zen

iTrader: (6)

I had piston/ring replaced around 6000 miles ago, and the car is acting up again. I could still feel the car shaking/rpm dropped when come to a full stop at light. It's not as bad as before, but I'm pretty sure it will be in the same condition when the mileage builds up in the long run.
I'm not sure if there are any ppl complain this issue to the Lexus corporate, but I guess there is nothing we can do since the engine was designed in this way. Also, I wonder how other ppl feel about this issue since IS250 sold world wide.
I'm planning trading the car in.

is250gurl

it's happening again after the fix??? i would try to have corporate buy the car back from me first as this is ridiciulous! then if that's a no go i would also get rid of it. i hope this doesn't happen to me, but i can already feel the idle vibration coming back.

jay90011

iTrader: (23)

Are you still seeing the RPM's drop or just feel the rough idle while stopped ... I am on the same boat looking to trade the car in at the end of this month or next, Because of the same issue . Dealer has done there best on trying to replicate the issue after the short block replacement but always come back with the car running as normal because the rpm's dont drop its just a rough idle with no rpm movement now. I am out of warranty in Early august so i want to get rid of it by then. I don't want to be stuck with a 9k repair bill when the short block starts showing severe carbon build up again in another 30k miles.

shadowman

iTrader: (2)

I'm not sure how useful this can be... but if you aren't getting satisfaction with how Lexus is handling this issue, maybe you can file a report to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regarding this concern. This can become a potential safety issues when the car ends up stalling on a freeway during traffic or a stop light. It's puts the vehicle in danger of getting rear-ended.

http://www.nhtsa.gov/Contact

As mentioned earlier, my car sputtered at a stop light (end of free exit ramp) where cars are exiting a 65 MPH freeway. If the vehicle behind was expecting me to proceed on green but my car stalled, I would've gotten smashed pretty bad.

stephwin

I have a question around the whole carbon buildup thing. I have an ’08 IS250 with about 40k on it that I bought brand new. I can’t remember exactly when I started noticing the rough idling, but I think it was within the first year. I very rarely get the rough idling problem, maybe 3 or 4 times a year. Basically it’s infrequent enough that I’ve never bothered to mention it to the dealership and when I did look it up online it seemed like others were having the same problems with no real solution.

Last week I was sitting at a light and it started shaking harder than I remember it ever doing. Normally the RPMs will drop for 2 or 3 seconds and then it evens out and is normal. This time it did it for a good 7-8 seconds and I got a little more concerned. I haven’t noticed any correlation with the A/C being on and it idling rough only then (I live in Texas, my A/C is on a lot). When it does run rough it’s usually after braking hard at a red light, but the most recent incident I didn’t brake unusually hard.

So the next day my oil change light comes on and I decide to take it to the dealership to get the oil changed since I’m going to be busy the next few weeks and didn’t want to put it off. Low and behold the service supervisor mentioned that I had a lot of carbon build up and they had some induction service (I think that was the term, my paperwork is at home) that would clean it out. I think it was like $120 or $149. He said it wasn’t something that was vital to do right now. He wasn’t there when I picked it up so I didn’t get to talk to him again, but I believe he said there was a misfire code showing up when they cleared out the check oil light.

From reading the posts here, it seems like that is something they should be paying for according to the TSB, right? Maybe because I’ve never mentioned to them that I’ve had the rough idle problems they didn’t offer to do it for me? I’m also concerned that some people have had the carbon cleaned up and lots of additional work done and it really doesn’t seem like a catch-all fix. This car is paid off and I’m not planning on getting rid of it because it’s great 99% of the time.

I guess I’m just hesitant to start down the road of getting it looked at if the “fix” really isn’t a fix.

shadowman

iTrader: (2)

^^^

You're right... if your car is still under warranty, that should have been performed under the TSB... especially when they found the cylinder mis-fire error code.

You can bring up the TSB that has been posted here and your invoice and request for a refund. They should be able to give you the refund.

But make sure first that the charge was for the oil change... the engine cleaning should be free under the TSB you can also verify if they installed new piston rings and piston since it's under the new TSB. With the error codes, the dealer has the data to request this work

stephwin

Thanks. I was charged only for the oil change. I read through the paperwork they gave me when I left and it only mentioned the cleaning in the comments.

I've gone to the same dealership since I bought the car (bought it there), and I'm guessing they never mentioned the fix since I've never complained about it. Looks like I need to call them up then. Ugh. Maybe I should drop it off right before my roadtrip to Austin and hope they give me one of the hybrids to drive down there!

freeflight

Just curious, would synthetic oil help prevent carbon build-up?

zen

iTrader: (6)

It was the RPM dropped. I wasn't even came down from highway to a stop. I drove 40mph on local street then came to stop at the light.

zen

iTrader: (6)

It's a good idea to make the corporate buy back the car, but I doubt if they will do it... perhaps it's depends on how long you have the car ? if you own the car less than a yr, it's more likely that they would buy it back ? I don't know, it's just my opinion.

KillaIS250

iTrader: (1)

What you paid for sounds like the fuel system/carbon deposit cleanup that some dealerships try and sell to customers. This is NOT the carbon build up top engine clean...and from what i've seen, dealers aren't doing the top engine clean anymore anyway. A top engine clean would have been a few hundred dollars. Sounds like you paid for a "dealership recommended" service which is totally different. It's likely the equivalent of running something like BG44K through your car to clean build up. It's easy money for the dealer.

Btw the top engine clean performed under the TSIB would not only be free, but an oil change is included. The same with the revised TSIB that calls for the new pistons, an oil change is included (of course).

Yes, running synthetic will help reduce carbon build up, but because of the design of the engine, carbon build up is pretty much inevitable.
Synthetic oil will just be delaying the inevitable basically.

zen

iTrader: (6)

It's correct on the inevitable part on DI engine. It's the downside for DI. It doesn't matter if it's port injection or direct injection, there will be carbon buildup issues in the long run. Engines like IS350 with port injection is also prone to this issue since it's 2000+F inside the combustion chamber and the port injectors don't run 100% all the time. I doubt that the port injectors can wash away everything in such high temp. It's only depends on if it's on highway or in stop and go traffic. If it's use mostly on highway then it should be the same as IS250 since port injectors don't operate during highway speed.

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

uh..., what?

the carbon issue is on the intake valves.

Which are cleaned by fuel in non-DI engines.

And also in the IS350 that has port injectors.

That's why it is not an issue at all on the 350, but is a common one on the 250.

The cylinders aren't the part that need washing (and if they were the 250 wouldn't have a problem since fuel DOES go there) and it's not like non-DI combustion chambers don't get hot either so the temps are irrelevant.

it's the valves.

Which are kept clean by the port injectors on the 350. Hence why, again, 350s don't have the issue.

DrO's LeX

i run synthetic and i still encounter these symptoms.....the rough idle, shaking like its going to stall...horrible sulfur smell...(NEVER PUT REGULAR) i love my car but it's beginning to bug me!!

rookieIS

iTrader: (8)

Rule of thumb to avoid the this issue from happening is to drive it hard frequently. That's the only way to clean up the carbon buildup if you do not want to take your engine apart for top engine cleaning or rebuilt.