What A Time For This To Happen

mick4545 · May 14, 2014

On my way to Southampton for the overnight ferry to Caen, and from there to Southern Spain. Just short of the ferry port an orange engine warning light came on. No manual with me so carried on and tried to access this site from the docks with an Iphone to ask what the warning was. No luck, I could access the website but could not post.

The satnav has all Lexus dealers pre programmed in and a search revealed one in Caen. Result. After a worrying night onboard I was outside the dealers at 0745 waiting for them to open at 0900. When they opened I explained the problem by pointing and showing the warning light. He took the car and parked it in a service bay and sat us in the showroom with coffee. Half an hour later he came back with the keys and said "all OK." I couldn't make out what he said about the problem, the only word I understood was 'computer,'

I then asked how much I owed, (Thinking this is gonna take a chunk out of my Benidorm beer money). He replied "nothing." Now that is service and it has restored my faith in Lexus. The rest of the trip, there and back was completed with no further mechanical problems. Satnav problems were another matter.

The first problem was my own fault, I disconnected the 12 volt Battery before the trip to fit a CTEK Battery charger comfort connector to keep the Battery topped up as the car is not used all the time. (recommended piece of kit). After four hours driving I realised I had not driven on a motorway yet and it suddenly struck me that the satnav options must have reset to default values. Sure enough it was set to avoid toll roads. An 8 hour journey to the Spanish border for my overnight stop took 13 hours. My fault, no complaints. Thinking about it, The mechanic in Caen could have reset it when he fixed the warning lamp.

There were more serious issues with the satnav that I'll start a new tread for after further investigation.

Checking the manual on return showed this:

Malfunction Indicator Lamp

Indicates a malfunction in:

The hybrid system

The electronic engine control system

The electronic throttle control system, or

The electronic transmission control system... <Gulp>

Malc · May 14, 2014

Lexus Caen sound excellent, well done them.

But you do have a complicated car with so much weird and wonderful electronic wizadry ............ oh for the simplicity of life ( and my Mk3 ).

Hope it all works out ok for you, do let us know ............ btw, I used an old fashioned book type road map when I was in Spain !!

Malc

mick4545 · May 14, 2014

Lessons learned:

1. Carry the manual

2. Carry paper maps.

Malc · May 14, 2014

............... and maybe as your Ls600 gets elderly .................. trade " up " to a Ls400

only joking ! ( or am I )

Malc

cleverdick · May 14, 2014

An interesting story, hope it's nothing serious.

This got me thinking - what if I'd turned up at that same dealers in my 20-year-old Mk2? Would I have received the same level of service?

What's the cut-off age after which the dealer just laughs at you?

I tried desparately to get a straight answer from Ford about this - with no luck. That's one reason why I'll probably never have a Ford again. Toyota seems to fare better - certainly in terms of parts availability for older models - but what about expertise and experience? If that same dealer did exist in those days, chances are he was representing another make.

lexusdaduk · May 15, 2014

when we travel to Nerja we take a map and the wife double checks the route even though I've done the route several times, my 2011 Volvo V70 the sat Nav is out of date the new stretch from Santander is not on there, Yes I have done the same re the toll roads, spent an hour going up and down the coast road.

mick4545 · May 15, 2014

Just been on to my dealer and explained the problem. I was hoping there might be a world wide Lexus database that that the fault may have been entered on. As there was no bill raised there is no record of my visit to Lexus Caen.

Anyhow, the service center say as long as Lexus Caen said the car was safe to drive its OK to leave it until the next service in August and if the warning lamp doesn't come on again it could have been a miss communication with a sensor.

mick4545 · August 16, 2014

It's happened again! Car serviced four days ago, they found nothing. Cruising down the autobahn this morning, warning light came on again. There's a Lexus dealership opposite the hotel I stay at in Dortmund, pulled in there and they cleared the fault and gave the ok to continue driving. No charge again.

Unlike Lexus France they gave me a print out of the fault. Here it is.

Code P0014

Beschreibung.

Nockenwellenposition B

Zundzeitpunkt zu weit

Vorgerrukt Oder

Systemleistung (zilindergruppe 1)

Übersicht

Symbol B

Anyone speak German?

PhilipK · August 16, 2014

Google translate has this to say:

code P0014Description.Camshaft position BIgnition timing too farOr VorgerruktSystem performance (zilindergruppe 1)surveysymbol B

royoftherovers · August 16, 2014

Unless the warning light is RED, just carry on driving until your heart rate exceeds your capacity to tolerate what is only an advisory !

Regards

John

hihihi · August 16, 2014

-

mick4545 · August 17, 2014

Thanks all. If it happens again I'll leave the warning sign on until I can get the car to Lexus Cheltenham. I wonder if it will need a new part or just an adjustment?

mick4545 · September 3, 2014

She's going in to Lexus Cheltenham tomorrow for investigation, fixing. Wish me luck.

Bluesman · September 3, 2014

Best of luck, Mike

mick4545 · September 4, 2014

After 2 hours of diagnostics\tests.the result:

4 camshafts needed at £220 each.

1 week or a minimum 21 hours for engine rebuild at £115 per hour.

Who says extended warranties arn't worth it with Lexi. they are bullet proof right? I did not want an extended warranty but I'm glad my wife put her foot down and insisted I get one.

Just waiting for the parts to be ordered, a curtesy car to be arranged and the go ahead from Lexus insurance.

Malc · September 4, 2014

OMG that sounds horrendous, who'd have thought such an excellent car would be so expensively temperamental.

Hope they didn't charge you for the diagnostics check !

Malc

mick4545 · September 4, 2014

No charge to me, but I suppose they will bill it to the warranty.

Bluesman · September 4, 2014

WOW!! Well done the wife. Thats got to be a good night out for her. Mike

mick4545 · September 20, 2014

Lexus warranty have agreed the repair. The car goes in on Wed.

Malc · September 20, 2014

seems like you haver had a battle on your hands the timeline it's all taken to get the car booked in !!!

Malc

ambermarine · September 20, 2014

That is a result ,well done you and your good Lady

royoftherovers · September 20, 2014

Such work required begs the question as to why such repairs are necessary to a top off the range Lexus which is only 6 years old at the most, has a full Lexus service history and has covered less than 140,000 miles.

Regards

John

mick4545 · September 20, 2014

seems like you haver had a battle on your hands the timeline it's all taken to get the car booked in !!!

Malc

Not really. The warranty company uderstandably wanted all service history and reports from Lexus Cheltenham and a gasket has been on back order.

John, its got 32000 on the clock. I don't know exactly what is wrong with the camshafts, I'll ask when I pick it up.

Titch LS · September 20, 2014

Michael, I can assure you that If all 4 camshafts needed replacing you would hear nasty loud knocking noises coming from your engine. If it was my car I would 100% get a second opinion on this. With only 32,000 miles and Full Lexus Sevice History I find it hard to believe this work is necessary, even though carried out under warranty. I know there is a fault showing, but replacing all 4 camshafts is totally unheard of at such a low mileage. If there are no nasty noises you don't need the camshafts replacing, it's that simple really.

ambermarine · September 20, 2014

This repair is not a decision that Michael as any influence over as it as been sanctioned by the warranty on the advice of the Lexus dealership.In any event even if the repairs are not the answer to the problem it will show up when they have been done and the engine is run .

I can understand why some of us would question the requirement for this repair on a Lexus but it may be just a wrong set up when the engine was built, that is now showing through excessive wear on the crankshafts ,this kind of thing does sometimes happen in engineering on the tolerances required in an engine.