We have a '99 Lexus RX300 with 174,000 miles (the engine has 130,000). The check engine light has been on for 2 years. The first mechanic found it was an O2 sensor and said that we didn’t need to really do anything as long as the car was running good. So we didn’t. Apparently a new code appears …

Getting the check engine light to go away is easy - you can just have the bulb removed. But the check engine light isn’t your problem. Since so much of your car’s operation depends on its computer the computer spends a bunch of its time checking up on different systems. It also requires certain i…

Is it possible that the lurching of the vehicle could be something other than the transmission than? I will check to see if we have the codes from all the work done. Thank you so much!

Yes, its completely possible that the lurching is an issue with how the engine is running. It may also be an issue of transmission control rather than internal to the transmission. When you report back with the codes give as much info as you can on how/when you’ve done the basic maintenance - not …

Ok, the code is P0446. We had a vapor canister installed but the function code reappeared, so the mechanic put back the old canister so that he wouldn’t have to charge us. This mechanic said the fuel pump tested ok on a cool engine. One thing I’m thinking is that we took it to the Lexus dealershi…

Perhaps its time to get away from the dealer. Is P0446 the only code you have right now? Its not going to make the car lurch or lose power. If they are telling you that you need a new transmission I assumed that you would end up with some transmission-related codes. Have you actually checked the…

Thank you for all the advice! I took it to a new mechanic and the only code that is showing is the P0446…no code has appeared in reagards to a faulty transmission. I asked the mechanic to check the trans fluid before doing anything else as we don’t want to spend any money on the car if, in fact, t…

P0446 is “Evaporative Emission Control System Vent Control Circuit Malfunction”. Normally I’d agree with Cig that it would not cause lurching, but if the “malfunction” was of a nature that it prevented the gas tank from breathing in to replace the gas that’s being pumped out it could allow a vacuu…

It did end up being the transmission. I took the advice of cigroller and asked them to check the possible transmission issue first and the fluid was in fact a little brown and burnt smelling. We ended up selling the car to this mechanic. He seemed to be honest, but I guess you never know.

Just for future reference, this transmission problem might have been avoidable if you had changed the trans fluid (and filter) every 30k miles/3 yrs. If you buy a used vehicle, unless you have documentary proof of this type of transmission service, you need to get on track with that type of servic…

Check Engine Light That Just Won't Go Away!

Maintenance/Repairs

johnsapr April 18, 2011, 10:12pm 6

A couple more things I found…sparks plugs and valve assy, cam timi were replaced in 2006 because Lexus found that bank 2 vvt control valve was sticking (code P1354). The last trans flush that I can find records for was in 2008. I don’t know if we had one completed since that time. As far as the engine, it belonged to my father-in-law before us and I’m not sure why it was replaced.

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Check Engine Light That Just Won't Go Away!

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