After 200K Miles, IS F V8 Looks Super Clean Inside
One might think that a life of hard driving would make this IS F's 5.0-liter V8 a bit worn inside, but that isn't the case at all.
Open Up
Generally, once cars crest that magical 100k mark, people begin to think about replacing them. But that certainly isn't necessary with your average Lexus vehicle, as we've seen some models from the luxury brand rack up some seriously incredibly mileage numbers and still keep on ticking. But what about a Lexus IS F that has spent a good part of its life at the track and completing long-distance road rallies?
Racking Up Miles
The YouTube channel Wrench Every Day was getting ready to do some routine maintenance on their well-used IS F recently, which provided the perfect opportunity to open up the engine a bit and take a peek inside to see how things were holding up. The channel's host, Jared, has racked up 40,000 of the car's miles by himself, and they haven't been easy miles, as he explained.
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Hard Knock Life
"I've had almost no issues with it," Jared explains. "Most of the issues are just things I've caused. Worn out tires, worn-out brakes, oil changes, had a radiator failure when I slammed into a bunch of cones at 70 miles an hour on a race track." The car is in need of a wheel bearing replacement and new valve cover gaskets, which is really the purpose behind this video, anyway.
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Peek Inside
In addition to a bit of an oil leak requiring the replacement of the valve cover gaskets, the IS F also needs a high-pressure fuel pump gasket. But what's particularly interesting about this routine maintenance is what the heads look like when Jared pulls off the valve covers.
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Super Clean
The insides of the V8 look amazingly clean, especially for a car with this kind of mileage and usage history. Jared certainly maintains his car better than most, which helps, but it's still a testament to Lexus quality. There's no sludge or any sort of buildup that one might typically find in an engine of this age, either.
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Small Issue
Jared did find a bit of oil in the spark plug tubes, so he will need to replace the seals there as well. But otherwise, there are no obvious issues inside this engine. Of course, Jared didn't rip the whole thing apart so we could see what the bottom end looks like, but perhaps that will happen in a future video.
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Winning Combination
This is the sort of thing that might be surprising to some, but not so much to us. After all, when you combine proper maintenance with a great engine design, you've got a winning combination. "As long as you keep your maintenance up and use your cars for what they're meant for, that engine's gonna keep looking clean for many, many miles," Jared said. "I expect to run this thing so much further."
>>Join the conversation about this high-mileage IS F right here in the Club Lexus Forum!
Check out the how-to sections of ClubLexus.com for help keeping your car in great shape.