Monocle

Great update! Couldn't agree more. 7 years on and 150k on the clock. No plans to change!

I doubt this will be much help to you but I have never really noticed the difference between the two. So maybe mine doesn;t work either. Like you, when in heavy traffic or behind a bin truck, etc. I would reach to the button. Sometimes it would be already on other times off. But if you think about it, if you press it to go into recirc mode when there is a bad smell, will that not just circulate the bad smell and trap it in the car? I do notice that when you have the aircon on and you switch from hot to cold air, it will automatically switch to recirc mode. Not sure if that is going from hot to cold or vice versa. I presume that is just for efficiency reasons.

@Balthane I refurbished my wiper arms last year. See before and after pics below. I was very lazy and just used some spray paints I had lying around. It turned out glossy and looks like a just wrapped them in black insulation tape! However, bar the finish, it was a good job and has lasted well since. I removed each of the wiper arms. Just pop the cap on the end and there is one nut holding them on. Tape off the unaffected areas. I used a fine sand paper on the corroded area (something like 300grit) - it seems to be aluminum so easily sanded back. I cleaned down with spirits and sprayed with primer, a black coat then lacquer. I gave it two coats of black and two of lacquer. Probably overkill! Job takes about an hour if you exclude waiting between coats, or three hours if you include waiting time. I was doing the brakes at the same time so wasn't waiting around too much! Not the clearest guide ever, but it is really an easy job and I can't see anything that could go wrong even if you have the technical knowledge of a hamster!

This is great advice!!! Saves lots of time.

Totally agree with Shahpor. I think it is definitely worth separating the solenoid end from port end when the EGR is removed. You can get a much better clean around the valve plates and seats which means you'll get a better seal. It is pretty easy to do. The two parts separate very easily. Also, I wondered about the state of the inlet manifold. So I took it apart. Big job. Lots of carbon removed. I put a guide together so you can see photos there. There was a slight improvement in mpg but the biggest gain was in acceleration from low revs.

Is220d Sep 2007. Had since Mar 2010 at 30k miles. Come a long way since! The tank average below is not normal - usually around 35mpg max of late.

Looks fantastic Normski, well done! Great colour too. I did mine last Summer using VHT spray paint. The cleaning was the most important and difficult part I found. It's now nearly a year and I inspected them yesterday. Three of them are still in perfect condition but for some reason one is really corroded. No idea why. Will be redoing it again in a couple of weeks. I think the Hammerite option might be a better bet. You can really slap it on thick unlike the spray which tends to run.

Thanks Lee and Chris. Well I think it is safe to say that I got very lucky! My god that is horrendous and scary!

Job done - will do How To Guide soon. Honestly, a very easy job. However, I think the fact that I caught it early meant the washer was reasonably free and the injector itself didn't need too much effort to pull out - so I got lucky. If left for longer, that black gunk would probably build up more and more and make it difficult to get both out. The parts were €7 for the copper washer (not copper anymore!) and the o-ring (which isn't a perfect fit unfortunately - it is the right diameter but the thickness isn't the same as previous). Total job time is about 1 hour (minus trip to collect parts!). Also, on doing some reading on this forum about getting the washer out, there are concerns about the washer falling into the cylinder chamber below. I'm not sure how this is possible unless the washer had split. But if it is in one piece, it cannot physically fit down into the cylinder. So, I think the risk is very low. Highly recommend doing this job from a satisfaction and financial perspective. I was tempted to do all four at once but I have read that they should be left well alone until a problem occurs. Not sure I understand why fully - I know the injectors are sensitive pieces of kit but as long as you are careful, it shouldn't be a problem. I'd welcome some opinions on this. How to Guide:

I just took out the injector there. It was a straight forward job. Took about 45 minutes total - 15 of which were spent trying to get the copper washer (seal) out. You can see the damage to the copper washer below (two notches) and the o-ring half way up the injector. Also included is a pic of the injector itself. It was a bit stuck due to the build up. Parts are arriving on Monday so will fit and do full DIY Guide then.

Thanks madasahater. I can't see the how to guide but I have ordered the seals (arrive Monday) and I'm going to give it a go myself. I think I have caught it very early so I am hoping the copper seal isn't too stuck! I have seen some failures and the build up is significant - I only see a small amount on mine. If you can find that how to guide, please let me know. Otherwise I will do one up if I'm successful!

I was nearly home after a three hour driver this morning and noticed a strong smell (like burning rubber) in the car (IS220D). When I pulled into the driveway I took a look at the engine with it running. There was a blowing sound which I quickly saw was coming from one the injectors. It also looks like some sort of rubber or plastic been spit out with the blow. It looks like oil spray but it is hard. See pics below. There was no smoke and the smell was not diesel or oil. The blue arrow just indicates the direction of the blow out. It is coming from the back (not visible side of the port). The schematic of the engine block refers to this part of the injector as the nozzle leakage assembly. I have no idea what this is. I have a feeling that a rubber gasket has failed and is being melted away by the heat and pressure. The red circle is where the problem is and the blue is my best guess of what has failed. My question is, has anyone encountered this problem? Also, I want to pull it apart to see exactly what went wrong, but I don't like pulling out injectors. Thanks

Love the car. Wheels look great. Wish mine looked that shiny! Especially love the calipers. I did a similar (DIY) job last year and wasn't sure about the colour - glad someone else has the same taste

I've used two different Dealerships over the years. As you can imagine, the sales over here when compared to the UK are much lower so Dealerships tend to carry two or more makes. The two Dealership's I used were both a Toyota/Lexus hybrid (no pun!). So it carried Lexus and Toyotas in the same showroom and the same out the back in service. That is no joke about the Civic - I was convinced I wouldn't even make it back to collect my car!

Just a quick vent - this is the difference between Irish and UK service. I'd say I have had about 10 services with Lexus over the last seven years. I have needed a replacement car on most occasions. I was charged at least twice for a POS (Yaris mainly). Other times it was free but the car was a >10 year old Yaris/Civic/similar. I never once had a brand new car. I was never once offered a new car. And I did ask on several occasions and was told that it was not their policy. Maybe it's the way I look I'm seriously jealous of the service you UK guys receive!!!

I think it might be worth your while searching for posts on cleaning the EGR valve yourself. Clean it every 5,000 miles. Also, read up on the regen of the DPF issue. Lots of conflicting comments but for the sake of a few motorway miles at high revs every couple of weeks, it won't do you any harm. Finally, and there is a current thread on this, grease the caliper pins. Apart from that, from my experience, the rest is minor. Enjoy the car - I've had mine seven years and still love getting into it!

47775-50010 Part Number for Rear Caliper Pin Boots For what it's worth I use standard silicon grease and has served me well but I grease every year at a minimum.

It's more that it is an easy and satisfying job. Only a socket set and a bucket needed! Not really about saving money (the quote above is great value) - I just enjoy doing these jobs! Also check that new pump came with a new rubber gasket.

I thought I'd give an update on this saga. So, as mentioned above I had the Terraclean DPF service carried out and it worked like a dream - however, it was only temporary. It hasn't gone back to the way it was previously (completely blocked) but there is definitely some resistance when I accelerate any more than gently, particularly in 4th gear and above. I have had no limp mode which is good. But the average fuel consumption on a mixed long drive that I do weekly went from about 38mpg to 32mpg in the space of 2-3 weeks. There was an offer on in Lexus for an intermediate service (I stopped going to Lexus around 100k miles and did the servicing myself). But it's cold out so thought I would just leave it in with them for the day and get it done The main reason was to get them to look at the DPF situation and also confirm my air con condenser has failed. So here is what Lexus had to say about the DPF... "The older the IS220D, the more the DPF blocks. One customer has to do a "driving regen" every 175km! This entails driving for 8-10 km at constant revs between 2750 & 3000. You cannot use cruise control (maybe someone can explain why this is - I've no idea!). This cannot be interrupted even for a second or you have to start again. This should be done more frequently if you drive urban miles mainly" I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with these comments but from what I have read about initiating regens, this isn't exactly how it works. Not sure though. Lexus carried out two forced regens to get the inlet pressure down sufficiently. I have driven about 200 miles since and it feels great again. Just not sure how long it will last. I was thinking about replacing the DPF myself. Part roughly €700 (spurious). But this could be a complete waste if it will just get blocked again and again. I asked about the fifth injector (something I know little about) but he said it was not the problem. Will keep you posted again in a few weeks. I'd welcome some opinions on the fuel consumption drop though! Seems like a dramatic drop.

I replaced mine with a genuine part around 50k miles. Now at 150k and no problems. Maybe they modified? You should fit it yourself. It is such an easy job!

Not sure if I'm right on this, but here's my two cents. I clean my EGR every 5,000 miles. When you remove the EGR valve, there is carbon build up where it meets the inlet manifold. Some of these carbon deposits break off and fall into the manifold below. I also clean the inlet manifold port under the EGR valve but I try to use a hoover at the same time to minimize carbon deposits falling into the manifold. Anyway, once you start the engine, the carbon deposits are pulled through the engine and find their way to the DPF. As the DPF is a fine mesh filter, it can get clogged momentarily - hence the restricted ("misfire") feeling. Giving it a good blast for a few miles to increase the airflow and temp sorts it out for me.

@Shahpor Do let us know how the test goes. Would be interesting to compare, especially if a few others did the same. And all the above I have listed, I think I have had value for money. I do feel lucky when I compare to some of the horror stories I have read on here. @Farqui I think you are right. It's a great car when maintained and looks great when in good condition. But it's pretty heavy so the pulling power does lack a bit especially when I compare to Audis/BMs that I've driven. We'll see how long the healthy period lasts!

@Ahmedali44 Thanks for that, I'll check out that product. @Shahpor Yes, I have had other issues, most of which have been mentioned in a few posts here by other members. When I bought the car, the clutch had just been replaced at 30,000 miles. Not sure who was driving it! But the clutch has been perfect since. 1. At around 60,000 miles the water pump failed. Picked up one new from Lexus for about €150 and fitted myself. Easy enough job. 2. Rear brake caliper guides seized a few times but I managed to free them. One fully stuck at about 120,000 miles and had to be replaced. Again, paid about €140 from Lexus and fitted myself. 3. At about 115,000 miles, I went to start the car one morning. It tried to start then all electrics shut down. Checked all the fuses I could but could see nothing. Brought it to Lexus. They said that the heads of the air con, audio and seated/cooled seats had been fried and that it would be several thousand euro to replace. I got a bit ****** off as I couldn't understand how a fuse wouldn't blow first and why had this happened on so many separate electronic parts. Lexus wouldn't budge. At this stage they hadn't pulled the centre console out to investigate the heads as that would cost €300 alone. So I again questioned the fuse issue and they said they would have a proper look once the console was out. Low and behold, a few hours later they "found" a fuse blown on the power to these units. €5 replacement plus the €300 to get the console in and out. 4. Not a major issue but caused me pain at the time. During the problem at #3 I had tyres that were not in great condition. Lexus needed to test drive the car to investigate the issue further but wouldn't send anyone out until the tyres were replaced for safety reasons. I actually didn't have a problem with this in fairness. So they replaced three of them. Anyway, a few months down the line, I was doing a refurb on the brakes (and spraying them a bright blue with decals ) but I couldn't get the hub nuts off. I put so much force on the locking nut that the protrusion on the locking key sheared off. Went to Lexus and they said they didn't over tighten the nuts and they couldn't source a new key. Very helpful as always . Eventually hammered on an 18mm socket with great difficulty to get them off. Needed a 1.5m bar to get enough torque to get the other nuts off as well. Luckily I didn't need to do this on the side of the road! 5. The air con compressor failed on me 5,000 miles ago (140,000). I don't fully understand the system as I haven't looked into it in detail but there is a bad rattle from the compressor and there is no cool air. A replacement fitted is over €1200 I believe so I can do without for the moment. I am keeping my eye out for a second hand/refurbished part on the net. Other than that, just carried out my own servicing since leaving Lexus servicing at around 90,000 miles. Knew I was going to be holding on to the car for a long time so the cost didn't justify the returns long term. Can't remember any other major issues. Small ones include the rear passenger roof handle securing clip breaking off. One of the backing lights on the centre console display is blinking. There are a few others but I can't think of them right now. So back to the results from yesterday's DPF/Engine clean out. I drove a journey of about 3 hours today (a good mix of motorway, secondary roads and traffic). I had been getting somewhere between 33-35mpg. I got 38.4 today. Very pleased. I don't think I was light on the accelerator as I was in a bit of a hurry so I think it is fairly representative. But the big change for me was the acceleration in low revs. I tested the car a number of months ago on a flat stretch of road. I put it in third gear and let the revs drop just below 1,000 rpm. Then I put the foot down and measure the time it takes to get from 1,000 to 2,000 rpm. I think I got this idea from this forum in the past. Anyway, it had been about 8-9 secs with the pull only coming in at about 1,750 rpm. Today it took about 4.5 secs with the pull around 1,400 rpm. Acceleration has dramatically improved. All in all the car just feels like it is breathing so much better. It's like the accelerator has no resistance if you know what I mean. The mechanic said that the DPF was in an awful state so obviously I would see a big improvement but I still believe this should be carried out on any high mileage IS220D. I'll report back in the weeks to come to see how things are. I really want to see a full tank consumption rate before I know for sure about the fuel.