Monocle

First off, I am not a mechanic so my terminology may annoy some of you!

I did this as i was getting a lack of power at about 2500revs mainly in higher gears. It has improved dramatically. Fuel efficiency seems to have improved but only slightly so I can't say for sure. 

For this guide, I refer to right and left as you stand at the front of the vehicle looking into the engine. I know this is not the norm so apologies if confusing. Front refers to the front of the car as standard.

Also, the elec. connectors are the biggest pain in the &%$£. Trying to squeeze the clip and pull at the same time is so difficult as they are usually well stuck in place being nine years old! Don’t give up!

Job time – 10 hours over two days (I didn’t have a guide so hopefully you will do it faster – it would take me about 6 hours if I did it again)

Set up tools, bench, laptop, etc. (1 hour)

Disassembly (5 hours)

Cleaning (2 hours)

Reassembly (2 hours)

Basic tools are required but just having a good socket set is very important. Not necessary to jack up vehicle but would help. I drove the front wheels up on 3inch blocks.

This is the order I did it in, you may want to do it a little differently. I include headings for the most part but in general this order worked well.

Here we go!...

Covers:

Remove primary engine cover

Remove RH engine cover

Remove LH engine cover

Remove front engine cover

Remove under engine covers (x2)

Battery:

Disconnect Battery terminals

Remove Battery horizontal support brace

Disconnect the electrical connection on the LH side of the Battery cover

Remove Battery cover

Remove Battery

Remove base cover of Battery

Remove Battery vertical support brace

Remove control module under Battery (x3 bolts – long one goes on RH side)

Disconnect 3 elec. connectors on control module

Remove bottom Battery case (x3 bolts)

EGR:

Remove EGR pipe and gaskets

Disconnect EGR elec. connector

Remove EGR valve

Radiator:

Open radiator cap and drain ***** (have bucket ready to take ~5 litres)

Drain fluid

Remove air intake duct above radiator

Disconnect inlet and outlet pipes of radiator fluid reservoir tank

Remove reservoir tank

Various:

Disconnect fuse box wire harness clips (x2)

Disconnect common rail front end elec. connector

Disconnect common rail fuel supply hose

Disconnect common rail rear end elec. connector

Remove wire harness support bolts (x2)

Various:

Disconnect EGR valve rear end elec. connector

Remove five wire harness clips (red arrows)

Remove harness support (green arrow)

Remove sponge adjacent to EGR valve

Various:

Remove bolts (x3) on water pipe (blue arrow) below EGR assembly

Remove clip at front end of pipe and slide hose off

Remove vacuum hose (small) from water pipe (underneath)

Remove elec. connector under vacuum hose & remove clip also (hard to see but you’ll know it has to be disconnected)

Push hose assembly out of the way – towards Battery area (no need to fully disconnect)

Air Flow (Throttle) Assembly:-

Disconnect three elec. connectors on air flow unit

Remove bolt on air flow unit

Common Rail:-

Remove common rail bolt (x2)

Remove common rail fuel lines

Protect (tissue) the common rail connectors & ports

Remove common rail and keep clean

Inlet Manifold:

Disconnect vacuum hose from inlet manifold

Remove inlet manifold upper stay bolt (it’s a vertical support that can be hard to see)

Remove air flow pipe to inlet manifold (1 clip also) (difficult to remove for me but keep twisting and pulling – there is a lip to overcome)

Loosen inlet manifold lower stay nut (very difficult to access – hard to even see. This was the most awkward part of the whole job. You should really disconnect for easier access but it would be impossible to get it back on – loosening and pushing it aside was fine for me) See diagram below.

Remove bolts (~x9) on intake manifold

Remove intake manifold

Cleaning:

Clean inlet manifold – I used a power hose, carburettor cleaner, screwdriver for scraping & kitchen paper.

Clean inlet ports – as above but I used a hoover continuously to prevent as much carbon as possible entering the valves/cylinders

Reinstall in reverse – much easier than disassembly!

Prime the fuel system. 

I'll post in a separate thread.

Thanks Keith & John. That's some great info. 

I was wondering how the centre caps would look and should I buy new nuts. Now I know!

So now I have pretty much all the info I need. 

I'm now thinking of going with the 18s (225 & 255) in Anthracite. I'll keep you posted.

They look fantastic. Exactly the type I'd be looking for. Thanks for the links. 

The one thing I am sure about is the colour and now it looks like I'll go for 18s. I am a fan of the original wheels but the spokes are a little too wide. Decisions, decisions!

Thanks Brian. Unfortunately I'm in Ireland where everything car related is a rip off. I shopped around and most wouldn't even quote because they know these alloys and won't touch them. So this guy can happily throw a few extra quid on the price knowing he has this market to himself!

Thanks again

Help needed!

I am in the middle of a TLC project on my IS220d (2007 140k miles). I am looking to get my alloys sorted. They are in a bad state as most IS drivers would be familiar with! 

I got a quote of ~£420 to treat wheels and bring them back to their original state. They have a full set of new tyres on at the moment. 

But I have been considering just buying new alloys and going bigger (currently have 17s). I have about £1000 to spend (including tyres). 

Here's where I need some advice:-

1) What size should I go for? Are 19s too big? I don't plan on lowering the car. And how do I know what size the wall size should be. For example I have 45r17s on front. If I go to 18s is that 40, 35, 30...?

2) Do I need to keep the wider rear or can I just move to 245s all 'round? Will the front take 245s? Currently 225 front.

4) Looking for a gun metal finish - the car is black - is it a good look? I know it's generally a personal preference but I'd be interested to hear some opinions.

5) Is the comfort of the ride affected much by narrower tyres? Not really concerned, just interested!

6) Is there anything else I should know?

I recently painted the calipers blue which didn't get much positive feedback from friends/family so I don't want to mess this up as well!

Thanks in advance!

My rear caliper looked like this on one side due to the caliper seizing. Reasonably easy to check. Had to replace in the end as it was rusted solid in place. 

Take a wheel off, unbolt the caliper and see if it is free to move. Check both the piston and the two slide pins (the pins are more likely the cause of a seized caliper on the IS). 

I'm not a mechanic by any means but I do enjoy tinkering!

The 220D gets a lot of stick here and rightly so. But if you have time and patience, you can do a few things to get the most out of it. Most of which I have learned here! I love my IS but have had to accept its limitations. It's now on 140,000 miles and I'm in the middle of a TLC project to keep it going for another few years. 

I religiously clean the EGR valve every 5000 miles and sometimes more frequently if I'm at something else in the engine - it's such an easy job. 

I recently pulled the inlet manifold off and cleaned it as well as as much of the inlet ports as I could. It was a big enough job taking about 10 hours total. I took a power hose to the inlet manifold to get as much carbon off as possible - probably not best practice!

The reason I did the job was because the car was coughing when accelerating at around 50/60mph in 4th/5th. Since the job has been completed, it has only happened once in ten weeks. It was happening nearly every time previously. 

Thinking about trying the exhaust manifold next and the second EGR valve. It looks like an easier job than the inlet. 

Here are a few photos. They are not great I'm afraid but will give you a rough idea. 

Photo 1: The manifold itself removed. I had started cleaning the 5th and 6th ports

Photo 2: Inlet ports. Right pair cleaned almost fully

Photo 3: Inlet ports (not sure why it's upside down). As you look at it, the right four have been almost fully cleaned

Photo 4: I'll type this up if someone is interested

Thanks!

The fuel cap issue was mentioned in a previous post and I checked that. Seemed tight as always.

Everything is pointing towards build up as being an issue as performance has improved greatly with the Redex addition, >3,000rpm for 30 minutes at 75mph and EGR cleaning. Maybe I am being impatient as things are getting better.

I'll report back in another tank or so...

Thanks Newbie.

I suppose chugging may not be the right word but it is not shivering really.

It feels like the car is running out of fuel.

On today's run (40 minutes, 40 miles) it ran well although there were a couple of instances when accelerating in low gears from low revs.

Overall, since I made the adjustments, the car is running far better but since the problem is not completely resolved I am anxious to know what is/was behind it.

Hi All,

Been a while as I haven't had any problems!

My IS220D '07 has just passed 100k miles and is 1000 miles after its last Lexus service (Lexus FSH).

On Saturday I pulled out of the driveway and the car "bunny hopped" for about 2-3 seconds before driving normally. I had thought I had slipped off the clutch as my normal seat setting had been changed. Drove 40 miles and parked up for the weekend.

Yesterday morning the car cut out in first gear a couple of times on my drive to work. Then it got worse. No power below 2,000 rpm on numerous occasions and mostly in the lower gears. Ended up driving at high revs for long periods to see if it was a dpf issue. No difference.

I had not got any warning lights at this stage. I disconnected the solenoid from the EGR to see if that was the problem. Car drove smoothly but was limited to 1,600 rpm. I didn't get to test this for long as I was running late. Reconnected the EGR and the faults lights remained. Cleared these by disconnecting the negative terminal.

Got home eventually with the same issues and cleaned the EGR valve. This is something I try to do every 5k miles but it had been about 15k since the last clean. It was pretty badly coated (3-4 mm of carbon). The spring was working freely.

I put all back together and drove it this morning. The car is driving much better but there is still the odd chug. I also filled up with Redex to give a bit of additional cleaning.

I am hoping this is not the start of something major. I will be taking to Lexus as soon as I can but I'm hoping someone could shed some light on this.

I know there have been endless topics around similar issues but out of all the posts I have read, I can't find the symptoms that specifcally match these.

Also, since I didn't get any warning lights (apart from the usual when I disconnected the EGR solenoid) will Lexus diagnostics pick up anything? Are errors logged that don't give warning lights?

Thanks in advance.

Not sure if 1-2mm of carbon build up would drop the MPG. I've seen photos on here that show the 20mm bore below the valve reduced to 5-8mm from the carbon build up. Sure let us know how you get on.

I was told at my last service that I needed to replace the water pump on my 220D. €500 all in. So, I had a look at it myself having said I'd get back to them about it. I saw a small leak coming out from the bottom of the pump. I decided that the gasket was the problem and ignored Lexus' advice thinking they were taking the easy option of replacing the whole lot and making a few quid!

Well I bought the gasket and tried to install at the weekend. Relatively easy job, just a serious pain taking the lower engine cover off. Took off the pump and realised that, yes, Lexus had been right all along. The pump was leaking where the shaft of the pulley enters the housing. So I had to put the whole thing back together and order a pump today. Serves me right I suppose!

The problem I had was that I couldn't find the cylinder block coolant drain coc k. It wasn't an issue as I let the coolant pour out freely when I removed the pump. Saved me 4-5 litres of coolant also as this amount remained in the system. Can anyone decribe where this is located? I have to do the full job again this weekend when I get the pump.

Thanks!

Most of my journeys are quite short back and forth to work, customer visits, shopping runs etc. However, every month or so I give the car a brief blow out at higher revs to clean out any carbon build up in the EGR valve. [ I basically go for a quick blast down the dual carriageway using much higher revs than normal and revving higher between gear changes] Thus far it seems to be working. My average on a 2000 mile trip, encompassing all types of driving and terrain, around France was 48.8mpg. Back home now on the work run it is holding at 41.9. Strange that... identical to Matus' mpg quoted figure.

Agreed. My average MPG over 8000 miles since last service is 41.7!

Did you get a price for the OE one? I want to replace mine also.

I use Redex in every tank fill. On the mpg side, it is very difficult to say if it has made a difference. If it has, there is no more than an extra 3mpg. I'm averaging about 45mpg (very careful driving and only about 30% urban driving). The biggest change I have noticed is that, when I clean the EGR valve every 5K miles, there is less carbon buildup in the EGR valve. So if it is reducing the buildup in the EGR valve, it is reducing buildups elsewhere.

Redex costs about €0.04 per litre of fuel.

That is scandalous! Love it!

Hi All,

I had a service yesterday and I was informed I need a new water pump as the current one is leaking. The quote was for €475 (£425) for parts and labour. I am fairly handy when it comes to working on cars so I would be confident in carrying the repair out myself. Would any of you recommend doing or not doing this myself? Has anyone done it before? I saw a new pump on eBay for £60.

Thanks in advance.

BTW, service was good. Need new pads on front needed. Quoted €320 parts and labour. Bought new bads on EBC for €60 delivered and will fit without difficulty myself.

I reset the Average MPG at last service (10k miles ago). The reading is 41.9mpg. For me it is not about motorway driving. The most efficient way to drive is in fifth between 45mph & 55mph. You can get well into the 50s mpg at this speed/gear combination. From the post about efficient driving, the point I agree with most is putting the car in neutral when coming up to a red light or slowing down in general.

Yeah, that's how I plan to calculate it. I do 25k miles a year so, coupled with the difference in fuel price (about 3.5% higher for petrol) and a 20% lower mpg and a difference in Road Tax of €150, the yearly difference is €1360 more. Time to ask for a raise!

Thanks for the words of wisdom lads. I suppose a test drive would be the best bet. Just never liked any autos I drove. I like working through the gears, simple as!

As said in another topic, I am looking to switch to the 250 from the 220D. There seem to be a minimal number of manual 250's out there. My question is why is this? Why do people swear by autos? Can anyone explain (from their point of view) why they drive an auto? I know the obvious answers but at the same time I would like to hear individuals points of view.

Thanks!

I currently have a 220D 07. I am looking to change to a 250. Has anyone made this switch and if so what was the difference in mpg? The reason I am not asking directly what mpg people are getting from their 250's is that I want people who drive the same way and in general drive on the same types of roads. For example, I currently get 41mpg on the 220D (very lucky I know!) so what would the equivalent be on the 250? I do a lot of mileage and I want to work out the costs involved in the switch.

Btw, I do it myself. Basic tools required. Don't be afraid of it. You don't need to be in anyway skilled!

No, it's very easy. I would safely say, half of the posts about the 220Ds on this forum are about the EGR valve and the cleaning of it!

How to clean

Dirty EGR Photos

EGR Tips