DenM54

I noticed a bit of a smell too. But is was only the first week or so, which I figured was just from the engine being new. No longer does anything smell.

Swacer

new cars will always give off that smell.

Many times its any of the following breaking in:

1. Exhaust - your packing in the muffler is burning or any lubricant they put onto the exhaust as it was being assembled is being burned off, or can even be stickers catching fire and falling off. (You'll notice that smell will go away, right around the same time that your car got slightly louder.)

2. Radiator Coolant Lines - Your car is not broken in before you get it, thus, you are finally starting to heat cycle the lines and the smell you are getting is the rubber hoses being heated which will smell like a burned rubber

3. Gaskets - Gaskets will break in during break in and expand. That is why during initial break in that your oil consumption will be higher than any other time. You will blow by oil (which will burn in your exhaust), and you will also get slight oil vapor around the head gasket until the gasket expands and sets.

There are a few others, but thats the beginning. Overall, you're fine. My camaro had all of these, and even smelled terrible like clutch for the first 1,500 miles. Then everything went away. My wife's IS still has a packing smell when she gets home from work and the car has 2,500 miles on it now.


Speaking of exhaust, is there an aftermarket offering?

bostonb

Thanks for the in-depth info, Swacer. Really good info!

knox_sport

I find it curious that Lexus hasn't made 'turbo care' a bit more prominent for customers, especially considering how litigious society has become. My guess is only telling an owner about it on page 168 of the owners manual will mean 99% of owners will never read it.

I stumbled across this warning sticker on the door of an 87 Supra that's up for sale on eBay. It emphasizes high-speed driving, uphill driving, or towing. Curious that Toyota would do this then, but not now.




And here's the ebay listing - the picture of the door and sticker is about 1/3 of the way down. There's also a picture of the turbo timer that was dealer installed back then...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-Supra-NO-RESERVE-1987-supra-turbo-survivor-original-60-280-mark-iii-7-m-gte-5-spd-2000-gt-/271734215708?forcerrptr=true&hash=item3f449f141c&item=271734215708&pt=US_Cars_Trucks

Swacer

Toyota probably didn't want to "clutter" the car with badging like that. Keep in mind, if you put too much information somewhere, people panic lol

Its in the manual, so they probably thought that was sufficient (however, how many people actually read their manual at length?). Additionally, they probably have done enough research to prove that even if someone didn't do teh cool down, the turbo would be fine over time. Abused...but fine.

nahanagat

I attended a Lexus event for new owners and one of the mechanics confirmed that you need to idle at least 20 seconds before turning the engine off. It's good that this issue was brought up during the orientation because i wasn't doing this when I got my F Sport last month. Also, the user manual mentions this as well.

athiker

Thank you for this info re: the turbo cool down as I'm sure it would be a while before I got to page 168 of the owner's manual!

I can confirm this as well. Had an exhaust changed out recently on my Isuzu Trooper and it smelled pretty strongly for a few days till whatever was on the muffler burned off.

I've also noticed test driving that cars with almost no miles have a much stronger smell when the engine/exhaust heats up than those that already have a few hundred miles on them. I drove a Subaru Outback that had just been delivered once and the smell was so strong my wife got nauseous.

Swacer

Stick cars can be that way too. My camaro smelled terrible of hot clutch for the first 500-600 miles. Then, nothing.

LexBob2

This is something that could be covered during the delivery orientation. I'm sure some dealerships wouldn't want to spook new owners, but it would be after the sale is complete and few if any buyers would walk away at that point.

nxlee

As a newbie, I can't say what's good and what's bad. But Lexus will cut their liability if one "may" exist and that's what the manual instruction is all about. That turbo is really HOT when you stop driving (some say it almost glows) and only an engineer knows whether the bearings can take adverse conditions without oil pressure for 5-6-7-8 years.

When my turbo comes in May (4 1/2 months), I'll take a minute to let it spool down.. just a shade conservative, but that what happens when you're over 60 yrs old.

typocl

is just driving at regular road speeds for a minute then turning it off the same for the turbo as idling for a minute before turning it off?

kchnew

Find one interesting discrepancy between the online user manual downloaded from Lexus website and the hardcopy manual with the vehicle regarding the idle time.

e.g. On Page 168, the hardcopy says for normal city driving, idle time "not necessary. Online manual says "Approximately 20 seconds". Other cases are also different.

Which one should I follow? I am guessing the electronic one. Just want to confirm. But this turbo thing did drive me nuts. My colleagues are laughing at me every time I have to wait for the turbo to cool down. Thanks.

computerwi

Interesting. The Canadian electronic manual has the same discrepancy. Funny enough, I just took delivery last month and never once was I told about the required cool down. Neither my salesman nor the delivery specialist even knew about it. Goes to show how well dealers really know their products nowadays.

rVague

I would think that if you are doing hard driving such as driving on hot days at freeway speeds or driving up mountain grades that a cool down period should be done. Short commutes around town maybe not so much. I always let the car idle for 20 seconds on startup and then about the same time before shutdown. But it's primarily my wife's car and she forgets....

wildeklave

i have not let me engine cool down in about 2000 miles. Does BMW, Audi, and Mercedes require cool down? If this becomes a requirement I can see a lot of normal drivers opting for a non-turbo competitor (like an RDX)