With all the engine TSBs and recalls out for the IS-250 engine, how are the high miles engines doing? My IS 250 (89,000 miles) is doing good so far but I still get the occasional engine rattle upon start up and the engine RPMs fluctuating at stop lights. I have never gotten a check engine light for the RPM fluctuation problem but is kind of annoying all the engine related problems to these car.

I wonder is these engines will last the legendary 300,000 miles mark that Toyotas are know for?

 

My 350 fluctuated rpms at idle,would almost stall until I ran a can of royal purple injector cleaner through fuel tank.I has 50k miles on it w/o any fuel cleaners added,except from refiner.Also you stated you have not had any CEL's from rpm fluctuations,have you maybe cleared it for maybe oil change?Or maybe your not the first owner and maybe you have a little sludge build up.I do a oil change myself with 5-20 or 5-30w synthetic(I prefer R.P.)because they have alot of solvents.Run this change for maybe 2k miles and hopefully all sledge build-up will come out with oil change.Hopefully this takes care of it.If it does not help your at a coin toss ,if your out of warranty and think Lexus is not going to help you out at all,you can ty spraying some Sea-Foam into intake port.You you'st to be able to spray it into main vacuum line coming out of brake booster,now I do not know for sure.Even if it does work you have a chance of a hunk of sout build-up getting down to your combustion chamber,which could cause major damage because it is as hard as coal.Problem is the 250 only has direct injection which allows sout build up above the valve seat.The 350 has another set of injectors in the ports which keep the whole track clean and engine running smoothly.Sea-foam can be bought a t Pep Boys and Advance.

 

I've had many cars,probably getting close to 40 and I'm not 50 yet.I had no plans on buying a Lexus,I was actually playing middle man and was in the situation where I had to drive it for a little over a week.This was 6 years ago and have driven many cars thinking I was going to get rid of it and believe it or not I can not find a better car for a daily driver.I tested some pretty nice cars to,like Audi s4 and s5,Bmw3 and 5 series including M's,Mercedes c and e series and closest was the Benz 2010+ e 55 coupe.I could go on for awhile,but I have had no trouble with my 350 get 16-17 in city and have gotten 30 on highway it gets same number of complements since it was new, holds it value better than anything I've driven,what else could I ask for.By the way it is all original,exterior is blue onyx pearl,with a sterling interior.All car manufacturers have lemons I'm told, although I have never seen a second generation Is350 lemon.or even one that has ever had a problem other than regular maintenance things.If I had repeated problems with a second generation Is I'd find another mechanic.Because they are one of the best cars made.

 

yeah my lexus 2010 is250 30076 miles now. it tends to stall when i try to step on the gas to increase more speed on highway. i feel like something is stuck in the fuel injection. i will buy the seafoam and pull it in my fuel tank tomorrow. hopefully it will work. i found some review and seafoam has a pretty good review. So will see.

 

130k no major problem..knock on wood. I took it to the dealer in regards to misfire, but only once. Theres another thread here that has 250k when the tranny finally gave up...my car still feels like new, just regualr maintainence and driving it like you stole it...lol..i have the 250 anyway.

 

As all engines get older, they all rack up more TSB's and issues. It's part of aging and no different with any other brand. Besides the carbon build-up, mechanically Lexus ranks on top.

 

i'm at 108k on my 2006 is350.. so far so good. this is the 2nd small car I had since the 1M. needs some sort of cleaner for sure cause it's not picking up as fast as it did when it was at 40k miles. did all the maintenance, recalls, and what not required. changing oil every 2900-3k miles and so forth. from what I heard on this forum, someone, said our engine or tranny dies at 150k (saw the post sometimes last week, I would say pretty recent)... don't know if it's true or what but when I get there, i'll let you know if i'm on the side of the road, trading it in for another car, or still daily driving it. lol ..... I don't think the 350's had as much recalls as the 250's though so I couldn't tell you. other than the carbon build up and a major hp decrease (lol!), I don't see it any different.


PS - you guys with 30k miles and 89k miles need to catch up and get to 108 like me lol

 

Could you please post a link to the 150,000 life span of engine and tranny? I'm just curious about it.

 

My IS250 AWD has 141k miles and runs like new. But, my motor did get rebuilt under the carbon buildup CSP at 124k miles.

 

157,000 miles and counting! Transmission has always shifted fine (knock on wood).

 

I have 114k miles, 2006 lexus is250 and only have had to replace the alternator when I first bought it to stop a squeaking noise lol. Just remember to always use 91 octane and synthetic oil and you will be just fine. There is one guy on here with 250k miles and he has a 2006 is250 and its still running haha so just keep up with maintenance such as replacing spark plugs and changing out all your filters!

 

Boooooooom!!

 

I have a friend with a 07 GS350 AWD that uses the same style GR engine and he has well over 300k and the car still runs like new. He would always tell me as long as you keep up with regular maintenance, the car will keep running. He also does a lot of preventative maintenance too like replacing things before they go bad. The only issue that I know for sure that he had was vibrating in the steering wheel at low speeds. But thats cuz he was lowered on BC coilovers for like 3 years

 

The main difference between the 2GR in the GS350 (and IS350) and the 4GR in the IS250 is the differing injection system. The 4GR has to content with more carbon build up than the 2GR does due to it's use of port and direct injection.

Jeff

 

Ok so everyone says i cant do anything about carbon build up issue. Well, I am a fighter, and so here is my plan with my beautiful 2007 is250 that has 89k miles and runs perfectly with never a carbon build up issue...yet:
1) I change oil and filter myself using high quality filter and full synthetic high quality 5w30 oil every 5k miles.
2) Use only premium unleaded Chevron or Shell (in California our gas sucks, but I am told they are they best we can get out here)
3) Throw a can of seafoam or Chevron Techron, etc. in the full gas tank once in a while
4) Dont drive it like an old man (which I kinda am feeling like at 56 lol), and dont be afraid to redline it after it is warmed up and/or to "burn the carbon out" by gettin on it out in the country. I commute to work 30 miles and can take the back roads out in the wide open flatland's where i can get her up to a nice burnin speed. One guy said this about the is250, "a redline a day keeps the mechanic away"
5) I have purchased a cheap $9 borescope on ebay that is amazingly high quality for so cheap. I bought new intake valve cover gaskets and when they arrive, I am going to remove my intake valve cover and carefully insert my borescope and inspect the tops and stems of the intake valves (which is where the cbu issue occurs). If I see they are clean, I will continue to steps 1, 2, 3, and possibly a little of 4 above. if they're dirty...Plan B...