Guys - took my 2006 IS250 for its VSC assuming it may be the carbon build-up but was told instead was told it's either an O2 issue or loose wiring. Is there a quick fix I can try or simply get rid of the VSC code temporarily and then see if it comes back?

 

Very sorry, the code is P0137 & it's possible there is some loose wiring since my window controls at the driver seat for the 4 windows don't work for about 2 months with the check VSC coming on about 3 weeks ago

 

disconnect the negative terminal to ur battery for a couple min and put it back on. start up the car and drive for a bit

 

So here's my story.

2 years of smooth clean driving on my 2008 IS250 with 140k miles on it. In the last 6 months it begun to consume a quart of oil between every oil change. It would also rough idle at stop lights. I thought it just needed some additive every now and then

However last week as I got on the highway my dash board lit up like a Christmas Tree. The car begun misfiring badly and was hell to drive. I took it to my local mechanic who changes the plugs and coils. It still ran like crap. He and his guys did some research and informed me of the Carbon Build Up/ Oil Consumption issue.
I took it to the local Lexus dealer. The guy who checked me in was quite familiar with the symptoms and was pretty darn sure it was covered under the 9 year warranty. My car exhibited everything detailed in the Service Bulletin.
First off the suggested a top engine clean for which they charged $430. Then they called and told me it was still misfiring badly and they would take a "snapshot" of the engine and send it to Lexus.
Two days later they call back and tell me that its NOT a carbon build up issue and it's not covered by warranty. However they can't tell me what it is and want to charge another $500 to perform a cylinder compression test.

What pisses me off the most was the fact that all I got was a thumbs down like Cesar in the Colosseum. No explanation from a Master Technician , print out or what parameters are measured.

I called corporate and they suggested taking it to another dealer which sounds totally lame.

Anybody got any ideas as I now have a useless car sitting in my driveway.

Thanks

 

As much as love Lexus, I will have to really get a great deal on another one in the future before I purchase another Lexus. Just from the run around in regards to the melting dash. There are other manufacturers that (in my opinion) are just as reliable.

 

Just wondering what does it mean in the symptoms of "rough idle"?? I am pretty sure that my car shakes noticeably when coming at a stop sign or red light. But I'm not really sure if that's really the thing? When I pull the gears to neutral the vibration did come off a bit, but I can still hear the water bottles in my car trembling and making the rattle sound. Is this a misfire symptom too?
I have a 2008 IS250 and I believe the warranty will expire pretty soon this year. I hope I can get a carbon cleanup and possibly fix the camshaft while they are at it.

Thanks!

 

I'm experiencing rough idle at stops with gears in drive, I also have the issue of Cam gear rattle noise at startup. I hope I'll be able to get both of them fixed like you did.

Wish me luck guys.

 

Hey all - I have an 2012 IS250 model with only 40K - recently about 3 times this has happened already, when I come to a stop, the idle start bouncing up/down like it's going to die. I guess the Carbon build up issue affected all the IS250 model?? I read somewhere it was mainly the 06-10 but mine is the 2012.....

 

believe it or not just a cheap fix, clean your throttle body MAF sensor and put 3 bottle of fuel injection in your gas tank do it once per 10 days 3 bottle that's 30 days, to make it work after you put in fuel injection in your gas tank go on Freeway and GO WOT to 5000RPM keep doing it 3-5 times within 10 mins but watch for POLICE don't speed too fast. change air filter routinely use only SUPER PREMIUM GAS. all of my friends that drives BMW and Audi doing this.

 

Here is my history with my carbon build up on my 2008 IS250. In November 2013 I had the piston, plugs, cam gears replaced at 58,600 miles under the customer warranty even though I was still under the certified warranty.

Couple of weeks ago though and before it was happening erratically, but this time it was permanent with the a/c on the engine idle was jumping up and down from 500 rpm to 800 rpm on October 2016 at 97,000. Took it back to Lexus thinking I still had warranty but had just ran out do to months. They recommended an injection/ fuel cleaning and plugs changing for like $1100 they said it was carbon build up.

So I guess the carbon buildup doesn’t really go away huh? In meantime I plan on just doing the plugs myself and doing the seafoam spray thru throttle body and 2 bottles of seafoam gas treatment and hope it clears it up.

 

I have a 2008 IS250 . . . in Canada. I cannot find anything on this on the Lexus Canada site, but I've been getting rough idles this week . . . I mean ROUGH to the point my car almost stalls. Any advice from anyone for us folks north of the border?

 

Do the Seafoam Treatment. Both through the Intake and if you can through the PCV system (just pour it ever so slowly into the hose from the PCV valve end). You could also put some Seafoam in while you have your plugs out. Pour/spray in ever so little into each cylinder using a battery filler or the Seafoam with the straw. Then let it sit for a 15 minutes. Turn the car over without the plugs out to force out some of the remaining Seafoam out.

You should do the seafoam treatment at least every few tanks of gas and the seafoam intake treatment at least every 3 months if you don't fix the PCV system.

Fixing the PCV system. It's sucking oil into the top of your engine and creating access carbon. There are a few different ways to tackle this. Get a catch system for the oil that goes in between your PCV valve and the intake or close the intake off and let the system PCV valve vent into the atmosphere. You might want to run a hose from the PCV valve down the firewall and secure it so the vapor/oil vents underneath the engine bay. The only other thing I can think of to reduce the oil being sucked into the intake through the PCV system is to get a engine oil cap that has a breather on it. It may reduce the pressure in the crankcase so less vapor is sucked into the intake.

The IS250 Engine has to be the ****tiest engine Toyota ever built. Complete garbage. I am surprised the US Government hasn't mandated engine replacement. Someone should file a class action lawsuit to force them to acknowledge the issues with the engine and other things like the melting dash.

 

toyota's fix in mid 2010 really helped a great deal which was their acknowledgement and repair of the issue. there are very few members with newer vehicles that are afflicted with excessive carbon buildup that affects performance/basic drivability. as far as i know there isn't a recall for engines build after mid 2010. so, did the fix eliminate all carbon buildup? no, certainly not, although it did fix the problem enough such that it's not a nightmare and those engines are proving to be just as reliable as any other toyota engine according to anecdotal evidence here and via my service advisor at my local lexus dealership.

 

Despite the carbon build up, I love my IS250 engine. It's smooth as butter, sounds refined, has power for the average person, and gets decent mileage. Lexus is addressing the rough idle, unlike some other manufacturers.
No engine is perfect. If one went back in history and searched for problems of all other engines, he/she would most certainly find problems with all of them. There is no such thing as a perfect engine. Never has been, never will be.

 

2000 4Runner is perfect. 400k + miles on it and is a daily driver. I have never had to do anything but regular maintenance. Our 2004 Toyota Avalon had over 300K miles before it was re-ended. That engine would have gone 500k+ miles. 2007 Avalon is going strong with 120k and the Toyota Venza has 100k with no problems.

An engine should last at least 200k without any catastrophic problems. Any engine that needs new pistons, valves, rebuild and carbon ups at 50k, cylinder walls that have some sort of metallurgical problems, etc is a piece of crap...