cklosi

I need help with what I should do next, I bought a 2009 is250 that had the carbon recall work done by Kuni Lexus at 67k. They replaced pistons ect and it has a year warranty on the repair work, and the work was done horrible. I noticed idle issues and it smelling like sulfur while on the highway so I took it in, they looked over it and said nothing was wrong and gave me a car wash. Well the problem persisted so I decided to look under the hood myself and there was a MAJOR ground wire unconnected to the motor and it was leaking antifreeze. So I took it back in they reattached it and bled the system and gave another free car wash. Well a few weeks later I still had the idle issue and noticed white smoke on start up so I filmed it to show the service manager. They looked over the car AGAIN and said the smoke was from starting it in the cold in the morning, well it was 75 degrees im the afternoon and billowed smoke from the tailpipe. It keeps blowing white smoke on start up and they refuse to fix it since they can't replicate it and there's no check engine light on. I am so pissed at the service department and I think they want me to just go away, wasting my time until the year warranty work runs out. Hell even today I started it and yup...white smoke on start up. I don't know what im going to do since they deny anything is wrong. I have videos of the car blowing white smoke and they say its "suspect". So any help as to what to do next I'd appreciate it.

link to video. Kuni Lexus says this is normal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec-1...ature=youtu.be

mmarshall

Welcome to CL.

A sulfur (rotten-egg) smell while the engine is running usually means the the air/fuel mixture is too rich, and too much sulfuric acid is being produced in the exhaust in the exhaust ....a (possible) problem with the engine's computer, fuel-injectors, catalytic converter, mass-air-flow sensor, or the oxygen sensor (a device in the exhaust shroud that analyzes the oxygen content of the exhaust gas and signals the engine's main computer to make adjustments).

On a cold start (even at 75 degrees), a whitish cloud behind the car, coming out the pipe, is often normal on modern cars. It is not "smoke" per se, but simply water vapor (like in a cloud or fog) as a by-product of the chemical reactions with the exhaust gas in the catalytic converter. As the exhaust pipe warms up, and the air-fuel mixture leans with increasing engine temperature, the visible white cloud should disappear, or lessen. If it doesn't, that could be (again) a problem with the catalytic converter or some of the things I previously mentioned.

Now, if it really IS white smoke (particularly if it is a bluish-white color), then you are burning a significant amount of oil, the car won't pass emissions, and you've probably got internal engine-issues or excessive wear on the bearings, piston rings, cylinder-walls, or valves.

Last, you mention you live in CO....a state with some very high altitudes. A properly-working engine computer should automatically lean out the air-fuel mixture to adjust for the decreasing air density with altitude...that's why normally-aspirated engines usually lose power with altitude. But if it is not working properly, that could cause some of the rotten-egg smell problems you mention by injecting too much fuel in for the amount of air.

I can't say 100% for sure, since I don't know all the details of either your car or the dealership, but at most shops, virtually any technician or service-advisor qualified to work on engines and computers, especially with an ASE rating (which most shops nowadays usually require) and additional factory-training, should be able to figure out what's wrong with your car.

Good Luck.

cklosi

they would have to do a complete tear down of the engine to fix the problem, the sulfur smell is MAJOR, its beyond bad, it is overwhelming. ive driven other is250s and none of them smoke/smell and they idle correctly. so its the dealership avoiding the problem and wanting it to go away

mmarshall

The Lexus powertrain warranty is 6 years/70,000 miles. The previous work was done at 67,000 miles....is it still under 70? And when did the warranty start on this car in 2009?....if you know? It may or may not be over, time-wise. But if you have documentation showing that this problem started before the warranty ran out, start with Lexus customer service, and have them document the problem. In the back of the Owners' manual, and/or Warranty booklet are procedures for dealing with service/repair problems, arbitration, etc......

cklosi

the work was done at 67k it now has 73k, i brought it into them to fix their bad job at 68k, second time to connect ground wire and fix leaking antifreeze at 70k and to fix smoke problem at 72k, so far from 3 visits all ive gotten is 3 carwashes and a grounwire bolted back to the engine. they say the sulfer is normal. its not, ive owned 14 vehicles and none of them smell like this, people in traffic next to me can smell it

tex2670

The carbon build up issue is its own separate service program - 9 year, unlimited miles.

mmarshall

Carbon build-up can also come from using crappy gas with little or no detergents in it, even if the octane level is OK....but I'm not sure if that's a problem in his case or not.

As you note, it's also a known issue on that DI 2.5L.....but I don't see how carbon buildup can cause the overly-rich fuel mixture and the rotten-egg smell the OP is apparently stuck with. Perhaps you know that engine better than I do.........any ideas?

cklosi

the carbon service was done, it was put back together hastily and poorly, hence the second time i went in they had to reconnect the ground wire to the engine that they missed the first time, it idles odd as well, when the fan kicks on the idle wavers wildly until it eventually normalizes, and sometimes it doesn't even shift into 6th gear while on the highway doing 65, it stays in fourth and i have to use the paddle shifter to get it to 6th

jimbosr1

you might have to trade her in if you dont get it resolved.fighting the dealers is almost impossible task and it isnt worth all the stress.best of luck.

ABC

Have you thought about taking it to another dealer for a 2nd opinion? Perhaps they can shed some light on it?

Fizzboy7

Since the engine rebuild, you now have a 9 year warranty on the rough idle issue, as mentioned above. Their song of a "one year warranty" for what they did is garbage. And blowing white smoke and smelling like sulfur have never been IS250 traits.

tex2670

No--the 9 years runs from in service. It's not a 9 year warranty on the repair work.

But I agree that the 1 year after the work is performed seems like a BS thing.

chikoo

Take it to another dealership. Simple.

Toys4RJill

1. How long have you own the vehicle?

2. What type of gas are you putting into it?

Seems to me that something is wrong wrong after the cat, perhaps water condensation or a slight crack in your exhaust somewhere at the cat or after it.

Blackraven

Or you can inform Lexus USA and complain about the incompetence of this 'stealership'