instrument cluster Lexus ES300 1995 Starting And Driving

STARTING AND DRIVING
Shift while pressing the lock
release button in
Shift without pressing
the button
With the brake pedal depressed, shift
while pressing the lock release button in
(The ignition switch must be in the “ON” position.)
Lock release button
to prevent misshifting
Position for stronger engine braking
than that in “2” position
Reverse position
Normal driving position
Neutral position
Position for engine braking
Parking, engine starting
and key removal position
Shift position indicator
Shows the selector lever position
Shift position is also displayed
on the instrument cluster
Overdrive switch
For selecting either a three−speed
or four−speed transmission
ON position
(Shifting into overdrive possible)
OFF position
(Shifting into overdrive not possible)
Driving pattern selector switch
For selecting a driving pattern suitable
to existing driving conditions
NORMAL position
for general driving
conditions
POWER position
for powerful acceleration
107
AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

STARTING AND DRIVING
108Your automatic transmission has a shift lock system to
minimize the possibility of incorrect operation. This means you
can only shift out of “P” position when the brake pedal is
depressed (with the ignition switch in “ON” position and the
lock release button pressed in).
Correct use of the automatic transmission is explained in the
following parts.
(a) Normal driving
(b) Using engine braking
(c) Using the “2” and “L” positions
(d) Backing up
(e) Parking
(f) Good driving practice
(g) If you cannot shift the selector lever out of “P” position
(h) If the “O / D OFF” indicator light flashes
(a) Normal driving
“N” (Neutral) position
“P” (Park) position
1. Start the engine as instructed in “How to start the
engine” on page 105.
The transmission must be in “P” or “N”. The engine will not start
in “R”, “2”, “L” or “D” position even if the ignition key is turned
to “START”.
Indicator light
“PWR” (Power) position
“NORM” (Normal) position
2. Set the driving pattern selector switch to the “NORM”
position.
Your transmission has a driving pattern selector switch which
allows you to select either “NORM” or “PWR” to suit your
driving condition. For ordinary driving, Lexus recommends that
you use the “NORM” position to improve fuel economy.
3. For more powerful acceleration and sporty driving, use
the “PWR” position.
In the “PWR” position, the “ECT PWR” light in the instrument
cluster is on and the transmission is shifted up at higher vehicle
speeds and shifted down more responsively than in the
“NORM” position.

STARTING AND DRIVING
11 0
(b) Using engine braking
“2” (Second) position
“L” (Low) position
“D” (Drive) position
: Shifting
Overdrive switch
To use the braking power of the engine, downshift the
transmission in the way described below:

Turn off the overdrive switch. (This is effective only when
you are driving in the “D” position.) The “O / D OFF” indicator
light in the instrument cluster will come on and the
transmission will downshift to the third gear.

Shift into the “2” position. The transmission will downshift to
the second gear when the vehicle speed is lower than 128
km / h (80 mph) and more powerful engine braking will be
obtained.

Shift into the “L” position. The transmission will downshift to
the first gear when the vehicle speed is lower than 70 km / h
(43 mph) and maximum engine braking will be applied.CAUTION:
Be careful when downshifting on a slippery surface. The
abrupt change in engine speed could cause the vehicle to
spin or skid.
(c) Using the “2” and “L” positions
The “2” and “L” positions are used for strong engine braking as
described previously.
With the selector lever in “2” or “L”, you can start the vehicle in
motion as with the lever in “D”.
With the selector lever in “2”, the vehicle will start in the first
gear and automatically shift to the second gear.
With the selector lever in “L”, the transmission is engaged in
the first gear.
NOTICE:

Be careful not to overrev the engine. Watch the
tachometer to keep engine rpm from going into the
red zone. The approximate maximum allowable
speed for each position is given below for your
reference:
“2” ... 128 km / h (80 mph)
“L” ... 70 km / h (43 mph)

Do not continue hill climbing or hard towing for a long
time in the “2” or “L” position. This may cause severe
automatic transmission damage from overheating. To
prevent such damage, “D” position should be used in
hill climbing or hard towing.

STARTING AND DRIVING
11 3
Turning on the system
To operate the cruise control, push the main switch. This turns
the system on. The indicator light in the instrument cluster
shows that you can now set your desired cruising speed.
Another push on the switch will turn the system completely off.
When the ignition key is turned off, the main switch is also
automatically turned off. To use the cruise control again, push
the main switch again to turn it on.
CAUTION:
To avoid accidental cruise control engagement, keep the
main switch off when not using the cruise control.
Setting at a desired speed
Bring the vehicle to the desired speed, press the control lever
downward in the “SET / COAST” direction and release it. This
sets the vehicle at that speed. Now you may take your foot off
the accelerator pedal. If you need acceleration − for example,
when passing − depress the accelerator pedal enough for the
vehicle to exceed the set speed. When you release the
accelerator pedal, the vehicle will return to the speed set prior
to the acceleration.
Cancelling the preset speed
You can cancel the preset speed by either of the following:
a. Pulling the control lever in the “CANCEL” direction.
b. Depressing the brake pedal.
If the vehicle speed falls below 40 km / h (25 mph), the preset
speed will be automatically cancelled.

STARTING AND DRIVING
11 4If the vehicle speed drops 16 km / h (10 mph) below the preset
speed, the preset speed will also automatically be cancelled.
If the preset speed automatically cancels out for other than
these reasons, have your vehicle checked by your Lexus
dealer at the earliest opportunity.
Resetting to a faster speed
Press the control lever upward in the “RES / ACC” direction and
hold it. Release the lever when the desired speed is attained.
While the lever is held upward, the vehicle will gradually gain
speed.
When the difference between the actual vehicle speed and the
set speed is less than 5 km / h (3 mph), the set speed can be
increased 1.6 km / h (1 mph) each time by pressing the control
lever upward in the “RES / ACC” direction quickly.
However, a quicker way to reset is to accelerate the vehicle
and then press the control lever downward in the
“SET / COAST” direction.
Resetting to a slower speed
Press the control lever downward in the “SET / COAST”
direction and hold it. Release the lever when the desired speed
is attained. While the lever is held downward, the vehicle
speed will gradually decrease.
When the difference between the actual vehicle speed and the
set speed is less than 5 km / h (3 mph), the set speed can be
lowered 1.6 km / h (1 mph) each time by pressing the control
lever downward in the “SET / COAST” direction quickly.
However, a quicker way to reset is to depress the brake pedal
and then press the control lever downward in the
“SET / COAST” direction.
Resuming the preset speed
Press the control lever upward in the “RES / ACC” direction.
The vehicle will resume the speed set prior to cancellation
unless the vehicle speed is less than 40 km / h (25 mph) or is
16 km / h (10 mph) below the preset speed.
Cruise control failure warning
If the “CRUISE” indicator light in the instrument cluster flashes
five times and then goes out when using the cruise control, it
means that there is trouble in the cruise control system.
Contact your Lexus dealer.