New Owner and already Disheartened

[EDBM_LS400]

Right not sure where to begin so bare with me...

i have owned my dream car (16 years of dreaming) for around 2 weeks now, until about a week ago i was in love,
Then it took a turn, The car would sometimes hesitate and then plumes of smoke would come from the exhausts,

Hard to pin point the smell or colour. but i would say a light grey. would only happen every so often, didnt have a specific entrance, could be still in traffic or halfway through a run on the motorway with no throttle change.
 

Then the last few days it smokes more often and sometimes heavier, sometimes cured by flooring it for a couple of seconds. well i noticed oil was getting low so topped up until i can service her later this week...so im driving down the motorway and the low engine oil light comes on...get off the next stop and get robbed by a shell garage for a litre of oil...this was last night, it took me to the halfway on dipstick mark which i thought would last...it came on again today but has been smoking more today.

There is zero leaks around the engine that i have found as of yet.

iv cleaned the pcv valve incase it was a cause, no change so far (and it rattles so im guessing its okay? and airline flowed through well enough)

i put a new air filter in today as mine was black and wasnt sure if it was being choked or anything at all

not sure if its a bad thing or not but theres nothing much at all online to help me, just shows they are reliable lol.

Be Gentle with me its my first Jap V8, last car was 1zz celica and even that didnt drink a litre overnight lol

sorry its a novel i wanted to cover what ground i could.

[Bluesman]

Where did you buy the car from? As for the smoke? are you sure it isn't just steam from the condensation the builds up in the exhaust system overnight especially in this cold weather we've been having?

[EDBM_LS400]

It was a private seller who is local, it was fine until recently and definitely isnt condensation dude,that goes away after around 10 seconds

I can be driving for over an hour and it will just plume out the back...im not usually stumped by things car wise or at least for long but this is giving me headache lol

[Spacewagon52]

This seems to have happened suddenly as it was fine for the first two weeks?

I had a hesitation and stalling on a Mk3 LS400 - I think it was the throttle body - after driving it for a while longer it cured itself to some extent. 

What mileage is on the car? Did it have a service history?

As you are from the West Midlands, could you have inadvertently bought it off a dealer posing as a private seller?

You might try the American Lexus Owners Club site.

 

Keep us informed how you get on. Wishing you luck.

 

[Bluesman]

Let's hope it's not one very dodgy dealer (Lexuschap + other names of a similar nature) as you have probably been had. Dude.

[peachy]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news old bean but it sounds like the head gasket has failed.

[EDBM_LS400]

Mileage is 148K it had a fair bit of History and 1 previous keeper both in the same name.

I dont think he would of risked me getting it from his house otherwise since he lives about 3 mins away and he has some very nice cars he wouldnt want damaged haha,

not saying i would but someone out there could have bought it and it all gone bad, 

tbh worst case ill just rebuild the engine myself, used to doing chevy v8s and rebuilding with mopar bits etc so the lump of it isnt so bad i suppose just a ballache.

basically the guy bought it and turned a profit on it and it WAS running perfectly for a couple of weeks, but iv just shoved my finger in the filler cap and its disgusting in there...wonder if thats contributing....

first time i saw smoke i though HGF myself but coolants fine, no loss, no mixture of fluids, temps on the 2nd bar up even after long hard ride.

everything else is immaculate and the engine is even still just silent, but im going to have the TB off tomorrow, and im sure there is a gauze under the pcv?? the crap that came off the pcv and the inlet part of it was unreal. might try blocking the inlet and venting pcv to atmosphere see if that makes a difference.

guess im just hoping to trigger an idea in someones head to save the time and work. 

 

starting to wonder now if he was a dodgy bloke and is just brave enough to **** on his own doorstep...hes sold a couple cars in the last year and i know 2 of them that have been bought and are immaculate and still running great so its just one of them maybe he did know maybe he didnt...might go knock on his door.

[steve2006]

Are there no Engine Management warning lights on, reading the codes would be a good first move.

The symptoms would describe a sticking EGR valve (loss of power and plumes of grey smoke) and with what you mention it would seem the service regime is a little vague given the internal state of the engineand so would be looking at an immediate oil and filter change.

Also check the 2 breather pipes they can clog up or collapse.

 

 

[Bluesman]

Is the gunge inside the oil filler cap a coffee cream colour.

[Shahpor]

I am afraid I agree with Shaun, it sounds like a head gasket to me.

Now, I am the first to admit I know very little about the mechanics of the LS, but surely losing that much oil, that quickly, without a leak, means it is burning it at quite a rate?

Also, a failed head gasket doesn't necessarily mean loss of coolant or mixing of fluids since the gasket might have only broken around an oil way.  Unfortunately, this also means a sniff test won't confirm it either.  You could try taking the sparks plugs out and seeing if any of them has more oil/soot on it then the others?

I do hope that I am wrong though and it is something quick and simple to fix.

[EDBM_LS400]

i tried reading the codes with my usual obd2 reader and although it connected the app i used wouldnt connect itself, but theirs no engine management light or anything on the function screen other than when oil gets low. 

i didnt think too much about the egr tbh thats a good shout, ill have a look at that in a bit whilst im doing the service, i got to go and pickup everything in a bit so hopefully something will be resolved.

The gunge is just dirty oil which still sucks but i was glad it wasnt creamed up or frothy. 

i drove it this morning home and barely used the throttle and it only smoked a little on an uphill which is quite long (about 1/2 mile)

i keep thinking it is the valve stem seals as my toyota has the same problem, head gasket just doesnt seem right with how the car is, i know its awkward over the internet and i apologise but i am trying to word it the best i can lol.

ill take plugs out in a bit too and look before i replace them,

i really do hope its something simple like the egr or the breathers. 


Props to this forum though, iv never had responses like this before or as fast. you guys are pretty damn awesome! (sorry if im missing out anybodys questions or advice im trying to rush and get off track a lot)

[steve2006]

If you remove the oil filler cap with the engine running is there excessive blow back from the filler hole?

Also what mileage do you have on the car?

 

[Spacewagon52]

5 hours ago, steve2006 said:

If you remove the oil filler cap with the engine running is there excessive blow back from the filler hole?

Also what mileage do you have on the car?

 

148,000 he said Steve.

[EDBM_LS400]

i checked the filler cap and not much extra blow by, 

WELL the light came on momentarily, then went off, if i had to use some throttle it came on, but after a short while went off again...but no change in oil level since last night which was JUST on the Low line...

just a theory but could the oil drain be sludged up a little? and when the sumps full to the max line maybe it wont drain as it should, and whilst picking up more and more then being forced near the pcv and then sucked up into the inlet and burnt off?

i know its a shot in the dark maybe even high hopes but seemed to make sense whilst pondering on my drive home. also barely any smoke all day too (60 miles or so) just one small fog 

Service tomorrow...so should get to see how 'Well' this car has been looked after.

[Spacewagon52]

Keep us informed Daniel and good luck.

[EDBM_LS400]

well i know people are against engine flushes (not everyone is) but how bad it was i gave it one anyway before changing the oil and wow it has made the world of difference, smokes still but i have noticed its only when im on steep hills, which makes me think what the pcv has sent into the inlet is then being drained into the engine and then smoking, looking for a cap to sit over the inlet to try this theory but no idea where to get any!?

car feels amazing now though, i cleaned the throttle plate as it was a bit oily so opened it up and inside was a fair bit of oil sitting inside, just wondering if i can spray carb cleaner etc inside without removal? i know it would smoke bad but i dont want to destroy anything, or will i need to just remove it all this weekend? 

thinking wether to just put pcv to ventilation and let it burn off the last bits itself?? theres still a whisp of blue smoke under WOT but nothing to cry over. and ill tackle the egr this weekend too hopefully. 

Should of just bought a pushbike.

[EDBM_LS400]

Sorry its been a few days...i wanted to test it out and its SOLVED all problems. 

 

I still need to clean the egr anyway but so far so good. I wanna thank everyone for their input its all been a major help. 

 

Now its time to see how everyone else is getting on lol.

[Spacewagon52]

With a bit of TLC these cars repair themselves!

 

Keep us up to date how it is performing. Well done.

[EDBM_LS400]

Just to add since i thought it was a fluke...my city mpg now averages 19.3 thats with the odd green light booting when some dope in his 318 thinks hes a badass...so not sure if the pcv made the diff itself but with a service is gone from 15mpg so impressed af