Mattydor

It's a tough decision. Do I spend ten minutes cleaning the OCV or do I go for the engine rebuild at £1500 + VAT, as recommended by my local garage? Hmm... So, I clean it with soap and water or rinse with petrol? One final question: I think I'd better do an oil change asap too. Halfords offers their 5W/30 part-synthetic oil as an option for this car (on sale at only £10 for 4 litres right now!). Is this good enough or should I splash out of branded fully-synthetic?

Does the blocked oil control valve problem sound like the likely culprit for the misfiring? Build up of pressure or something?

There was another code (P1656 - OCV Circuit Malfunction (BANK1)), but the mechanic said not to worry about that. I thought he'd purposely created it during diagnosis? He did mention the oil sensor. He played around with something just above the timing belt cover and said I could try cleaning that. Sorry, forgot to mention that.

It was whitey-grey in colour. Not dark at all.

Thanks very much for the fast responses. If LOC-ers ever have any web development questions, I'm more than happy to help, if I can. Well, I took the car back to the garage. The guy said it must be oil intermittently dripping down the valve stems and into the mixture, causing the misfires when putting my foot down. He said it was a £1500 + VAT job. The Error Code is P1349 - VVI (Variable Valve Timing) System Malfunction (Bank1) The misfire (again, more of a rattle) and resulting smoke-cloud only happen when I accelerate quickly, once the car has been running a while. It clears quickly and, apart from that, the car runs beautifully (except for Error 1 on CD multi-changer and key fob (only have one) remote no longer working (Can I change the battery in this easily.? Will it need resetting afterwards?) Any thoughts?

Thanks, Chris I'll see what these guys say in the morning (as it won't cost me anyway) but I won't use them again, I don't think. 1.5 hours @ £70 + VAT per hour to diagnose and fit plugs. That is crazy, isn't it? I'll try and find a Lexus specialist or garage close by. If anyone knows someone in the Barnet area of London, please let me know. I can't seem to find anyone close, apart from a Toyota garage in Enfield.

Hi all, Intro (you can skip this if you want) I've been looking for a new (used) car but was sick of seeing the usual Fords, Vauxhalls, etc. I wanted something a little different. I fell in love with the IS 200 at first sight. With only around £2000 to spend, I thought it was unrealistic until I tested a beautiful silver IS 200 SE Auto (2002, 88k miles) last week. This is where it gets embarrassing. It was a private sale with no service history (apparently the lady had lost all her receipts when she moved house). I even got a mechanic to have a look. He mentioned the engine warning light which I had completely missed. I paid him and decided to make an offer, using the light as a bargaining chip. To be honest, I wanted that car and nothing would stop me. Anyway, I saved £400 and drove home. It was a long drive, east to north London in rush-hour. As I was halfway home, I noticed a strange noise that reminds me of that worn tappet sound, for a second or two. Behind me came a cloud of smoke and for the rest of the journey I was accompanied by this stuff. The car fans came on and it felt very warm, although the temp gauge never went above halfway. I thought I wouldn't get home but it got me there. Getting out of the car, it was ticking like crazy, especially the whole exhaust. *****, what an idiot! The Problem I took it to my local garage (not Lexus) and they said it was a misfire problem and the plugs were caked and knackered. They said it's burning oil and gave me huge quotes for engine rebuilds, valve stems/piston rings that I might need in the future. They fitted 6 new plugs (£200, including labour and testing) and I drove out of the garage, the car purring nicely. I went for a burn and it drove like a dream. You see, everything else on the car worked perfectly. Even the garage said the bodywork and everything else was immaculate. I popped to the shops in it later on and the light was back. Within 10 minutes the misfire (tappety sound?) happened again and a plume of smoke came out of the exhaust. This time it didn't keep coming out but the car did feel hotter and hotter (with a mild smell of melting plastic!). And now I'm writing this, wishing my first post on LOC was about how amazing my car is. I'm taking it back for them to look at again (for free this time, I insisted). Basically, I wonder if I should just stop flushing money away chasing this problem and go the whole hog and replace the engine. I've seen IS 200 engines go for £300-ish on eBay. I've been told by an acquaintance that his mate's garage will swap it for £350. Or is it possible for a layman to do it (me)? Am I mad? Are they mad? Or should I keep tracking down this problem, be it coils or plugs or ECU or injectors? It's all too scary and I think I need a lie down. I know it's not much to go on but any advice would be gratefully received. Is there any more info I should supply? Oh, I checked the timing belt. It looks quite new (she said she'd had it done when she bought it 2 years ago) but there are a few chips on the edge where it moved over a bit. Yes, I know I'm an idiot. But when that car is driving smoothly it all feels worth it.