ming15237

iTrader: (3)

OP, it is VERY important that ALL of those camshaft bearing caps be marked and replaced in their original location as per the Lexus repair manual.

Apexsports

The "tick" is very typical of Yamahas. My R1 and R6 have both done it since new and it's talked about quite a bit on the Yamaha boards. My R1 still runs perfectly at 65K miles without problem other than a starter replacement at 46K miles.

ming15237

iTrader: (3)

I have continually heard Yamaha motorcycle engines brought into this discussion. Yamaha assisted in the development of the ISF engine, however, the engine is built by Lexus. That being said this is a 60+k vehicle from an "elite" manufacture, and should NOT be making this type of noise, it is simply unacceptable! Lexus is dealing with this on a case by case basis, and dealers for the most part are ignorant to the issue as there are simply not many of these vehicles out there. That being said this is NOT a "ticking" noise, it is a "ping" similar to the crack heard when an exhaust system is cooling down when an engine has been run hard and shut off suddenly, the best I can tell one would swear that there is a metal object inside one of the cylinders being punched around by the piston and destroying things in the process. I personally have heard 3 of these vehicles making this noise, all early vin # 2008's. Lexus is aware there is an issue, and is not going to throw $5k at a vehicle for simply a noise complaint. When this issue occurs almost all of the owners have reported power loss, as one would expect with a vehicle which utilizes 4 knock sensors (for those unaware what this is, a knock sensor simply listens for the tell tail ping of an engine having pre-ignition, the ECU simply begins pulling timing in an attempt to reduce it. This ultimately causes the engine to loose significant amounts of power.) What I really want to do is ship an oil sample to Blackstone for analysis and compare it with similar mileage and usage ISF's As a matter of fact that is my mission for today... I hope this helps all involved and all bystanders to understand the severity of this issue.

I just ordered 3 kits from Blackstone, and will receive it within 1 to 2 weeks, at that time I will do my best to corral all of the known affected vehicles and have them tested.

UCrazyKid

Ming,
Thanks for your hard work on this. I have an early VIN 2008 that exhibits the problem but I have been round and round with Lexus trying to get it fixed. Last time it was at the dealer for 2 months and all they came up with was that they thought it was a fuel system problem and replaced the dampener on one sides fuel rail. Still have the problem...

In their diagnostics they claim (of course this was never demonstrated to me) to have made the sound go away by selectively turning off the fuel rails so one side of the engine at a time. but it doesn't seem to have mattered as it is still a problem.

Andy

spddemon

How early in 08 are u talking about? First couple 100? Mine is 1556.

ming15237

iTrader: (3)

All that i have seen have been in the 1000 and down production range, however, I have NOT seen many in excess of that, they simply have not sold many of these vehicles in our area after the 2008 model year.

ngl1145

My ISF was in the 690 range. I did notice that there was huge performance loss at times. Sometimes it ran like it should, other times it felt like my car was extremely sluggish. Sluggish to the point where I think it would have a similar acceleration to an IS250. I also noticed that I was going through oil like crazy. I've had several "low oil" lights come on and brought it to Inskip Lexus in RI to check out however they said that the consumption was normal. I'm perplexed because I've seen my oil light come on many times since I've owned the car. Upsets me to hear that the consumption is normal because I believe it's a bit excessive. I am the original owner of the car and have taken care to break in the engine properly. I've never raced the car on a track either. In the end as I've stated in my earlier posts, I'm glad the dealership I've gone to isn't just blowing this off and is listening to a serious problem. Hopefully I'll get my car back this week and all is fixed.

spddemon

Thanks for the feed back. Guess I'll keep my fingers crossed! No one thinks oil has anything to do with this problem. Regular vs Synthetic?

UCrazyKid

Vin: 000284

Salil022

iTrader: (1)

Guys as some of you may know, My 2008 had the same issue which was July 08 Build, I now purchased 2011 couple months ago as i really loved my old F and thought Lexus probably have addressed these issues.

Guess what my brand new car developed same exact sound 2 weeks into the ownership with less than 1k miles on the ODO.

It makes me believe that Lexus has not done anything about these issues nor they are well aware as they are taking these issues case by case basis...If you guys knew what i had to go through on my previous 08 F, It took lexus over a year to simply acknowledge and resolve the issue. (This includes countless amount of trips to different dealers along with Lexus Field technicians.)

Now my 2011 developed same sound and i do not know how to proceed as i don't want them to rip apart my New car....Lexus should seriously do something about this, We did not buy a $65k car that sounds like a tractor.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

This is precisely the sound Yamaha refused to fix on a motorcycle costing nearly twice as much as any other Japanese literbike in 1984. It sounded like a hot exhaust manifold cooling while it was running.

I won't say it's acceptable - I fought tooth and nail with Yamaha over it because $5k was expensive for a bike in 1984. But it surely seems Yamaha's engines have had this issue for years across a few different models without resolve.

If these engines are using oil excessively (mine does not use any significant amount of oil even on 12k mile OCIs with track weekends) you'd think this would be pretty simple to figure out - something is cracked somewhere and leaking oil into the engine where it is being burned. Looking at these photos, it appears there is excessive oil getting in the cylinders (I believe it was my first comment) from the amount of coking on the piston crowns. Oil is very low octane, and will cause detonation...

Absolutely Lexus needs to address this, but if the root cause is something weird Yamaha does by design, I'd say we're out of luck.

FWIW, my motorcycle's engine never failed - BUT - the sound it made got MUCH louder after I milled the head and deck, raising compression from measured 9.2:1 to also measured 11.25:1.

Joe Z

iTrader: (10)

I have never had the oil light come on ..

For one I check the oil levels regularly..

Second, I measure the oil that comes every oil change... I have never seen signs of regular or excessive consumption..



~ Joe Z

flowrider

iTrader: (9)

I have heard Fs that have what I think sounds like tappet noise, mine thankfully does not

Just to add something here, ES350s have been known to have this kind of noise on startup, and my wife's did. Living here in Arizona, I use 10/30 oil. I know that most of you will take exception to that, but when I changed her oil for the first time, that noise went away with the heaver weight oil, and it's never returned. Just thought I'd share.

Lou

ming15237

iTrader: (3)

No as two I know for a fact have had synthetic oil since new.

ming15237

iTrader: (3)

Well Lobux, I am taking a play from your book and sending an oil sample as soon as Blackstone Labs sends me the kits I ordered. I have never used their services in the past, however, if there is excessive contamination in the oil I think the problem can be pinpointed by the type of metals discovered (i.e. our cars use titanium valves and other area specific metals).
Where is the best place to take to oil sample from? oil filter housing, or simply the oil pan? input here would be appreciated...