Hello,

Im sure this topic has been brought up before, but cant seem to find any posts on it.
Question is , does these motors really have a ticking sound at idle and at slow speeds?
Motor is silky smooth while running but in idle it has that kinda diesel ticking- Is this a normal healthy sound ?
TIA

It is normal

It's normal, it was the same for my precious 2009 IS350

Welcome!

It's because of direct injection. The injectors can be a tad noisy. Listen to a typical Honda engine and you'll notice the same thing.

Related thread: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...he-engine.html

Direct Injection, I believe.

are you sure that was from DI? remember 2GR-FSE was introduced almost 12 years ago on the 2006 IS350

If you are asking whether the IS 350 from 2006 had DI, then the answer is yes. https://www.cars.com/research/lexus-...usb60lec131a0/ (check the engine specs)

The direct injection system is under very high fuel pressure. To ensure that the injectors seal properly when they close, they basically slam shut, much like a diesel.
That slamming shut is what causing the ticking noise we all hear.
Typical port fuel injectors will operate around 50PSI...whereas Direct Injection injectors can operate all the way up to 1800PSI of fuel pressure.
They have to seal perfectly and fast when they close or there would be a massage fuel leak into the combustion chamber.