So my GS350 blew its engine last night...
10-16-12, 11:06 AM
#16
that's what you get for being a Yankee fan! 
i kid, but seriously that sucks man. Glad to see Lexus is gonna make it right. I wonder if they damaged the timing belt during the campaign service?
i kid, but seriously that sucks man. Glad to see Lexus is gonna make it right. I wonder if they damaged the timing belt during the campaign service?
10-16-12, 11:09 AM
#17
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Thread Starter
I had a long chat with a gentleman from Lexus about the engine last night, we both seemed to think that had it been a bad water pump that caused overheating that it wouldn't have failed in this manner. Also we figured that I'd have seen the gauge indicate overheating as well as a low coolant or overheat warning.
I'm lucky that I have other cars to use so I told them that there's no big rush, it's been nice out so I'd be driving my Lincoln or my Ford anyways. Problem is my dumb self left the keys to my old 740iL and Ford IN the Lexus, which sucked yesterday as I was driving the Lincoln and it was pouring.. The Lincoln's wipers don't work! And rain X is great but wipers are better
I'm really curious as to what happened internally... We figured that a badly overheated engine would likely seize, not lose compression and spin freely.
If its fixed, ill be happy. Much as I've had atrociously bad experiences with Lexus in the past they have beyond stepped up to the plate to make things right this time. Maybe me mentioning that we had a bunch of ones in the family coming off lease helped?
JK but I'm happy right now.
I'm lucky that I have other cars to use so I told them that there's no big rush, it's been nice out so I'd be driving my Lincoln or my Ford anyways. Problem is my dumb self left the keys to my old 740iL and Ford IN the Lexus, which sucked yesterday as I was driving the Lincoln and it was pouring.. The Lincoln's wipers don't work! And rain X is great but wipers are better
I'm really curious as to what happened internally... We figured that a badly overheated engine would likely seize, not lose compression and spin freely.
If its fixed, ill be happy. Much as I've had atrociously bad experiences with Lexus in the past they have beyond stepped up to the plate to make things right this time. Maybe me mentioning that we had a bunch of ones in the family coming off lease helped?
JK but I'm happy right now.
10-16-12, 12:09 PM
#18
I had a waterpump seize up on my 5 series BMW before. It's rare, but it happens. Not really an indictment on Lexus quality, IMO. Just bad luck, I suppose. Glad that they are taking care of you.
10-18-12, 09:04 PM
#19
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Thread Starter
Well got another email... Apparently extra care is coming to look at the car next week.
So I guess it's on hold till then. The OH has a GX so since she'll be out of town with work next week I can always just drive that!
They did confirm that water pump failure caused the engine to fail. Still really puzzled why the car never said it was overheating.
So I guess it's on hold till then. The OH has a GX so since she'll be out of town with work next week I can always just drive that!
They did confirm that water pump failure caused the engine to fail. Still really puzzled why the car never said it was overheating.
10-19-12, 07:11 AM
#20
Lexus Champion
maybe the sensor was bad too... so now your engine is dead and need new engine?
I changed out my water pump at 100k. Did a load of stuff at 100k. My alternator died at 118k, if i knew I would have changed that out too but than I'm not sure our gs430 alternator run every 100k or just die at random.
goodluck, hopefully you get your car back soon.
I changed out my water pump at 100k. Did a load of stuff at 100k. My alternator died at 118k, if i knew I would have changed that out too but than I'm not sure our gs430 alternator run every 100k or just die at random.
goodluck, hopefully you get your car back soon.
10-19-12, 07:16 AM
#21
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Can't wait to see the results of your car and the dealer. Sorry to hear about your troubles, though. Hope everything goes well, because things can only get better from this point
Eric
Eric
10-19-12, 07:47 AM
#22
Glad Lexus HQ is taking care of you. Have to say the local Lexus dealer here in Calgary hads been excellent. Have never had any major issues with the car but the service has always been top notch. Hopefully they get your local dealer straightened out, along with getting your car fixed.
10-21-12, 04:28 PM
#23
Nope,
Haven't gone that far yet but I did explain the issues that I have had. This car is why I don't own a 4th gen GS, the plan was to pick this car up as a stopgap, but its been so troublesome and until now my experience with Lexus has been so bad that I was planning on going away from Lexus. We shall see what happens......
Update, Lexus of the Lehigh Valley just called. The lady there was very nice, I left my keys to my Ford and my old 740iL in the car, she found them and is overnighting them to me. Which is good as I'm driving my 60 Lincoln today... Without working wipers!
So from what they can tell the water pump died, the engine overheated badly and has internal damage. Had the car showed signs of overheating this would make sense, but it was running fine and there were no low coolant or overheat signs and the temp gauge was normal.
So we shall see......
Haven't gone that far yet but I did explain the issues that I have had. This car is why I don't own a 4th gen GS, the plan was to pick this car up as a stopgap, but its been so troublesome and until now my experience with Lexus has been so bad that I was planning on going away from Lexus. We shall see what happens......
Update, Lexus of the Lehigh Valley just called. The lady there was very nice, I left my keys to my Ford and my old 740iL in the car, she found them and is overnighting them to me. Which is good as I'm driving my 60 Lincoln today... Without working wipers!
So from what they can tell the water pump died, the engine overheated badly and has internal damage. Had the car showed signs of overheating this would make sense, but it was running fine and there were no low coolant or overheat signs and the temp gauge was normal.
So we shall see......
All of this is made possible by the absence of a low coolant level sensor/indicator light. Also, GR engine water pumps do not like yankee land.....meaning the corrosion takes out those water pumps. IF you are still under powertrain warranty, you should be ok. and if not, Lexus is usually understanding in that circumstance. IT can cost upwards of 20k depending on just how much damage was done.
what happened to you is unfortunately not exactly rare.
10-25-12, 04:13 PM
#24
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Thread Starter
Thanks for the info. I never saw the temp gauge move from normal, and I have a slight OCD issue with scanning my gauges.. Old track habit I guess.
I was reading the owners manual online, I'm shocked that this car doesn't have a low coolant warning. Still haven't heard back from Lexus.... The car is just outside factory warranty but is covered by a factory extension to 100k.
I was reading the owners manual online, I'm shocked that this car doesn't have a low coolant warning. Still haven't heard back from Lexus.... The car is just outside factory warranty but is covered by a factory extension to 100k.
11-03-12, 08:30 AM
#25
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Thanks for the info. I never saw the temp gauge move from normal, and I have a slight OCD issue with scanning my gauges.. Old track habit I guess.
I was reading the owners manual online, I'm shocked that this car doesn't have a low coolant warning. Still haven't heard back from Lexus.... The car is just outside factory warranty but is covered by a factory extension to 100k.
I was reading the owners manual online, I'm shocked that this car doesn't have a low coolant warning. Still haven't heard back from Lexus.... The car is just outside factory warranty but is covered by a factory extension to 100k.
Nearly the same happened to me, they quoted me $17K and sent me on my way. I hope this all works out better for you than it did me.
11-05-12, 10:19 AM
#27
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Thread Starter
Still haven't heard anything back from Lexus. It's been... Lemme think.. 17 days since I heard from Lexus and 23 days since this happened.
Still after the storm and losing a house and some cars that are irreplaceable I'm kind of sidetracked at the moment.
No way would I pay $17k to fix this car first of all, and second of all its under warranty.
Still after the storm and losing a house and some cars that are irreplaceable I'm kind of sidetracked at the moment.
No way would I pay $17k to fix this car first of all, and second of all its under warranty.
11-19-12, 07:54 PM
#30
Wow, stay in there man, as rare as it is with Lexus, you might have gotten a Lemon. Hard to say, but since i know lemons, (we had one), I could come to the conclusion that you might have ended up with one...Oh, and btw, the lemon I had was a ***choke*** 2001 Chevrolet Express van. Never gonna buy one of these again. Costed more than $2.50 a mile. And we drove to Texas, Carlsbad, and so on. GL with your dillema. My prayers are with you. 