Flaviu90

Will this 'miracle' oil additive help if the car is also burning a bit of coolant?

Thanks for your input. The Lex Tech mechanic and another mechanic scared me off saying I need to sell it ASAP. Actually you think changing the hoses might help sort out the problem? I was told one hose snapped off at a time I had white smoke out from the hood. This resulted in water temp going up. Mechanic just clamped it back and no overheating issues after that. The car is still burning oil as well, the PCV valve was changed and it burns half of what it used to burn before but I was told this doesn't sort the root of the problem just temporary and it will get clogged up again. Again I'm not a mechanic or DIY expert,I'm stating what I was told. Maybe I should take it to Lexus themselves? Just didn't want to pay the 150£/hr health check.

My mechanic has actually changed the coolant radiator and done the coolant himself. I had to keep topping up with distilled water before of this and now I kept adding pink Toyota coolant. It stays at the max for a while and then I have to top it up again. And no I haven't had any other blown head gaskets on other cars before.

I've performed a 'block test' yesterday. Cold engine,radiator cap off,engine on ,lots of air bubbles in the coolant. I was told that that either means cracked engine head or blown head gasket.. 20220808_141600.mp4

I was looking for a 2.4 CL9 Accord with manual transmission before getting the Lexus. These are so hard to find in the UK with the sedan platform( and expensive).The Euro R was around 9-10k£ at that time and i didnt want to spend as much again on a car as I did when I was modifying my Hondas. Sorry but I don't fancy the estate cars even though I'm well aware of the practicality side of things. The IS 250 is a very nice car to drive but I'm missing the manual gearbox with the short ratios from the FN2.

I've had 2 Hondas before and even though the last one was a cat D Civic Type R,I never ever had mechanical issues with the N/A Hondas. I wanted my vehicle to be built in Japan so I thought I give Lexus a go( especially as I liked the IS shape and the ideea of RWD ) as everyone says Toyotas are the most reliable cars around. I am very disappointed. Maybe I should of saved more and get an import Accord Euro R with the K20A engine.

I've been advised to get rid of mine. It burns both oil and coolant,to some degree. The Lex Tech guy (Southampton) told me the issue must be internal and it could be the head gasket. Told me that changing the PCV valve( which almost made my car use 1/2 oil compared to before-600 mls in 760 miles compared to 1,5l in 1000 miles) will not cure anything because the root problem hasn't been addressed. Apparently the repair would cost up to £5k. At this point,as I've invested around 2k already on the car with new discs,pads,PS4 tyres all around etc I'm just wondering if I should engine swap or just sell the car.. I'm going on a 3000 mile round trip in Europe in 10 days and I'll take both the 5l oil bottle and coolant with me.. My car was an impulse buy..and the last 8 owners got rid of it for good reasons probably..

Just ask Opie Oils (Cornwall). They are specialists in oils. I trust them as they have been in the business for quite a while and are very knowledgeable. Castrol oils are also one of the most counterfeited products on the market. I have used Magnatec and Edge on my 1995 Golf TDI that I had for 10 years. Edge was a bit better but once I changed to Motul Specific the engine was definitely running better. Just because you didn't have problems with Castrol oils for a long time doesn't mean you can't get (much) better oils. Oil is the life of the engine. So I'd rather use a very good one especially in a premium car/engine. It's been proven the gains engines get from using Millers NT+ range of oils as well as oil film stability. Motorsport companies use them.Just like they use Motul in Moto GP. Again,I'm not trying to win any arguing contests .I am just trying to find a solution without selling the car or spending thousands in repairs. I have been reading about walnut blasting to take carbon out of an engine, yesterday. Does anyone know some shop that does that in the UK? Is it worth it? https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-2nd-gen-2006-2013/822505-is250-walnut-blasting-valves-diy.html

From what I know,Castrol Magnatec was always a semi synthetic oil ,it was just labeled as fully synthetic a few years ago. Probably not a true base 4 oil. Edge was the best Castrol has had for ages and even that is not as good as for example Amsoil,Royal Purple,Redline or the best that Motul and Miller's have to offer . I have been using Millers oils for the past 6 years in my Hondas( including Type R). I think the oil I am currently using is definitely of a higher spec than both Castrols, according to Opie Oils( who are a main Castrol supplier themselves) Millers 5w30 C3 EE Performance Nano drive Is a fully synthetic with an Ester base ( the more expensive NT+ I was using in the Hondas was a triple-base ester) and nano drive particles which help reducing the wear and friction. Arguably Shell Vpower fuel has the best cleaning detergents ,additives, and maximizes power snd efficiency, not from my opinion but from other more experienced people and actual tests. I'm not trying to have a debate on oils and fuels, I have always used the best I could afford for my car from all the research I could make.

Any particular reason for using Castrol GTX? Isn't that a mineral base type of oil? So are you saying that if I do a couple of oil changes regularly this might help the problem. Probably owners before only used E10 fuel and changed oil who knows when..

I am only running Shell Vpower hoping the additives will help clean some of the sludge. As well as the classic ' italian tune-up' occasional driving. Anything else that I can do that will not cost me thousands of £?

Hello. I am just joining in with my 2008 IS 250 Sport Auto which I've bought around 3 months ago. Mine has just burned 1.5(+) liters/1000 miles. I am using Millers 5w30 EE Performance C3 Nano Drive. I have just ordered a PCV valve from Lexus parts direct (39£ with postage)..hoping it's gonna help with the consumption.I am going for a long trip in August through Europe. Already bought another 5l bottle of oil to have with me in the boot.. I have changed spark plugs with new Denso Iridium. Mileage is almost 126k miles. Service history: most stamps present but no actual invoices,can't trust any previous owners(had around 7 before lol). They changed only 1 HID bulb instead of the 2 leaving me with one bulb with 6000k and one with 4300k in temperature. I have sorted this as well. Appaling as some people never care for these cars.And no, I haven't bought it from a garage. Mistakes are costly.