the car died again while she was driving it, but this time it didn't come back to life. The shop said the computer died and originally wanted $2,000 to replace it. They found a used computer and did the job for $600. The car runs fine now.

Reply to
David Z

Hmmm... Computer failures are very rare, absent some external influence like moisture, someone messing with the wires that lead to the computer, or impact force to the car like an accident. It is possible that the connector to the computer was loose because someone disconnected it at one time while trying to diagnose a problem.

$600 seems like a good price because chasing phantom electrical problems can get very expensive very quickly.

Let us know if any other problems pop up.

Reply to
Ray O

They gave her back the old computer. Is there any way to test if it's still good? If it's still good, then what? (Just curious. I don't want to get her going if there's nothing in it for her.)

Reply to
David Z

there is no easy do-it-yourself way to check the computer, but you can look at it for signs of physical damage like dents, bent or corroded connector pins, liquid stains.

United audio in upstate New York has the equipment to check it out.

Reply to
Ray O

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