chr15gb

Makes.nonsemse to me but I'd love to see a photo of this engine bay. 

I think he means the plastic reservoir and what can be seen under the radiator cap. 

Before running through the hassle of changing the fuel pump, you may find some of the screenshots I posted useful for my crank/no start problem.

Once you get techstream running there are many tests you can use to help including turning the fuel pump on and seeing the pressure

Nope, that's not just you. 

Takes me about 10 dips before I get any confidence in the reading

Success declared. 

Still starting fine and took it for a spin. No faults, as if nothing had ever happened. 

Huge thanks to all contributors to this, especially Linus. Hopefully this thread may provide some help for others whose IS250 uncharacteristically decides to not start. 

Not sure if a celebration is in order but the replacement Injector Driver has been fitted.
No change, just cranked but didn't start so after a few attempts, out with Techstream.

I had Errors!
B1421 and B1424
Both relate to the Solar panel. Air Con has always worked fine but in any case, not relevant here.

P12FF - Electric Driver Unit.
This is the Injector ECU I had just changed!

My heart sank, had I bought a dud? Was it mis-diagnosed?
The crank was different, the car seemed like it was trying to catch which it never did before.
I had a couple of half starts so persevered.

I assumed the engine was flooded due to so many attempted starts and after a while it felt like one cylinder caught, then two, then three, then four..thats enough, SEND IT!

Right foot down and up it stumbled and burst into life.
I held it at 3k rpm for about a minute, too scared to lift off in case it stalled.

Once at 3k rpm it seemed fine, juggled it between 3-5k rpm then tentatively bought it back down.
Settled okay and left it idling for about 30mins.

Turned it off, crossed my fingers and restarted, no problem at all.
Shut down and restarted at least a dozen times, all fine.

P12FF code has gone, only the Solar errors remain which I'm not bothered about.

More testing required before I venture it out on the road, sadly it needs fuel so I will need to shut down away from home.

Wish me luck 🙂

Plenty on eBay for £99.

I'd get an eBay one to get the car back on the road then spend some free time drilling that one out, you could then sell it on eBay and recoup a large chunk of that £99.

If you mess it up when the drill bit slips, you're down £99

Thinking about this a bit more.
The cranking, whilst working didn't seem particularly enthusiastic, it does crank but I thought it was a bit sluggish.

At IGN OFF the injector driver base plate is at 0v, Only with the ignition fully on does it see the 8.7v so most of the Battery voltage is going straight to ground through the injector driver base plate.

I've had a 12A charger connected whilst fiddling with Techstream and I had noticed it remaining at 12A for the whole duration. It normally steps down at it gets closer to a full charge.

I've bitten the bullet and bought a scrappy replacement for £25 on eBay. I'll be sure to sacrifice a chicken over the bonnet before starting up with the replacement driver installed.

If this works, I'm going to disconnect the MAF and a bunch of sensors to see if I can invoke some error codes.

The waterpump was changed more than 100 miles before the radiator went pop so that is at least 300 miles. Maybe coolant got in one of the plugs or some coolant crustiness grew after it dried out. A mystery.

42 minutes ago, steve2006 said:

Given the previous radiator replacement and its location in respect to the crank pulley I would take a look at the CPS wiring loom and connector to the main loom as this may have been disturbed.

Unless the ECU receives a signal from the CPS the injectors will not fire.

I'm not sure which bit the CPS is but I was thinking similar. 

I pulled the injector driver as that was all unplugged for the waterpump (over 200 miles of driving fine since).

I saw a youtube video, a guy condemned the driver as the base had power. Just pulled mine away from the engine block and I have 8.7v on the base plate. 

Progress? Having 8.7v must be pulling the ECU and subsequently no injector pulse. 

Now...about those error codes..nothing. wtf

So does my 2008.

Its a little button on the window control panel on the drivers door. They don't auto fold on lock, you have to push the button to fold/unfold.

Only commenting on the car itself..
the MOT History looks okay, a couple of failures for headlight alignment and a blown tyre. Nothing standout warning signs.

Mileage looks okay, it;s clearly been a daily driver with reasonable jumps between MOTs.

The garage though, thats a different matter. Unlikely you would get any kind of warranty worth the paper it is written on, even small claims and the law on your side won't help get your money back if it turs out to be a lemon.

Personally, I'd keep looking (and black cars are a swine to keep looking good, worse colour ever, mines black!).

I saw this video where the guy reaches the pressure sensor, it can be done by feel alone.
I'd agree its worth a shot even though the fault symptom isn't typical.
Doubt I'll get to look at it again until Friday so it will be preesure sensor, pull the yellow clipped fuel pipe then ECU reset with a paperclip.

Appreciate the help & suggestions.

I came to Lexus from a BMW E60 530D.
The BMW was the best car I ever drove but the worse car I ever owned. Absolute money pit.
Turbo = £1,700
Exhaust Manifold cracked....TWICE = £500 a pop
Glowplug controllers, glowplugs, EGR, Throttle body, MULF (Bluetooth unit)...TWICE
An endless list of small issues.
I ended up with a well stocked garage of tools.

I got an IS250 and have owned it for 9yrs (ironically it has just broken lol).

I found it quite boring after the BMW, at weekends I'd open the bonnet ready to get to work and found literally nothing to do. Everyting seemed to keep itself clean and it was absurdly reliable.
My garage expanded into machine polishers and detailing equipment as I never had any mechanical issues or even proper maintenance to do.

Rear brake slider pins the only thing I had to address in the 9yrs of daily driving (an Annual greasing keeps on top of it).
I changed Spark Plugs for a sake of it at about 80K miles
I changed the boot struts too for about £60.

I think they have a soul though, I needed more space than the IS250 can offer in the back, becoming a grandfather bought childseats into the equation along with pushchairs.
I wanted an NX300H but couldn't find the right one. For my sins I bought a BMW F34 335i. I'm now waiting for the dreaded Bong of Doom and wallet emptying repairs.

Within 2 weeks of buying the BMW the Lexus has thrown a strop, It definitely KNOWS I have bought a new car. I was going to give it to a relative but....

The radiator cap fell apart (£20 replacement) and I changed the waterpump (straight forward nuts & bolts) although crazy price for coolant from Lexus, and the radiator split so I changed that too.

Now it won't start at all.
Nice little project, a fault I can't yet find so lots of poking about and I am not dependant on it so can relax and take it slow working out what is wrong.
Once fixed, it will go to the relative.

Great cars and I would thoroughly recommend an IS250 SE-L Auto.

I bought it at just over 50k miles and it is now on 140k.

Small update.

A gallon of carbon cleaner and it starts but only for a few seconds of course. 

Throttle active test (ETCS) works. I'm on my own so I balanced my phone and took a video of it, I can see the flap open okay. 

Also the fuel pressure rose to 1,500psi

Paperclip next, if I can find one

Thanks Linus. I did take the camshaft position sensors out, stared at them, cleaned them, spayed contact cleaner in the plugs and refitted.
Same for Vanos solonoids to ensure they are free to move about.

Not done Crankshaft sensor, not tried to locate it but from a youtube clip I saw, looks a swine to access.

I do have a spark plug light tester but not used it yet. I was convincing myself if there was no spark there would be an error somewhere.
All modules respond on Techstream. I went through them all individually just to satisfy myself.

I'm not familiar with the paperclip reset but the Battery has been disconnected for lengthy periods, would this not achieve the same?
I recall on my old BMW th advice was to disconnect the Battery and touch the Pos and Neg cables together, this would drain any capacitor charge in the ECUs. Seems drastic but many did it to no ill effect.

I have some Carb cleaner so the hillbilly method of spraying directly through the throttle will be conducted soon.

My car was running fine, parked up then 4 days later it won't start.
Engine cranks over but doesn't catch and start, just cranks then dies.

Battery is about 2yrs old and reads 12.3V. I charged it anyway but no change.
I used Jump Leads from another car but no change, just cranks and doesn't start.

No engine light and no error codes whatsoever.

Checked all fuses both in Engine bay and under the dash - all good
Checked the big fuse block in the engine bay - continuity across the whole bar so all good.

I can hear the fuel pump prime when the ignition is turned on.

Running Techstream (see Graph):

Ignition ON
Engine OFF (obviously)

I can turn the Fuel Pump on and can hear it running.
Fuel Pressure is 46 psi in the graph but mostly 44psi, seen it as low as 26psi after I opened the fuel cap to release pressure.
I can't find anything definitive but as much as I can tell, the LPFP should provide 30-60psi so I guess that is okay, also as I can see a changing pressure, the Fuel Pressure Sensor seems okay.

The pressure does not change when I'm cranking though. I would expect to see the fuel pressure leap up when the HPFP takes over and ramps it up nearer the Fuel Pressure Target Value (way higher than 46psi).

I would aslo expect to see some kind of Duty Cycles on the Fuel Pump but they remain static at 0%

I'm not sure if I'm barking up the wrong tree entirely, normally a broken starter just clicks but this one cranks. I though perhaps it is cranking a bit too slugishly so doesn't have the Oomph to catch properly, not discounted this yet but I'm running out of ideas.

I did pull a couple of spark plugs and both seem fine.

Air Supply - Good
Fuel - Questionable
Spark - No Errors or engine lights. I would hope if there was nothing going anywhere it would flag an error.

Any ideas before the big hammer comes out?

Radiator was recently changed as it split and covered the engine bay. Engine did not overheat.
Coolant level stable
Oil looks fine
Head Gasket tester used with no change to the liquid in the test tube.
Car has been driven over 200miles since the radiator change with no problems.

I won't defend the amazon blueprint one but it fits and has survived a few decent trips. 

I was just about to get rid of the car but after being offered £1,800 in part ex I decided to go home and think about it for the evening. 

Between leaving the dealer at 5pm and calling them back the following morning someone had bought the one I was looking at online without viewing. 

Looks like I'll keep the is250 for a little while longer. 

I looked at a new car this week so asked about part ex for mine.

2008 IS250 SE-L 

All the toys and very well maintained. 2 keys

Black body, black leather interior 

Mot in October, 2 rears fitted in Oct 23, both fronts new in Jan (all Avons).

136k miles

Part ex offer = £1,800. 

I heard a weird rattle when idling which seemed to be coming from that housing beneath the radiator cap.

Took it off and saw this.

All the gubbins had fell inside that chamber.

I tried to remove the Thermostat but my goodness, that bottom bolt is a swine to reach as there is a hose in the way. Without a third arm, I gave up and removed the pipe on the right hand side

Got the pin out

The next part was properly wedged inside

Got it out after an age of swearing and jabbing

Replacement cost #10 from amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00B8YUASE?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

You can see the brown waxy type substance which split on both the cap and the bit between the spring and pin.

I gess just age, 2008 car with 136,000 miles.

Now I'm concerned that some of that waxy stuff has wandered off into the coolant system, no doubt to find a nice place to block coolant flow.
I'd still like to remove the thermostat as that seems a likely place for anything to drop into.

There is a link to a pdf install guide in this post, not an is250 but I can't imagine it would be too far out.

Worth a look anyway

Probably nothing but as you are waiting for an adaptor, may as well check easy things.

This happened straight after an air filter change so check the MAF sensor has been reconnected. If is it, disconnect it and see what happens.
I'd also be inclined to open the air filter box and re-seat it in case it hasnt been properly sealed.

If the MAF isn't working correctly, it will cause an erratic idle (and give a warning).

On BMW, if you disconnect the MAF completely, the car uses a default value of air so whilst it doesn't run correctly, would result in a stable idle speed. I have no idea if Lexus is the same but worth a shot, it costs nothing and takes minutes.

Thanks guys. I bled the brakes a bit more but the pedal travel is still too far.
I'm thinking Master Cylinder or Servo.

He has only had the car 6 months or so so I''ll cut some slack on the maintenance.
Bad exhaust rattle on start up, sounds like the front section isn't secured as the sound comes fron the rear of the engine underneath.

Wish this had happened going into Summer instead of Winter!

Taking a good look at the old plugs, you can see the crush washer hasn't been crushed at all. No idea who fittedf them (but at least the previous owner tried). Need to get to the others just in case they are the same.

Car is gone now until they come back to mine. I hate taking tools down to them and trying to work at theirs, I'm always missing something I have in my garage.

Youngsters for you, kids are scared to death of opening the bonnet these days.

I've never bled brakes with the engine running. May give that a go next time.

A relative left their car at mine for a few days so I said I'd have a quick look over it, IS250 2005 plate.

It had a new exhaust and it sounds horrid, almost like a diesel. No comparison to mine at all.
The brakes are shocking, I've bled them but the pedal still goes too far, perhaps I should've bled for longer. It has had a new rear caliper.

I was going to replace the  spark plugs, did the first easy three then the heavans opened so no chance to do the difficult three. They will be taking the car home first thing tomorrow so that will have to wait.
One of the spark plugs was loose, oil all over it. It wasn't even finger tight.

The car was low on oil so I topped that up and took it up the road and back. Seemed okay aside from the brake pedal. Brakes work ookay but I don't like the travel.

Switched it to flappy pedal and booted it, holy moly, a hideous high pitched mechanical scrapy belt about to give up type noise. Only at high revs 4k plus.
I'm thinking this is the water pump about to go belly up. Anyone experienced similar?

I didn't record the noise and I'm not going to repeat it just in case it gives up on me.

I polished the headlights up as best I could given the weather and wiped down the interior to freshen it all up.

I'll be planning all four brakes to clean, grese the slide pins and longer bleed, the other three spark plugs, cabin filter and whatever else I can find. There wasn't even a single plastic clip on any of the engine covers so I've donated a few of mine.

One on eBay for £85 heated and cooled. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/402993007139?hash=item5dd4414a23:g:EFYAAOSwzHBg7wzB&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoOfgPD5VbUKpkJoB1ApEe5IfucpAtfC9GALacC2J3SGz%2B7%2BU8d9oRPKYh3gfQTRhb1gnqVog4jdnC7QSCpLnEqGrrT0heC0Ydot3gDjNLSzCP915XO1L1Irv8gR46i2oqKL9m5RsCBInzUd0%2Fmg6TzXN%2FWwYCcIrLzQ%2F6tJbEcNzfAlrNZNYJMEyoo4MtUBa1tFIT7tcjS48BSwKmccQcuM%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR-Dnj8bhYA

On 8/19/2022 at 1:33 PM, H3XME said:

I pulled the T joint out, tested it and nothing was coming out. So if there is a blockage it's not in this area. I can hear the pump/motor working when I pull the stalk, but nothing is happening. I haven't checked the motor yet but I suspect the nipple on the motor where the hose attaches is damaged/blocked. My dad has an IS250 as well, so I'll just swap the motors to see if it's that. If not, back to diagnosing other bits.

Ahh, got you. The pump was cheap and easy enough although I had hassle with the trim pieces.

I got bored with removing screws but it still wouldn't free up enough. I just forced it out the way enough to get my hand in and work one handed.