Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

lobuxracer explains it below-

autox250

386K the ocv valves are ok, theyre not the problem. The gears were designed to retain oil press when engine is off. With wear they start not to, the rattle you hear is the gear's dry start. Once its too far gone it'll shear the bolts that hold the gear assy together. The sprocket part of the gear will still spin but the intake cam will stay still. You need to repair it before ur looking at bigger problems. You only need the cam gears thats all. This job can be done at home if its outta warranty 6/70k by some1 thats done them. You dont need a lift... I do them in about 1-2 hours

sincityIS

Have they rectified this problem yet with the newer ones? My 06' did this and I sold it due to the problem. Well that and the ****ty seats. But I am thinking about buying a new f sport but won't if this problem still exists.

autox250

Yea we dont see cam gear cars come on anymore... The very few have outdated parts

clubfoot

This is good to know.

386Kustoms

Thanks guys!

ruizjon

hey i have 50k now n it just started doing that cracking noise every morning when i first start the car ,when i got the in 06 it didn't use to get the cracking noise until now

calvin2376

iTrader: (2)

Take it in immediately to get it covered under powertrain warranty.

autox250

Yea take it in before you're out, im pretty sure the cam gears were 7/60k. You said 2006? if it's an IS250 see if you can get the valve springs done, there's a TSIB for that too.

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

The valve spring recall was for the 350, not the 250-

http://www.lexus.com/recall/#hs3RecallSection

autox250

I never said "recall" like i said, theres a TSIB for valve spring update on 2006 IS250s only. Its not associated with the SSC-ALE campaign for springs.

If you want to have a copy of the springs TSIB i can provide that for you, just pm me ur email

Shervin021

TSIB EG019-07 ('06 - '07 IS350): Brief Engine Knock & Rattle Noise At Cold Startup
i was wondering if anyone did this and if it resolved their problem, also is this a good time to have spark plugs changed?

KillaIS250

iTrader: (1)

That should fix the problem, and yes perfect time to get the spark plugs changed

Most dealers will replace the spark plugs for free (labor only of course) or for very minimal cost when doing TSIB's like this!

Shervin021

hey guys how would i know if my vin number falls under this TSB? and the people who had this problem after going is your problems is fixed?

calvin2376

iTrader: (2)

The TSIB explains that you have to check if your VIN is before the Production Change Effective Dates listed. You can Google how to read your VIN number to make sure you're reading it right.

If you read through the thread you'll see some people have never had the issue recur after the fix, and some have had it recur multiple times. I believe there's actually an updated TSIB to the one you posted, but I could be wrong. In any case, I think at some point they updated how they actually fixed the issue (replacing parts entirely instead of repairing them, or something like that) and this drastically reduced recurrence.

In any case, if you're under powertrain or extended warranty, just go to your dealer and get the issue fixed. If it recurs within a year (most dealers warranty their work for that long), have it fixed again. If it recurs after one year from the first fix date, you can complain to Lexus corporate that their first fix didn't work.

If you're not under warranty, I'm not sure what to tell you more than what's already in this thread. It's probably not too damaging in the long term, it's very expensive, it can recur, etc. You have to weigh all of this.

And to your other question yes, have your spark plugs changed at the same time as this TSIB is performed. I did the exact same thing, bought my plugs off Sewell for $13 each and provided them to the dealer, and they ended up just charging me a half hour's labor at $57 instead of 4-5 hours' labor at $500-600.