Short rattle at cold engine startup.

[lx.henrique]

Hello all,

My car has a short engine knock/rattle noise for 1 second at cold engine startup. I already complained this issue at the Lisbon Lexus dealer but they say that this is not America where the all the Lexus cars with this problem were called in so that they could replace the VVT actuator of the Cam Gear under warrenty. They said that they don't know anything about this intervention here in Europe. Does anyone know about this issue? I have to confess that I was disappointed with their answer!

Thanks for the attention to this matter.

Regards

[Jayw13702]

What mileage does you car have?


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[Britprius]

12 minutes ago, lx.henrique said:

 

My car has a short engine knock/rattle noise for 1 second at cold engine startup.

This is a common problem with all the the cars fitted Toyota VVT system, and is definitely not an America only problem. I have a GS450H that has the same problem. It is caused by the oil draining out of the cam phasers, and a locking pin that should lock the movement until the system has full oil pressure failing to engage.  Lexus will not do anything about it in the UK on the hybrid versions. However vehicles that use the same engine, but are not hybrid have the cam phasers changed free of charge even outside of the guarantee. 
The problem is the "rattle" has been known to undo the cam gear holding bolts destroying the engines, but Toyota says this only happens with engines fitted with normal 12 volt starter motors, and not with hybrids where the engine is spun quickly with hybrid system to start it. I however know of two cases where the bolts have come undone on the hybrid GS.
I have fitted a home brew pre lubrication system to my car to eliminate this problem by bringing the oil up to pressure before the engine starts. the details are available on the forum. The alternative is to have new cam phaser gears fitted at a cost of an arm, and a leg.
For a dealer to say they know nothing about this problem raises alarm bells. They do not appear to know anything about the cars they are servicing or are lying about the problem. 

John.

[The-Acre]

I even had this on my first LS430. I'd left it for a week while we were away and on startup I couldn't believe the racket, it sounded terminal but strangely never happened again.

[Alan64]

my rx450h has started doing this also

[Alan64]

britprius do u have a link to ur diy fix on this

[Britprius]

11 minutes ago, Alan64 said:

britprius do u have a link to ur diy fix on this

Go to this page, and scroll down to my description of how to. If I can be of further help just ask.

John.

[Alan64]

Cheers

[lx.henrique]

On 8/18/2020 at 4:46 PM, Jayw13702 said:

What mileage does you car have?


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She has almost 50000 miles but this rattle started with 25000 miles. Luckely it didn't get worse since then. I hope it stays like that!

[damiam]

On 8/18/2020 at 5:23 PM, Britprius said:

This is a common problem with all the the cars fitted Toyota VVT system, and is definitely not an America only problem. I have a GS450H that has the same problem. It is caused by the oil draining out of the cam phasers, and a locking pin that should lock the movement until the system has full oil pressure failing to engage.  Lexus will not do anything about it in the UK on the hybrid versions. However vehicles that use the same engine, but are not hybrid have the cam phasers changed free of charge even outside of the guarantee. 
The problem is the "rattle" has been known to undo the cam gear holding bolts destroying the engines, but Toyota says this only happens with engines fitted with normal 12 volt starter motors, and not with hybrids where the engine is spun quickly with hybrid system to start it. I however know of two cases where the bolts have come undone on the hybrid GS.
I have fitted a home brew pre lubrication system to my car to eliminate this problem by bringing the oil up to pressure before the engine starts. the details are available on the forum. The alternative is to have new cam phaser gears fitted at a cost of an arm, and a leg.
For a dealer to say they know nothing about this problem raises alarm bells. They do not appear to know anything about the cars they are servicing or are lying about the problem. 

John.

Hello John. Could you please explain how did you install pre lub system to the car ? what was involved ? what parts did you use ?

[ColinBarber]

9 hours ago, damiam said:

Hello John. Could you please explain how did you install pre lub system to the car ? what was involved ? what parts did you use ?

See here

 

[Mr_Groundhog]

i had heard of this before (hasn't happened to my car yet though) and found a video that explains it in 5 min...