So I now have an engine knock. Engine oil is new. It was going away after a little bit of the car warming up. I really don't want to take my car to the stealership because they want 150 an hour just to diagnose the issue and I don't want to pay that. I also stay in saint Louis and I don't know of what mechanics can look at the issue. Any help is appreciated

 

Could be you're beginning to experience the carbon build-up issue. How many miles and what's the history on the car?

 

Have you changed fuel recently? Like OP said, maybe carbon issue? Won't hurt to try a different brand of gas with higher octane and get some Seafoam and run it through your tank a few times. Do you know what cylinder it might be, you could check the spark plug to see what condition it is in. Check yelp or google for Import/Foreign car repair places in ST. Louis area, read reviews, etc. Could be a lot of different reasons, hard to tell.

 

It has 153k on it and the history has been spot on previous owner has taken it to the dealership for everything.

 

I have been using the higher octane which is 93 where I'm at.
And I just ran some seafoam through the gas tank yesterday

 

Unfortunately, the intake valves will never see a drop of the seafoam if you put it in the take. These are direct injection engines. Fuel goes straight into the cylinder. The valves only see PCV gases (nasty stuff which causes the build-up) and fresh air from the intake. The hard carbon will require some physical cleaning.

 

Was getting a estimation on spark plug maintenance and the mechanic said I should get a fuel system injection cleaning service to lessen the carbon-build up which is quoted at $130.00. Is this worth it or any beneficial at all?

 

Depends on what this cleaning entails. Get him to explain the process. From all I've heard, it takes mechanical effort to remove the carbon, but maybe he does a soak or something.

 

He gave me a description of

" 3-part fuel induction system service. Inspect air filter, vacuum hoses and PCV valve; Install 3-part fuel system cleaner to tank, throttle body, and fuel injectors."
"Part description
-FL112 Top Engine Cleaner
-S6304 Syntramax Fuel Tank
-FL110 Throttle Cleaner"

 

For $130 you can do it yourself. If your mechanically inclined. They are probably going to seafoam it. Drop another bottle in the gas tank. Clean your throttle body and replace your gasket. Which is about $13 TB + 2 cans of seafoam $14 = $27.

 

Yes, it'll clean the injectors. But that's all. Grab a bottle of Techron, dump it in the tank - and save yourself $125.

 

I would do it myself. The PCV is about $10 and the air filter is about $15-20. The kind of carbon build up you have with an IS250 is in the top end of the engine and it requires physical cleaning typically.

Here is a video about it.


There is someone who recently (3-6 months) took their vehicle for a cleaning to a shop that typically does Subaru or BMW's (not sure) but they did his Lexus. He posted the details here and you might try to search through the messages to find it.

I may have been Mike not sure that posted it.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/mem...-mikeyk02.html

See if you can find someone in St Louis that can do walnut blasting (typically BMW, Subaru, VW vehicles).