NickySB

Well I've started the tear down, think it will be a matter of replacing the valves and headgaskets judging by the noises the engine made. I can find guides to help with the valve replacements on the back of the 2010 SB, but no sign of any guidance on headgasket replacement. I'm not familiar with this engine so I'm keen I don't stuff it up, especially with 3 timing chains to argue with. Does anyone have any helpful guidance/hints/tips/ links pls? I've done various searches but haven't turned up much for this engine yet - 2GR-FSE I believe.

It would be a possibility but I have to move from one end of the country to the other soon so i would have to effect the repair sooner rather than later I think

Had to wait a bit until I could look at the car, so started with the coolant pressure check today and seemingly at 10 & 15 psi it lost no pressure. Tried to start the car to do the emissions in the coolant check and it wouldn’t start. Whilst looking about I opened the oil cap and founded the dreaded mayonnaise. It wasn’t there two weeks ago when I last looked and I’ve not taken the car out since but have run it up a bit so clearly things are progressing rapidly. Another coolant pressure check for longer concurred the coolant system has pressure loss - oh joy!

That’s a good point and I can’t find any history of it being replaced in my paperwork

Thank you for all these pointers - lots to investigate - which is good as it will help me piece together what’s going on 👍

Thanks Chris

Thank you

I have a 2007 GS450h mileage around 122k. I seem to be having a collection of issues and wondered if I could call on the knowledge in the forum please? Around December it started leaking coolant, a look around found the water pump we replaced a just over 2 yrs prior was failing as the gasket (also replaced the stat), which wasn’t OEM, appeared to had turned to mush. Fitted an OEM pump and gasket and all seemed good for a few months. However when driving it steam started to appear. Found a fault pipe, resolved that, and it was fine again. A few weeks later OH comes back from work with yet more coolant issues and also reports an engine judder on start up. Drove ok, it was just the start up. On cold start up it has a nasty ‘clatter’. Once it gets warmed up a little it starts to improve and sounds more ‘normal’. There is quite a radical shudder on start up. I had a go at interrogating it with an Autel machine (don’t have a TechStream) and it seemed to generate the P3000 code (misfire?). Suspecting the coil packs, and knowing the plugs were slightly overdue anyway, we replaced those yesterday. We also did an oil change and put 0W20 in & changed the oil feed banjo bolt filters, thinking this would also help keep the engine well lubricated. Sadly on start up there was no change. Just gone to get a video and it wouldn’t start on first attempt, but on second it did. Video attached hopefully. As an aside to this, we appear to still have coolant issues. I’ve replaced the thermostat when we did the w.pump the first time. Suspected it may have failed again, I tested it and it wasn’t opening until it reached around 97 degrees, so replaced that too. We are finding that occasionally the car doesn’t have warm air to come through but it appears to be random. I am concerned head gaskets/heads/block are potentially the cause. The coolant bottle was bubbling with air coming it to it (positive pressure - not heat) yesterday when I ran it for a brief period. The exhaust has white clouds when running - i won’t say steam or smoke as I don’t know which it is, and has a scent to it. It has been sat for a few weeks. The misfire (if that is what’s causing the juddering) could be as a result of the same suspicions, but no obvious water in the oil, or visa versa. I have read various things about other Lexus hybrids. One has mentioned the direct injection seals, another the EGR- but I don’t know the hybrid set up well enough to know if it even has an EGR. I’ve not been able to conduct a compression test yet, but was also curious as to whether this would be safe on a hybrid set up (didn’t want to inadvertently make things worse). Any thoughts on potential causes/things to check would be appreciated. Happy to undertake head gasket replacements but if there is damage to the head/block then its game over. IMG_3173.MOV

Pleased to report the knocking is gone 🙂

No the bushes weren’t really perished but everything was so corroded I thought I would do my best to smarten it all up and prevent having to do work on the rear end again in the near future. All of the bolts underneath were/are seized so the camber and toe adjustment wouldn’t move ( I still need to loosen the control arm bolts somehow but I replaced all the bolts with OEM replacements.)

Ref the humming noise - it’s hard to say if it’s connected to your lights - could be a range things - tyres, wheel bearing etc - if the humming gets louder as you increase the speed it could well be a bearing- just another point of consideration- good luck with a (hopefully cheap) resolution

Thought I would update the thread as we’ve just replaced the rear struts, as well as the 4 arms each side, hub bushes, both rear tyres , had the wheels refurbished and done some corrosion proofing. It’s not been out yet as I need to arrange to get the tracking done first. It’s fair to say the drivers strut was pretty knackered , leaked more fluid that I thought from inspection although in fairness I think all the arms and struts were original- I will advise how it drives ones it’s been aligned

I know what you’re saying about tyres - I’ve had to replace 3 in the last month ( got pot holed) but could still be a factor so I may change the 4th just to be sure - I was reading an interesting thread on an IS forum whereby someone had bizarre noises that transpired to be alloy corrosion and tyres so you never know

Thanks , I’ve found them in a couple of places for around that price

Yes I think you’re right, as was LexIS200sport, they’re just so expensive for the 450h 🥴 I am going to have to take the hit though - it will be wonderful to have a quiet ride again ☺️

just an update albeit inconclusive, I’ve not got to the bottom of this yet 😔 I would like to confirm what it is before spending £500+ on suspension, and of course since COVID hit the financial situation has altered. Had the rear of the car up in the air yesterday, but nothing conclusive. We do seem to have a little noise from the driveshaft but they don’t seem to be the typical culprit.

Thanks for the response. I had considered the shock as a small weep was mentioned on the last MOT, perhaps I’ve got more than 1 issue making the noise

Fingers crossed

Hi everyone My GS450h (with around 113k) has developed a rear knock. It tends to happen when coming to a stop or pulling away, it’s not brake related as it does it if I allow the car to come to a (near) standstill without touching the brakes. It also does it sometimes if I go round a roundabout. The noise also seems to move - i.e. it’s not always from the same area at the back. A preliminary look appears to sound like it’s from the prop or rear driveshafts so I thought I throw it out there so see if anyone has experienced this or knows of a common issue ? thanks in advance Nicky

Lexus GS450h hybrid battery repair

Hi Steve yes it would drive for around 5 minutes then die - would have to pull over, wait a bit, restart it then do it again- this happened when we bought it and due to buying private we had to drive it home - an hours drive- 5 mins at a time on the quietest roads. PITA!

I’ve not read the entire thread but my GS also did the same when we got it. I had to rebuild the battery. I then had to do it again a year later due to corrosion on all the washers which sit over the battery nuts, so this time I made a How To video. If any one decides to do it themselves the video is on You Tube.

Hi everyone, thank you for all the inputs to the thread it’s all very useful information. sorry I’ve not updated recently, however I fell ill and then surgery so the Lexus update has been at the back of the queue. However there is nothing worse than an unfinished thread, I find. We removed the hybrid battery ourselves and tested it. Found cell 30 was below par. Took it out and replaced it. I also cleaned up all the copper washers as most were covered in the green corrosion to some degree. Put the battery back in, replaced the 12v battery just for good measure, and the car is working wonderfully. With the symptoms we had, the car would not run for any more than 5 minutes so we had to fix it quickly and on site. Thank you to everyone who contributed - my first experience of this forum has been a very positive one.

Unfortunately I don’t know how it was jumped but I would imagine it could have well contributed to the issue- we had the issue regarding not being able to rev the car as well- I have a new 12v battery for the car once the hybrid issue has been investigated - probably possible both have been fried at the same time i don’t know if a full discharge test was done as it was conducted by a garage - probably not

Thank you for the background- remarkably the 12v battery checks out fine- which I’m gobsmacked about given it appears to be date stamped 11/01/07. However I guess we have our answer - the hybrid battery !