Putting life back into a 'modded' IS250

[H3XME]

12 hours ago, Linas.P said:

Well - that is simple to explain. He smashed the SE, but the breaker car where ever he got the spares was SE-L... So you have all SE-L bits. We already know about the bumper with washers... that doesn't belong on the car. So I am not too surprised to also see SE_L washer bottle with the hole for headlight washers... That said it is so stupid that they bodged it like that, if they just removed the pump, then yes it sit's kind of half way down and it will leak washer fluid.

That is similar to what I use... so yeah - should work. I also paid something similar £35 maybe. There will be some challenges with set-up as there are some challenges with drivers on W10, but I got it working without problems. Also you will need CD/DVD reader that reads mini-disk... nowadays that is not so common... 

Then you can "rent" official Techsterm from Lexus, or just use one supplied... the one supplied is usually little bit out of date, but it isa moot point for 2007 cars (it is usually something like 2018 version).

It should be 2", but rear section is weirdly bent (even factory bends are quite horrible and crushed... haven't they heard about mandrel machine?!), so depends where you are measuring it could be more or less ~2". Aftermarket stuff can be literally anything... if you measure 44.5mm then it is 44.5mm. 51mm would be exactly 2" (50.8mm)...

Pretty sure the stock system is 2.5” or 63mm.. that’s the size of the midpipe at least. I know that from buying ex exhaust 

[DnG]

13 hours ago, Linas.P said:

Well - that is simple to explain. He smashed the SE, but the breaker car where ever he got the spares was SE-L... So you have all SE-L bits. We already know about the bumper with washers... that doesn't belong on the car. So I am not too surprised to also see SE_L washer bottle with the hole for headlight washers... That said it is so stupid that they bodged it like that, if they just removed the pump, then yes it sit's kind of half way down and it will leak washer fluid.

Probably, even the previous owner said that the capped off wiring harness might be for either the parking sensors or the washers, since they might have come pre-wired as Lucas said.

I don't get how a so called 'enthusiast' can bodge it so hard. If the car behaves mechanically I will get a 3IS or a 4IS conversion bumper and replace the rear with an actual SE bumper

13 hours ago, Linas.P said:

That is similar to what I use... so yeah - should work. I also paid something similar £35 maybe. There will be some challenges with set-up as there are some challenges with drivers on W10, but I got it working without problems. Also you will need CD/DVD reader that reads mini-disk... nowadays that is not so common...

I have a Windows 7 laptop that I use for my BMW diags, the reason I'm asking if the link I gave is good, is because with BMW diag tools and cables, most of them are Chinese are tend to stop working or not work half the time altogether.

13 hours ago, Linas.P said:

It should be 2", but rear section is weirdly bent (even factory bends are quite horrible and crushed... haven't they heard about mandrel machine?!), so depends where you are measuring it could be more or less ~2". Aftermarket stuff can be literally anything... if you measure 44.5mm then it is 44.5mm. 51mm would be exactly 2" (50.8mm)...

I measured like 4-5 inches down from the tips, since that's the section where the backbox will be connected to, and it measured 44.5mm. I'll go to an exhaust shop just to make sure, don't want to order the wrong backboxes..

[Linas.P]

36 minutes ago, DnG said:

I have a Windows 7 laptop that I use for my BMW diags, the reason I'm asking if the link I gave is good, is because with BMW diag tools and cables, most of them are Chinese are tend to stop working or not work half the time altogether.

Same here - I doubt it is fault of cable thought, more likely hacked version of Techstrem, but you can always rent genuine one on chinese cable. W7 laptop should be easier than W10, so yes - should work fine.

[DnG]

Update:

When first starting the car after 3 days of not touching it, I've heard a loud chain rattle the first second I started it up. I then tried turning it on 2 more times and it was fine, what could that have been?

Also, at idle, I keep feeling small burbles or kicks. They're constant but somewhat at random and the car does feel like someone is kicking it under the seat and it moves just a tiny bit left and right, as if a big truck went past it fast (maybe not as noticeable). I thought it might just be the exhaust back pressure since the back split pipe is much thinner than it should be on a V6 or that it might be a missfire but doesn't really sound/feel like one, and there's no missfire errors.

Anyone got any thoughts on these 2 new observations? Still waiting for the 14th to come so my insurance starts and then I'll go to my mechanic and get it properly checked, but in the meantime I just want some piece of mind and maybe there's something that I can fix and save a pound.

[H3XME]

33 minutes ago, DnG said:

Update:

When first starting the car after 3 days of not touching it, I've heard a loud chain rattle the first second I started it up. I then tried turning it on 2 more times and it was fine, what could that have been?

Also, at idle, I keep feeling small burbles or kicks. They're constant but somewhat at random and the car does feel like someone is kicking it under the seat and it moves just a tiny bit left and right, as if a big truck went past it fast (maybe not as noticeable). I thought it might just be the exhaust back pressure since the back split pipe is much thinner than it should be on a V6 or that it might be a missfire but doesn't really sound/feel like one, and there's no missfire errors.

Anyone got any thoughts on these 2 new observations? Still waiting for the 14th to come so my insurance starts and then I'll go to my mechanic and get it properly checked, but in the meantime I just want some piece of mind and maybe there's something that I can fix and save a pound.

Chain rattle is normal on higher mileage cars. Generally speaking, if the cars always been serviced on time they’re less likely to do it but it’s kinda inevitable for all of them at some point in their life. Don’t worry. there’s no fix but it never causes any issues.

I don’t know about the other things. Could be the exhaust. 45mm piping is too narrow.. stock pipes are ~64mm.. get under the car and measure the pipe size by the cats.

[DnG]

10 minutes ago, H3XME said:

Chain rattle is normal on higher mileage cars. Generally speaking, if the cars always been serviced on time they’re less likely to do it but it’s kinda inevitable for all of them at some point in their life. Don’t worry. there’s no fix but it never causes any issues.

Car is at 98k miles and I'm not entirely sure about servicing. It does have the book full but then again, don't know the last 3 years since the last owner owned it. I was also thinking it could be one of the camshafts since the oil doesn't sync due to sensor or motor (which I think might be why I get the error, as swapping sensors still shows bank 2 being the one with the problem)

11 minutes ago, H3XME said:

I don’t know about the other things. Could be the exhaust. 45mm piping is too narrow.. stock pipes are ~64mm.. get under the car and measure the pipe size by the cats.

I could only measure the back. Car didn't come with a jack and my old one barely moves, don't even have space either since I live in a grove and cars are parked on both sides, might just have to wait till I go to my mechanic...

[Linas.P]

1 hour ago, DnG said:

Update:

When first starting the car after 3 days of not touching it, I've heard a loud chain rattle the first second I started it up. I then tried turning it on 2 more times and it was fine, what could that have been?

That will not be chain rattle, that will be VVTI cam rattle. Can't tell much about other issues.

Generally, cam rattle is resolved by more frequent oil changes, and only happens because of extended (or even missed services in the past). VVTI cams just likes fresh oil. Also oil flush helped me (extended the mileage before it is back after oil change), but ultimately it just wants fresh oil.

20 minutes ago, DnG said:

 as swapping sensors still shows bank 2 being the one with the problem

That means either wiring or ECU itself is faulty... OR there is genuine fault with cam 2 timing. Sensor is good as expected.

On 10/5/2024 at 11:41 AM, H3XME said:

Pretty sure the stock system is 2.5” or 63mm.. that’s the size of the midpipe at least. I know that from buying ex exhaust 

you are most likely correct on that - I know that it is for sure not 44mm and certainly not smaller than 2", but 2.5" also sounds right. 

[DnG]

One other thing I remember and I can't go to sleep until I talk about it.

So when up to temp, the temp needle is slightly above the middle. I've asked about that before buying it and the previous owner said "it's fine, that's just how it shows but it's up to normal temperature" and then again, I've never owned a Lexus so I don't know what the Japanese think.

I drove about 3 hours when bringing it hout without stopping and the temp stayed the same, car didn't overheat but still want to ask if that's normal? If not, what should be the first thing I check, besides the temp with an OBD scanner and if the fans kick in?

 

Also, I don't think I've ever seen it rev lower than ~1300rpm at idle, and when I start it, it revs to 2k rpm, which might be normal to warm up, then goes to normal 700-800rpm when I put it in gear but could it be because of that error I have or is it all normal? I know a car should be at about 800RPM at idle, for diesels anyway...

[J Henderson]

Initial idle of roughly 2K for a cold start is pretty normal, but it should only be that high for like 10-15 secs or something.

It should then drop to about the 1200-1300rpm level that you're experiencing until the engine is a bit warmer.

Once warm though, it shouldn't be anywhere near 1300. More like half that - 650-700rpm with A/C on.

Abnormal idle can be a symptom when the Battery has recently been disconnected, so It could be that your car is still "learning" the base engine map settings, but it really ought to have normalised after a 3hr journey.

If the Battery hasn't been disconnected again recently, something else must be amiss and preventing the car from coming off the fast idle setting.

Re: the temp gauge. I think on my car it sits bang in the middle, or very slightly before halfway, when it's warm.

 

[Linas.P]

12 hours ago, J Henderson said:

Initial idle of roughly 2K for a cold start is pretty normal, but it should only be that high for like 10-15 secs or something.

It should then drop to about the 1200-1300rpm level that you're experiencing until the engine is a bit warmer.

Once warm though, it shouldn't be anywhere near 1300. More like half that - 650-700rpm with A/C on.

Abnormal idle can be a symptom when the battery has recently been disconnected, so It could be that your car is still "learning" the base engine map settings, but it really ought to have normalised after a 3hr journey.

If the battery hasn't been disconnected again recently, something else must be amiss and preventing the car from coming off the fast idle setting.

Re: the temp gauge. I think on my car it sits bang in the middle, or very slightly before halfway, when it's warm.

 

Even then fast idle is more like 1500-1600. 2000 rpm must be part of the deal with faulty cam sensor - basically fail safe mode. 

From memory - it is more like it goes to 1500 for 5 seconds (just dumping fuel to heat cats), then settles down to 1100-1300 for maybe 15 seconds and then idles under 1000, something like 650-850 rpm depending on what is on, how cold it is, fuel quality etc. 

For temp gauge - same on all Lexus I have owned. It is bang on in the middle, it may sometime take a while to get there, so if car just idling then it could be slightly lower. Maybe he has replaced water-pump or temp sensor with aftermarket/non-genuine? On Lexus I really advise to use only original sensors - yes they pricey, but first of all they last long time and secondly aftermarket/fake sensors outright doesn't work (like 50% fail rate out of the box) or are simply inaccurate (and 5% could be all the margin there is for code to appear) and create all sorts of problems. 

[DnG]

Another update:

Just topped up the coolant since it was really low, and went ahead to check the oil. Car has been sitting for a while now and the oil seems to be just on the tip of the dipstick, I can never get a propper reading from it, but no low oil level light, I'm thinking of putting at least 1L of oil just to be safe.

Also, went to start the car to see how it is. Waited 1-2 minutes after starting it and I revved it a bit to see if I can hear any sounds, and there do seem to be quite a few sounds besides the injection, but I might be wrong. At the first 2-3 revs I could hear water flowing every time I revved it. It went away after that, didn't manage to record it. I'm really scared of sounds in a car, I only had expensive sounding sounds with all my cars, and since I last heard the timing chain on my BMW right before it was about to snap, I'm really cautious when it comes to sounds.

Are these sounds something I have to worry about? I'll put 2 videos down, one with the rpm of the car while in neutral and in gear and the other while I rev it...

Also, would like to thank everyone being involved in this, for putting up with all my questions and paranoia, it really helps a lot to know there's a place where someone will help me out with this.

[Linas.P]

6 hours ago, DnG said:

Another update:

Just topped up the coolant since it was really low, and went ahead to check the oil. Car has been sitting for a while now and the oil seems to be just on the tip of the dipstick, I can never get a propper reading from it, but no low oil level light, I'm thinking of putting at least 1L of oil just to be safe.

Also, went to start the car to see how it is. Waited 1-2 minutes after starting it and I revved it a bit to see if I can hear any sounds, and there do seem to be quite a few sounds besides the injection, but I might be wrong. At the first 2-3 revs I could hear water flowing every time I revved it. It went away after that, didn't manage to record it. I'm really scared of sounds in a car, I only had expensive sounding sounds with all my cars, and since I last heard the timing chain on my BMW right before it was about to snap, I'm really cautious when it comes to sounds.

Are these sounds something I have to worry about? I'll put 2 videos down, one with the rpm of the car while in neutral and in gear and the other while I rev it...

 

 

Also, would like to thank everyone being involved in this, for putting up with all my questions and paranoia, it really helps a lot to know there's a place where someone will help me out with this.

Engine has to be hot to check oil level. It is a little bit stupid... Basically you need to drive for some time, get it fully up-to temp, then stop and set timer to something like 15 minutes... long enough for all oil to drain into the pan, but not long enough for engine to cool down... and only then you can accurately check the oil level. And even then it is sometimes hard to tell it on dipstick, admittedly it is little bit like telling future from tea leaves on the bottom of your cup. 

There are two dimples on the dipstick, generally speaking I would be happy if cold engine is above the bottom one and hot engine is below the top one. In short oil has to be anywhere between the two dimples, but if you measure it cold, then add more and it is near top dimple, then you have too much oil. Although I have not heard of 4GRs being catastrophically damaged by too much oil, too much oil is also no good, especially hurts fuel economy right away.

Engine oil warning light will never come until it is literally too late. If you have engine oil light, then it is 90% you have blown engine.

The sound and revs it is holding, completely normal for IS250. As previously mentioned "fast idle" at the start around 1500rpm, your car bang on there. It should drop to under 1000rpm after 5-10 seconds, but perhaps doesn't because of "VSC Check"... that is also "normal" as much as having "VSC Check" is normal. You have a loud and dronny exhaust, that can be heard, but apart of that I can't hear anything wrong with the engine. Also you won't hear much from the engine in the interior of the car, 99% of the sound in your video are from exhaust.

[DnG]

47 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

Engine has to be hot to check oil level. It is a little bit stupid... Basically you need to drive for some time, get it fully up-to temp, then stop and set timer to something like 15 minutes... long enough for all oil to drain into the pan, but not long enough for engine to cool down... and only then you can accurately check the oil level. And even then it is sometimes hard to tell it on dipstick, admittedly it is little bit like telling future from tea leaves on the bottom of your cup. 

There are two dimples on the dipstick, generally speaking I would be happy if cold engine is above the bottom one and hot engine is below the top one. In short oil has to be anywhere between the two dimples, but if you measure it cold, then add more and it is near top dimple, then you have too much oil. Although I have not heard of 4GRs being catastrophically damaged by too much oil, too much oil is also no good, especially hurts fuel economy right away.

Engine oil warning light will never come until it is literally too late. If you have engine oil light, then it is 90% you have blown engine.

With the engine cold, the oil is bellow the bottom dimple, might need a bit of oil, will soon do a full service after I deal with the mechanical issue.

47 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

The sound and revs it is holding, completely normal for IS250. As previously mentioned "fast idle" at the start around 1500rpm, your car bang on there. It should drop to under 1000rpm after 5-10 seconds, but perhaps doesn't because of "VSC Check"... that is also "normal" as much as having "VSC Check" is normal. You have a loud and dronny exhaust, that can be heard, but apart of that I can't hear anything wrong with the engine. Also you won't hear much from the engine in the interior of the car, 99% of the sound in your video are from exhaust.

I thought so myself, that the error could affect the revs, since just having a sensor issue it sh**ts itself and shuts every system off. The previous owner changed the rear part of the exhaust since the split pipe is way thinner than it should and there are no back boxes. I like exhaust sound but not constantly, I will get a pair of valved (button) back boxes and I'll put a proper size split pipe. Weirdly enough, I can hear multiple sounds, better inside the car than outside, where you can mainly hear the direct injection tick. Thanks for putting me at ease with the revs, I can finally sleep fine tonight

[DnG]

So another day another problem...

Just noticed that in the rear left compartment in the boot, there was a bit of water inside on the plastic tray. I lifted it up to see the inside nearly full to the vent as well as some puddles in the wheel well...

Is that something that usually happens...? Where could that be coming from? I also noticed that the vent is glued to the chassis and has no fins, and is also taped over... would there be a reason to do that? I want to change the vent with a new one and I'm hoping that grey glue isn't JB Weld....

[scudney]

The vent shouldn't be taped over for starters and yes is most likely the cause of the water issue, hopefully an easy fix with a replacement one, barring the glue lol

[DnG]

54 minutes ago, scudney said:

The vent shouldn't be taped over for starters and yes is most likely the cause of the water issue, hopefully an easy fix with a replacement one, barring the glue lol

Just ordered a new vent, but looking at the pictures I don't really see how water could be getting in from there, especially if it's taped up and I haven't driven the car since I got it and the fact that water gets in the wheel well makes me think water is coming from up top somewhere, but the top of the trays are dry...

[scudney]

Could also probably be getting in through the rear light cluster 

[DnG]

Another thing that came to mind is, does the SE trim come with electric folding mirrors? My car does have the folding button but as the previous owner said : ‘The car has an auto folding module that overwrites that button but it doesn’t work so the folding button does nothing for now’

Thinking back that sounded like a lie… what do you guys think?

[scudney]

Yes it did have folding mirrors via the button 

[H3XME]

4 hours ago, DnG said:

Another thing that came to mind is, does the SE trim come with electric folding mirrors? My car does have the folding button but as the previous owner said : ‘The car has an auto folding module that overwrites that button but it doesn’t work so the folding button does nothing for now’

Thinking back that sounded like a lie… what do you guys think?

2IS never had “auto” folding mirrors. You could only fold them via the button on the door. You can retro fit auto folding function upon locking the car but the button would always work.. 

[DnG]

4 hours ago, scudney said:

Yes it did have folding mirrors via the button 

56 minutes ago, H3XME said:

2IS never had “auto” folding mirrors. You could only fold them via the button on the door. You can retro fit auto folding function upon locking the car but the button would always work.. 

Just to double check, that’s for the SE right? Googling and asking AI, it looks like the SE didn’t have electrically folding mirrors but if it did, I need to see what ‘retrofit module’ the previous owner installed that broke the whole thing.

 

Anyway, any other ideas as to where all that water could be coming from?

[H3XME]

5 hours ago, DnG said:

Just to double check, that’s for the SE right? Googling and asking AI, it looks like the SE didn’t have electrically folding mirrors but if it did, I need to see what ‘retrofit module’ the previous owner installed that broke the whole thing.

 

Anyway, any other ideas as to where all that water could be coming from?

No, that’s for the entire chassis. Doesn’t matter if it was Se-L, f sport, advance or SE. None of them had auto folding mirrors, but they all have electric mirrors. You have to press a button on the door.

i don’t know. You get water in the boot if your vents are blocked. It’s moisture rather than straight up water.

[normski2]

Just a thought on the subject of 'auto' folding mirrors on the earlier model 250.

Some years back there was a kit available [Ashpoint Po40] from a chap in Australia that a few 250 owners purchased. Sadly, the chap that developed it died a while back. Here is a link you may want to have a trawl through. Perhaps you have one of these modules fitted inside your door that has now failed [could be a simple thing like a bad joint in cabling]. It may just be a case of being poorly fitted in the first place?

There is an alternative method that was outlined by Ahmed in the following link. This should give you a replacement path to follow.

Good luck. You may want to have a look under the drivers door control panel and see if there is anything that looks like an obvious addition to the wiring. If you need to get further into the door lining, here is a link I put up when I had to remove my door card to enable a repair.

Best of luck with it all ... you've taken on a quite a challenge there

[Linas.P]

On 10/10/2024 at 10:18 PM, H3XME said:

2IS never had “auto” folding mirrors. You could only fold them via the button on the door. You can retro fit auto folding function upon locking the car but the button would always work.. 

Facelift from 2010 had it, just "mid-lift" 2009-2010 and early cars did not. Not sure if that is all trims, but my 2012 F-Sport had auto folding mirrors, my 2010 AWD did not, but I was told that is because US spec. never got folding mirrors. That said I think UK got them from 2010, just not sure what trims. Presumably SE-L, F-Sport, SE-i?

On 10/10/2024 at 1:30 PM, DnG said:

So another day another problem...

Just noticed that in the rear left compartment in the boot, there was a bit of water inside on the plastic tray. I lifted it up to see the inside nearly full to the vent as well as some puddles in the wheel well...

Is that something that usually happens...? Where could that be coming from? I also noticed that the vent is glued to the chassis and has no fins, and is also taped over... would there be a reason to do that? I want to change the vent with a new one and I'm hoping that grey glue isn't JB Weld....

Yes... the little problem is that your "vents are not venting". It could leak trough the boot seal (I think you mentioned it doesn't close quite right?), or the seal itself may be blown (would not be surprised considering how all the trim is loose). 

And yes, there are £10 modules that can close mirrors automatically... and it is likely that if it is not connected correctly or does not work, then button does not work either. Or that was just cover story... who knows. Figuring out what is what won't be easy either after somebody was messing about. 

 

[DnG]

1 hour ago, Linas.P said:

Yes... the little problem is that your "vents are not venting". It could leak trough the boot seal (I think you mentioned it doesn't close quite right?), or the seal itself may be blown (would not be surprised considering how all the trim is loose).

Yeah, ordered a pair of vents that I will be replacing soon. Also found out that the grey "glue" isn't actually a glue, it's more like a semi-soft sealant and I can easily take it off, so that's one thing, don't know why in the f*** someone would just tape over them. They clearly don't have the flap anymore and there's no overspray on them, so it wasn't the paint guy who did it...

1 hour ago, Linas.P said:

And yes, there are £10 modules that can close mirrors automatically... and it is likely that if it is not connected correctly or does not work, then button does not work either. Or that was just cover story... who knows. Figuring out what is what won't be easy either after somebody was messing about.

Probably a cover story, who knows, not sure if it's normal but my driver's door card panel pumps out when the window is fully up lol, it's like it's growing a belly. There's also some wires out on both left and right side of the car in the front, they're just hanging there and I need to investigate them to see where they're from, just got some other "life" things to worry about at the moment but hopefully I'll find some time here and there to dedicate to this project.

I remember the previous owner telling me that he put the bumpers himself since he was "very picky about bodywork" and the fact that I keep discovering off things like using washers to line up the bumper (which did exactly the opposite), not using the right clips/bolts or not using them at all, just makes me want to either laugh, shout "f off" or both. Even the inside pillars trim wasn't in place because, and I quote: "there are wires going through there for the amp and dashcam and the trim couldn't be put back in place" and just out of curiosity I had a look and the fu**er broke the clips!! Of course I ordered a new set of clips and will put everything back in it's place. There's A LOT missing everywhere around the car, and the fact that I can't find the right diagrams and pictures on the internet to use as a reference, I'm hoping I can a somewhat complete IS250 at a breakers in Birmingham so I can have the cars side by side and move things over, also hoping they'll actually let me do that without them wanting me to buy the car outright...

I don't get how someone can mess up an entire car so badly but still repeatedly call it their "pride and joy"... At this point I feel sorry for the car, it does look nice, might not be the SE-L I wanted but I'll make due, and I want to restore it. It's pretty much a restoration, from needing an alloy refurb, the windscreen resealed, bumpers changed, screws and panels and all the other things it needs, it's a journey and I'm glad I found this forum and you guys to help with it, so thanks again 😄