DI350

Hello CL members! I have a problem here with my 2006 IS350. I went to the dealership to get my oil change at 76,109 miles as I was getting my oil change one of the service rep told me that I have an oil leak from the engine cover that needs to be reseal and the cost was going to be $3,250! I had to decline it then due to not having that kind of money laying around and the oil wasn't leaking bad. Now at 77,042 miles I have a hole in my block right behind the starter and the engine still have full oil. I don't know to put this in words but I took the car up to the Lexus dealership to get it looked at and one of the tech there told me that a valve prob dropped and cause that to happen. Since my car was outside warranty, I contacted Lexus crop to see if they can "goodwill" my motor, since the tech told me that a valve prob dropped. My car did have the valve spring recall and was perform in Feb. of 2012 recording to what the Lexus crop told me. I bought the car in May of 2012. Either way here's whats going on now The Lexus crop and the dealership said that they are going to decline the goodwill due to engine cover not being reseal and that's what cause my block to have that hole. I say that's BS! I still have full oil!!!! I need some help/inputs. I did contact the Lexus crop again now I just gotta wait for a call back.

mike33

iTrader: (1)

I am sorry to hear about such a major and costly engine failure... It would seem very possible that a valve did drop considering the type of damage... Have they disassembled the engine to verify this? If this can be verified, I would think, that it would draw into question the work that was performed in Feb. of 2012 during the valve spring recall... Do you know what seal was leaking when he said "engine cover "? How much was it leaking? A small oil leak should not cause a valve to drop... A valve drops when a valve spring or retainer break and would most likely be related to the recent valve spring work performed by the dealer....

B16da9

iTrader: (7)

I agree with Mike33, a simple oil leak will not cause a valve to drop or have that type of engine failure. I personaly think they are using the oil leak as the escapegoat to not do a goodwill fix.

Also correct me if I'm wrong but I thought that all IS350's that had the valve spring recall done had the engine covered till 100k miles.

Btw: If the oil pan is still full of oil I would make a deatiled video stating what the date and time is and then proceed to drain the oil and pour it into a clear constainer all on video in case you have to go to court for this.

vapid2323

This sounds like the timing chain cover leaking, myself and a few other members have had this fixed. They need to pull the engine out to do the fix, thus the cost is high. Lucky for me I did have a warranty to cover it.

It was a slow leak, I could drive for 5k miles before I would get a low oil level warning on the dash. In fact they told me that it was not something that really had to be fixed. Just that I would have to watch the levels.

But that would never cause the failure you had, I think thats nuts!

DI350

Sorry about the delay on the update about the car. So Lexus is not going to goodwill my motor of any way because of what the service manger at Lexus of Omaha told them. This is what they told my case manger without even diagnosing my car "77042 found excessive oil leaks (front timing cover) found hole in block by starter. found oil level a little over and clean". When I found out they didn't diagnose my car to verify anything, I have ask the service rep to get my car diagnose by taking off the valve cover to see if the valve did drop and I wanted to be there when they are working on it. So when I went up to Lexus of Omaha for the diagnose, they told me not to waste my money on the diagnose because they said that the motor has be taking out before not by Lexus and Lexus will not cover anything if the motor has been taking out not by Lexus. So I was like wtf!!! You gotta be kidding me! I called my case manger back to verify that and they basically told me that they are still going to decline any assistant because of what that service manger have told them, even though I have told them that they have not diagnose my car! So I'm pretty much screw! Now I'm thinking about doing a motor swap in the IS350. I know there has been a 2jz swap in an IS250 but I can't find any info on their build. What motor swap do you guys think I should do?

mandyfig

Consider taking the car to Toyota dealer and get a 2nd opinion. Good luck.

aragundicm

I could drive for 5k miles before I would get a low oil level warning on the dash. In fact they told me that it was not something that really had to be fixed. Just that I would have to watch the levels

projectdna

iTrader: (56)

cheapest option is to pull the engine and swap the heads over to a low-mileage 2GR-FSE shortblock, or find a complete 2GR-FSE engine to swap. These engines should be more common now, since they're used in the IS350 and the GS350, so you just need to be resourceful and find a place that has one. another upside to this is that you can have the valve springs, timing chain cam sprockets, and the spark plugs replaced - after all, your new engine won't go in until the old engine comes out, so you should have all of that done beforehand.

the more expensive option is to go down the custom work route. you might be able to swap in the 2JZ-GTE or an LS1, but either will take a lot of custom work, and not only may you lose a handful of standard features (or they simply won't work properly), you'll have the warning lights constantly reminding you.

another (overseas) member was able to swap in the 3UZ-FE and the six-speed auto transmission from a third-gen GS430 into an IS250, and supposedly the only custom work you have to do is use a shorter driveshaft to make it work. but, unless you're mechanically inclined to try something like this, it'll probably cost more than replacing the 2GR-FSE short-block without adding more power.

so there you have it; those are your options, ranging from sensible to "one-off".