Doublebase

I mentioned the same thing...why did they fail, but the guy is saying that the car drives almost like its brand new. So I'm inclined to think that raw fuel isn't being dumped into the cats, or that coolant isn't leaking into the cylinders. If it was? The car wouldn't be driving as good as he says it is. Perhaps it was a previous situation and a repair was made, but it's driving fine now. The only other thing I'd worry about is maybe oil usuage...burning oil...burning enough oil to coat the inside of the cats and cause them to fail. But that would be easy enough to figure out by looking for blue smoke coming out of the tail pipes.

jasone36

If you absolutely need the car to pass inspection and cannot invest major bucks in new cats, find a mechanic with a "simulator device" (google it).

In any case, if there was ANY car I'd feel comfortable driving with 230K+ miles, it would be a Lexus, and an LS at that!

Clouchiey

Thanks for your comments, I've been driving the car for almost a week now and I had a certified Toyota tech take a look at it he cleaned everything related to the vacuum system before the catalytic convertor / O2 sensor and recommended that I use K&N air filters, the car passed emission after doing all of this ..

I still decided to register the car in SC, just in case the vsc code comes back on in the near future....

I'm going to spend money on the control arms all the way around the car so that's going to set me back $1400 dollars .. so this $7k car has turn into $8500 in less than a weeks time, but it's still worth it in my opinion...

Doublebase

I personally wouldn't use K&N air filters, there's been studies that show they aren't capable of filtering as well as traditional paper filters....and can allow abrasives into your engine. I did give them some thought - I liked the concept of having a lifetime filter - but in the end the benefits didn't outweigh the risks. And the oil you treat the filters with have been known to ruin mass air flow sensors.

Clouchiey

Wow!!! thanks for this advice so do you suggest that I change air filter every other oil change then ? so every 10k miles ? because the Lexus/Toyota master tech was convinced that the car was throwing codes because it was not breathing enough air ? he even opened up the hole in front of the engine and showed me black **** and what looked to be oil on one of the air filters ??? and if I'm describing this wrong, please forgive me I'm not a tech so I'm not sure of the terms but it was the hole in front of the engine

Doublebase

I just change mine once a year (30,000 miles). They look brand new when I'm changing them, but realistically they suggest every 11,000 miles,mwhich I think is a bit too soon. I may shake mine out at 12,000 miles to get some dust/dirt out of them, but I don't even consider changing mine at that mileage. Of course it depends on the type of driving you do.

As for the soot on the throttle body, that is something that should be cleaned once in a while. I may do it once or twice a year. There shouldn't be oil on your air filters, however it's not unusual to see air filters dark/black, but they shouldn't be wet with oil. I've noticed a trace of oil heading into the opening (throttle body) from the PCV valve system, but that's basically not unusual. But nothing on my air filters.

​​​​​​​Loke I said, I'd love to use K&N and have a lifetime filter that I can clean and treat once a year, but from what I've read and heard...I'm not comfortable doing that.