Craig B

Only Lexus Master Technicians will be able to do the work. Lexus Corp is going to have a conference call next week to let dealers and their staff know
how this recall is going to take place. When I find out more information next week, I will post it. I don't have a problem going in early. I know the shop foreman who will be working on my car. I've known him since 1994 and I only have him work on my vehicles.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

of course having master techs to do the work is a big thumb up and confidence. my friend is a master tech and he's the only guy i trust my car with.

but with that said, i don't mind having him go through some practice first. and at the same time, i won't name people of course, but i also know some previous master tech whose work is less than impressive

cmasten

for those of you with access to master techs, I would be curious to know when they drop the block to get access to the valves, do they replace the hoses? belts? coolant? oil? I would hope that anything and everything that is moved, or removed is replaced. Its clear to me that this is not just some byproduct artifact that is causing the springs to fail, IMO it was not designed with the right springs in the first place and now they are trying to make it right. All of the above in my mind would make it right along with a few other incentives.

It also seems like a masterful way to take care of this issue and pump a few hundred million back into your dealerships at a time when the economy is down. I have to agree with some of the folks up here, it will probably all come out well in the end, but it will be interesting to see what the opinion is of owners for the first wave or two through this process and its consistency.

MikeE12345

This reminds me of the guy who said he would rather be a SETTLER than an EXPLORER. When asked how you tell them apart he answered: "The EXPLORES are the ones with arrows in their backs."

I wouldn't mind being a bit back in the line on this one.

Craig B

I will send him an email and try to find out what will be changed. I know he said the oil would be changed. They don't have to remove the heads. There isn't enough room under the hood to do it in the vehicle.

cmasten

Thank you Craig, I appreciate it

CMasten

Craig B

You're welcome...

ls460love

I'm still stumped on the engine drop requirement... I realize that the LS is no 60's muscle car, but it's still a tried and true V8. Dropping the engine to access the valves seems incomprehensible. One would assume that, upon removing the cosmetic covers, airducting (plenum) et al. the techs would have access to the valve covers. I've replaced valve springs before and it's as simple as removing the covers and accessing the cupped areas where the springs reside. Now again, this is a tech-heavy lexus powerplant, but the diagrams show the same basic structure as a typical V8.

This route carries many risks. Although not comprehensive, they'll have to disconnect the cooling hoses and drain coolant, wiring harnesses, driveshaft (assuming tranny remains intact as it should)... Now consider moving a behemoth without scratching paint on the firewall, suspension towers... It's nearly impossible. It was challenging in the past with much more room in the engine compartment and much less accouterments.

V8_Fan

When I had the valve exhaust guides and valve seals replaced on my old Toyota truck, they pulled the entire head off (new head gasket). I don't see why you'd have to pull the entire engine unless two of the cylinders are under the bump in the firewall and, therefore, inaccessible (on my LX, the rearmost two cylinders are partially under the firewall, making spark plug replacement a challenge w/o special tools. On my LS, it's even worse (meaning part of the engine is under the area where the dashboard meets the windshield). On a front wheel drive like the ES, the engine is sideways, so all cylinders are exposed and accessible.

To pull the engine, at the minimum, you have to remove the radiator (drain coolant), transmission (drain ATF), and probably engine oil so it doesn't slosh around and go where it shouldn't as the block is removed. If they pull the heads, you will need new cylinder head gaskets and maybe head bolts if the old ones aren't reuseable. Removing the cylinder heads is pretty major invasive surgery...like open heart surgery to insert a stent. The heads amount to the top half of the engine. Once the head is removed, you can look straight down into the cylinders! (lower engine/short block) Then you gotta tear apart the valve train including the camshafts (makes the valves go up & down)...not sure how the timing belt cams will be affected. Usually when you change the timing belt, there's a special tool that locks the cams inthe proper orientation so you can install the belt properly. Then there's more than one cam. It's definitely a complex job. I imagine if you do it very carefully, you don't have to mess with the cam indexing. Otherwise, you'd have to open up the timing cover and reinstall the belt and tensioner (you need to remove the engine fan to access the valve cover, along w/ the serpentine belt). I can see how this would easily run 22 hrs.

Craig B

I just called the shop foreman at my Lexus dealer that I've known since 1994. He's on vacation this week. They are going to drop the engine out from below, not pull the engine. They won't be taking the heads off the motor. There isn't enough room under the hood to change the springs. Lexus is going to give instructions to the dealers around the end of this week. They will also give them a time frame on the parts that are required for the recall. They will be doing a small number of vehicles at a time. The asst. service manager wasn't sure what the procedure would be until Lexus lets them know.

Nospinzone

Well, since I've never actually seen my engine (what with that shroud over it) I'll take Lexus' word for it that the engine has to come out. But I can tell you one thing, I don't care who does it, I don't like it.

Again, if Lexus will guarantee the springs for the life of the car, I'm willing to forego the the recall.

CEOEngr

I am leaning along the same lines. Will pobably trade this LS in the next six months with only 22,000 miles. I have seen this invasive surgery up close, not very pleasant for my taste; it was on a 2005 Tundra (it shares the same engine)whereby the spring failed. I admit that then Toyota was very responsive, they air freighted in a long block, replaced the complete engine and had me back on the road in three days with an extended warranty.

Craig B

Lexus is going to extend the power train warranty to 7 yrs/70,000 miles is what I've been told. I'm going to trade mine when Lexus changes the body style of the LS. I only have 10,000 miles on mine and I'm not happy about this recall...

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

i saw you post this a few times and please bear with me as i'm no engine guru. but if the heads don't need to be removed to get to the valve springs then where are the heads?

Craig B

They can get to the valve springs by removing the valve covers. The heads are mounted to the engine. If they had to remove the heads, they would have to replace the head gaskets. The valve covers are mounted to the heads. Maybe someone else can chime in here, but I tried to explain it to you.