ChumpusRex

There are several widely used specifications - API, ACEA and ILSAC, but many manufacturers due to particular engineering demands specify certain additional performance requirements. For example, VW and BMW specify extra-long oil change intervals. To ensure that the oil will last that interval, they have their own specifications which require high levels of oil preservatives, and wear-preventing additives. The same additives are specified by API, etc. but they specify a lower minimum than VW and BMW specify. Other manufacturers may have specific demands for oil sludge formation, or catalyst/DPF compatibility, and therefore have their own specification of oil to ensure that the oil is adequate. ACEA have tried to standardise some of the most used specifications for catalyst friendliness, wear, oil change interval, etc. You have the A grades which are from A1 and A5 which is for the lowest viscosity oils to A3 which is for higher viscosity oils; there are also C grades which specify catalyst friendly formulations. C1 being most catalyst/DPF friendly and with extra-and C3 less friendly. It is possible to meet many manufacturers specifications simultaneously, but not all of them. As a result most of the end-user oil manufacturers make a variety of products with slighlty different formulations to cover the whole market. Lexus go buy the ILSAC specification and the very similar API specification with no additional special requirements. If the oil meets API SL or a later API specification such as SM or SN, and is of the correct viscosity then it will be fine for an IS250. There's quite a cool little interactive widget at http://origin-qps.onstreammedia.com/origin/lubrizol/Markets/EngineOilAdditives/100132RPtool2012Deploy/rp/pc/index.html where you can compare different oil specifications to see how they differ.

If it's like the one in this video,then it's probably a faulty VVTI mechanism. It's a known problem with the IS250. On the US model, at least, there was a dealer technical bulletin about it, authorising a repair under warranty. Point it out when you go for your next service. If you can, take a recording of it with your phone before hand. In reality, the only side of effect of the malfunction is a rattle at start up,due to oil draining out of the timing adjuster. Once the engine starts the oil refills the timing adjuster and the car operates normally. There is no harm or excess wear from the rattle. Mine does this from time to time too but is well out of warranty, and this is a very expensive repair. But I've noticed that it does it much more frequently if the oil level is below the mid-point on the dipstick. Topping up the oil to the maximum line effectively cured it.

I took my car for an "alignment". The fitter said it was terrible. Afterwards, the steering wheel had to be turned about 10 degrees to the right to keep the car straight and the car pulled like mad to the left. I had brand new tyres all round (Michelin Pilot Sport 3) at the same time, so took it back. They checked it again and said it was perfect. Adjustment was £30, and the recheck was free. 3000 motorway miles later, the fronts were bald with the threads showing on the inner edges of the tread. I took it for new tyres to another tyre place which did "4 wheel computer alignment". They gave me a printout which showed that the rear wheels were completely skew and were pointing about half a degree to the left. The fitter showed me, pointing at the numbers on the printout how the other shop had adjusted the fronts to match the rears, but without a proper 4-wheel aligner, they couldn't tell that the rear wheels were totally out of alignment, and that the resulting front wheel alignment was completely wrong as well. This shop adjusted all 4 wheels , and put new tyres on the front. It was a different car after that. Perfectly straight steering, no pulling and completely sure footed. 10000 miles later, and all the tyres still look brand new.

The tail lights are all LED and are not replaceable (without removal of the lighting cluster). Only the rear fogs and reversing lights have replaceable bulbs.

Thanks for the feedback. I was planning on changing mine in due course, but I might just speed things up a bit. I'm tempted to get the thermostat changed at the next coolant change too, for the same reason.

I deleted the personal data. That seems to have done the trick. Thanks.

I have a 2005 edition SE-L and it had the original nav DVD in it. This was getting a bit out of date, so I got a new one from lexus-updates.eu. Now I have up-to-date maps, but the route no longer recalculates if you deviate from it. I can't find any setting to turn it on, so I assume that the auto-recalculate feature has been deleted. Seems strange as this is such a basic and low-end feature. Did I get the wrong disc, somehow? Or has the feature simply been removed in new editions.

A number of things can cause overheating 1. Thermostat 2. Water pump 3. Head gasket 4. Clogged radiator 5. Faulty radiator cap 6. Leaks Leaks will result in loss of water from the system, so you will usually end up with less water in the main cooling circuit (it won't necessarily pull in water from the bottle) Head gasket could look like water in the bottle boiling as exhaust gas circulates through the cooling system and escapes through the bottle. Can be reasonably accurately tested on the spot with a coolant analyser tool. If the coolant is clean then stuck thermostat, faulty water pump or clogged radiator are possible. Clogged radiators don't happen overnight and should be uncommon, as Lexus use a 10 year anti-corrosion coolant which is very effective against sludge or corrosion (unless someone has topped up with a generic coolant, which will react with the toyota stuff causing sludge to form). Thermostats don't often get stuck closed, but it happened to me once before, so it does happen.

I don't know. That one looks different. I had a quick look through the parts catalogue and they all have totally different part numbers between models. So I don't know if that one would fit.

Found a breaker with an IS250 auto; a quick butcher's at the lexus parts catalogue reveals that all the trim levels and models have different footrests, and I don't think an IS220d one would fit, so it was challenging finding an IS250 auto. I'm sure they're skinning me alive for what is an unimpressive piece of plastic - but I can only imagine that lexus would want twice as much.

Yup. First registered in Oct 2005. Used for 6 months as a dealer's demo vehicle. The part has 2 part numbers on it: 58191-53090 58191-53100

I broke the footrest on the left side of the driver's footwell, after I put too much pressure on it. Any idea how much on OEM one is going to set me back, or can anyone recommend a suitable aftermarket one? (The actual footrest plastic has snapped, leaving one of the clips firmly attached to the plug in the floor. If anyone knows how to get this half clip off, it will also be appreciated)

I'm thinking of doing this with my IS250. OEM alloys are too expensive, and ideally I'd put 205/55 on 16" rims on - but would there be any problems with insurance, as the car was never sold with this size alloy in the UK. (I'm wondering if the insurance companies would get upset that the wheels were smaller and thinner than stock). Other than that, I was wondering about just getting some cheap aftermarket 17" wheels. However, I can imagine there would be a big admin fee for upgrading the car insurance to a "modified" car.

I bought a well used IS250 12 months ago with 120k miles on it, and purchased an extended warranty from warranty direct. They were delighted to sell me a policy covering pretty much everything, mechanical, electrical, brakes, steering, electronics, catalysts, air bags, etc. with a maximum mileage of 150k. Anyway, they sent me the policy renewal recently. Not only was the cost of the policy increased by about 20%, there were some interesting changes to the cover: cover would cease at 130k miles Items covered would be the mechanical components of the engine (i.e. block/head/pistons/rings/crank/cams) and mechanical components of the gearbox (not including clutch packs/brake packs, etc.). Important exclusions would be all sensors, wiring, computers, fuel system, cooling system, ignition system, etc. Also not covered, would be brakes, steering, electronics, catalysts, air bags. For me, they would not cover my car - although they obviously assume that I'll be renewing, as they've already sent me the confirmation of when they will auto debit my card.... Even for new policies taken out, they are much stricter on coverage - if you want vehicle electrical systems covered, your car must have fewer than 60k miles. They will no longer cover electronics, catalysts, air bags, etc. on cars with more than 60k! If you've got a WD policy and are coming up for renewal, make sure you check the small print very carefully. You may find that your renewal will cover you for much less than you would think.

I think if headlamp washers are fitted, they need to work. If retro, you might get away without. Actually, I was toying with the idea of upgrading my high beams to HIDs as I do a lot of night driving in remote areas. I came across an interesting problem with cheap HID kits. The IS250 has a lot more electronics on it than older generation cars, like the IS200. It also has a lot less space for add-on ballasts. As a result, it's quite likely that if you find a convenient spot for the ballast, it's likely to be next to some sort of electronic widget. There was a spate of serious problems reported in the US, because apparently the electronic power steering ECU sits in a little alcove next to a headlight, so attaching a ballast next to the P/S ECU seems a good idea. It turns out that a lot of people starting having mysterious P/S failures on their IS250s shortly after installing HIDs. Most of the time, the ECU would log an error code like "Power steering ECU internal electronic malfunction", or "Power steering ECU unexpected CPU reboot". Several people had their P/S ECUs replaced (as the cars were often brand new), only for the problem to come back a few days later, usually during night driving. In one case, the car actually started steering on its own, turning the steering wheel violently from side to side, with such force, that if it had been your granny driving, it could well have broken her wrists. In all cases, once the HIDs were removed, the P/S returned to normal function. The problem appears to have been cheap "China Direct" HID kits that cause severe electrical interference; electronic ballasts, by their nature will produce electrical interference, but decent brands will be shielded according to legal requirements. The ultra-cheap kits often contain no shielding but print fake design certifications on the labels so they look legit. The interference from unshielded ballasts appears to be sufficient to cause malfunction of the car's electronics. This could be very dangerous if placed next to a safety critical system, such as a P/S ECU or VSC ECU.

My 2005 IS250 came with a panasonic MF80-D26L battery (You can see this part number stamped on the top of the battery - you might need to remove the top strap to see it). This battery is equivalent to an "068" size battery. This is the same physical size as an "069" battery, but the connections are the opposite way round. You'll probably be able to get an "069" in, but you'll need to pull the wires into a new position to reach the terminals. The "068" has the terminals in the same position as the OEM battery.

Just remember, though that there is still some uncertainty about exactly what needs to be tested with HIDs in the new MOT. There is a school of thought that says that if the car wasn't fitted with auto-levelling then it can't fail for not having it. This was intended to be for those early gen cars with HIDs which didn't have self-levellers and can't be upgraded. You may find that your MOT tester will pass your car, if the HIDs are a retrofit (on the basis that the car can't be upgraded to have auto-levelling). Early feedback suggests that some testers are failing car with retrofit kits, and other are passing them and issuing an adivsory. It's not absolutely clear which is correct.

Just remember that HID auto-levelling is a part of the MOT now. If you have HID bulbs installed, the tester is instructed to check that the alignment correctly adjusts with the ride height (e.g. by bouncing the suspension and checking that the alignment of the headlights stays within the acceptable range). I don't think the halogen headlamps are equipped with the auto-levelling system. Retrofit HID kits will therefore likely be an automatic MOT fail (depending on how careful your tester is). You can tell if your auto-levelling system is working, because when you turn the headlights on, the beam will swivel up towards the sky, then down towards the ground, then straight ahead. If you headlights don't do this, then you may struggle getting an MOT with HIDs installed.

I've set a new MPG record after filling with Momentum 99. Never got anywhere this before. Probably weather related, warmer air makes a big difference to air resistance. However, the denser, low ethanol fuel probably contributed (the Greenergy 99 RON weighs 750 grams per litre, but regular 95 RON weighs 730 grams per litre). The problem is that there are so many factors, it's near impossible to do a fair test. 220 mile run from a full tank.

The French manufacturers must have had some problems with DPFs, because they've come up with an interesting system. The car comes from the factory with a tank of DPF cleaner installed in the car. Every time you fill with fuel, a shot of cleaner is injected into the tank. This keeps the DPF reasonably trouble free - until the cleaner runs out (about 40k miles). It's a heck of a job to refill the tank, and the cleaner is very expensive, nearly £200 for a 2 litre fill up. It would be interesting to know if any one has just tried manually dosing another DPF equipped car with the cleaner. It seems to do something on the French cars, once the cleaner runs out, you run into big time problems with the DPFs and big fuel consumption due to constant regeneration.

The cam chain does not require maintenance or replacement. The belt on the front of the engine is the serpentine drive belt. It needs inspection at 60k miles and every 10k miles thereafter. Replacement is not required unless the belt is degraded or damaged.

I should point out that I misread the awkwardly written summary sheet. My post above should read: C2 for Aug 09 and later; B1 for Nov 2005-Jul 09.

You'd be amazed at how much you can download in 1 hour of rabidly clicking "save as"

I got the service manual from the lexus EU technical web site. This is taken from the summary maintenance schedule.

The Lexus service manual states ACEA C2 5W30 or 0W30 only for 2008 and later. The manual permits the use of B1 oil for 2005-2007 models. The specification of C2 is essentially identical to A1/B1 with the exception that C2 places upper limits on ash, whereas there is no limit on ash in A1/B1.