kaiser

Hi Guys, I am new to the forum after having recently purchased an IS 220d. After picking up the car (on a 56 plate with around 100k) I was hugely impressed with how it drove and the MPG I was getting (about 42-45) for a car with this mileage on it After a month of having it I had a white smoke intermittently appearing from the exhaust and a drop off of MPG from 42 to around 30. I was concerned that this was going to be a DPF issue due to these being 2 major symptoms of DPF failure. At this point I used a fuel additive and ran the vehicle at 3000+ rpm for about 40 miles to "force clean" the DPF. This made no difference. Then I had Lexus oxford look at it and they informed me that there was a non standard DPF on the car but it looked rather new and as such it was unlikely to be this. After doing some research on this forum it became apparent that this may be the head gasket (from white smoke being produced due to water in the combustion chamber). I took the car to Lexus Milton Keynes and stated that it had a full service history (only half from Lexus themselves and the other half just A N Other garage) and 102k miles. I told them of the white smoke, drop in mpg and dpf replacement as well of the steps I had taken clean the DPF. Initially the Service Manager suggested a CAT at around £2k to fix the problem. Upon discussion about this fixing a symptom rather than a problem he openly discussed the extended good will warrantee (up to 7 years old and less than 111,000miles [180,000km]). They have now booked the car in for December 9th and are going to replace the whole engine. Firstly I would like to say thank you to everyone who posts on here as doing a bit of research made life so much easier with the guys at Lexus. Secondly I would say well done to Lexus for being so accommodating over this. They are giving me a courtesy car for the week and not charging me anything to sort out the car. They even said that upon deep inspection if it is not the HG they will not charge me for a diagnostic for finding the route cause. I will keep you updated on progress but at the moment I would certainly recommend Lexus Milton Keynes to anyone! It has been incredibly helpful having the information I have found on this forum and though I would put down concisely what I said to get the outcome of an engine replacement, free of charge, from Lexus. - Called the garage(s) in the service book to gain more information on the history of the car (all was clear they obviously didn't change the DPF) - Conducted DPF cleaning steps (run engine at 3000 rpm for about 40 miles, I found this to be 4th gear and around 70mph) use a fuel additive designed to clean diesel exhaust systems (often these do not actually state DPF but do clean it) - Called Lexus to ask if anyone had seen the vehicle - they had, Lexus Birmingham who diagnosed CAT replacement in march - Spoke to mechanic about EGR Valve, DPF and CAT - all seem ok - Took Car to main Lexus dealer, informed them that the DPF had been replaced, the EGR was fine and the CAT was ok. - Informed them of White Smoke (would be either water in combustion chamber and as such HG or completely unburnt diesel and probably a compression ratio issue) - they agreed with these two probable causes - Informed them of the drop off in MPG - could be DPF or Engine/Compression Malfunction - they agreed - Stated that DPF was replaced (non standard part) - they said this would mitigate the likelihood of a DPF issue and they had no problem with a non-standard part - Mentioned their "Goodwill" extended warrantee - they informed me of the guidelines - 7 years and 111,000 miles - Stated the likely problem due to symptoms and checks was the HG - Lexus agreed to take car and replace engine under extended Warrantee - Lexus also agreed to further diagnose the problem if the replacement does not cure the white smoke. Something to bear in mind is that the Service Manager did say an engine replacement may not get rid of the smoke, my argument was that Diesel engines do not legally require a CAT (in the UK) so why would I pay £2k to replace it when I can pay £100's to get a non cat exhaust? Furthermore, replacing the CAT will simply clean the exhaust gas better and remove the symptom not the root problem. At this point the instantly agreed to replace the engine. I hope that this experience can help others with the same problem, if nothing else I just wanted to say a big Thank you to all on this forum who have helped me get the result I needed with minimal argument with Lexus.