Hey guys,

So I just joined the forum a few weeks ago because I bought my '08 IS 250 about 2 months ago. One day I was driving and noticed the car shook a little but that was it... I thought mayb I had let off the brake a bit so didn't pay much mind to it. about 2 weeks later I get in the car to go grab lunch and the RPM's are going up n down up n down while the car was stopped (AC on), it seemed like it was about to turn off but didn't. like 45mins later I get in the car again and it doesn't want to turn on so I give it a little gas and it turned on, I instantly took it to the dealer to have it checked.

The dealer said it was probably carbon build up causing that so last week I was told that the pistons needed to be changed because the carbon build up was so bad that the pistons had damage and the warranty covered the replacement.

Today I get a call and I am told the car is ready but they are recommending to get the Fuel Injection Cleaning done. they want to charge $259 At the present time I cannot afford that for a few reasons but long story short my BF got into a really bad car accident and has been out of work going on 3 months now so I have been paying for EVERYTHING.

What do you advise I do? is this something that can wait a month or that I can do somewhere else? isn't fuel injection cleaning those bottles you can buy at a gas station or auto parts store that is poured into the gas tank??

 

If the car is ready, and the issue has disappeared, i don't think the fuel injection cleaning is necessarily. Sounds like they are just trying to sell other services while their still have your car. best of luck!

 

That fuel injection cleaning is like a 95% profit service performed on the car. Almost all profit, because there's nothing they actually do becides throwing in some "Lexus" brand cleaner into the fuel system.

Definitely DO NOT perform that service, and just make sure to feed the car top tier fuels or Ethanol-free fuels to help will future build-up issues.

GL!

 

Where do you find Ethanol free fuel?

I agree with the rest. They're trying to make some profit from you.

 

just buy one of those fuel system cleaning bottles and pour it in with a full tank. Its like $12. Wouldnt hurt to try.

 

Absolutely unnecessary

 

You don't need a fuel injection service.....that's pure profit for them. Just use good quality fuels, and if you want to go to Walmart and buy a bottle of Chevron Techron and dump it in your tank at the next fill up.

 

Direct injection fuel injectors are prone to carbon build up mostly in part of today’s fuels. The engine, because of the buildup of carbon and dirt (from fueling), start losing their performance around 45k miles (or so I am told). The Carbon Build-up TSB is the only remedy and is costly because it requires the removal of the cylinder head to clean the dirt buildup from the intake valves and ports. Using an Injector Cleaner breaks down those deposits so they can be dissolved into the fuel and burnt off. It is not part of the regular maintenance because it is in fact a defect. You don't really see them in 350's but in 250's so I can't really speak from experience (as I drive a 350) but I still run preventative maintenance on my vehicle by placing that Toyota Genuine Injector Cleaner once every 30k miles. I think it's PRT00289-EFI00. Lexus calls it EFI Fuel Additive or something like that. Same part number. Same product(?). Different bottle.

 

Thanks everyone!! I picked her up and declined the service, I will def be picking up one of Techron bottles for my next fill up

on a side note, the damn mechanic reconnected my daylights and now when I turn on my HIDs the daylights are on at the same time! now we gotta do all that again!! do we really have to take the bumper off again??

 

The first time around, did you disable the dtrls yourself or did a dealer do it for you? No need to remove bumper if i remember correctly, you can just unplug the harness or bulbs. You will lose your high beam functionality though. I recommend using software (toyota techstream) to disable DTRLs but that way you still have your high beams

 

A friend of mine did it for me. He installed the HiD headlights and fog lights by removing the bumper. when he was finished he unplugged something in the headlight thing to turn off the DRL while the HID's were on (they still worked during the day tho when the HiDs were off), he put the cover back on and then put everything back in place. how the heck do you use software to do that?