I recently purchased a 2008 IS 250 a few months ago and am already experiencing problems. It has randomly stalled out on me twice within this past week, once at a stop sign and the other time was when I turned my heat on. Prior to it stalling out, i would randomly experience it 'shake' when i would be at a red light. Also, theres a 'check system' light on that has something to do with my tires. The owners manual told me to take it to the dealer, who told me to take it to a shop. I took it to the shop and they said it was just low tire pressure and filled up my tires, even though i explained that ive already tried that. The light was still on and they told me that they had to manually turn it off, which they did, and that it should be fine. Not even 5 miles from leaving there the light came back on and they told me its a deeper issue, probably a bad sensor or something, but they werent sure and to take it elsewhere... Also, a few nights ago I started the car and it started surging... the lights where dimming and getting brighter and the rpm guage kept fluctuating. The actual dash lights will randomly dim when i drive sometimes. The night before that I was driving to work and it felt like it shifted weird followed by a loud squeal which I was told could be a belt. Another problem I'm experiencing is that the power windows randomly decide when they want to work, esp the back windows. I finally got all but one window to work, but I only experience this problem on my driver side door panel. For example, if I was sitting in the back seat or anywhere else in the car other than the driver seat, I can use the window button just fine wherever I'm sitting as a passanger. One last and final odd thing about the car is that it randomly gives off a bad odor, like rotten eggs. It normally happens when I 'get on it'/accelerate fast, but yesturday it just randomly was doing it. I was told that when the battery starts to go bad it can cause that, but I just bought a brand new battery two or three weeks ago. There are no good repair shops around me and was charged $ to be told I'm basically SOL. Is there anyone who happens to know any causes to any of these problems? Any answers will be greatly appreciated, thank you so much for your time!

 

I believe the problem lies with your alternator going bad from the sound of the lights and stalling. From the shake and surging rpms it almost sounds like carbon build up as well.

 

Thank you so much! I greatly appreciate it

 

I really don't know these cars very well yet (since I've really haven't had to many issues yet), but last week I had a strange electrical issue pop up. Assorted lights came on, lost my blinkers and high beams and the auto lock feature stopped working. Someone here suggested it may be a battery/alt problem. I put it on a batter tender (didn't check voltage first, but from the assorted lights the battery tender said it was under 80%). Since then no problems. So apparently these cars are sensitive to low "voltage".

 

I work as a battery service tech. your issue as said above sounds like a alternator, even with a new battery you will notice issues within a week if the charging system is not working properly, i.e. over or under charging. The rotten egg smell is sulphuric acid from the battery. I would get a voltage reading with the battery under no load at 2k rims then a high load (high beams, radio, windshield wipers, and blower motor on high) at 2k rims. your alternator should be charging around 14 volts, I think your vehicle has been running off your new battery.

 

The smell of bad eggs is probably hydrogen sulfide vented from the battery. I had a battery that I bought three weeks ago that shorted internally and did that for a while. Like you, I didn't think the battery could be causing an ongoing electrical issue that my car had. After a thorough inspection of the car's electronics, it was determined that the battery was one of the problems. The battery failed a load test and replaced under warranty. Its been good since.

 

Sounds like carbon build up issue to me

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^ +1.

 

Your new battery will likely have to be changed as well. When the alternator charges the battery at a lower voltage (e.g. if the voltage regulator were going bad) it can cause excessive heat in the battery to build up.

 

I think it would be wise to go to an auto parts store to get the battery and alternator tested. If you disconnected the battery/changed a new one then you would need to reset your window ecu by doing couple steps (its in the sticky)... i have had a rotten egg smell during acceleration as well and it was due to a bad catalytic converter. Hopefully yours is only due to a bad battery like others have mentioned.