qpman

2009 LS460 I have had my car at the dealer a few times for loss of power on acceleration. The last visit which lasted three weeks finally gave a diagnoses. The problem was confirmed by the dealer and the factory reps, a knock sensor picks up a signal that retards the timing resulting in no power, I was nearly run over by a semi the last time it happened. They tried to give me my car back on 7/24/14 with the knowledge that the problem is not fixable at this time but I should drive the car and they will tell me when there is a fix. I left the car at the dealer. I was also told that they had a few others with the same problem that could not be fixed.

Oh yes, the visit before this the top of the engine was replaced at a cost of$11,500, good thing for warranties.

Nospinzone

I hope they are giving you a loaner while they resolve this for you.

I'm wondering if the problem is a result of the previous work they did on the car.

qpman

thanks, No loaner, I was told my car is safe to drive

greg3852

Corporate involved yet?

roadfrog

Lets hope this gets resolved through recall. I have this problem ocassionally but not in the last few months. Last time was right after an oil change which seems common here.

Tsmith1982

I was having this same issue. And I changed to using BP premium gas and for the last 1500 miles my knock sensors have not caused any retardation of time. Previously I was using Shell Premium.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

You could try adding some octane booster to your gas as an experiment. Also, try BP premium gas as it is 93 octane (may gas stations in my area only have 91 octane premium). Stalling in traffic is a defect of particular interest to the NHTSA (there have been numerous recalls because of this). You might want to mention to your dealer that you read this on the NHTSA website!

qpman

Thanks for the input but as the dealer explained it is caused by the oiling system which causes 2 lifters to get noisy, I believe 1 and 3. The noise is picked up by the knock sensor and then sends the signal to retard the timing causing a loss of power. If you are having problems I would report it to the dealer and be persistent so you can get ahead of this.

Tsmith1982

Knock sensors can also be set off by fuel

qpman

They tested the gas and it was fine there are many write ups in car magazines about this problem.

jmcraney

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. This issue has been discussed in several threads over several years in our forum. It seems that Lexus and your dealer are giving you some very good information as to the cause of this problem that many are experiencing. Their response in the past has been disingenuous as evidenced by postings in this forum and other forums. I applaud their new found integrity.

I have suggested several times that owners who are having this issue should enter a complaint at the NHTSA site but only a few have followed through.

Here are links to a few of the many threads that make reference to this issue:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...-07-ls460.html

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...-problems.html

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...il-change.html

roadfrog

It's NOT the fuel. Top-tier or otherwise. This is a known issue as explained by qpman.and jmmcraney. There is one member that had the repair done , but under warranty. If it were to be done on your own dime, it would be an astounding $ amount. Somewhere in the 10 thousand range if I recall correctly.

Pamperme

So the 2009's require the recall work too?????? I thought only the 2007 and 2008's required this and that it was fixed in 2009+. This isn't the case?

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

OK, I'm confused. You say that the heads were replaced under the known TSB at the previous visit but you're still having the same problem???

qpman

I has an $11,500 fix done under warranty and it did not fix the problem.