sean_co

so far so good. need to make a 40 odd km trip in the next hour or so and i think all might be ok now. lets hope so. i did get an email from the service manager when i got back to my office this afternoon. i will post it here, let me know what you guys think of what they saying? based on your replies in the first 2 pages i believe the agent is not correct. --Original email removed--

they made their come back by coming out to my house and collecting the car early this morning, follow up with me today. and here i am back at work (just collect the car from them) and seems to be happy again. i do hope that was the last trip for an ODB scan / service for a long time, haha. any further updates i will post for you guys.

update - Dealer called me now and they say they fixed the lean code. was cause by a leaking gasket on the intake side. intake was removed yesterday for the recall repair. they say that has now being fixed and currently there is no error code and its running fine. though they did mention that they think the error will come back for the O2 sensors, they keep on insisting i must do the full exhaust system and sensors. but we proved that it will run fine because it was after the mini cat removal. so they say crank angle was caused by a low battery and lean code by leaking gasket. the whole oil level issue i will check again tonight and tomorrow morning, i want to see that for myself. actually thinking about getting an ODB2 reader so if it comes back i can scan it myself. are there any readers you guys are using or can i use any generic ODB2 readers?

i don't have the service invoice with me but i think i was 15w - 40 oil. im also not sure about oil weights vs altitude. soon as i hear anything more i will be posting it. is there a way to change my topic title since its moved from exhaust changes to random error codes?

indeed, fun when it runs though :). but the technician came out at 6.30 this morning to collect that car, so im getting service at least. i was not there, he apparently says the oil has now run down and its showing correct level on the dipstick. strange, iv never had to leave a car overnight to check oil levels and last night he agreed there was not enough. anyway the dealer says they busy with it now and they going to fix the lean code issue and check for anything that could be an issue down the line. the DP wants me to do a test for him to make sure his tech is not giving him stories. so i will check the oil level when i get the car, leave it overnight and recheck. if i get a full dipstick then we know, if not it sounds to me like the tech is going to have a hard time explaining how it magically got extra oil this morning.

so as i pull in to my driveway at home i hear what sounds like tappets clicking. shutdown the engine and let it sit for about 30 min. i find the worst.... a dry drip stick, WTF really. after a service at the dealership. in a rage i call everyone in the way of the dealer principal, luckily i could not get hold of him. anyway they sent a technician at 7.30 pm to my house to check, he agrees, there is oil but way too little, as in 1 droplet at the bottom of the dipstick. he scans for errors and finds a lean code now. apparently could be due to incorrect installation of the intake manifold while they did the "fuel pressure recall job". they will be collecting the car tomorrow and i let him know i dont want it back until all the error codes are sorted. he admitted that he drove the car earlier today and there were no errors at that point. i will be calling the DP tomorrow to get an incident report so its on record incase any damage was caused by low oil. and yes, oil as a line item was specified on the invoice. i paid for it, where is it? disappointed...

so not have the best of luck right now with this thing. comes back from the agent and CEL turns on, i was at that point right at the other dealer that did the initial scan. turns out this error is now caused by a "crank angle sensor", they checked the O2's again and those were fine this time. they reset the code went for a short test and seemed to be ok. 40km later CEL back on. so looks like ill be back at the shop tomorrow. so annoying! could the location of the crank angle sensor be close to where the dealer was working todo the service. perhaps it was damaged while they were busy changing oil or the filters or the plugs? is there a way to change the title of this topic?

thanks for the reply guys. i did have a feeling they were trying to get some more money while i was there :). unlucky for them we have forums like this. sounds like these ECU's are extremely complicated and well protected software wise. just wanted to make sure though. i do like the dyno idea to have it logged and also to see how much power we actually loose at this altitude. we about 1700m +- from sea level here. The AFR gauge as Peter mentioned also would be nice down the line but indeed the whole exhaust system is top of my list

Good morning guys, i just took my car in for scheduled service and a Lexus dealership. the mechanic at the dealership is saying that because of the cats being removed then engine will be running a bit rich. i found this strange because its the first O2 sensor that determines the AFR and the firs O2 sensor and cats are still the factory ones? though i would rather run rich and use a bit more fuel then run lean and seize up an engine so to me that's not too much of an issue. if this correct or are the fishing for more business? His proposed repair is a whole new exhaust system with cats and sensors. but since i had those "mini cats" removed i have had no errors and the car feels like its running fine, so i believe the dealership is fishing for extra work to be done

This, can't be h&s as branding is clear and not sure anyone has 2nd cats removed. Be interested to know if it is h&s. Stu Having taken the time to find Sean's newbie post, I noticed he's based in South Africa! ;) Very, very, unlikely this is an H&S system. Glad to hear it's done the trick though. :) this is defiantly not H&S, there was no branding at all. this looks like the typical cheap work from a local shop somewhere here. this is also why i usually ask to go into the workshop while techs are working on my vehicles. im currently waiting for a quote on a full system, when it comes through i will check with you guys if that system / brand will be decent before spending that money. thanks for all the replys and comments so far guys.

this is the typical work of a local shop here. i thought it was all neatly done but while on the lifts i could have a much better look and its just a simple cut out old part and weld in a piece of pipe. its just horrible, should have take photos for your guys but the shop guys didnt really want me in the work area as it was so didnt try push my luck with a camera in hand. as promised, here are the photos of the "mini cats" that were removed today. and i have been on on a 30km +- drive with no error :) much happiness! drove in normal mode, pushed it a bit, then switched to S and pushed it hard for 2 gears. so it seems to be ok so far.

so a quick update for now. first stop was a generic car shop, they kind of do anything and everything. plugged in the diag tool and got 2 codes, i dont remember the code now but its basically the last 2 o2 sensors. both of them were not reading anything. they guy at the shop put the car on a lift, we found what they call mini cats attached to the o2 sensors. to me it looked like a short extension. the wires on the o2 sensors would up extremely tight for some reason also. for those IT guys out there it looked like an ethernet cable, that tightly twisted. o2 sensors were re installed without the so called mini cats and apparently the back sensors are now giving a reading. possibly the lack of reading was producing the CEL? all errors have been reset and tonight i will go for a bit of a drive to test. will upload photos of the mini cats so you guys can see what they are. and the primary cats are still original. honestly whoever did this decat did a rushed job, welding looks horrible.

i will look out for that branding. im taking it to the agent for ODB scanning just to confirm the error and then going to another generic place also. just to make sure i dont get conflicting info. when its on the ramps ill take some pictures

this look like my exhaust. i assume then that my primary cats are still in place and that i should in fact not be getting any error code on the dash? will have a look in day light to make sure the primary ones are still there. perhaps a faulty 02 sensor then

it is a bit more loud then a normal one. how close is the primary cat to the header? under the car you can see the straight pipe that was made up, i guess thats the secondary cat location. im not 100% on how the exhaust system is suppose to look on the vehicle. will probably put in on the ramps on the weekend and have a better look. does someone on this forum perhaps have a photo of how the exhaust is suppose to look with cats and O2 sensors in place?

in South Africa we dont have those tests for emissions, unlike you guys that would need the cats to pass those test. as soon as those laws hit South Africa most of our cars would fail. so besides the MOT tests and the error lights is there possibility of damage? and can i go to a normal exhaust place to have Cats put back in or are there specific Lexus ones that i need?

Good evening guys, i have recently taken delivery of a 2010 IS-F, have posted some photos and a short intro in the new to forum section. i have a question about the exhaust and a modification the previous owner has done. I believe the previous owner had the Catalytic convert / converters removed (not sure how many it is) and the Lexus dealership says i will get a check engine light because of this. that makes sense as there are sensors before and after the cats (if they were there still). after now going for a long drive i eventually got that check engine light, as well as a traction control light and gearbox will not select 1st even at a dead stop. can this all be because of the Cats that have been removed and should i get them reinstalled? aside from the obvious error codes its putting out is there any damage that can be caused by them being removed? usually in the turbo cars i have owned before the cats were removed but software was done to not give errors. is there a software tweak that can be done to not monitor the sensors after the cats on this ECU? Regards,

Good evening guys, i am new to this Lexus forum, from South Africa. after driving a Lexus IS 250 SE and not too long ago the 250 EX i finally found an IS-F in a price range that was acceptable. Have been with the brand for a few years now and hopefully will stay for many more to come i do have a question about it but will be posting that in another section soon as i find out where it is.