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?

[Chizabc]

Have you tried just giving the EGR a really good clean?, there's videos on youtube.
You need to get it squeaky clean so that the valve seats properly when the valve is in the 'closed' position.

Go to the IS220D Owners Emporium page on Facebook and search Letopower or Matej Slezak if you decide to delete, however, this is illegal and will result in failing MOT if your implementation is outwardly noticeable. For example, if you remove the DPF unit and replace with a straight pipe you will likely fail. You'd need to gut the internals of the DPF while leaving the unit outwardly intact.
This can be done on the car, it's not a fun job without a lift though.
I've never had a problem for MOT with my IS220Ds which have had EGR/DPF deletes.
I believe DPFs can be cleaned, but for a proper job they need to be taken off the car and cleaning fluid is sent through it, this is the legal option. I've never done this so can't vouch for the effectiveness, but I've seen videos where loads of gunk comes out.

It's a tough decision and a real shame that the early implementations of diesels emissions equipment are usually so poor (DPF, EGR, AdBlue).
YMMV but doing the deletes was transformative for my cars, however, I cannot recommend it due to the legality situation.

[H3XME]

It's illegal, but the worst thing that can realistically happen is you failing the MOT... so it's not your 6 point, a fine and a seized car kind of illegal.. but yeah.. you'll most likely fail MOT on emissions. If you decide to go down that route, I'd suggest looking up some diesel tuning garages.. they can remove it and tune the car properly so it doesn't smoke when you put your foot down. 

[J R Ruchet]

Thanks a lot, gentlemen. I'll give the DPF and EGR deep flushing a go. @Chizabc I'll check the Emporium page as well. Much obliged.

[Chizabc]

42 minutes ago, H3XME said:

It's illegal, but the worst thing that can realistically happen is you failing the MOT... so it's not your 6 point, a fine and a seized car kind of illegal.. but yeah.. you'll most likely fail MOT on emissions. If you decide to go down that route, I'd suggest looking up some diesel tuning garages.. they can remove it and tune the car properly so it doesn't smoke when you put your foot down. 

I haven't heard of anyone failing on emissions tests themselves just from a normal remap on these cars (unless it's a rolling coal type situation), the people who fail will typically fail due to the DPF or EGR valve being physically removed from the car/obviously tampered with, this is an MOT fail.

Follow this guide for the EGR Valve cleaning, it's an easy job to DIY