krava

Anyone had problems a 2nd time around? I got mine done in Sept last year, so far put 30K miles on it and no problems but don't want it to happen again. I was wondering if someone had this problem a 2nd time after it was done once.

sam12345

iTrader: (1)

Do an Italian tuneup as often as possible. Do the terraclean I posted every 30k. Pray a lot

good luck.

sam12345

iTrader: (1)

An Italian tuneup usually refers to a process whereby a motor vehicle engine is run at full load for extended periods in order to burn carbon buildup from the combustion chambers, spark plugs, and exhaust system.[1] [2] It is performed after a traditional tuneup and often accompanied by an addition of fuel system cleaner to the fuel tank. This can also be performed before each oil change interval with the addition of a good quality fuel system cleaner[citation needed], then a few redline runs under load, after the engine has reached operating temperatures. Most carbon will escape through the exhaust but traces will find their way to the oil pan, hence doing so just prior to an oil change. It is particularly useful for vehicles that are only operated at low speeds on short journeys, and for vehicles that use gasoline direct injection engines but can help any vehicle to run cleaner longer, and for diesel vehicles prior to emissions testing. Driving for 20 km (12 miles) is typical.[3]

BinaryJay

Doesn't matter, ICE is the past now, it's history... my next car is not going to have motor oil or a gas tank, I'm done with the dinosaur juices.

Gotcha350

I agree....hopefully they will have an SUV soon so I can still carry the entire family around...

is503

Looks like this is what the isx50 guys are doing. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-second-generation/682989-the-oil-catch-can-experiment-8.html

Anybody installed an occ in theirs?

finley940

Does anyone have the recall id #?

BinaryJay

It wasn't a recall, and no cars are eligible for the work any more as all 2006 models were built more than 9 years ago now. The party is now over.

spaecowboy

Does your check engine come on as well? I called my SA about ZLA (engine misfire) service on my 2006 Lexus GS300, he said they won't work on it unless it has a check engine light on, but really!? check engine light can mean just about ANYTHING these days. Can anyone comment on this?

355F1

Dropped the girl's 2006 GS3 off at Lexus today. They confirmed it has all of the problems and sent the info off to Lexus NA today.

Only problem....the 9-year coverage period expired Nov 2014. My girl had been problems for well over a year with misfires and burning oil but didn't tell me about it until now. She never received any letter from Lexus NA about the 9-yr coverage.

So....sitting here with fingers crossed that Lexus will come through for us....her car has 72,000 miles and was dealer-serviced from 0-50k miles by the previous owner.

LexusLive

Tell us as soon as you hear from Lexus. I will be furious (with Lexus Corporate) if you get covered, as I ran into the same timing issue. I brought mine in to Nalley Lexus when it finally exhibited the rough idle on 11/2014, but Lexus said given the delivery date of my car, 8/2005, that I was out of the 9-year window. Nalley Lexus in Smyrna GA ran some diagnostic tests and just said, you need $6300 worth of engine work and Lexus corporate will deny the claim. I went ballistic on them, ballistic on Lexus corporate, escalated the issue, and was denied at every level.

There's no reason that they should cover you and not me. I will be EXTREMELY interested in the outcome, and if they cover you, I'm going back to them again.

By the way, I don't need any Lexus Fan Bois jumping in here and reminding me that BMW, Audi, MB etc. wouldn't have even offered the CSP in the first place. That is beside the point. The point is Lexus sold me a car that as an auto enthusiast I am embarrassed to own. Other people who know I'm some kind of car freak are like "Gee, you say you love cars so much and research extensively before purchasing, how did you end up with the only Lexus in history to turn into an oil burning pig by 90K? I thought you said Lexuses can run to 300K no problem!"



It's not even so much about the money, it's that I feel incredibly stupid and used to have shelled out money for the GS 300.

355F1

The quote for the GS issues from LExus of Portland was only quoted as RESEAL FRONT ENGINE TIMING COVER for $3,520. Where is ths $6k coming from on your bill?

LexusLive

That's for the whole piston ring rebuild job. It's major surgery, you effectively get a new engine. Every 2006 GS 300 with the 3.0 V6 is going to need it sooner or later, as the direct injection system does not allow for the fuel to 'wash' the cylinders the way port injection does. The 3.5 liter engine introduced next year corrected (allegedly) this problem by adding port injection back in. Symptoms are excessive oil consumption and rough engine idle sometimes as soon as 60K.

I don't know what reseal front engine timing cover is all about.

BinaryJay

All I can say is if you are buying a 9 year old car, with an issue that has been known about for years, and the repair campaign was offered for years, you probably should have figured it out prior to purchasing it and inquired whether or not the fix had been done on that particular car or not.

Any 9 year old car is going to have issues, and yes, nobody but Lexus offered anything even close to the kind of comprehensive work that was offered for every car they built regardless if it had been driven 500,000 miles. Audi in particular was probably affected by this issue even worse and they did nothing for you if the car was out of their short original warranty period.

If there are any cars out there that never had the work done that had these problems it is nobody's fault but the owners at that time for not having it repaired while they could have. Nobody can expect any car maker to warranty their cars forever... you just have to face the fact that you made a mistake, there would have been plenty of cars to choose from which had the problem repaired already. Crying about lexus denying a huge out of warranty job, outside of their already very generous terms is just not productive.

Next time instead of buying a 10 year old GS and then complaining it isn't perfect perhaps you would be better served getting a newer Camry.

LexusLive

Hold on, I have covered this ground before. I purchased this car 2 years old in 2008 with 20K on the clock. Absolutely mint, could not distinguish from new. Even then I researched the hell out of it, agonized for nearly a year about the decision, wanted a 350, but just couldn't justify the expense as these were still over $40K at the time. 7 years ago, Direct Injection was the cutting edge holy grail engineering solution to emissions, mileage, and power. I bought the GS because of the Lexus rep for building 300K cars. No one knew anything in 2008 about DI leading to carbon buildup.

And again, I drove the car LESS than average mileage, did all required maintenance, babied it (probably too much, so blame me for not performing the Italian tune-up I suppose), and I never experienced the rough idle and check engine lights until I was just outside the 9 year window. I'm 1000% more knowledgeable about every single aspect of cars than 99.9% of the general population.

What I'm "crying" about is that people who abused their GS's (compared to me), triggered the required malfunction within the 9 year window, (which I fully admit is generous on Lexus's part), and got a free engine rebuild. I get punished for treating my car well. THAT is the issue. That and it seems unlikely that I'm going to get 300K out of the engine, and that's why I went with Lexus in the first place.

As a postscript to all this chatter, I did the latest fuel system recall yesterday, and the service advisor there said my car was fine. I did discuss my history and my concerns that the engine would be worthless in a few thousand miles. They did a full inspection, etc, and gave it a clean bill of health. I felt like they listened to me when I said it only did the misfire that one time, while the other dealer said, your engine is toast, that'll be $6,300. The service advisor also said that he's seen a lot of 300s with 200K that are fine without the piston ring job. Pays to get a 2nd opinion, but I feel a little better about it now.

OR, they have me on record as a troublemaker and there's some corporate level instruction to mollify me by blowing sunshine up my butt. Both situations are possible.