LEXUS 220D loses power while accelerating.

[J R Ruchet]

The problem started over a year ago. The car would lose power while driving and wouldn't respond when throttled. I often had to stop the engine at traffic lights and restart to gather momentum. Car would struggle on mild hills slowing down traffic behind - frustrating I know! Then 3 weeks ago, it wouldn't start. I Ran diagnostics from 3 different garages. All revealed nothing. There are no lights on the dashboard, even passed MOT. Towed the car to the mechanic and they changed the starter motor as it wasn't starting. All went well but we couldn't quite figure out how changing the starter motor got the car firing as well as before. Took it for spin hitting 70 - 80 mph for 40 minutes as per advice. Everything's been fine for 4 weeks, but now the drag is back again. I must admit I hardly hit the motorway with it and someone suggested it's clogged up somewhere. But where? Any help, please?

[H3XME]

On 9/15/2024 at 5:01 PM, J R Ruchet said:

The problem started over a year ago. The car would lose power while driving and wouldn't respond when throttled. I often had to stop the engine at traffic lights and restart to gather momentum. Car would struggle on mild hills slowing down traffic behind - frustrating I know! Then 3 weeks ago, it wouldn't start. I Ran diagnostics from 3 different garages. All revealed nothing. There are no lights on the dashboard, even passed MOT. Towed the car to the mechanic and they changed the starter motor as it wasn't starting. All went well but we couldn't quite figure out how changing the starter motor got the car firing as well as before. Took it for spin hitting 70 - 80 mph for 40 minutes as per advice. Everything's been fine for 4 weeks, but now the drag is back again. I must admit I hardly hit the motorway with it and someone suggested it's clogged up somewhere. But where? Any help, please?

Well it's a diesel... if you don't venture out on the motorway then it's the wrong car for you by design. You can do a DPF & EGR delete (you will fail emissions unless you know a friendly MOT tester though). Common issue on diesels across the board if not driven as intended (i.e. motorways). The DPF needs regular "cleaning" and you'll only really achieve that by motorway driving where the catalytic converter gets up to temp and all the soot burns off.. it doesn't get a chance to do that around town.

[J R Ruchet]

Thanks. That was what I thought. My MOT is due soon anyway, but the same issue was present when it passed last year! That got me more confused. Should I opt for a DPF/EGR delete, it fails MOT - besides the legal implications. Now thinking if it's worth the cost and effort to replace these components, otherwise can the DPF be cleaned?