Ariyanna

Hey guys my uncles 1994 ES300 with 129K engine shuts off when put into drive, reverse or any gear. It idles fine when in park, but once u change it into drive or reverse the engine shuts off. My uncle is freaking out and I'm going tomorrow to look at it to see what may be the issue. Can any of you guys give me any insight as to what it could be. (Im thinking a vacume leak or bad fuel pump but not sure till I see the car)thanks for any input

LeX2K

Need more information, but it could be that the torque converter is locked up, so as soon as you put the car in gear it stalls. Not sure what you mean by "engine shuts off". Does the engine rev up through the range normally? CEL on?

Like I said, need more info.

Ariyanna

Yes as soon the car is put into gear it stalls perfect way to say it

GEORGE_JET

Start with checking what the idle speed is, also note if the idle is rough or smooth. Check all of the hoses for cracks and splits, and ask how many miles since the last tune up.

GoodRevs

I had the same problem on my Cadillac, it occasionally died when shifted into any gear. The issue was the ISC module which wasn't able to maintain a high enough RPM so the engine would just die. Replaced it and it hasn't died in the 3+ years since.

4u2kno

did he let it get extremely low on gas?

i did that once out joy riding and this happened right after i filled up got home and tried to leave again. not saying the two are related but this is what we did.

one foot on brake and one on gas (not much) will jerk real bad when put in gear.... drive it carefully a few blocks if you can get it to run. see if that will blow out trash

BoostedE21

there's a lot of causes for that kind of thing. Two main things: the complete lock between the pump and turbine within the torque converter that's only supposed to happen at 45+ mph isn't coming undone. Replace/fix the torque converter. Or, a bit of contamination could have found its way into the small fluid channels that control shifts, and blocked a ball bearing from falling into place, which keeps it stuck in a higher gear. Even though the torque converter should still offer enough slip (pump side not spinning very fast) to allow it to idle, i guess under certain circumstances it could cause a stall.

tonyhoang

I'm experiencing the exact same problem with my ES300. Did you find the culprit for the problem of the car?

Mythotical

look for a rats nest in the air box. I once had to maintain a fleet of 350 cars for State Farm Insurance. On a few of them I have found chewed up air filters and debris stuck in the IAC. With the passage so small a rat turd could let in enough air to idle but not under load.

Bayliner

Have you tried a neutral drop? Start in neutral and give it some revs the throw it into drive. Not sure what exactly that will tell you but if you can force it to operate under a load, u can start to accurately paint the picture

PFB

Are you absolutly sure that it stalls when you put it in reverse as well?

Phil

Mythotical

NOOOOOO!!!!!! Do not nutrol drop! Bad for the tranny! Take the vacuum line off of the IAC and using a bic pen as a splice pull off the PVV that goes into the side of the intake hose off of the valve cover and put them together. Leave the tip on the bic pen but take out the plug in the back of the pen and push the ink stick out of the tip. The tip acts like a restrictor to keep the RPM to about 1200. Then try to put in gear. If it still dies then I suspect the TCC (torque converter lock up) solenoid.

TEXAN559

113,xxx my lexus gs300 was turning off when put in gear and felt like i was driving a stick shift , when i push the gas it would spudder real bad . The check engine light came on with the trac light and vsc . So i took it to lexus the said change the transmission out for 6k . I said the hell with that i took it to chucks transmission ( belmont / cedar )he dropped the pan and tested the solenoids he said one was bad changed it out and has been perfect with no lights on since runs smooth its not the transmission

DRACO A5OG

OP, check the Throttle Body Cable from the transmission. It may have stretch ad came out of tolerance.
Once you correct that it will shift better too. Ask me how I know. While you are there check the Engine throttle cable to insure it also is loose.

Hayne has a good how to on this.