I would bet the farm that this was a manufacturing defect. Given the impact of the defect and the fact that the car has extremely low miles, I would have a serious discussion with your dealership and/or Lexus corporate regarding getting assistance with repairs/replacement.

 

Small update:

Yesterday i brought the car to the engine shop. I told them everything how it happend, etcetc….

They listend to my theory and it could be a reason. However they are gonna lift the head, make pictures of all the internal damage and make a professional diagnose.

As soon as i have more information or pictures i will update this thread.

Needless to say I will also inform Lexus, when i have their conclusion, with estimated costs for repair (if possible). Since basicly at the moment I only have a theory and I’m not a proffesional…

 

Hi all,

Well time to update, however not very good news.

My dealership applied 3 times for a coulance request, however Lexus The Netherlands denied all of them. In their opinion the damage to my car was 'normal' due to the age of the car. What they deemed as normal you will see in the pictures:








Since AGAIN this is deemed as normal damage or wear and tear I gave Lexus Netherlands the international symbol. No way this is normal damage.......

I will write a letter to Lexus Japan, with those pictures, although i sold the car. In the end costs will be around 14k-16k in euro's, which will be close to 20k dollars and all had to be paid by me. Nothing from Lexus and also no warranty that it would not happen again. I definitly have no good word over for Lexus The Netherlands and in my case Lexus reliability and service turned out to be an absolute lie.

I sold the LS and bought a Ford Focus RS back which turned out to be a very good financial painkiller and also has factory guarantee untill march 2024.

 

If valves recall was done on the engine, it might explain the failure due to improper re-assembly of the engine. An used engine with ~30k miles costs around $2-3k, the labor would be $2-3k. However, I am not sure if the pricing stands in Netherlands.

 

Nope pricing doesnt stand in The Netherlands. A new naked engine already (but not from Lexus) puts you already 5k in euros back and then, it needs he extra parts and or gaskets, because it was standing still for a long time. Also to be sure it needs to be opend to replace the vavles. Next to do that you have to build it in without no warranty that it happens again. Another option was a used engine, however it had almost double the kilometers then mine, which is offcourse not an option for me...

The valves recall was performed on this car, however that is long time ago. If something was put back wrong you will hear it... car was always very quite and no strange sounds whatsoever...

 

I'm not that surprised to be honest, hollow cams that drive a DI pump never sat right with me in the first place. Actually hollow cams in general struck me as being really cheap vs the preceding engine that I know for a fact basically can't be broken no matter how stupid you get with it.

The UR is great for power but is cheaper in design and tolerances than the UZ. The hollow cams on paper save a little bit of rotational mass but aren't one piece of steel that can withstand extra stress. I can imagine the high pressure pump sticking and then shattering the cam quite easily.

 

I actually was thinking about that too but a brief search did not reveal a single case of seized fuel pump resulting in a broken camshaft.

 

It's just idle musing on my part, but it did break right near the HPP lobe. I've also seen these cams break in other brands but this is the first I've heard if it in a Lexus/UR engine.