Just tried for the first time tonight to switch ect power on and trac off. So at the light, while stopped I switch it and then I gun it, while climbing through 6000 rpm I was expecting the usual shift around 6500, but the needle kept climbing until I bumped the limiter. I did not have time to let off the gas since it happened so quickly. I hope nothing was damaged. Seems like the shift point programming may have a bug in it.

 

Hehe, first car?

Nothing to worry about man, that's what the limiter is for you know?

 

are you SURE it wasn't in S instead of D? becuase in D it will always switch gears before the limiter. in S it will hold until you tell it to shift...

 

The car was in 'D'.

 

Hmmm, bug, yeah right.

 

That's why it's called a rev limiter.

 

Not my first car, actually my 11th car I've owned. Anyway, still not good for the motor since the injectors cut out and the mixture gets extremely lean.

 

If it only happens once, there shouldn't be any "damage." Constant repetitive strenuous high RPM will do damage to the engine. Although what you did was strenuous to the engine, it was neither constant nor repetitive.

As for the rev limiter light, the gear can hold longer than the preset RPM level. The engine can still rev above it, and will upshift when the transmission's computer "thinks it's best." If you gun it, it will upshift according to what you dictate it to do (extra gas pedal equals prolonged gear).

Be light on the gas, and you'll save some MPG and engine wear.

 

Is it good for the engine? Probably not. However, it's not bad for it either.
1. The redline shown on the tach is not the mechanical redline. There is always a cushion built in for just what you experienced today. Going over the redline on the tach for a split second will not hurt anything.
2. Lean condition? Absolultely not. One or all three of the following may occur if you go past the tach redline: 1. throttle body will close and the engine won't get any air (or much less) to burn. 2. spark plugs will not fire so no boom. 3. fuel injectors will not let any gas in the cylinder so no boom.

Lean conditions are dangerous when they are sustained for an extended period of time. Even if you had a lean condition at fuel cutoff (which is not possible for the reasons above) it'll only be for a split second.

The only negative of going past the tach redline (and staying below the mechanical redline) is a minute amount of extra engine wear.

 

The rev limiter does not cause a lean condition. In fact, people who drag race their cars often use a device called a "stutterbox" that temporarily lowers the redline to the desired launch RPM, in order to simplify the process of getting a good start.

 

You know actually my car does the same thing once in a while. I usually drive around in ECT PWR Mode in D and sometimes at the top of 1st or 2nd gear it bumps the rev limit. I do think there is some kind of bug in the shift point software. Glad to hear i'm not the only one.

When I posted about this before a few comments I got were:

"It should be in your user manual. You are hitting rev limiter even in auto mode because it is not thoroughly warmed up at that point. It usually states that until the car reaches optimal operating temperature, it rev limiter is programmed to be lowered by 1000 ~ 2000 rpm. This measure is to protect from revving close to it's redline when it is not properly warmed up and the oil has not completely been lubricating the parts it should. It might be around 5500 rpm in your case. I know it since it says in my car's manual that the rev limiter is set to 7000 rpm when it is not properly warmed up and once it gets fully warmed up, it resets to 8400 rpm. Once it reaches optimal operating temperature, the rev limiter is recaliberated to the proper rpm, which should be around 6600 rpm for IS350."

"My car while on D (Full auto) hit the rev limiter by its self and my car was warmed up. its done that twice but it seems it does that if i tap the throttle to much towards the top of the gear."

 

Aren't you the person who has posted on a couple of occasions that you get incredible gas mileage (~29mpg)? Were those trips made in ECT PWR mode?

 

Incredible? Naw it was just a few highway cruises with my gf from PA back to VA and the other occasion was a trip back to VA from DE. And yes the tranny was in ECT PWR mode all the time. I prefer this mode because it makes the gas pedal lighter. When i switch it over to normal mode it seem like I have more resistance on the pedal.

 

My car stays in ECT PWR / S-mode all the time. I average around 26-28mpg on my commute. That's verified via paper/pencil.

 

Yep, very strange, my car was fully warmed up also. The only other vehicle I had heard of hitting the limiter while in full auto was GM LS1 Autos which had exhaust mods. This caused the computer calibration for the shift point to change. I think I may mention this to the dealer and Lexus should fix this problem. My list of problems needing fixed at the dealer keeps growing: pulling to the right, squeaks/rattles in the dash, strange popping noise in the ventilation, scratch on the windshield, rear spoiler not mounted correctly at the port (flares up at the ends), hitting rev limiter while in full auto.