johnatg

I know it's a bit late to be saying this, but I didn't want to be negative when you were half way through the job and you had the engine in front of you and I don't. But, I didn't understand why you said that oil in the cylinders confirmed that the head gaskets had failed. Water in the cylinders shows head gasket failure - oil is more likely to be piston ring failure or bore wear problems (or valve guide wear/failure). The oil galleries are further away from the cylinders than the water passages. How much of a check have you done on the rings, little ends and big ends? Can you do a compression check, especially on the cylinders that had oil in them? Did you dismantle the heads to check the whole valve mechanisms? I hope there isn't a problem as I've described - it would be pretty serious and you'd need to carefully review options.

5w30 too 'thin' so you switched to even 'thinner' 0w20 ?????

The quoted maximum power output has almost nothing to do with power consumption from the battery or generator - it refers to very short maximum peak output to the speakers - no doubt someone who understands audio system electrics better than me will be along to elaborate. Anyway, as long as you don't sit with the engine not running and the audio system at full blast too often the car's electrical system will keep the battery near full charge all the time. What kills batteries is long periods not in use, creating very deep discharge. Near-daily use over a reasonable distance (say more than 10 miles) will keep the battery well charged all the time, prolonging its life. Lexus hybrid auxiliary (12v) batteries don't do much - they have quite small electrical demands - just to power up the electronics really, except if you're sitting in the car with electrical systems in use and engine not running.

If the car is used daily Panasonic batteries can last 10 or 12 years or more. Sometimes less, but they are excellent quality.

Good luck with removing all the coolant. I haven't seen anyone on here definitively find the block drain cocks (if you have found them please raise your hand!). What I did, and I think most people do, is just drain the radiator. You can get 3-5 litres out that way, depending on the angle of the car. (Have the nose pointing down and you can get more out, but then it's harder to get to the rad drain *****!) Then refill the rad to replace what you have drained and do it again, sooner or later. I did that about 4 times, once at each annual service. That will keep the anti-corrosion properties of the coolant in reasonable shape (the anti-freeze doesn't significantly degrade - it's the anti-corrosion element which gets less effective with age). Do it several times in succession if you are concerned about it. My car was 2005 (first reg 2006) and I sold it a couple of years ago. It still seems to be going strong.

Isn't the black one pre-facelift? It hasn't got led drls. It has got a mesh grille. Definitely earlier build than the blue one. Sales in 2009-2011 weren't exactly stellar so some cars hung around with dealers for quite a while.

Not too sure they tick the 'not too big' box though 😕

And the GS300h (2013 - 2019)

It obviously only beeps when the camera is in the nav database. Have you updated your nav to 2019? If not it will be working on an older version - 2014 I think. Maybe there have been quite a lot of new cameras installed since then.

Speed camera warning?

Can you read codes stored with an OBDII code reader? Have a look round the engine bay (under the cover) and see if there is a vacuum pipe come adrift or split. I would think that this will either be something simple (like a fuse or split pipe) or something very serious (Failed ecu?) but I'd go for simple.

That looks like the ultimate stuff! But for most of the time Plus Gas works well. Also Halfords sell 'Shock and Unlock' - it's a freezer spray - works well.

Apologies and correction - senior moment there - getting confused with my GS (which has 18" wheels) Most IS250s do indeed have 17" wheels (including the one I had).

My 2006 SE had 18s which I thought were standard? I'm surprised that a SE-L would be on 17s - retrofit possibly?

But there are very few with 17" wheels - they were only fitted to poverty spec models.

I had an is250 for 7+ years and never did find those block drains. After 10 years old I just drained what I could once a year and refilled. No problems and I think the car is still running fine at 15 years old.

Nothing wrong with Pagid discs or pads. They're not uprated 'performance' items but neither are original Lexus ones - the Pagid items will perform just as well as Lexus ones. Hybrid cars are much lighter on discs and pads than ICE cars - not much point in uprated ones really unless you live at the top of the Stelvio pass or similar. Thumbs up for Pagid.

You shouldn't really use ordinary (lithium, etc) grease on battery terminals - I think because it may have an adverse effect on the battery case. I have and use some Holts' No-crode from years ago - nowadays you can get specific battery terminal grease from Liqui-Moly or use Vaseline or other petroleum jelly.

If it started easily this am there's nothing wrong with the battery. Last night some volts were getting through to give you ignition lights, but I guess the connections weren't allowing enough current to flow to turn the starter motor/engine. My guess from here would be that your battery connections need tightening up. The terminals are conical and the clamps can slide up and cause a poor connection. Try tapping the clamps down very lightly with a very small hammer as you tighten the clamps - very carefully!

Indeed so. BTW - credit card companies charge between 2 and 4% of the transaction cost, but banks take a cut of DDs too. If you'd like to save some more, check out AutoAid - £59.99 per year (for all your cars and partner (driving!). I've had to call them once (when my MX-5 coil pack failed) - the guy turned up pretty promptly and would have transported us home, but I managed to get the car going when the coils had cooled down. He followed us all the way home (~15 miles) just in case. Or I've heard of an outfit called 'Rescue Mates' - works like Uber. But I know nothing more about them.

Check the whole intake system from air filter box, intake trunking, throttle body through to the intake air box (what people think is the manifold but isn't) - maybe something was damaged or a gasket not quite right during the spark plug change. And were the air box to manifold gaskets changed during the spark plug change? - likely not - another possible source of the problem but it means almost re-doing the plug change.

Look for 'repair washer' on the bay - lots of different sizes. Just check out what you need. If the hole gets really big you can use perforated strip to hold over a larger area.

Here you go: https://l1-movies.lexus-europe.com/media/downloads/GBEN/Lexus - Service Table 0418.pdf

That would probably involve quite a loss. I'd try several oil changes, using engine flush and a new oil filter each time. (I use Comma Engine flush and Mannol oil - I'd suggest using a 0w20 for the first oil change then 5W30 after that.) You can run the car for a few days with Comma flush in the engine. You should get a noticeable improvement and there's a reasonable chance the motor will last for ages. I revived a Mazda 626 like that about 30 years ago - it lasted another 70K miles and I sold it still running well. It had solid crust in the rocker cover, let alone sludge. But there is a danger that stuff will be dislodged and stick in an oil gallery - that might be terminal.

For once I agree completely with Linas. Emission tests on diesels prove nothing. Presence and correct operation of all emissions equipment is key.