1995 Lexus ES300 electrical problem?

Asked by MelMel2930 Mar 07, 2020 at 04:48 AM about the 1995 Lexus ES 300 FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I noticed the headlights dimming one night on my
way home then all of a sudden everything on my
dash went out and the car started jumping and
jerking, I was able to get it pulled over and thought
it was just the battery. Upon trying to get jumped
off I realized something more was going on. I had it
pulled to a mechanic shop and was told that my
alternator was bad.. bought a new alternator, paid
for the labor of installation and thought I was good
to go. I pulled out of the mechanic’s parking lot,
made it not even a mile down the road and the car
started to rev very loud but wouldn’t shift and the
dash lights were coming on and off, got pulled over
and had it pulled back to the shop. After my car
sitting there for almost a week I was finally told that
it had to be a “hot” wire coming from the alternator
which we finally figured out it was not, it was a fuse
that had blown, got the fuse replaced and drove my
car into town, Everytime I would stop at a light or
sign I would smell this burning scent! Once I got 5
miles down the road to my destination and parked
it black smoke was rolling out from under my hood.
After popping my hood I could see that the smoke
was coming from right under the alternator so I
thought maybe it was just some spilled oil burning
off from where they changed out my alternators.
The next day driving to work the exact same thing
happen all the dash lights went out and the car
started jumping and jerking. I got pulled over and
had it pulled to a different mechanic (by this point I
was completely done with the first one)
After some testing it was determined that the new
alternator I just bought and had put on was bad,
due to being put on with a battery that was bad
(that of course I was not made aware of)  after a
new battery and having my old alternator tested to
make double sure it was really bad before buying
yet another new one we found out that my old
alternator was not bad it just had faulty wiring that
needed to be replaced, had that done and the old
alternator put back on with the new battery and yet
another fuse and head out on my way thinking that
all this car trouble is behind me... 30 minutes down
the road and the fuse blows... yet again... thankfully
the mechanic sent me on my way with extra fuses
just in case.. pulled over replaced the fuse and took
off... I had to repeat this process 3 times on my way
home (which is a 45 min drive) upon speaking back
with the mechanic I just left he tells me that it may
be something to do with the wiring cluster (I believe
that’s what he called it) but that it would be very
expensive to fix... has anyone dealt with this
problem and have any advice to getting my car up
and running more then 10-30 mins at a time without
having to constantly replace a fuse. Any advice is
very appreciated!

1 Answer

465

There are Several "Grounding Points" on my Lexus (1999 ES300). Make sure they "All" are cleaned and grounded like they are supposed to be...I think it's a "Lexus" thing.

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