Dromara1974

Occasionally, the performance of my 07 220d is what you would expect of a car with 170+bhp. The weight of the car is not the issue, as I have driven heavier cars (BMW 520d and E220 CDI - both previous models) and they perform much, much better despit having much less torque! Remember, torque gets things moving (acceleration) and BHP comes to the fore at higher speeds (top speed) Trouble is, I seem to get 2/3 drives a month when it goes surprisingly well, boosts early and then keeps on boosting. Whereas the rest of the time it is pretty damn slow and feels like it is producing no more than 120bhp; judging by the fact that I struggle to keep up with the derv brigade on the motorway. Initially my car was just uniformily slow all the time, but I have to admit that I do now suffer from the setting-off lethargy - it really isn't right, not by a long shot!! I have never had to dip a clutch in anything since I stopped racing motocross, but I do now as I would rather live than die on a roundabout! I have tried all the additives(Archoil, BG244 etc, etc) and the Bardahl turbo/EGR cleaner, which took about 30 mins to dispense (and quite a bit of fuel),but nothing has really improved it to a marked degree. I also changed the MAF, but to no avail! My car does more motorway miles than most and that makes it run o.k, but if you get stuck in traffic......then don't expect to pass a milk float when the road clears. I thought my luck had changed and a new engine was coming, when I noted I was losing water, but Lexus found that the water pump was leaking after presuming it was the head gasket - I have never been so depressed when leaving a garage....ever!! To top it off, they had never known of a leaky water pump on post 05/06 cars. Can I ask if those with poor-performing cars have noticed that they are better to use a very light throttle and let it boost more gradually? I can feel it kick-in lower down the rev range doing it that way, as odd as it feels in practice, but when driven using a normal level of throttle it feels like you catch it out and it chokes it; as if you were over-fueling in the way you could with older engines. Or is it just me? Don't get me started on the suspension!!

Hi All, I wondered if anybody had ever received the following message on the computer display......Oil Maintenance Required? The message was accompanied by the red warning light, but I can't find mention of it within the manual. I check my oil/water fairly regularly and didn't have a problem in the last 6000 miles, though about two weeks back I did notice that my water was below the low level and my oil was just below the midway mark. I topped up the oil with some low ash Mobil 1, and also topped up the water too. I have to say that I found the dip stick impossible to use after the initial check - the subsquent checks just caused the oil to smear along the dip stick, no matter how fast or slow I pulled it! I have never ever had trouble with a dip stick on any car, whether new or old, so found this very annoying indeed! My car has run as usual, despite using the Bardhal intake/egr cleaner coupled with some BG244, so it varies between feeling pokey and feeling strangled; though mostly strangled!! I haven't had chance to check the oil as we were on our way out and got back when it was dark. Anyone had this warning message, or know what causes it?

Thanks for confirming that, as it is good to know. I seem to recall that others were getting knocked back latterly if they didn't have full Lexus service history. I have 3 Lexus stamps, 1 Lexus specialist and 1 porsche specialist, but I will have the next one carried out a Lexus even though the precedent is very clear and hard for Lexus UK to argue. Can I ask how your car drove until the coolant issue - any lumpiness in the rev range, or difference in performance/economy..... or did it drive o.k? Good old Lexus MK - they are obviously very good, whereas a few others seem pretty dreadful!

I'm glad it is moving in the right direction for you Pat. I had thought about the Subaru Legacy Boxer diesel, but they are hard to get with fewer miles on the clock (at the price anyway), and I do think the IS has aged very well indeed as a shape. I would suggest that you also try the cleaner that you need to spray diectly into the air intake whilst the car is running, as this purports to clean the carbon build-up from the top half of the system, along with the EGR and the turbo's vanes. When I've done it it has intially made a clear difference to the low-rev urge, but then you can feel the motor clog up for a period of time(a week or more) before it then seems to clear when it has eventually burned off. I haven't done this in conjunction with anything other than AR6200 in the fuel, so it is perhaps wiser to do it with something like BG244 in the tank to assist with getting the durge through the DPF etc. You mentioned that you may have some suspension wear. It may not be the same fault, but it may be worth checking your drop links, as I have just had my car into my classic car mechanic and he fully assessed the front/rear suspension and steering rack, and nothing was moving aside from the drop links. They are a short/stocky design in the IS and they apparently shoulder quite a bit of the work - mine moved by just grabbing them with your hand, but yet they weren't split. The backs hardly moved at all, so there was a clear difference. They are also not cheap, as I have bought some genuine parts from Toyota for the tidy sum of £143! BMW replacements are much cheaper despite being longer, but then the other items in the BM design tend to come as part of an expensive wishbone. I'm told the Lexus bits are typically individual items. I'm still miffed that I'm having to replace suspension on a car with 45k, but the suspension did seem to look very well engineered. Shame you can't say the same about the engine and the interior trim, and I suppose I will be happy if the front end is tighter and doesn't feel disconnected in concrete surfaced multi-storey carparks. I'm thinking of having the next service carried out early, as I wonder if the software updates will provide a marked difference - mine seems to choke itself most of the time, unless you push through it. Are you aware that some cars have a tendency to over-fuel and cause excessive carbon build-up? David

As I understand it, the early modifications reused the block and had a modified head/gasket fitted, but it didn't erdicate the problem - as there were other contributory factors that helped to cause the problem - in all cases and many modified cars had a reoccurance of the problem. I believe there are a few forum members that have suffered twice. I have read a few responses from toyota/lexus mechanics(mainly on other forums) and they say that the scuffing on the top of the block, caused by the gasket moving, was sufficiently bad that the blocks do not seal properly after the modifcations were carried out......or something like that. BB1000 - what symptoms did you have prior to it going in for the work and do you have full Lexus service history? I ask, because a Lexus garage told me that they have to carry out a number of tests to ensure that Lexus UK will cover the replacement engine, and that l would probably have to have the car recovered to them on a couple of occassions to have the DPFs regenerated and other work completed. I don't believe that many owners on the forum have had to go through this process, or have they?

My understanding is that you should never buy parts from ebay, as the vast majority of them aren't actually genuine even if the packaging is. Anyway, I had Mintex discs/pads fitted to the front and rear of my BMW 320d, and I have to say that, as someone who tuned cars in his younger days and thought that Mintex was the...., I was underwhelmed by their performance. My BMW's original discs/pads lasted for 84k rear and 93k front, and they were sharp until the end. Whereas, the mintex set never seemed to bed in and were never sharp, even after 10k. When I test drove my Lexus the brakes were sharp and feelsome, but the garage did an MOT that highlighted the front pads were 80% worn - so they changed them. Unfortunately, they fitted pattern pads - I don't know the brand - and the braking performance has been rubbish ever since. I actually can't wait until I need front discs, so I can get some original discs/pads fitted and then I'll have a premium car that can actually brake like one.

Hi Postman, I hail from Down myself and the roads there will not suit the IS220d, as they do(as has been said) 'choke up' very easily indeed. It needs regular motorway running to keep it running properly, as I frequently do 100+ mile trips each week and I can feel my car starting to run properly after about 30 miles on such a trip, especially if prior to this it has had a day or two of urban or A/B road driving. I've run BMWs for years and never had a problem, so it is not my driving style or the type of driving I do on a weekly basis. I changed my MAF and that made no detectable difference, but my car did run better after I used the JML air/EGR cleaner that you spray directly into the air intake; after the MAF sensor. However, my car did then run on an 'off and on basis' for a few days, whereby it felt like the gunge/carbon was cleared from futher up the system and was perhaps blocking the DPF further along the system. My car had never smoked in the previous 3500 miles, but it did 'blow out' one noticeable puff of white smoke when accelerating up a motorway slip road two days after the treatment, and at the same time it felt like I had lifted the anchor(Or more appopriately the tanker given the consumption) I had been pulling. I then got better mpg and even over 40mpg on a run, but you can then feel the car revert back to the tardiness mode as soon as you use it on non-motorway runs. I run my car on the better brand expensive diesel, such as excellium, in conjunction with AR6200(also redex on occasion) and that makes it feel better, but it is certainly no miracle cure. I would suggest that you don't use supermarket fuel or other non-brand outlets, as that will exacerbate your problem. Cleaning the EGR - as many do - alone will not solve the problem, but merely provide a shot in the arm - the rest of the system is affected with carbon and that will remain in situ and then block the EGR again. I am going to carry out the cleaning process again via the spray method, but I think I will do it only when there is a DPF type additive in the fuel to see if that will stop it 'clogging up' the DPF. Despite what some say, the car can feel like a 170 + bhp machine (with enough torque to shift a mountain), as I have managed to find on occassion. Trouble is, it only gives me this on maybe one drive a fortnight if I'm lucky, so it is utterly frustrating!! Finally, how do you find it on the roads over there, as I don't think mine would fair that well and cope as well as my BMW did during a trip home last year. Any steering jitters or creaks through the front suspension with yours?

Bump! Uncovered snow- did you get to the bottom of your symptoms, as I share them! I fitted a new MAF Sensor and air filter (very dirty) and I have worse step-off and more pronounced lag.........aaahhhhh!!!! Strangely my revs don't shoot to 1450rpm after starting and then stay there for 10/15 mins, rather they start at 950 rpm and occasionally go to about 1250rpm. My car warms up much more quickly too!!

No not at all, as my car is prone to doing that and this was why I wanted to see if a diagnostic check would flag anything up. Nothing was logged, nor was anything showing under real time running. I checked the car with my friend and then filled it with fuel(Including AR6200 additive) before setting off down the M1. Just an hour before it was running o.k and the fuel consumption was better than it had been for a while, which was probably down to the 310 mile drive I had done the day before, though it still had the split-personality and just didn't feel like a car with 170+ bhp - more like 110 bhp!! I'm hoping that a new MAF sensor and air filter will do the trick, though the aftercare manager at Lexus doesn't think it will and said they had never ever fitted a MAF sensor. Strange, when it is a wear item that is recommended for replacement every 3/4 years, or sooner if the car has done low annual miles and short journeys.

Thanks chaps. It is located beyond the lower part of the dash, but you have to get right into the footwell to get to it. It has a cap/cover that you need to remove first. There is another box to the left with a transparent blue lid - the fuse box I suspect (didn't have time to investigate) Unfortunately, the diagnostics didn't display any fault codes, yet I then drove down the M1 for 37 miles with a choking/powerless engine that achieved 31.4mpg. I had done about 37 mpg on the way there - so frustrating!!!!!!!!

Hi all, I'm meeting a friend tomorrow morning and he has kindly agreed to bring along his hand held diagnostic kit. Does anyone know where the plug-in point is so we can carryout the check? Is it in the usual place in and around the driver's side lower dash area? I have an IS220d Thanks David

Yes, I have noticed the same thing and I must say that I have never had this on any car I've owned! I lowered my passenger window to speak to someone and the scraping noise as the window went down was not pleasant at all.

Not all rear drive cars are bad in the snow, as both my e46 3 series and my wife's 2005 C class coupe were both very good and I could keep them going when idiots were crashing in their 4x4s. My IS220d is utter bobbins and couldn't cope with an inch of snow and a slight incline - the steering is way too light and the front end has no grip (my federals probably don't help - they were on the car when I bought it!), and the rear can't generate any traction whatsoever. I nearly swapped ends when changing from 3rd to 2nd in a straight line, which was at about 25 mph and has never ever happened to me before and I've had RWD for over ten years. I used to find my cars fun in the right circumstances, but this feels far too twitchy and quite dangerous.

It sounds very much like my car and I've just ordered a MAF from Lexus Sheffield. Lexus Sheffield told me that my problem would not be a MAF sensor(as they had never replaced one), and they are convinced it is either the EGR or the DPF - I explained that my EGR had been cleaned and it had made no difference. I think that Normski is referring to the MAP sensor on the inlet manifold(something like absolute pressure sensor in Lexus language - also about £360), which I believe can display similar symptoms to a worn MAF when it goes. Did you check the turbo actuator/arm when you checked the turbo, or are they not accessible on these? I don't think it sounds like an injector or the glow plugs! I haven't done it yet, but I'm going to try the inlet/EGR cleaner (spray) to see if that will clean the system. Do keep us informed.

@ Carl As I have probably mentioned elsewhere, my wife's golf GTI (54k on the clock) used the amount of oil that Lexus deems unacceptable - it used 2 litres in about 2.5k miles, just before having a major service at VW. After we got it back from VW, the light came on after a month and the oil didn't register on the dipstick once again. Well, I thought the engine was gone having had oil burners in my student days, but there was no trace of blue/white smoke or oil leaks on the drive - much head scratching followed!! I tried the Normski (et al) method and put some Archoil AR6400 in the fuel, after reading about this on an american GTI forum, and this has stopped the excessive consumption - though I must check the dipstick tomorrow! The excessive consumption is caused by the piston rings sticking in the piston - due to carbon deposits - and not sealing properly against the cylinder wall.....still not sure where the oil is going. We need a techincal master to explain, but my musings are that the sticking piston ring means there is inadequate compression/seal and the oil is passing past the ring and passing straight through the exhaust without getting combusted in the way that would cause blue smoke, due to a lack of compression. This is probably rubbish though and I will gladly stand corrected by someone who knows! Incidentally, some garages are equipped with the necessary cameras and they will have a look inside your engine's bores to see if the carbon is noticeably bad.