Is200 Running On

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Hi guys.

Parked my Is200 up tonight and it ran on for about half a second and there was a strong smell of petrol. I've noticed the petrol smell for a couple of weeks now but didn't think anything of it as the car drives fine and I cant find any leaks.

I restarted it and the engine managment light was on. I turned it off and re started it 3 times as I know this will clear the light if its not throwing up the error code anymore. Light went off. I will get the code read when I can but does anybody know what would cause it to run on and activate the light?

Many thanks

Chris.

[sparkystav]

a strong smell of petrol is always dangerous, have a real good luck about the car including underneath where the lines run

[is200 Newbie]

You can do a quick check and see if all the the spark plugs are in tight - if they are loose, even one, then this could produce a petrol smell but i am not too sure if this would cause it to run over - it could do if there's unburnt fuel there?

[ColinBarber]

I would guess at a fuel injector leaking. The engine management probably detected a misfire which triggered the CEL

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I've had the car up on a mates ramp this evening, he's a young mechanic and has an Altezza import so he knows his way around the car. His code reader is broken so guess I'll have to pay for a garage to read them.

No obvious fuel leak. The tank itself is fine, fuel lines in good condition and nothing obvious dripping underneath or in the engine bay. I've also not noticed any change at all in fuel consumption. It didn't smell of petrol at all while there or on the way home??

He checked the plugs, all good but they are Bosch and he said Lexus and Toyota don't like Bosch plugs so am going to change them on pay day! He said there could be carbon build up in the chambers and that can get very hot and ignite the fuel after switching the ignition off and this with bad plugs may be causing the run on.

Anyway quite confused, will need the codes and let you know or ask for more advice lol.

Chris

[ColinBarber]

carbon build up can cause this but you really don't see this anymore with modern fuel and engines, 20 years ago maybe. Also if the injectors are good then you shouldn't be getting fuel into the chambers once power is turned off. Again you used to see this on older vehicles as the vacuum created within the down stoke of the engine would draw in new fuel through the carburettor. You should be able to quite quickly check for this, remove a plug and shine a light in to look at the top of the piston, or pop in an inspection camera.

Worth making sure your timing belt is good and hasn't stretched or slipped, although I would have expected you to notice a difference in how the engine was running if that had happened.

[ColinBarber]

maybe try some injector cleaner

[north]

Your mate might be right...To get rid of the carbon buildup, I suggest an engine flush and injector cleaning not with some injector cleaner but get them cleaned ultrasonic... Then you are quite sure the injectors are clean.Also get the right spark plugs.

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Hi guys, thanks again!

Ok so I'm gonna get some injector cleaner and see if that helps. Where's the best place to get some? Halfords? And how do you use it? Is it a case of putting some in your tank? Sorry but I'm useless with things like this. Talking about cleaning it ultrasonic is way over my head and I've got no idea what that means!Changing brakes and filters etc I'm fine but thats where my knowledge ends!

The timing belt should be perfect. Had it done less than 2000 miles ago buy Lexus.

Big thanks for all your suggestions, very interesting.

Will keep you posted.

Chris

[north]

you can get it at Halfords... but basically it helps just a little bit there will still be build up in your injectors. Ultrasonic cleaning means taking all the injectors out and putting submerging them in a special fluid in an ultrasonic cleaner. because of the vibrations all the build-up in the injectors gets broken down and the special fluid helps that process along. That is the best way to get the injectors cleaned out good. Most motor bike shops have one of these machines laying in the shop and will charge you a small fee to get yours cleaned out (it is more expensive then the stuff you get from Halfords but like i said it is the only way to be sure they are as good as new)

PS the stuff from Halfords you throw in the petrol tank and should be added to a full tank. ( it is a slow process as to getting the cleaned ultra sonic is way faster)

For the carbon build up in the engine you can buy engine flush that you add to the motoroil while the engie is at operating temperature, you then let the car run for at least 15 minutes, then you change both oil-filter and oil. This process wil clean the engine on the inside braking down most of the carbon build-up in it.

PPS get the right sparkplugs as the lexus engines are very sensitive when it comes to their ignition. Bosh sparkplugs seem to have a little more resistance then the OEM types used by Lexus causing misfires and weird side effects like what you are now experiencing.

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Been to a garage today. Only went there because they do cheap diagnostics. Codes were misfire. They tried to tell me I needed coil packs and plugs. I told them that it was because it had run on that it stored that code and that if I needed plugs and coil packs then the car would be misfiring all the time and the engine light wouldn't have gone out.

I think Colin is right, leaky injector caused the run on throwing up the misfire codes. Going to take it to my usual garage on Monday get the injectors looked at by people I trust. Will post how I get on.

Thanks for you help people, much appreciated.

Chris

[ColinBarber]

sounds like the garage didn't properly look at the freeze frame data that was stored along with the error code, just read misfire and jumped to a conclusion of coil packs. In your case I'm guessing the data would show throttle at idle position, no engine load and probably an engine speed at idle, or more likely just a few hundred rpm as it was dying.