Ntwrks1

Please tell me I'm not the only one that has experienced this... this weekend, much to my wife and I's great dismay, our '04 GX470 with 13,800 miles had blue smoke on start up for about 7 or 8 seconds, not once but several times. Now, its always been my experience that blue smoke=oil in the combustion chamber, and we will be bringing it into the dealership this week, but has anyone else experienced this? Or are we just worried prematurely?

We need to bring it in anyhow because of the tire pressure indicator stays on all the time even after checking all the tires (and spare) for proper levels. Plus, we want to talk to the dealer about putting on the strongest hitch that we can and still maintain our full warranty.

Really concerned about the very visible blue smoke only at start up, and this occurred even after we let it sit awhile, and then waiting 20 minutes or so and then starting it up again. We did buy the truck used only about a month ago, been running 87 octane in it so far, but am considering switching up to 93 for awhile to see if that makes any difference. Also, as far as oil changes go, is it recommended to stick with the dealer putting in the Lexus recommended synthentic?

Thanks for any advise/info!
--James

Gohawks63

Blue smoke on startup, especially after sitting a while, has historically been indicitive of oil seeping through the valve seals.

Not normal.

Tony

My GX has never smoked when starting.

yaro1

I've never experienced blue smoke. '04 w/ over 14K miles on mine. Definitely bring it to the dealer ASAP. As for the tire pressure monitor system, try pressing the TPS button (located by your right knee in the driver seat. Maybe it is tracking the wrong tire. Could have just hit it by accident. I also reccommend only going to Lexus for service. I have had trouble in the past taking my other Lexuses to other service departments. Good luck. Hope it doesn;t turn out too bad. Try to keep us posted if you can.

angelslex

Have you been doing all your oil changes with lexus or Toyota dealers ? take the truck ASAP to the dealer and the tire warning light It could be what Yaro wrote .https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...ight=angelslex

Tony

Mine came on for a while I could not figure out why since all the tires were at the right pressure. So I called my SA and he told me to check the spare tire underneath the truck. I put air in the spare and the light went out.

looknow12

I agree with gohawks (except I'm not a Chicago fan :-)) this generally means Oil from the crankcase is getting into the cylinder and during the ignition stroke is getting burnt up along with the air/fuel mixture.

It is not normal. It is not caused by a lack of changing your oil (unless you haven't done it for 60k). Take the vehicle in immediately and have them check for piston ring or valve seal leaks.

As hawks says, the vehicle may have been sitting for long periods of time with the older owner...probably why they sold it. Weren't using it.

bunka

Blue smoke is BAAADDD and should not be happening to a 14K truck. You say you bough this "Used"? Do you know the history of it? Have regular oil changes been done? Did YOU have an oil change performed when you got it? If you've gone 14K without an oil change, you could have issues. If the prior owner knew of an Oil problem and did not inform you, THEY may be liable. Have not heard of this happening to ANY other GX470.

Ntwrks1

Hey all - I very much appreciate the replies and advice on this problem thus far - however I have worse news to report. My wife called me this morning to inform me that on her way to work the truck is now spewing black smoke and the entire body is shaking - checking engine light is now illuminated. She is pulling in to the dealership on her way to work hopefully to drop it off to them until this situation is rectified and can get a loaner. Unbelievable. We traded in our 04 ES 330 after only having it a year because we missed having an SUV so badly, thinking we were trading up when spending 46k on a year-old luxury Lexus SUV. This is turning into a nightmare.

We bought it from a CarMax in the Chicago area about 35 days ago, been running fine until this past weekend and the past few days (when I posted this thread). CarMax prides themselves on performing a complete check through the entire car, changing oil, etc. Plus I have bought several cars from them in the past and have been very pleased.

Update while typing this... my wife just called from the Lexus Dealership. They told her that in the last several days they have had 5 vehicles come in with the same issue, and supposedly everyone has filled up at the same gas station that is on one of the major interstates in the area. We willed up there on Saturday as well, the very day we began experiencing all these issues from "bad gas" at this station. They say they have had 3 toyotas and 2 lexus's come in with the same issue. They told my wife that our truck now needs all new plugs, engine needs to be drained out, gas tank and line needs to be drained, etc. and what ever else. She informed them to call me about the "estimate" ???? They told her we need to call that Citgo gas station right away and they will reimburse us - this is getting too crazy - is there validity in this?? i've never heard of such a thing.

Ntwrks1

My goodness... it sounds like there may be validity to this.. I just called the manager of the station and she informed me that "they have been aware of an issue" and that all she could tell me is I need to come in to the store to fill out an incident report that will go to their insurance company in the form of a claim. She also went on to inform me that the claims are being processed very fast.

Could this be? Extremely bad gas?? Is the GX just a very sensitive truck?

PitBull

I bet the delivery guy dumped diesel in the gas tank and when you filled up you got a mix of diesel and gas. That will cause the smoke, screw up all your plugs, ruin your gas filter and you will need to have your fuel injectors cleaned and the whole fuel system flushed and cleaned. Good luck.

tgergen

Exactly. Ours has never smoked...we have 16,xxx on it.

tgergen

DAMN. Sorry to hear about the bad gas thing. It wont be a warranty issue. Call Citgo ASAP!!! Sound slike maybe they mixed in Diesel by mistake. It happens.

bunka

Ah-Ha! Not just Lexus, but other cars/trunks as well. The tanker putting Diesel into the regular fuel tank.. Hmm, that woudl do it and the station would be responsible. Seems like they would have some type of procedures that would have prevented this (like the consumer Diesel nozzles that won't fit into the vehicles gas tank)? Maybe it was actually a mix up at the refinery where the fuel gets loaded into the tanker? Either way, sounds like it's easily repairable (plugs, etc) and that's GOOD news!

yaro1

well, i guess that is good that we know what it is and it is easily fixable. Thank god its not some internal problem from Lexus. I hope that doesn't cause engine damage for the long run. What a shame. Well, good luck with that. THat is the oddest thing I have ever heard. Wow.