Blower Motor Issues: 1996 Lexus ES300

[@fieldsofomagh]

I would class this video as a grade 1 reference video.Nothing left to chance and every avenue thoroughly investigated. Job well done !

[@zoidberg444]

A guy i work with had a 98 version of that vehicle. His had done 340,000 miles. He had some weird behavior with the locking and the cluster. So he chucked it rather than get it diagnosed. Besides standard maintenance, exhaust and a collapsed shock which he had the shocks, springs (front and back) and rear sway bar bushings renewed at 220k. He used to drive to Belgium to get cigs and booze every few weeks and down to Spain to his villa. Just before he chucked it he drove to Istanbul and back. He has a BMW M5 now. He keeps complaining he misses the Lexus. Nice diagnosis. Nice fix for $6. That Denso part will probably last a lot longer than an aftermarket replacement!

[@haywardsautomotive6156]

Nice diagnosis Ivan. It's always nice helping family! You can't beat $6

[@daveogarf]

No denying the familial ties between you and your brother! You look and sound Very similar! Nice to meet you, Ivan's brother.

[@kzbuster]

Nice thorough diagnostics. Have the same problem and will be going to the U Pull R parts to get the resistor. It is a 94 ES300 with 258K and it has been the best car I have ever owned. Had it since 2001. Also have a 2000 ES300 with 184k on it.

[@unclemarksdiyauto]

Swaptronics for $6 is a win! And amperage check that nothing else will cause same issue again. Great job as usual Ivan. And great deal on the car! I would have bought it.

[@toyotatech2jz814]

I see cars that run great in the 200 - 300k all the time at our dealership. as long as you maintain your vehicle your Toyota will last years and years. Great video :)

[@jhauna1]

There are a bunch of info the that transistor arrangement, check out 'darlington pair'. It is usually applied when high transistor gain is required (high current draw for the blower motor). Good job Ivan!

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

I do remember doing some lab experiments with transistors in school...maybe I'll dust off the old notes and do a refresher live on camera ;)

[@rickjljr11]

Was there a fuse under those two screws on the back of the module? Vbe on a darlington will typically be about 1.5 Volts (what you would see on pin 2).

[@mrkzj]

Friend of mine, his parents have two '97 ES300s, one of the years notorious for sludge problems. Both are "original" and have over 450k miles lol

[@zensterful]

Nice diagnosis Ivan, That part is expensive, would be nice to see what broke inside.

[@mmichaeldonavon]

Don't remember the complete circuit, but could probably "Meter it," looking for a Dead Short.

[@cbsctomh]

You're a good brother...more for your tackling the timing belt; however, great diagnosis on the fan control!

[@baxrok2.]

Well done Ivan. Thanks for the thorough explanation of the circuit operation and troubleshooting process!

[@ericcorse]

Great video and case study. Looks like your brother got an ideal used car and a super $6.00 fix.

[@BigDog50001]

I couldn't even see your brother in the video, he must have been wearing camouflage or something :)

[@Krillekris]

Great diagnosis. Being this thorough when explaining things makes it easier for people like me to learn :-)

[@fredberfal1246]

good job as always Ivan

[@Turbotomass]

Yes, please do a video on how power transistors work. I'll admit I'm lost on this diagnose.

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

I found my old lab notes from circuits class...will put together something soon!

[@dave468024]

Yeah I live in Plainfield, Indiana baby!! :)

[@bh9262]

Noblesville here!

[@547Rick]

That is a pretty clean rust free car to be from Indiana. Nice video!!

[@gtemnykh]

Sadly not totally rust free rick, she's got a bit of rot in the rear quarter panels, but nothing scary. I bombed it with Fluid Film and called it good for now. Might do something a bit more substantial in the spring. The underside of the car though is surprisingly clean, subframe and suspension mounting points are clean as a whistle. The only unpleasant looking part on the entire underside of the car looks to be the fuel filler tube! I had previously sold a '00 Maxima (this Lexus is its replacement), man that thing was a rust bucket. Lower radiator support was swiss cheese! And this was a car that was 4 years newer and only had 142k miles compared to the ES300's 206k. To be fair the Maxima had spent some time up in Michigan.

[@int53185]

Ugh, hard to bend to work on a vehicle after all that turkey!

[@chungaleta1234]

Great diagnostic and repair,,, looking forward to a timing belt vid.

[@mmichaeldonavon]

Ivan, never mind. :) Someone else commented on this, 2 years ago - and remembered that it was a TO 3 Case. I'm always a day late and a dollar short. har, har.

[@mmichaeldonavon]

Ivan. I came back to your web site, today, to mention something to you. When I saw that transistor circuit used for your Brother's blower motor control, I said to myself: "You know, I recognize that circuit configuration." And I did. Remember now that it is called a "Darlington Pair," and is used in moderately high current circuits. I remembered this circuit from the "Old Days" of working discrete circuits in Television Chassis. (RCA service company, after retiring from working Avionics in the USAF). Don't remember which TV circuit used this config. But, as you saw, the size of the "TO" case used for that Darlington Pair was large, and on a BIG heat sink. Just a little trivia. Thanks,

[@rhkips]

That's a very strange way to design a multi-speed blower circuit, Toyota! I would have expected to see some sort of PWM signal somewhere in that mess, but apparently not. Great diagnosis, Ivan!

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

It's actually a clever design, as the car still had low and high fan speeds even with that amplifier not working. On other cars you would most likely lose blower operation completely!

[@rhkips]

motoYam82 That is very true! I hadn't thought about it that way. :)

[@gordonp6353]

From pin 2 to the base of the darlington pair looked like a fuse link, probably thermal, if o/c would explain the initial high volts check on pin 2 as the base emitter drop is about 0.6v per transistor (1.2v total) pin 2 would never rise much above that, (the transistor is current driven)

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

agreed, these are bipolar power transistors (current amplifying), not MOSFETS. Now I'll go read some old lab notes and review this stuff...it's been a while!

[@andreyu2646]

Great job and nice video. But probably blower motor requires an attention. Bearing and/or brush wear cause worse shaft spin which requires more current. Greater current kills regulator circuit. Similar problem widely discussed for Nissan X-Trail, 200x .

[@MechanicTechnicianRepair]

good diagnostic amigo. excellent

[@rrmech11]

nice job of explaining the circuitry Ivan. What part of Indiana is your brother from. I'm in nw Indiana

[@SouthMainAuto]

Nice job Ivan. Did you ever throw a scope on it to see if it is PWM?

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Yo Eric! No, not PWM. This is an old-school current-controlled transistor pair. That's why the voltage didn't go up much on that control wire as the fan speed increased. I'm gonna go back to the physics lab notes to figure out why my amp clamp was showing reverse current in the final experiment haha

[@willemstreutgers1154]

What if you turned your Ampclamp 180 degrees on the wire? By the way your brother bought himself a beauty !!!

[@theoldwizard998]

The bipolar junction transistor "pair" are likely combined inside the big TO-3 package and called a Darlington transistor. "Modern" design would operate like SMA suggested, using PWM on a MOSFET.

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Yeah I'm jealous! I call those cars "Golden Age Toyotas"

[@mmichaeldonavon]

Yes, MOSFET's! A mouth full: "Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor. " Way different operation compared with Bi-polar transistors. If you handled them incorrectly, you would destroy the "gate" and that was it! Needed a new one. Don't touch the pins! ha, ha

[@blockbertus]

Could you take the bad one apart and replace the transistors? It looks like it is just screwed together and easy to open. Basically refurbishing the bad one in case the still good one goes bad, too.

[@markusdd5]

Quite possibly you could...but finding and ordering that Darlington-Power-Transistor is probably more expensive than throwing in a 6$ spare part. The Transistor they used looked pretty standard though, so if really the Darlington-Stage broke in that thing, you could get the the part to work again. If it's the capacitor or one of resistors insisde, you might be out of luck depending on the case construction.

[@69Phuket]

I don't live in in Indiana, but good diagnosis.

[@69Phuket]

When are you going back to the soviet block? Russian Roadtrip?

[@111-c7x2t]

your brother lives in Indiana? do you ever come through here? would be cool to met t you

[@james69roy]

Ivan tell ur brother to Just be carful with the trans the Engine will run like a scalding dog but the trans gave me issues after 240k started having random down shifts an the needle light on the cluster go out as well other then that solid car

[@gtemnykh]

James thanks for the tip. The previous owner had serviced the transmission with fresh ATF and filters on a pretty regular basis. Fluid looks good, shifts better than most new cars I've driven. I will keep that in mind though!

[@paulsz6194]

james barnett the Needle light burning out is a known problem on the ES & LS series of the early 90’s . For some reason the LED’s burnout.

[@siucbset]

TimingBelt: Will you be making a video about the timing belt for this car?

[@johnmckamy6398]

your bro is cool as hell

[@GregRuffino]

Learn something new everyday! thanks

[@JamesAgans]

How come the cotter pin on the left front wheel is not bent and clipped? 😮

[@bh9262]

Can you put the exact part name, and part number in the description please?

[@GraditelMacedonia]

Probably you can change that transistor too if is brocken.

[@bh9262]

19:20, power resisistor

[@William100-t2z]

Nice video Ivan, can the power transistor pack be tested with a multi-meter in diode test mode the same as a standard transistor would be tested.

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Great question! I am curious myself...too bad my brother took the parts with him!

[@mmichaeldonavon]

Yes, but not a conclusive test. (I have to go back over 40 years to think of that xister internal circuit.) Even though a FET uses "charges," to pinch off current flow, FET's can be checked with a vom, but a totally different test is used. (meter is used to "charge" part of the xistor, then your body is used to discharge it, while monitoring other pins. ) I would have to look that up to test one now.

[@holybatwingsbatman]

Oh, this I have to see. I don't like going behind the dashboard in any car. Especially a Lexus. Who knows how many miles of hose, springs and wires are back there.

[@AdelJeffreyJeffreysAuto]

looks mint! for 200k.

[@blockbertus]

*200k

[@1kleineMax1]

it is pretty clear why you have this voltages on the controll wire. With 5 Speed, 1. low - 5. high: 1. only 0,025V cause the transistor circuit shouldnt do anything, 2. 1,4 V the transistor circuit is working, so you slightly "open" the transistors an 3. 1,5 V the transistor circuit is working, even more open 4. 1,65 V the transistor circuit is working, "fully open" 5. 1,2 V the transistor circuit isnt working and i think this is just a backfeed through the cap in the transistor circuit (not 100% sure about the workings of this circuit but power to the base -> open :D

[@Discretesignals]

Look up darlington transistors and you understand how that circuit is operating in the medium blower speed modes.

[@pecincano]

great vid , i have a question if you can help please , my mom has same car , the trans was having trouble going into gear cold , computer said it was speed sensor , now the car died while driving herd a loud thud then it died out will not even crank now , nothing just a click , , i havnt replaced anything yet , im wondering if the speed sensor could have shorted out the ECU or blown a fuse to when a loud noise wold happen before it dies out ?? oh the computer will not reconize car now at all now either , help please and thank you

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

A speed sensor problem could cause hard shifts for sure, but sounds like you have some bigger problems now. Take it to a mechanic.

[@luthersullivan5141]

Paint is incredible for 200k!!

[@siucbset]

1MZ-FE: Does this engine have a sludge problem or does sludge build up for owners that do not perform scheduled oil changes? I did my valve cover gasket job on my 1MZ-FE and there was no sludge at over 200K miles. I use synthetic oil and I change my oil every 10K miles. Your thoughts please.

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Yeah I think it's only from neglected maintenance.

[@gtemnykh]

siucbet, my reading online points to several things: clogged PCV on cars that see mostly short trips, and some mentions of the heads running quite hot on later cars due to various claims (restrictive exhaust, emissions related things). Toyota saw fit to install a factory oil cooler on the 3MZ that followed on later Toyotas/Lexi. But if you simply change your oil as needed (severe schedule for cars that do short trips) and preferably use a high quality synth/synth-blend, and maybe check your PCV valve every once in a while, the 1MZ is a long lived beast. Apparently they run pretty rich fuel maps from the factory on the earlier cars so they're a bit 'dirtier' than most and somewhat thirsty, but I'd argue this also makes them less susceptible to knock issues from poor quality fuel, etc. and probably plays in a role in their excellent longevity.

[@siucbset]

gtemnykh DummyProof: It is hard for Toyota to make a car that is dummy proof. Follow scheduled maintenance and use Toyota Parts. Not changing oil on schedule can lead to sludge which can lead to PCV blockage. Even when it does clog just use some throttle body cleaner to clear the passage to and through the plenum and change the PCV valve. Poof, you are done. A PCV valve from Toyota will last 120K miles or more and a PCV valve from Fram will last 60K miles or more. If you do not put the proper octane in the car then it will knock but the manual clearly states to use 91 octane. Lets remember Toyota had their engineers spend many hours setting the stated octane level. Consumers need to follow the manufacturers directions. The 1MZ-FE is good to run for 300K to 600K miles. It is one of the best V6 engines ever made.

[@gtemnykh]

For what it's worth, I think mine has been run on regular 87 octane for much of its life with no undue consequences (I live in a flat area at sea level). I tried premium for a few tanks and so no improvement in either fuel economy or engine power. I do use "Top Tier" gas to keep the fuel system clean.

[@siucbset]

Good for you. I have used 87 octane in mine before and my car started to knock. I tried 87 octane in northern Illinois and central Louisiana and my car stared to knock in both areas. I went back to 91 octane or higher and my car ran normally again.

[@manuelmachado1276]

any diagnostic gurus in southern, ny/southern ct?

[@HUBBABUBBADOOPYDOOP]

The thermal compound under the transistor usually dries out, circuit overheats. Compare a good component, maybe even cross reference part #, replace with dab of compound, keep as a spare- www.galco.com/shop/MOSFETs-Transistors

[@wotnoturbo]

scribbling a highlighter pen goes right through me

[@TopZ92]

the 2AZFE has the problem burning oil bad designed rings my girlfriend has bad valve seals in hers

[@jonathandrager8149]

How did u get that connector off

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Magic

[@jonathandrager8149]

Magic yeah I need that right now. I can’t see how to compress the connector or take screw driver and pry the tab super frustrating any suggestions

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

@@jonathandrager8149 honestly this was 6 years ago so don't remember the details...try a pick

[@rockynix7731]

My wife's plower motor went out after 50 years .. think I will get a new one ... Nothing under 30 year's old would work ...

[@johnmckamy6398]

sweet ride for 1600

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

I know right? I'm jealous!

[@toyotatech2jz814]

I see cars that run great in the 200 - 300k all the time at our dealership. as long as you maintain your vehicle your Toyota will last years and years. Great video :)