Lexus Is220 Head Gaskett Gone

[animus nocendi]

Thanks for your replies.

normski2: it's a 2006, IS220D SE-L and it's done 114000 miles.

It has 3 Lexus Chester stamps and two non-Lexus.

The water looked very clear, couldn't see any oil at all.

The oil filter cap looks very clean.

I just went out for a spin, drove on mixed roads doing slow speeds in 5th - 6th, then when the engine temperature was just under half way, I put my foot down. I pulled over a couple of times but couldn't see any of the 'smoke', however every so often I thought I could smell burning whilst driving, I'm not sure if I'm bonkers or not.

That sniffer test sounds like a good idea, do I just call Lexus and ask when they can do one?

Should I book it in for a full service? What would you guys do?

I really hope it's a decent car and that I don't have to take the seller to court and go through all that hassle.

When I bought the car I was dealing with a bloke, however it was his wifes car. The reason they stated they were selling it was that she didn't get on the with manual gearbox and that she was used to driving automatics, they had only had it for about 6 months.

The car had several airfreshners in it, I'm not sure if this is normal for some women drivers or if it was to cover something up.

Could the smoke/fumes have been from something else? It was fairly cold last night, about 3-4C, the engine temperature was about half way. I was driving slowly in high gears to see what mpg could be attained if I tried.

[Carl911]

Any garage shoud be and to do the sniff test.

However, looking at your pictures everything looks pretty good unless your are in early stages.

You may smell a hot oil smell after pulling to a stop from a good drive, probably just the engine breathers and nothing to be too concerned about.

Carl

[animus nocendi]

I was reading about DPF blockage symptoms and came across these:

• poor fuel economy - good, healthy system should make around 45 mpg easily
  
• white smoke during acceleration - mostly caused by DPF obstruction. After engine temperature is raised up to 90C engine ECU is trying to burn the soot out of the filter to prevent complete blockage which could cause car to stop or engine failure. On the motorways most of the time smoke is invisible
  

Is it more likely that the white smoke I saw is from the engine trying to clear the DPF than the gasket being on it's way out?

[DennisJ]

Thanks for your replies.

normski2: it's a 2006, IS220D SE-L and it's done 114000 miles.

It has 3 Lexus Chester stamps and two non-Lexus.

The water looked very clear, couldn't see any oil at all.

The oil filter cap looks very clean.

I just went out for a spin, drove on mixed roads doing slow speeds in 5th - 6th, then when the engine temperature was just under half way, I put my foot down. I pulled over a couple of times but couldn't see any of the 'smoke', however every so often I thought I could smell burning whilst driving, I'm not sure if I'm bonkers or not.

That sniffer test sounds like a good idea, do I just call Lexus and ask when they can do one?

Should I book it in for a full service? What would you guys do?

I really hope it's a decent car and that I don't have to take the seller to court and go through all that hassle.

When I bought the car I was dealing with a bloke, however it was his wifes car. The reason they stated they were selling it was that she didn't get on the with manual gearbox and that she was used to driving automatics, they had only had it for about 6 months.

The car had several airfreshners in it, I'm not sure if this is normal for some women drivers or if it was to cover something up.

Could the smoke/fumes have been from something else? It was fairly cold last night, about 3-4C, the engine temperature was about half way. I was driving slowly in high gears to see what mpg could be attained if I tried.

Is it possible that the white smoke could have been from the DPF regenerating. this can happen after a long motorway run. Your coolant and oil cap show no signs of trouble.

:eerrrmm: That'll teach me to come back to a thread without checking replies since lunch time

[animus nocendi]

Thanks DennisJ. Only that it wasn't a motorway run, I was driving around town, at night so no traffic, driving at fairly low revs but in 5th @ just over 30mph and 6th at just over 40mph, trying to see if the mpg will decrese (lol). I had been driving for over an hour, maybe it thought it would try to clear the DPF as the engine had warmed up enough.

I probably did the wrong thing by pulling over too. Had I known abot the cleaning process, I would have carried on driving.

[Carl911]

To clear the dpf you need to be doing at least 2,500 rpm which is probably motorway speed for about 20 minutes or more. You certainly won't achieve it doing low rpm around town.

[animus nocendi]

I had the sniff test done this morning and it passed! The garage says the head gasket is fine and that the smoke and very poor mpg are probably caused by too much fuel, so probably the injectors.

I think this is excellent news, as replacing the infectors(5th?) is probably a hell of a lot cheaper than getting the head gasket replaced :D

[normski2]

Good its not the Head Gasket.

The injectors won't necessarily be that cheap though.

Don't think they are talking about the 5th injector, although it may be. that would be a bit of a toad to get at by all accounts.

[koppatroppa2002]

Greate chit - chat guys, thats what is this forum about! I was reading top-bottom and end up with a smile on me face. I wish to add my little knowledge about cars down below here and say that one thing I agree with is, Don't put ur foot down while the temperature of the engine its Not optimal as in any other cars books !!! You looking for performance then you should know that !! Only a butcher buy a Lexus and at a push of a button revs high !! ..or any other car: its not a horse.., Hello ! but that juat me and I'm not even mechanic or close but I hear about those high revs cold engines before and they All end up in big engine trouble, thats all I can share here. :-D