jraylong

My 2003 sc 430 wuth 101,000 miles ...blown engine..Main thrust bearing went out, causing crank to hit on block...2 rod bearings gone also...cracked the block....I'm now looking at major, major repairs...Bought the car new..always babied it, ...It sits in garage over winter because I can't get traction in snow....First time out this spring I got 5 miles...a knock...and a siezure...What the Hell????...For $68,000, I expected a lot more...Are my expectations too high of Lexus?...I'll never buy another and I'll tell everyone who will listen that Lexus isn't what they proclaim.....
PS...Have a Jeep Grand Cherokee with almost 300 k on it...and it still runs like a champ..only $38,000, too...What's that tell you!!!
A very disappointed customer.

grabber2

Sorry to hear, this really suck.
Since this was new, did you follow all schedule maintenance? Did you change your timing belt? Was it ever involve in an accident? Just want to ask because engine failure in a Lexus is rare. They was a post here last year with blow engine due to water. Lexus engine failure rate was 1 in 101 (that include all type of failure). Unfortunately, your might be one of them & its a total failure.

I understand you are upset/disappointed, but you make it to 100K. That's not bad since warranty are only up to 60K

HumphreySC

Wow this really sucks, I saw on ebay that they sell used motors for about 2k. Maybe it is the best to do a motor swap.

tofu

I agreed with you, go buy an engine with low miles and you should be set.

sixonemale

Jray, I'm very sorry to hear about your blown engine. I agree with the comments related to replacing it with a used engine that has low miles as a cost effective solution. Curious, were you using conventional or synthetic motor oil?

mrblister

Sorry for your troubles. If the main thrust bearing went . I had similar on a boat engine that was used for water skiing . Fast starts and pressure on the thrust bearing wiped out the surface. I never have heard
of your kind of failure. Good luck

76210Guy

Goodness, that is an epic first post. And a blown engine to boot! We were just discussing that on another thread. Interesting.

bacardi11

iTrader: (1)

what was the cause? ok I see. we have guys on this forum with over 200k and no problems. what a bummer.
another one blows engine car no good. it happens some tine just can't say the car no good. I feel your pain.

byrnech

Has anyone ever done a performance build on one of these motors? Not boosted, pure N/A, ported heads & intake, cams etc... I have a backround in perfomance builds american V8 stuff, mostly Ford & Chevy LS stuff. If I was in this situation I would make lemons into lemonade.

MadHungari

Your engine failure is really bad news. A used engine may indeed be the best way to go. But to put things in perspective, Porsche Boxster engines (for the first 10 years of production) experience a 20+% failure rate with no help from the company if out of warranty. Some say its not a question of if, but of when. The 911 engines of the same era also fail, but less so. However, such info is of little help when it happens to you. Sorry.

MDames2

iTrader: (1)

I do understand your disappointment at this. It is very disconcerting. However, do you think there are more SC430's with blown engines at 100K or Jeep Cherokees?

Blackrain

Don't be sad I blew 25k in 2 years modifying my m3, first and LAST euro car. The engine blew up, replace per shop recommendation, a week later the head gasket blew. Since it was supercharged and nitrous nobody wanted to touch it. So I set it on fire( sold that pos german crap).