Lexus IS 220D ENGINE ISSUES - BLUE EXHAUST SMOKE - SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER/ACCELERATION

[Cezar]

Hi, I have an issue with a IS220D and I was wondering if someone with more experience about this car could give me some advice.The car suddenly loses acceleration/power when driving it for a few minutes and then the engine switches itself off. The engine then struggles to start again but eventually starts and switches itself off after a few seconds. Before the car has broken down there was white smelly bluish smoke coming out from the exhaust when accelerating. A few months back the car used to go into limp mode because the DPF was blocked and had to be forced regenerated. No warning lights are showed on the dashboard and no error codes are generated when connecting the diagnostic tool. The EGR valve had to be cleaned as it was full of black carbon and the lambda sensor has been replaced as well. The 5th injector that helps with the DPF regeneration has been replaced as well. The high pressure diesel pump has been checked and is in good working order. The car is from 2007 and has 106000 on the clock.

[Shahpor]

Welcome,

Definitely a strange one.

Have you checked the pick up pump in the fuel tank?  It certainly sounds like you are losing fuel pressure.

[Cezar]

When I have removed the high pressure fuel pump pipe that comes from the tank pick up pump there was fuel coming out and I have also used the priming option to test it.  Also my car does only 26mpg. When my car has been towed the AA has tested the fuel pressure using the diagnostic tool and I was told that the pressure was fine. He has also tried starting the engine with the EGR pipe not connected but after 1 minute the engine switched itself off again. He has also checked if fuel was getting to the injectors which it was.

[Shahpor]

So, when the car stalls and won't start again, how long does it take before it will start?

It sounds like it will only start when it is cold?

[NemesisUK]

Does this car have a crankshaft sensor? This is classic symptoms of sensor failure, certainly from a Mercedes model. The sensor fails when hot and once cooled down works again.

[Cezar]

This has happened before and I was getting a 5th injector error code. After I have changed the 5th injector the car was fine for a while and I was thinking that the issue was fixed. Strangely both times when this happened the car sat in the sun and the weather outside was over 25 degrees and I don't know if this has something to do with it. When the car starts and drives for about 5-10 minutes it will then take about 2-3 hours to be able to drive it again as the engine would not start and stay running for more than 30 seconds after that. I have searched on the internet and the car does have a crankshaft sensor but I am not sure where the sensor is positioned.