Lexus IS250 4GR-FSE Engine Carbon Build-up (merged threads)
01-03-12, 04:38 PM
#646
the bulletin doesnt call for the condition actually happening while you're at lexus. Any complaints of misfires, stumbles, rough idles automatically apply wether or not its actually happening that moment.
take the car in as soon as you can and get it documented that you came in before you were out... if for whatever reason they do nothing, it's recorded on the national history. Any time AFTER warranty that you show up for that same concern they'll have to honor it.
Also as far as test?
1 A compression test, which has always come up great on all the affected cars,
2 check the engine ecu for codes, pending or present
3 use the data list of parameters in the engine ecu to do a road test while monitoring the 'misfire' values for each cylinder and the margin in (%) of probable chance of a miss
4 The best way, to look up the emission monitor results, such as Evap, Catalytic efficiency, misfire, etc. Under 'misfire, the ecu datalogs individual cylinder misfires for the last 40 cycles. It's here where it's always most likely to find it.
You could request a printout of the result as well, ask your writer to see a printout of the 'engine monitors' and the printout for the 'misfire EWMA results'. if by any chance the monitors say 'incomplete' then somebody erased codes b4 printing anything out....... just so that u know.
It's a way for you to have a piece of mind that your concern is being handled correctly.
take the car in as soon as you can and get it documented that you came in before you were out... if for whatever reason they do nothing, it's recorded on the national history. Any time AFTER warranty that you show up for that same concern they'll have to honor it.
Also as far as test?
1 A compression test, which has always come up great on all the affected cars,
2 check the engine ecu for codes, pending or present
3 use the data list of parameters in the engine ecu to do a road test while monitoring the 'misfire' values for each cylinder and the margin in (%) of probable chance of a miss
4 The best way, to look up the emission monitor results, such as Evap, Catalytic efficiency, misfire, etc. Under 'misfire, the ecu datalogs individual cylinder misfires for the last 40 cycles. It's here where it's always most likely to find it.
You could request a printout of the result as well, ask your writer to see a printout of the 'engine monitors' and the printout for the 'misfire EWMA results'. if by any chance the monitors say 'incomplete' then somebody erased codes b4 printing anything out....... just so that u know.
It's a way for you to have a piece of mind that your concern is being handled correctly.
01-07-12, 10:12 AM
#647
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My wife's '07 IS250 RWD that I bought for her new back in '06 has been doing this on occasion the last few months. Only 45k mi. She's hard on tires and brakes but not the engine. Very recently on cold start in the morning the idle was very rough ("barely running") and strong fuel odor in the cabin.
She took it in to the stealer for recall work and to address the idle stalling issue. They did the fuel pressure sensor re-torque, accelerator pedal change and ECU flash. Also some L-SB-0016-10 for an A/C grommet. But no TEC! Of course, mechanic is unable to duplicate the rough idle nor pull any codes. WTF?! They mess with the A/C that's been working fine but brush off the well-documented carbon build up problem. They must just shoot for the easy money LSB's that are a slam dunk payout.
I talked (politely!) to the service rep for about 15 minutes and he never heard of the carbon build-up on the IS250 nor L-SB-0029-10. I explain to him that I'm looking right at it. He then proceeds to upsell me a fuel injection system clean and an oil change. I can't believe it! I explain to him how DI works and blah, blah, blah. No go unless there's misfire codes in the history, etc.
This sucks. Not sure yet if my next move is to call corporate, try another stealership, or meter in some seafoam or BG44K into the brake booster vac line. What I will be doing is driving the car myself to work for the next few weeks and try to WOT and otherwise 'get on it' as well as pay close attention to dup'ing the problem.
FWIW -- I for sure do not want the dealer doing any sort of piston/ring/valve rebuild -- even under warranty. No way man... I'll sell the thing before I go there.
Question --- Is there anyone here that has received a TEC as per L-SB-0029-10 from a Houston area Lexus dealership based solely on a customer complaint of the rough/stalling idle and no duplication of the issue by the tech nor presence of ECU codes?
She took it in to the stealer for recall work and to address the idle stalling issue. They did the fuel pressure sensor re-torque, accelerator pedal change and ECU flash. Also some L-SB-0016-10 for an A/C grommet. But no TEC! Of course, mechanic is unable to duplicate the rough idle nor pull any codes. WTF?! They mess with the A/C that's been working fine but brush off the well-documented carbon build up problem. They must just shoot for the easy money LSB's that are a slam dunk payout.
I talked (politely!) to the service rep for about 15 minutes and he never heard of the carbon build-up on the IS250 nor L-SB-0029-10. I explain to him that I'm looking right at it. He then proceeds to upsell me a fuel injection system clean and an oil change. I can't believe it! I explain to him how DI works and blah, blah, blah. No go unless there's misfire codes in the history, etc.
This sucks. Not sure yet if my next move is to call corporate, try another stealership, or meter in some seafoam or BG44K into the brake booster vac line. What I will be doing is driving the car myself to work for the next few weeks and try to WOT and otherwise 'get on it' as well as pay close attention to dup'ing the problem.
FWIW -- I for sure do not want the dealer doing any sort of piston/ring/valve rebuild -- even under warranty. No way man... I'll sell the thing before I go there.
Question --- Is there anyone here that has received a TEC as per L-SB-0029-10 from a Houston area Lexus dealership based solely on a customer complaint of the rough/stalling idle and no duplication of the issue by the tech nor presence of ECU codes?
01-07-12, 04:26 PM
#648
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My wife's '07 IS250 RWD that I bought for her new back in '06 has been doing this on occasion the last few months. Only 45k mi. She's hard on tires and brakes but not the engine. Very recently on cold start in the morning the idle was very rough ("barely running") and strong fuel odor in the cabin.
She took it in to the stealer for recall work and to address the idle stalling issue. They did the fuel pressure sensor re-torque, accelerator pedal change and ECU flash. Also some L-SB-0016-10 for an A/C grommet. But no TEC! Of course, mechanic is unable to duplicate the rough idle nor pull any codes. WTF?! They mess with the A/C that's been working fine but brush off the well-documented carbon build up problem. They must just shoot for the easy money LSB's that are a slam dunk payout.
I talked (politely!) to the service rep for about 15 minutes and he never heard of the carbon build-up on the IS250 nor L-SB-0029-10. I explain to him that I'm looking right at it. He then proceeds to upsell me a fuel injection system clean and an oil change. I can't believe it! I explain to him how DI works and blah, blah, blah. No go unless there's misfire codes in the history, etc.
This sucks. Not sure yet if my next move is to call corporate, try another stealership, or meter in some seafoam or BG44K into the brake booster vac line. What I will be doing is driving the car myself to work for the next few weeks and try to WOT and otherwise 'get on it' as well as pay close attention to dup'ing the problem.
FWIW -- I for sure do not want the dealer doing any sort of piston/ring/valve rebuild -- even under warranty. No way man... I'll sell the thing before I go there.
Question --- Is there anyone here that has received a TEC as per L-SB-0029-10 from a Houston area Lexus dealership based solely on a customer complaint of the rough/stalling idle and no duplication of the issue by the tech nor presence of ECU codes?
She took it in to the stealer for recall work and to address the idle stalling issue. They did the fuel pressure sensor re-torque, accelerator pedal change and ECU flash. Also some L-SB-0016-10 for an A/C grommet. But no TEC! Of course, mechanic is unable to duplicate the rough idle nor pull any codes. WTF?! They mess with the A/C that's been working fine but brush off the well-documented carbon build up problem. They must just shoot for the easy money LSB's that are a slam dunk payout.
I talked (politely!) to the service rep for about 15 minutes and he never heard of the carbon build-up on the IS250 nor L-SB-0029-10. I explain to him that I'm looking right at it. He then proceeds to upsell me a fuel injection system clean and an oil change. I can't believe it! I explain to him how DI works and blah, blah, blah. No go unless there's misfire codes in the history, etc.
This sucks. Not sure yet if my next move is to call corporate, try another stealership, or meter in some seafoam or BG44K into the brake booster vac line. What I will be doing is driving the car myself to work for the next few weeks and try to WOT and otherwise 'get on it' as well as pay close attention to dup'ing the problem.
FWIW -- I for sure do not want the dealer doing any sort of piston/ring/valve rebuild -- even under warranty. No way man... I'll sell the thing before I go there.
Question --- Is there anyone here that has received a TEC as per L-SB-0029-10 from a Houston area Lexus dealership based solely on a customer complaint of the rough/stalling idle and no duplication of the issue by the tech nor presence of ECU codes?
I was thinking of the lexus corp. route. I think they should know that I bought a lexus after being turned off by chevy over little issues. To buy a lexus, after reading about reliability and then having a HUGE ENGINE problem.........and them not taking care of it... I'm going to be forced to another brand.
As it is, since I only have 3000 miles left. I've already changed my driving habits, using the beatup old chevy that has 120k miles on it...... and will just use the lexus to drive to work and back (3 miles).
Take home is: I'm now driving a beatup chevy instead of a nice lexus, because I'm worried about them not stepping up and fixing this for me. I also don't like the idea of the lexus mechanic ripping apart the motor and replacing valves, rings.
I guess what I'd want is a Warranty extension.......so that if something detrimental does happen past 70k I could bring it in.
Last edited by J3ffrey; 01-08-12 at 09:58 AM.
01-08-12, 09:42 AM
#649
I dont see how the lowest paid comment would determine my ability to do that job. Either way people said the same thing about how we would handle the spring recall. I do believe you're not getting fair treatment, I can and I have done these already, theyre easy. Im also realistic and i relaize that most in the shop shouldnt
01-08-12, 09:57 AM
#650
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You're right, that comment was uncalled for......my apologies. I know not all techs are bad. However I have 3 friends who are the service advisers. One at bmw, one at subaru and one at Mercedes. I also have two friends who are actual techs at these same places.
All I hear from all of them is how horrible the techs are at their jobs. From misdiagnosing cars to being guys who just throw parts at cars to straight up lying about doing their job - I can recall at least 10 stories right off the top of my head where my service adviser friends get thrown under the bus because their techs are complete failures.. Some of the stories my adviser friends have told me about these top companies makes me VERY leery of having a tech touch my car.
Just you being here shows that you're above the people that I'm specifically talking about. Again I apologize for lumping everyone in.
If you've done these..... what is someone like myself and the poster above to do? I now have a car that apparently will start to exhibit the issue more and more..... However it's not doing it now and probably wont. I really don't view doing a neutral drop in drive as an acceptable way to get this done.
I also don't want to throw 130 dollars to a dealership and have them tell me my car is "fine"
All I hear from all of them is how horrible the techs are at their jobs. From misdiagnosing cars to being guys who just throw parts at cars to straight up lying about doing their job - I can recall at least 10 stories right off the top of my head where my service adviser friends get thrown under the bus because their techs are complete failures.. Some of the stories my adviser friends have told me about these top companies makes me VERY leery of having a tech touch my car.
Just you being here shows that you're above the people that I'm specifically talking about. Again I apologize for lumping everyone in.
If you've done these..... what is someone like myself and the poster above to do? I now have a car that apparently will start to exhibit the issue more and more..... However it's not doing it now and probably wont. I really don't view doing a neutral drop in drive as an acceptable way to get this done.
I also don't want to throw 130 dollars to a dealership and have them tell me my car is "fine"
Last edited by J3ffrey; 01-08-12 at 10:02 AM.
01-08-12, 10:10 AM
#651
Thank you, i can imagine the stories u know about... Like u said a good number of ppl just guesstimate and change parts. Ive seen many stories for myself too lol
You should def drive the car up to the 6500k soft limiter, also seafoam and the 44k right thru the intake manny work great, use a smaller port than the brake booster line.. That 12:1 compression is a thight squeeze, try infront of the throttlebody cuz the back side gunks up alot and it has ALOT to do with the poor idle
You should def drive the car up to the 6500k soft limiter, also seafoam and the 44k right thru the intake manny work great, use a smaller port than the brake booster line.. That 12:1 compression is a thight squeeze, try infront of the throttlebody cuz the back side gunks up alot and it has ALOT to do with the poor idle
01-08-12, 11:19 AM
#652
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good luck with that. hope they bend in your favor.
i pleaded with the service advisor and lexus corporate. corporate just backs up the dealership.
sad thing is most of my family has or has had lexuses, and to be treated as if i'm not telling the truth, or just the feeling of knowing that they can fix it but they refuse, even though the car is still messed up...
just unbelievable how any company can act that way.
i pleaded with the service advisor and lexus corporate. corporate just backs up the dealership.
sad thing is most of my family has or has had lexuses, and to be treated as if i'm not telling the truth, or just the feeling of knowing that they can fix it but they refuse, even though the car is still messed up...
just unbelievable how any company can act that way.
I'm in the same boat. My first issue is that I'm not going to pay 130 bucks for them to tell me what they told you.
I was thinking of the lexus corp. route. I think they should know that I bought a lexus after being turned off by chevy over little issues. To buy a lexus, after reading about reliability and then having a HUGE ENGINE problem.........and them not taking care of it... I'm going to be forced to another brand.
As it is, since I only have 3000 miles left. I've already changed my driving habits, using the beatup old chevy that has 120k miles on it...... and will just use the lexus to drive to work and back (3 miles).
Take home is: I'm now driving a beatup chevy instead of a nice lexus, because I'm worried about them not stepping up and fixing this for me. I also don't like the idea of the lexus mechanic ripping apart the motor and replacing valves, rings.
I guess what I'd want is a Warranty extension.......so that if something detrimental does happen past 70k I could bring it in.
I was thinking of the lexus corp. route. I think they should know that I bought a lexus after being turned off by chevy over little issues. To buy a lexus, after reading about reliability and then having a HUGE ENGINE problem.........and them not taking care of it... I'm going to be forced to another brand.
As it is, since I only have 3000 miles left. I've already changed my driving habits, using the beatup old chevy that has 120k miles on it...... and will just use the lexus to drive to work and back (3 miles).
Take home is: I'm now driving a beatup chevy instead of a nice lexus, because I'm worried about them not stepping up and fixing this for me. I also don't like the idea of the lexus mechanic ripping apart the motor and replacing valves, rings.
I guess what I'd want is a Warranty extension.......so that if something detrimental does happen past 70k I could bring it in.
01-08-12, 02:34 PM
#653
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After having the top end cleaning performed once the problem came back after about 15k miles for me. This happened around the end of last October. I brought my car back to the dealer and they advised me that there is a new solution for cars that have had the top end cleaning done and the problem came back, which involved something like replacing the piston rings and various other parts amounting to if I recall something like 20 labor hours.
Long story short, the dealer ended up keeping my car for about a month just to get this approved and to perform the fix. So far the car hasn't had any issues, no stalling , even occasional grind on start up. Not sure exactly what the TSB was but I can look it up once I get the chance to find it.
Long story short, the dealer ended up keeping my car for about a month just to get this approved and to perform the fix. So far the car hasn't had any issues, no stalling , even occasional grind on start up. Not sure exactly what the TSB was but I can look it up once I get the chance to find it.
01-09-12, 04:27 PM
#655
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that's great, but i want a PERMANENT fix. Again they have a fix, but they won't issue it even though my car's already had a history of rough idling.
Every time i look at my wife's car i just shake my head in regret.
If our lexus is going to be unreliable, then why shouldn't I just go out and get a cpo'd bmw 335 for the same price as the is250? yeah it might have issues, but the is250 has issues.
might as well go for a "driver's car" and set aside some money for repairs after the warranty runs out.
i'm heavily leaning towards selling the 250 and getting the 335 sedan.
Every time i look at my wife's car i just shake my head in regret.
If our lexus is going to be unreliable, then why shouldn't I just go out and get a cpo'd bmw 335 for the same price as the is250? yeah it might have issues, but the is250 has issues.
might as well go for a "driver's car" and set aside some money for repairs after the warranty runs out.
i'm heavily leaning towards selling the 250 and getting the 335 sedan.
01-09-12, 04:57 PM
#656
Liquid Bra Champion
that's great, but i want a PERMANENT fix. Again they have a fix, but they won't issue it even though my car's already had a history of rough idling.
Every time i look at my wife's car i just shake my head in regret.
If our lexus is going to be unreliable, then why shouldn't I just go out and get a cpo'd bmw 335 for the same price as the is250? yeah it might have issues, but the is250 has issues.
might as well go for a "driver's car" and set aside some money for repairs after the warranty runs out.
i'm heavily leaning towards selling the 250 and getting the 335 sedan.
Every time i look at my wife's car i just shake my head in regret.
If our lexus is going to be unreliable, then why shouldn't I just go out and get a cpo'd bmw 335 for the same price as the is250? yeah it might have issues, but the is250 has issues.
might as well go for a "driver's car" and set aside some money for repairs after the warranty runs out.
i'm heavily leaning towards selling the 250 and getting the 335 sedan.
01-09-12, 05:22 PM
#657
Lol 335i.... a buddy of mine had to replace his fuel pump at 4,000 miles 
I'm still shocked that even in the 2011 BMW 335i's, BMW STILL hasn't fixed the fuel pump issue, these cars have been having the same issues since 06!!
I haven't really had any issue with my 250 since the top engine clean. Just running synthetic oil for higher intervals, 91 from shell or chevron and being hard on it every once in a while and things are going pretty well now. Get the occasional shake, but nothing a little hard driving doesn't make go away. Pretty happy overall with the car
I'm still shocked that even in the 2011 BMW 335i's, BMW STILL hasn't fixed the fuel pump issue, these cars have been having the same issues since 06!!
I haven't really had any issue with my 250 since the top engine clean. Just running synthetic oil for higher intervals, 91 from shell or chevron and being hard on it every once in a while and things are going pretty well now. Get the occasional shake, but nothing a little hard driving doesn't make go away. Pretty happy overall with the car
01-10-12, 12:16 PM
#658
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Hello everyone. I've read through this whole thread and its quite interesting. I just purchased my 2007 IS250 awd and have had it for a week. I bought it at 60k miles on the clock, its been a week since I've owned the vehicle and recently I got off the free way to a stop light and my idle was a bit rough, vibration and all kinds of lights came on. I pulled over not knowing what to do and just turned the car off and on and everything was fine. I have an appointment here shortly to take my car in. I will keep you guys posted if something is new..
01-10-12, 03:56 PM
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Thank you for the welcome and the issue.. 
I just came back from the dealer and I told him about the VSC, warning lights, rough idle, and vibration noises. I told them about the carbon build up issue, but the guy said "It's not as common as you think." I said, well according to some forums, many IS250's are having the same issue. He said, "Well, let him do a diagnostics and see what happens." After about an hour an a half, I was charged a diagnostic fee and I spoke with the tech guy in the garage.
The tech told me that, there doesn't seem to be any carbon build up, but more of like a power voltage problem or just the power in general. However, the codes did not show up but previous codes did show up. He said he can still do a longer diagnostics, which I will be charged more, he recommended that I just drive off and if the problem does occur again, I should bring it back or even better, if I can get the code when this incident happens again. So, I decided to just take off. He printed out a sheet for me of the previous codes that did pop up, and they were all leading to power or whatever..
Anyways.. what do you guys think? Are they hiding something? Here's print out that the tech gave me of the previous codes. However, the power problem he was telling me about does make sense.. I don't know..
I just came back from the dealer and I told him about the VSC, warning lights, rough idle, and vibration noises. I told them about the carbon build up issue, but the guy said "It's not as common as you think." I said, well according to some forums, many IS250's are having the same issue. He said, "Well, let him do a diagnostics and see what happens." After about an hour an a half, I was charged a diagnostic fee and I spoke with the tech guy in the garage.
The tech told me that, there doesn't seem to be any carbon build up, but more of like a power voltage problem or just the power in general. However, the codes did not show up but previous codes did show up. He said he can still do a longer diagnostics, which I will be charged more, he recommended that I just drive off and if the problem does occur again, I should bring it back or even better, if I can get the code when this incident happens again. So, I decided to just take off. He printed out a sheet for me of the previous codes that did pop up, and they were all leading to power or whatever..
Anyways.. what do you guys think? Are they hiding something? Here's print out that the tech gave me of the previous codes. However, the power problem he was telling me about does make sense.. I don't know..