CarolannD

Looking for input. Have 2006 IS250, which has always run rough. Had it misfire so bad I was scared to drive it, had it towed into Lexus El Cajon for service. They changed spark plugs ($800 later). Problem continued intermittedly misfiring - took it in Aug for 2nd service, they blamed me for not buying premium gas (I bought it and switched). Car still runs rough, received RECALL letter - took it in...Dealer says it's not showing codes and won't perform recall service.
The letter says it "may" show the codes - do I have any recourse?
Who do I talk to? Our service rep is not very helpful and I always dread when I get him (Josh at El Cajon in case anyone monitors these)...They claim it will require other service that will cost me $1900.

Took it to Navy Auto shop first time it happened and they diagnosed it as: Misfire on Cylinder 6, Stability control has intermittent failure, reprogramming issues (?), carbon build up. I took it to the dealer, which is when they gave me an $800 spark plug change.

Any ideas/suggestions for me? appreciate it!

kyle250

Just wanted to see if you had any luck getting this fixed? I have an 06 IS250 with about 75k on it, Have same issues with misfire,check vsc, got recall letter in mail, lexus dealer said they could not duplicate the issue so they would not fix. About 3 weeks later it happened again but this time my check vsc and engine lights were on with code of cylinder 3 misfire. Took it in dealer, they said my sparkplugs were shot and that was the problem. Replaced plugs, that was about a month ago, today the lights came back on, I am taking it into the dealer tomorrow morning, I am sure they will tell my that its something else not related to the recall. I will keep you posted if u have not had the issue fixed yet.

uis300

youre right ive heard and read alot of tsb on is250 wth carbon build up first post so please dont talk trash im trying to help im a tech at a local shop ive worked on is 250 and have fixd rough idle and random misfire also audi 3.0 suffer from this witch also drove me crazy . the dealer couldn't figure it out either but anyways i used sea foam carbon clean to fix the probem it took two cans but did the job so have your local shop give it a shot .the cans are around 15 bucks plus labor or you can do it yourself.

1sWt2GS

iTrader: (6)

shoulda pumped premium gas, our cars require premium for a reason.

they can use that against u and do the blame game, afterall, using low grade gas does make the car run rough

VIS250P

iTrader: (1)

Ive use Premium gas for almost 5 years on my ride never had any problem.. It had 55K miles and on!!! I know gas is the issue for the carbon build up and go ahead talk back to me cuz I post on the forum about carbon build up that I said they used bad gas and dont wanna spend on premium gas..

kyle250

So just to give everyone an update, First I always use premium gas... Lexus duplicated the issue after i got the lexus voluntary recall letter in the mail. they replace piston and rings and decarbon the engine. Well they had my car for about a month "Gave me a 2013 ES350 so no worries" Anyway got the car back and a week later the car did the same thing. Almost stalled on me lights came back on. They said it was my Cat...Replaced the cat under warranty. 2 weeks later same issue, this time they said it was a bad O2 sensor. Not covered under warranty. They reset the lights and gave me car back car no charge. My car eats gas I avg 19 miles per gal. Safe to say light has not came back on but now when i start my car it idles very high and i have to step on the gas to get it back down. Also i have a very strong odor of gas in my oil when I remove the oil cap. I am at the point where I am going to trade this car in and cut my loss. So I am, thinking they did something wrong and thats why I have that strong gas smell. I called them and they tried to give me 10 reasons as to why its not the way the rings or pistons were installed. I think that Lexus should take these cars back and give us a good trade in credit towards a new IS or even cut us a check. This car is a Lemon and I am sick of lexus will never buy another lexus as long as i live. Anyone else still have the same issue after the recall was done?? My car has 83k on it. I think if enough people signed a petition and sent it to lexus maybe they will do something about this.

So before recall this is what i paid for to have fixed..
-Spark plugs
-2 Coil Packs
- After recall they gave me new spark plugs.
-Cat Converter-Warranty
- Now needs o2 sensor but not gonna replace.

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

Actually, I agree with them - if pistons and rings are installed improperly, engine drivability will be terrible - lack of power, engine rattle, etc. How many miles have you put on it since installation? If its less than 5000, good chance the rings haven't even completely broken in yet... Granted, that happens very fast on newer motors anymore, but all engines start to make a little more power and become a little more fuel efficient after a few thousand miles of driving...

Your O2 sensor is the most likely cause of poor fuel economy as well.

When you say idles high, how high are we talking?

Also, one more thing, grade of fuel 87-93 has no effect on this carbon fouling issue... Although you should run premium, (do the math, it really isn't that much more money), the reason for carbon fouling has to do with combustion gas blowby entering the air intake through the PCV system - then heat causes this oily/fuel mixture to solidify on the backs of the valves and inside the plenum, thus restricting airflow and hindering performance. Most engines prevent this by spraying fuel in the intake runners, which keeps valves relatively clean... the IS250 is Lexus' first direct injection engine, and, like Mazda with their similar design, has carbon fouling issues... the other direct injection motors that Lexus makes now include fuel injectors in the intake as well, to prevent this from becoming an issue... Is it a design flaw? Not necessarily, but they've all learned from their mistakes. I remember reading where someone has come up with a process to prevent the carbon issue, without adding additional injectors in the intake, but I don't know if its been applied to new engines just yet...

kyle250

Lets see its been about 4000 miles so far. I have never put low grade gas in my car. But still the car has been a nightmare. i got rid of my 08 BMW 328i coupe with sports pkg due to issues with the TPMS and run flat tires on it. I have had this car less than a yr and even after everything that was done it still runs like ****. Feels like its gonna stall out. O yea I do have engine rattle when u start the car it sounds like something is hitting the valve cover. Something is def not right. Plus my car is loud as hell too engine has that knocking sound to it now. IDK its my first lexus but no one should ever have to go thru this much with a car that is so expensive. I am cutting my loss and getting rid of it... It idles over 2.5 till I hit the gas than it fals down. Plus when siting at a light I have to keep my foot on the brake pretty hard or the car will launch forward because of the high idle.

kyle250

Sorry for bad grammar in a rush to go pull my CBR 600rr out today..Too nice out

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

In its current condition, you may have troubles selling it and trade won't be nearly as much as if it was running right... Sounds like your issue may stem from shoddy re-assembly of the intake components... I would take it back, complain to Lexus corporate, etc. The repairs should have a warranty on them... Either way, doesn't sound like a piston assembly issue, but the engine accessories when they were installed...

Chetmanley

I swear the exact same thing happened to me. It seems that this is Lexus M.O. For this recall. I had all the same repairs done. Cats, spark plugs, y-pipe, etc after all this was done within( 700miles about 3weeks) and $4700.00 later they finally said my engine was recalled and I have been trouble free ever since. I read these posts and it makes me furious that this is their course of action.

autox250

Let me clarify, It isn't a Lexus guideline to make you replace all those mentioned components prior to saying yes lets do the carbon bulletin. Those are individual dealerships making the calls. Most IS owner dont change their spark plugs at 60k intervals as they should (not that plugs are the cause of the miss).
By no means does Lexus expect you to throw parts at it prior to accepting to perform the recall, it's a technicians job to determine the right cause and fix it right the first time. Done correctly, they run like new.

Chetmanley

I had the exact same thing happen verbatim. I would love to start a class action suit against Lexus. Within 1000 miles I brought my car in 4 times with the check engine VSC light. I was sold cats 1trip. 200 miles later. A y-pipe. 400 miles later spark plugs. 4700$ in repairs then the 4th time they said the code came up for the recall.

nosurprise

iTrader: (1)

dude, sounds like you got taken advantage of by the dealer -- no need to blame Lexus for this.

autox250

Im a master tech at local lexus, I agree with nosurprise, something is off I may have a reasonable explanation for you but it would make more sense if I knew the mileage on your car and if you live near the shore.
I think it was a misdiagnosis from the get-go, this is what I think happened:
note: an exhaust leak can give you a false cat code, thats why ppl should learn to diagnose

1) you had a CEL, it must have been P0420 or P0430 (cat below efficiency), u were told u needed cats
2)you actually had an exhaust leak in the y pipe (common in IS & GS) cat code is back so they replace Y pipe
3)you had diff code for misfire now, unrelated. resolution, just install plugs
4)you come back misfires again, finally the bulletin is applied

where do you go for service?