Hey Everyone!

So I recently purchased an '07 IS250 with around 121k miles on it. It was a craigslist gem as it was a single owner with every single maintenance recorded and done at the official Lexus dealerships. I just so happened to purchase the vehicle right after a top engine cleaning was done due to the common carbon buildup issue. This was a $1,000 service done at the dealership so I was super happy about that. However, I was wondering how often these need to be done. Should I expect to have another one performed later down the line or is this a one time deal? Thanks

 

Carbon build-up is always going to be an issue. Its good that it just had a top cleaning done, give ya some peace of mind, but its going to come back. How does the car feel? you'll notices inconsistent idle at stop and sluggish performance when it can be an issue. Best thing you can do is take preemptive measures. You could install a catch can , would be a good idea. Its easy to do. The problem is the fuel never goes over the valves as the fuel is sprayed right into the cylinder, so they never get cleaned. Use top-tier gas. Drive the car hard in the higher RPMS once or twice a week. Walnut blasting is also a good choice, can be hard to find a shop to do it though. Being in California im sure theres someone who does it around. They blast the intake with crushed walnut shells that effectively removes the carbon build up. Probably more effective and cheaper than Lexus dealer doing a top-clean. I would do some type of carbon cleaning every 30-50k miles. There's MANY MANY threads about the carbon build up issue on here, lots of info. Congrats on the purchase! Just enjoy your ride, sound like it was a well taken care of example!

 

Got my valves walnut blasted at around 120k, just inspected them last weekend and they may be due in a year or so, city driving really doesn't help the cause.