CiaranMcK

Thanks everyone - there’s a Lexus independent up in Yorkshire I might go to for it I reckon, just with the gearbox being such a pain in the arse. I’m Manchester based and we don’t seem to have any Toyota/Lexus independents here!

I have an is250 that is about to hit 150k miles. I’m due an oil service, but I’m also thinking about asking them to change the auto box and differential fluid as I’m not sure it was ever done. Thoughts? Do most people do this regularly? And how much should this cost me? Thanks! CMcK

Hi, Sorry to revive such an old thread, but since installing the WALD spoiler my boot has been absolutely smashing down. Did you just buy the standard SGS is250 struts, or struts intended for a different car, and where did you get the springs? I want to order the exact same combo, then will probably do kick open too. Thanks!

Honestly! Even the Lexus specialist didn’t think it would be that. They fully thought head gasket. It just happened they had some parts on the shelf so did some swapping as a last resort. We were gobsmacked when it did the trick.

Yep! First garage diagnosed head gasket. Lex Tech initially diagnosed head gasket too, but the more he looked for confirmation the less he thought it was actually head gasket! It turned out to be this, at some point it has been put on backwards. There must be a directional valve in the cap, or just some sort of pressure difference with the different lengths of hose on either side.

OK - so I didn't go ahead with this as the car was actually a simple fix - the pipe leading from the Thermostat to the expansion tank, and then from expansion tank to nothing seemed to be the problem. I can't explain why, but once I changed this with another it stopped losing coolant immediately. I did all the research though, and the swap is 100% viable, and probably the cheapest way to add c50bhp!

I don’t have a compression tester, but with it being that straight forward I can’t imagine why the garage is so reluctant to do it. If they don’t I’ll just buy a kit! Thanks!

Yeah exactly this. Could compression test the 2 or 3 that are easy enough to get to, but realistically I’d need to strip it down to get to the spark plugs to fully diagnose. If it passes sniff test maybe I’ll go that way. But by that point I might as well just have an engine waiting to pop in. Out of interest - would you sniff test from the thermostat or the expansion?

Thanks mate. If I pull the trigger and do it I’ll let you know how it went! If I spend £1000 on an engine and a few days fitting it though it’s still very cheap per HP added! I keep hearing this scepticism about the head gasket. It’s with a garage at the moment and he’s reluctant to strip it down to definitively diagnose it. I’ve asked him to do a sniff test to be sure. Do you have any tips on how I could fully diagnose HGF without spending hours stripping the engine down?

Air in the coolant, pressuring extremely quickly, eventually getting pressure in the expansion tank and p***ing coolant out of the pressure relief hose in the expansion tank lid. No hot air through the front facing blowers (although I do get it from the foot blowers). No overheating or mayo or anything, so I'm thinking just a very mild leak right now letting exhaust gasses into the coolant. Bled the system a few times and air seems to re-appear. A blockage isn't 100% ruled out yet, but short of removing the radiator and getting access to the heater matrix to check for blockages there I'm out of ideas. I've asked my MOT garage to check for gas in the coolant system with his exhaust probe to see if we can fully diagnose exhaust gasses in there for now.

Thanks mate Sorry if I wasn’t clear, I’m looking at the 3GR-FSE to replace my IS250s 4GR-FSE. The IS300 didn’t come with the 3GR-FSE I don’t think? Only the Euro GS300 (2006+) and Toyota Crown/Mark X I’ve seen the engine swap done before, generally people use the 3GR block with the original 4GR intake manifolds, Throttle body etc. They share the same injectors, sensors, throttle bodies etc so the ECU in these cases has worked like normal. The only times they’ve reported needing the 3GR ECU/the 4GR mapped is when they’ve added a supercharger. I’ve not heard anyone have issues with the gearbox and engine matching up, but obviously if they’re different units I’ll definitely have to look into that as a potential issue! I’ve mainly seen this done with 6MT but also a couple of autos too. If it’s NOT as straight forward as I’ve been led to believe though, I’ll just put another 2.5L back in.

Hi all, After suspected head gasket failure I’m seriously considering an engine swap from the 2.5 V6 to the 3.0 from a 2006-2011 GS300. From what I can tell it should be plug and play, using the same ECU, manifolds etc with no real downside. It’s be good to speak to someone with direct real world experience in this swap before I pull the trigger! Any known complications? Thanks!

Hi all, I’m looking to source a 3.0 v6 3GR-FSE from a GS300 to transplant into an is250. Ideally with history Let me know if you have one or know of one I could buy! thanks

Thanks for the review. I was looking into switching out my vline for this but I don’t think I can stomach spending £100 on cables, and with the reverse camera and built in car play also not working 100% it just seems like a lot of messing around for only a small improvement. My only real gripes with the vline is that the factory screen is pretty small and if I reverse it will revert back to factory UI once back in P or D. My music seems to keep playing and once I press audio again I get my vline screen back. It’s not the end of the world. The xtrons does look lovely though. The extra screen size and quality makes all the difference.

Correction, expansion tank is nearly empty when cold