Owner of an 07 GS 350 and had the check engine light and vsc light come on. Found several misfire codes when the local Lexus dealership went thru it. They pulled a few spark plugs and found oil on the spark plug (on the plug end) They recommended a spark plug change to the tune of $450.00. Went to the local Toyota Dealership for $300.00. We were told that they needed to be changed to even think about a warranry issue or extended warranty. Had the plugs changed and revisited the Dealership after 1000 miles. New plugs had oil on them as well. Now the Dealership/extended warranty company want to know what is wrong before anyone will even think about paying for the repair. $2000 is the estimate to diagose the problem. Lexus Corp was happy to reinburse us for the cost of the plugs but stopped there. We have added a quart of oil about every 4-6 weeks. Has anyone else had this issue. Have heard maybe Carbon on the rings or head gasket. Trying to figure out if it is worth paying to diagnose or just become a former Lexus owner.

Chris

 

$2000.... to diagnose?

 

Yes that is what the Lexus Dealership says it will cost to tear down the motor to figure out what the cause is. There has been an update with the Toyota Dealership splitting the cost to diagnose the problem but still no guarantee. And the extended warranty company wont pay to repair it if it is carbon on the rings.

 

That's a lot for just a diagnosis, try going to another dealership?

Also, did you check if there was any oil around the EDGE of the top half of the spark plugs? If so that'd just be a valve cover gasket needing to be changed.

On my GS there's a SLIGHT oil seepage on the spark plugs, not as extreme as yours, but they say it's normal for the 3uz engines (I have the 06' gs430).

GL either way!

 

Yeah there is no oil on the top side of the plug. The oil is all in the cylinder. After the great internet searches it might be carbon on the rings. The dealership were the car was bought is being great VS the Lexus dealership or Lexus themselves. The car should go in next week and ill keep everyone updated on what they find. Worse Case I become a former GS 350 owner. Dealership has already offered a compremise if it is worst case and not covered under the extended warranty.
The motor will be torn down to the block to try and find out what is going on if it needs to be.

 

wow, GL! keep us updated

 

Same car and mine was burning oil and did the 1k mile oil consumption test. They will do a compression test tomorrow and said most likely they will rebuild the motor for free!! Jackpot!!

 

Well here is an update. The car was taken apart and they found antifreeze in bank 1. The extended warranty company will pay to fix the head gasket and things associated with it. They wont pay for anything due to oil consumption. So they will take the heads off and it will then relooked at to see what the oil consumption is. I am told the cost to break the motor down will be covered by the extended warranty company. I should have more of an update next week.

 

Did you notice a loss of coolant in a coolant reservoir?

 

Not only that, but did you happen to see a mixture of oil AND coolant in it? that's a really high indication of head gasket failure.

 

Well the final damage is in and the extended warranty company will pay to have the head gasket fixed. It is the drivers side (bank 1) that will be replaced. I am told they have 30 labor hours just to fix that side. The pistons and rings will be our responsiblity. The extended warranty will not cover oil consumption issues.The dealership is helping out with the overall cost to have this fixed. The suggested price for the fix is close to 5K. The dealership is doing a great job working with us more then most would. The parts are ordered and in the end I will basically have a new motor on a car that has 70k miles. It is the cost of doing business. Being led to believe that when they say to use premium fuel you must use it. The previous owner chose not to adhere to this. Best to bite the bullet and have it fixed then be looking for another car.

 

There was nothing found as far as oil/coolant mixing. nor did we notice coolant being low. The only thing that we noticed was low oil.

 

I fail to see how anybody could come to the conclusion about a head gasket then.

 

Why exactly is the oil consumption cost NOT included in the warranty?

It's stories like this that steer me away from buying a warranty. I'd rather be mad at myself for not buying a warranty than mad at the warranty company when they deny fixing my car.

 

So they are fixing Bank 1 only? So it's not a new motor.