Dpf Problems, Engine Management And Traction Control Light

KC14 · March 24, 2015

Hi all,

I apologise in advance to fellow members as my post will be a little long but I believe it's worth me posting as it may help fellow members who might be having the issues I have had.

My car is a late 2010 is220d which I purchased with full Lexus service history about 6 months ago. When I bought the car I joined this forum which by the way has helped me more then I can say so thank you to everyone who contributes to this club.

When I got my car I immediately serviced it with good quality parts and oil, I also cleaned the egr valve out as it was sooted up pretty bad despite Lexus replacing it 6 months before my purchase. I also ran a can of bg244 which did help clear things up a little in terms of smoothness and pickup, I've driven about 10k miles since.

I use my car both motorway and town driving 60 miles motorway and 40 miles town on average 5 days a week, 3 weeks ago I got the engine light and traction light come on and car went into limp mode, code p0400 which relates to faulty egr valve got towed home and took egr off this time I thoroughly cleaned the whole unit using 2 large cans of carb cleaner and a tooth brush, back on the car took it for a spin everything seemed fine mpg back up to around 40 mpg on motorway and 30-32 mpg around town, happy days so I thought.

2 weeks ago I noticed that the car would start smoking greyish white and a tiny hint of blue from the exhaust around every hour or so sometimes once warmed up other times when idling or driving along with this very unusual smell, this would last about 20 seconds or so also when I gave it a bit of a boot in 1st and 2nd gear during the gear change up I would get smoke from the exhaust at times. No loss of coolant or oil since I bought the car so not related to HG failure. On reading posts from fellow members who were having similar issues I figure it had something to do with the famous fifth injector and DPF, so off to the motorway, drove in 4th gear at 3k revs to get the car to Regen I tried this several times each time driving for about 20-30 minutes on cruise control. This helped a little with the smoke issue but it's was still happening frequently. 4 days ago whilst traveling on 4th gear and 3k revs on motorway I got the engine light on and traction light but no limp mode, got home after driving for 70 miles read the code as p2002 - particulate trap below threshold bank 1.

With my DPF blocked and my failed attempts to Regen I called around 20 different garages around Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire to get someone who could clean the DPF out. Boy was I taken for a mug or what by so many cowboy mechanics who were telling me I need to spend £800-£1200 to get my problems solved, some even said I needed an engine head strip down to clean everything out and one cowboy mech based in Hemel Hempstead went on to say all the information I got from the club forum is all false and nonsense from people who think they are mechanics, he went on to say his been in the trade for years and knows that my car has major engine issues other then the blocked DPF without even looking at my car!

Anyway got back searching the club forum and came across a post with recommendation of a service. I would like to say a big thank you to the fellow members who made this recommendation about Car Surgeon based in Birmingham. Gave them a call, spoke to Imran who seemed to know a lot about the is220d's and issues. He booked me in the same day, so drove up, met Imran at his garage, he ran diagnostics first to confirm code and faults, explained what he would do, clean the DPF with a chemical additive, test/clean egr and run live diagnostics along with attempting a forced Regen after cleaning. Well 3-4 hours later and £309 pounds lighter my car was running like never before, I averaged 46-47mpg at 70mph on 5th gear cruise control, car felt very responsive and very smooth, the difference compared to when I bought the car was was more then worth the money I paid to get it sorted plus no more smoke. Imran advised that I need to give the car a spirited run on the motorway at least every 3 weeks based on my own driving habits and to use good quality fuel not from supermarkets. I received a honest and professional service from Imran and Car Surgeon.

Thank you again to all the members of the club forum who contribute and help, without your input I probably wouldn't have solved my issue and got ripped off severely! I have put the details of the garage below in case any fellow members are having similar issues to what I had.

Imran - 07853355415

Car Surgeon Ltd based in Birmingham.

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IS200D · March 24, 2015

Well done KC14, its good to hear you had a positive outcome, particularly after all the scaremongering from 'experts' you had to endure!

ahmedali44 · March 24, 2015

Heard alot about this place on this forum in Birmingham at least members won't get ripped of by cowboy mechanics I'm glad u got a positive result

KC14 · March 24, 2015

Thank you fellow members, I'm just so happy they sorted the problem, it's gave me food for thought as to my driving habits with the is220d, the car just needs more careful attention to keep it running properly. It's a great car to drive otherwise.

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