That's unfortunate, and sounds like a poor dealership. I took mine in for the fix TSIB in hand, and the dealership claimed that mine was the second case they had heard about, after previously having another IS in. The service rep was actually able to describe the problem, and simply took my word for it, understanding that it was a difficult sound to replicate. Once they had what they needed, they fixed the car in what must've been less than 24 hours, and I've been problem free for the better part of a year now.

Will they take video evidence? There are a few videos posted of the sound, which perfectly illustrate the problem. Are they denying you the fix because they have never heard of the issue, or because they literally want to hear it come from your specific car?

 

exactly, i don't understand those dealerships who's refusing to fix these engine problems. after all, they are the one who's making money anyways. it's under damn warranty... and TSIB i'm glad my dealership is very helpful when it comes to these problems.. hope you get the service you deserve...

 

I just got mine done, it's only been one week since but it hasn't done it again so far. The fixed the sunroof squeak, center dash rattle, and the engine chatter at startup problem and I wouldn't have known they had even touched my car. Nothing damaged or out or place.

The only things that were off were that my radio presets were gone (removing the battery cable) and the smell of a mechanic shop when the vents blow air, which has become more and more faint over the last week.


This was at Lexus of Seattle IMO

 

My dealership (Lexus of Westminster) knew about it and fixed it no questions asked. After driving an RX350 for two days, I never realize how good the brakes and acceleration were on the 350.

 

Had this problem with my 2007 IS250, which started about 13K miles. The noise occurs during cold startups when the car has been sitting for 4 or more hours. I finally brought the car into Longo Lexus and they are aware of this issue, but needs the tech to verify the noise by leaving the car overnight.

I should have the car back tomorrow, as they don't carry the parts in stock. Apparently the service advisor is telling me that the camshaft is going to be replaced. I will post the parts to see how consistent these parts are with similiar posts in this forum.

Hope this helps!

Thanks guys for narrowing this problem down!

 

I have an 06 IS350, and I know that I at least heard it once when I started up the engine (cold start first thing in the morning - sounded like loose metal flopping around in the engine). Since then I haven't really paying attention to it much until I read up on this TSB. Since the dealer will not fix the issue unless they can repro/replicate the sound (due to the nature of it only happen sometimes in my case), what will happen if the engine failure is caused by this issue after the warranty is up (6yrs/72,000 miles)? Are we early IS350 adopters SOL?

 

If that's the case (not causing any damage) ->
Like I said, my issue only happen once in a great while, and it would have been impossible for the dealer to get it to repro. I was worried that this is a blatant faulty design and Lexus is making the customers to provide the burden of proof. Had this been the case, I would never buy another Toyota/Lexus again.

 

do you guys solve the problem yet? becasue i have this problem. it was so offen( like every time i start my car) but now it is gone i think.
since it was so offen to me so my friend help me start my car and i looked under my hood and found it was that thing( i don't know the name) doesn't trun with the bell(like 1-2 sec), and once that thing is truning with the bell and the sound is gone. so does anyone know what is the problem?

I hope this would help.

 

I had the TSB done about 3 months ago and as of yet the sound never came back. But on the invoice the tech stated, "Improper free play in camshaft gear assymbly. Replaced camshaft gear assymblies on both banks."

 

My dealership won't fix the problem. I took it to South Bay Lexus, these basters...since they can't replicate the noise, they won't fix the TSB even after I printed the 37 something page report. To top it off my IS falls under the VIN numbers that the TSB report specifies. They kept the car for 3 days, and am thinking cool they're fixing the TSB...wrong! In cold whether it seems to happened more, the last time I heard the noise was about a week ago, but it doing it less and less ever since I switch to 0W-30. Jokes on them I have the ext. warranty...just waiting for my IS350 to go boom or it turns into a $10,000 worth of repairs for the dealership, and then I get to say HA HA HA I TOLD YOU SO!... and I want a new car! HA! Other than the TSB South Bay Lexus is excellent specially their waiting room to many goodies.

 

to all people in toronto...Steven Castro at Lexus on the Park (formerly Scarborough Lexus) is extremely accommodating...i just gave him the TSB's and that's it..no questions asked

he was so nice too! highly recommended...he kinda looks like tessio from the godfather only with more hair hahaha :P

 

did you try telling them you have a recording? there's a recorded link somewhere here...just say it's your car haha (given that the colours match)

 

On my 07 250 I didn't need to. Just told them I had that problem and they said ok they'll get it done for me. But on this car, to my surprise, they were able to replicate the problem and fixed it within a day.

 

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YES! That's EXACTLY the kinda crap I hear on my car for the past year. Its gotten less frequent over the past two months (11k miles), but it happened so frequently on starts prior. I'm going to get this thing checked out too. God, it was so embarrassing every time that sound came up with people in my car.

Edit: My car is an '08 model. So no, they didn't fix it for the '08s. I believe it started happening when the dealership did my 5k oil change. I used my own Mobil 1 10w-30 oil.

 

i think the sound is come from the AC clutch, and you guys might want to go check if it is loseing, because mine just fall off, now no AC...hot as hell!!!!
here has some pictures.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=379657
hope this helps you guys...