Dr C

If that is true, that short trips contribute to the problem, then I am in big trouble. My drive to the satellite hospital is about 1.5 miles!

mcfly

Interesting theory... I know some others have had this problem. Care to chime in on your driving habits? Lots of short trips?

pocky

iTrader: (12)

Mmmm, this could be interesting.

My drive to the office is only 2 miles from my house. I do alot of very short trips.

Bichon

Perhaps that explains why it appears to affect more IS250s (which are direct injection only) than IS350s (which use both port injection and direct injection). FWIW, I do lots of short trips on my IS350, and haven't had this problem.

carlos

iTrader: (1)

ditto. i live less than 2 miles from work/school.

Scotty99

I doubt there is a sensor to verify too much fuel is in the oil. The CEL code that some people are popping is probably the misfire code in which case the dealer may think it would be prudent to change the oil in case excess fuel did not burn out of the combustion chamber and may have migrated to the oil. I have not heard of this problem with the 3.5L Avalon direct injection V6s and fuel will enter the combustion chamber regardless of whether it is directly injected or port injected so I don't see how it can be a direct injection related problem. Again, someone here will have to prove to me that there is a computer code that tells a tech there is too much fuel in the oil. I am betting it is just a misfire code.

dang_is250

I too doubt there is a sensor that checks to see if there is too much fuel in the oil. Anyways, I thought I'd include the comments that were on the invoice. "Excessive fuel odor in oil 151011 T1=15 T2=99 50 replaced engine oil and filter advise customer to drive less short trips need to allow engine to get to full operating temp before shutting off." Hopefully, the code doesn't flash again. I agree, there needs to be a fix for this.

ES3

Just to confirm has ANYONE had this problem with a 350? Also, can someone please link the original post here, just so we can all stay on top of it? Hope Lex finds a fix!

Kamikaze2b

I also have less than a 5 minute commute, but I will say that it's a "spriited" drive, and my car gets to operating temp every time.

ES3

Careful not to make it TOO spirited until the temp guage gets above the C.

mcfly

There's at least one thread I've seen with a 350 experiencing the same problem.

Dr C

After owning 36 cars, I have never had to either avoid short trips, or purposely drive out of my way so as to go a longer distance. I have to think that there is a solution to this problem other than telling me to drive further. I did not have to worry about short trips in my Audi A4, Audi S4, or BMW . Surely I don't have to do it now.

Not incidentially, I have though since I bought my 250 AWD that the idle is higher when cold than it needs to be and the fast idle is maintained longer than it needs to be. I suspect that this is the problem and not my driving on short trips. I like being able to get to the Hospital in 5 minutes so I don't want to have to give it up. I'll change cars first!

mcfly

The fast idle being higher or lasting longer than you're used to should make absolutely no difference. If anything, it would be a symptom of a problem, not the cause, though I don't think it's either.

There's obviously a software issue, though whether or not it's caused by an actually mechanical problem is going to have to left to Lexus to determine.

ES3

I'm going to try to pay attention to my idle in the cold as well vs. when the engine heats up, any idea how much higher your idle revs in the cold?

mcfly

The idle is ALWAYS higher on a cold start. It's SUPPOSED to be. It has NOTHING to do with this problem.