LexTheNine

I thought I would return with an update/closure. Thanks all for your input, loads of helpful points that might also help others in the future. After some more deliberation I spoke with Stuart @ Lex Tech Southampton who was a massive help. Bearing in mind he suggested within the first minute that there was no point taking it to them as they wouldn't be able to take the job on for a number of weeks... he then spent 20mins answering my questions, explaining how the various potential impacted parts of the engine work and went through a number of questions about their diagnostic results that should be clarified with the first garage before deciding best course of action. Really helpful bloke. Long story short, I stuck it on gumtree, phone blew up and it was collected within 48 hours and I now have just over 400 quid towards a new motor. Not clear if the old girl is going to be broken or repaired but I'll be interested to see if it's back on the road later this year. Having decided that the lack of rear folding seats was enough of a deal-breaker to look at other marques, spending every evening for 2 weeks reading up about every auto-estate-barge made in the 2000s... a few half decent looking GS 300s have recently come up for sale and I'm planning to view one on Friday 😆 Pointers that may be helpful to others: Check there were definitely no fault codes on ECU? (If so, very rarely/if ever seen a timing issue with zero codes) Were all 6 cylinders tested? and were the cylinders low on the same bank? Or on both banks? (Both banks would be very unusual) The fact it cut out instantly points to likely fairly catastrophic. Could something have fallen in during service/plug change. Could try and get access to a bore camera to see if anything can be seen inside Or.. Worth pulling out the cam sensors to see if they’re damaged - if something had got in then likely the cam sensor would be damaged - could be a good indication. Equally the engine may start properly without cam sensor but then run rough on 2 or 3 cylinders.

Regarding a replacement engine - there seems to be a handful of places online selling either engine only, or offering supply & fit. Although I have been known to like a flutter, I struggle with the idea that you have no record of the lifetime of the engine, or service record... and even a 3-month warranty seems pretty light when you might spend over a grand all in and it goes pop again in 4 months.

Thanks, Chris. Regarding the P0430 code - I did think it was unrelated and had seen lots of others of similar vintage having this show up intermittently so I guessed it could even be a sensor. I thought the engine was on a chain - it's a 55-plate GS300, so 3L V6 petrol (I believe the engine is 3GR-FSE) I appreciate your opinion that it is definitely timing related, that helps to hone in conversation with any further garages. I get the impression the current garage thought this was going to be a quick/easy job when they took the car in, and are now not bothered about it due to complexity and they've got plenty of other easier work on their books. They said they would need to do some level of strip back to see if the chain had jumped/stretched... it sounds like you're saying this could be checked without doing so? I'm thinking it is worth a conversation with the Lexus specialist in Southampton to see what they would suggest if I was to get it recovered there. Although my impression so far is that this is seeming to be a fairly generic engine problem that could be dealt with by any garage

I don't quite understand your comment - is the suggestion that it could just need fuel pump replacing and that the compression problems are a separate issue that has developed since it has been standing (sitting!) for a few months? Thanks

Thanks John - I should have added that I would prefer to be told what I want to hear which is that it's a no-brainer to get it repaired 😄 Dilemma indeed... I paid 3.3k almost 3 years ago for the car, with 95-100k on the clock and full Lexus service history. It seems that money today can't get me anything like that which left me a bit miffed and then got me thinking that even £2k to get it back on the road could be money well spent seeing as I would expect another number of years out of it.

I am looking for advice on what I can do next with my beloved GS300 (2006). In September it had a major service (oil, all filters, all discs & pads etc) and then a few weeks later I joined a dual carriageway and put my foot down, accelerated quickly from about 20 - 60mph and the engine cut out. At the side of the road, when I pushed the start button it would turn over, the engine would start for around 1 second before cutting out. Trying to rev the engine whilst starting made no difference at all. I had the car recovered to my home, and then had a rather unfortunate series of personal events involving COVID and then my wife being admitted to hospital. Long story short, I was using my wife’s car so it wasn’t until earlier this year that I was able to actually try and get the Lexus back on the road. It wouldn’t turn over at all so I figured the battery was dead, and replaced it. The car still behaved exactly the same, it would start for around 1 second and then cut out. - I got it towed to a local independent garage that specialises in Japanese (specifically toyota/honda) expecting it would be a fairly easy fix. The garage called to say that they had done a compression test and one cylinder had very low compression and another cylinder had no compression whatsoever. The suggested next steps, accompanied with sharp sucking in of air through teeth, was that engine would need to be stripped down to determine what the problem was. This could be partially stripped down (~1 day) to see if the timing change had stretched or jumped, and beyond that would need a full strip down to see what the problem was and even estimate the work required. Having had a quick look at replacement options, I decided the second hand car market has gone berserk in the last year or so and that although it could be costly, I would be willing to take the risk of trying to get the car that I know well back on the road. Fast forward 2 weeks and the garage called to say that they haven’t even had a change to look at it again. After some discussion it seems they have a lot of work on, and potentially don’t want to get into a pricey job with no guarantee of finding/fixing the problem. They had spoken to a few other local non-specialist garages and one had offered to take the job on in another few weeks from now, apparently they have taken one or two other engine rebuilds from this garage’s backlog recently. There is a Lexus specialist about 30 mins away (Lex Tech Southampton), so I was thinking of giving them a call to get their take on it. I could get the car towed there if necessary but thought I’d see if I could source some Lexus owners opinions beforehand.. I guess my questions are: Any obvious ideas on what the problem might be, or do you agree that it is a case of start stripping and see? What would you do if it was you? Thoughts on engine replacement - seems tricky to have any idea on the quality of engine you are sourcing and how well looked after it has been. Have I lost my mind, should I cut my losses and sell for spares/repair and start again? Other info: Lexus GS 300 2006 - roughly 135-140k miles Occasionally over the 3 years of owning the car, the engine management light has come on which always returns P0430 on my code reader, and was usually able to clear or resolved itself for months at a time. Other than that I’ve never needed to do anything except oil/filter changes and tyres.