bluec2

Hi all,

This is my first post so I would like to thank all of the active members for contributing to the wealth of information that can be found on this site.

I am the second owner of this 2006 GS300 that I purchased in 2009. I have diligently kept the oil changed every 5,000 miles with Mobil 1. The car now has 115,000 miles. About 6 months ago the low oil light came on with about 1,000 miles until the next scheduled oil change. I alarmed when the dipstick did not show any oil and I had to add about 3.5 quarts of oil to fill it to the midpoint of the recommended fill marks. My first thought was that the technician at the Toyota dealership must not have added enough oil at the last oil change (no local Lexus dealership). After my next oil change I made to sure use the dip stick and manually check the oil to make sure that the technician filled it with the proper amount of oil. The oil was filled to the correct level. Sure enough 4000 miles later with about 1000 miles to the next oil change the low oil light came on and I had to add another 3.5 quarts of oil.

In addition to extreme oil consumption I have noticed that very occasionally while idling at a stoplight the idle will drop to the point where the car almost stalls.

After a bit of searching here on the forum I found the information about the Customer Service Program related to engine misfires caused by carbon build up due to a design flaw with the piston rings. Based on everything I read I was sure that this was my problem and made an appointment at the nearest Lexus dealer (over an hr away). I told them about the oil consumption and the irregular idle and they said I could pay a diagnostic fee and they would check the car. They told me there is nothing they can do the generate the misfire code they need to invoke the CSP from Lexus so I have to just hope that it does it while they are looking at the car. Long story short they were not able to get the error code so they will not fix the car. They agreed to do an oil consumption test but told me that it is normal for a Lexus to use up to 5 quarts of oil between oil changes. 5 QUARTS are you ****ing kidding me. For the last 5 years this car did not lose a drop of oil between oil changes and now it is eating it! Right now I am stuck with a car that is about to self destruct at 115k miles that I bought solely because it is supposed to be a reliable car.

Anyway, does anyone have any advice for me? This issue should apply to all of the cars on this sub-forum so hopefully someone has been in my shoes and been able to get Lexus to step up and fix it.

Thank You,
Ryan

BinaryJay

Try multiple different dealers, and yes they will make you pay for the diagnostic each time but it's worth it to get the job done. Sounds like you're not close to an urban center though so this may be difficult for you, good luck.

I had the work done but I never noticed oil consumption, I have no idea if it was consuming oil or not honestly because we only drive the car a couple thousand miles per YEAR max.

Alternatively you can always try a different weight oil if you're unsuccessful.

Shary

My dealer waived the fee for the diagnostics on my 2006 GS300....for excessive oil consumption. My vehicle used 1.5 quarts of oil in 1200 miles. Now I'm waiting to hear what they are going to do.

Asav

iTrader: (2)

If they agreed to do the oil consumption test then it sounds like you are on your way. When you bring the car back in, their marking will be visibly well above the remaining oil level given your extreme level of consumption. Then, your piston/ring rebuild will be justifiable to the dealer.

I own the 06 300 and have had the rebuild done at 55k under warranty. FWIW, the car has been running like a champ and I have not had any problems with her at all other than routine upkeep.

I know you want instant resolution and its frustrating. As a business, they have to show proof to lexus that there is a problem to justify 30-40 hours of labor plus a loaner to you. If I were buying a used 300, regardless of mileage, I would not purchase without proof that this service was done already.

As frustrating as it may be, I do understand their position if they cannot see the code. That said, the oil consumption test is undeniable proof that you have an issue so I would pursue that in the meantime which will get you moving forward.

See this thread:
]https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-third-generation/619564-rough-idle-and-burning-oil-2.html

Asav

iTrader: (2)

One other thing to add here. Context is everything... I see you said you have been routinely servicing at the Toyota dealership. I do the same thing for stuff I either cannot do or dont want to do myself since its at least 50% cheaper.

The good thing is your Lexus service advisor can see these items on your service history, when he/she looks at your car so they know you have been maintaining the car. That goes a long way when you are haggling with any dealership about recall/warranty issues or just general problems when it comes to codes being present or things being reproducible, etc.

You would be surprised of the amount of people that scrape together the money to buy a lexus, benz, bimmer etc., DONT maintain the car at all (either via dealer/independent shop or via producing their own receipts for OEM parts etc.) then come to the dealership looking to have warranty/power train work done for free. You are not getting warranty work/good faith when they find pep boys parts on the car, but people don't get it doesn't work like that. In your case, you have some very credible things in your favor to escalate this issue if need be.

Gotcha350

It actually goes deeper than that. A dealer is more likely to stand up and fight for you when you have been servicing your vehicle with them. They could care less especially if they haven't been making money off of you. Service record from another dealer are good in that they show you have maintained you car but that dealer is only interested in how you have helped them as well. They could care less what you spent elsewhere when it comes to them doing out of warranty work. The first thing the regional service manager does is pull your service record.

Asav

iTrader: (2)

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...ml#post8818698

See post 482 from BinaryJay.

I had both these issues. It looks like you are just showing oil consumption at this time, but I wanted to clarify why it was very easy for me to get this work done.

A. Full Service History
B. Still under warranty
C. Both issues were present and easily identified by the dealer.

ibidu1

iTrader: (1)

Call the lexus customer support and explain the situation that you are an hour away from the nearest lexus. Also if they scan the computer im sure they can pull past codes even if there no misfire code. I believe the dealers are able to pull old codes. You may want to speak to a lexus master tech and explain to him.

If worst case, you can always take your car to have a top engine cleaning at either toyota or any other shop. This should atleast help clean a small portion of the carbon.

BinaryJay

The carbon on the valves leads to misfires, not burning oil. Burning oil means the ring(s) have gone bad, it's a totally unrelated issue unless the carbon problem was so bad that a huge chunk of it broke off and badly scratched up the cylinder walls but I imagine before it gets to that point the car would be behaving extremely badly.

MMJ4mil

i have this issue with my 2006 gs300.

im at 112k and I am unsure of how to repair this issue. ugh

Gotcha350

Engine rebuild...

LexusLive

It's way too late for Lexus to cover it under the extended CSP. Is it worth $6000 to rebuild what was an inherently defective engine in a 10 year old car with over 100K?

I think that question answers itself.

Gotcha350

Oh I know...no way I would out of pocket...

SILENTM

Doing my own rebuild right now. Oil was done every 5k by the dealer for over 120k miles by previous owner. I have all the service history. Brought car at 125k mile and been doing my own oil changes every 5k. Now at almost 140k. Had the same issue others where having, came to a hard stop for a red light and noticed car almost stalled.
So decided to look inside the intake manifold to find so much carbon build.
Was burning oil but not enough to be out of Lexus guidelines

SILENTM

The only top end cleaning i recommend doing is to use a sand blaster with walnut shells. Do not use the chemical methods such as seafoam as the carbon is baked on really good and the chemicals would only wash off the surface then get stuck in the cats and also wash down the cylinder walls and thin out the oil making it worse.