Notamech

PCV Valve replacement. Things you will need: A medium sized torque wrench or ratchet. I used a small ratchet initially but it didn't provide enough leverage to break the pcv valve free so recommend a medium sized one. A 19mm deep socket. A new PCV valve. Loctite red 271 threadlocker this is equivalent to threebond 1324 or toyota 1324 that toyota recommends for this job. A rag. Note: I bought bought my pcv valve for ~£15 on Amayama shipped. Given how non urgent this job is i believe this is the way to go if youre doing this job. Dont go spending £50 on Lexus parts direct. When i uninstalled my old pcv valve it was still in good order and changing it was completely unnecessary. Online the recommendation seems to be to change this every 30-40k maybe thats true for non toyota vehicles. The valve mechanism on mine seemed as free as the new one, if i shook it, even after ~95k miles. I did not notice any signs of clogging or gummy residue that could clog it anytime soon. How to: 1) Remove engine cover by lifting up as explained in previous post. 2)Press the clip to loosen and move it further down the pipe so that it is no longer clamping on the PCV valve spout. 3) Wiggle the hose while pulling it away to remove it from the PCV valve. 4) Using your ratchet / torque wrench and your 19mm deep socket undo the old PCV valve by turning anti clock wise. 5) Once the old one is removed you will see a bit of dark oil deposits on the old valve and the hole from which you removed the valve. Use some egr / carb cleaner and a rag to clean the threads in the hole. Again do not spray directly into the hole. Wet a rag with the cleaner and push that into the hole to clean the threads. 5) Get your new PCV valve and dab some threadlocker only on the bottom few threads this is because some of the top threads stick out of the hole by design. I looked up the equivalent for the recommended threadlocker and the loctite red 271 seems to be one thats equivalent and is also easily available (on amazon for £11) vs the threebond 1324 or toyota 1324 which is the same thing rebranded and not easily available. 6) Start installing by hand in order to avoid cross threading. Turn clock wise to screw in the new pcv valve. Once you cant turn it by hand anymore use your torque wrench. Set it to 27nm and start tightening the pcv valve. Stop when the torque wrench clicks. 7) Wipe off any excess threadlocker / spills with a rag. 8 Reconnect hose and slide the clip back into position. 9) Reinstall engine cover. You can spray some silicone spray into the rubber boots of the engine cover to keep that rubber supple. It is recommended that you do not start the car for at least an hour after installing in order to allow the threadlocker to set. I started the car after an hour and no check engine lights or anything. Everything functioning as intended. I didn't drive though. Will see if this has made any difference to the overall feel / smoothness etc. tomorrow. Will report back if there is a difference. The idle rpm was between 1000 and 1100 but i only ran the engine briefly and perhaps thats normal for a cold engine or it could be due to the computer having to re-learn the ideal throttle position for idle after the clean.

Throttle body cleaning Things you will need: A 10mm socket and a ratchet. Alternatively a phillips head screw driver might work. Needle nose pliars. The same cleaner you used for your MAF and a clean rag. Before you begin I highly recommend watching the car care nuts video on throttle body cleaning a lot of it is relevant and will give you a very good overview into what you are doing and why and its implications. Steps to get to throttle body 1) Pull up and remove engine cover. 2) Press the metal clip and pull back to release. The tension on these clips isnt too much. So you can just use your fingers to squeeze it. Squeeze it and pull it to the position you currently see in the picture 3) Now that the clip is off th spout. Wiggle the pipe while pulling it in order to disconnect it from the spout. 4) Unplug the MAF sensor as seen in my previous post. Once this is done you need to release the clip that holds the MAF wire loom on to the intake pipe. This can be done using needle nose pliars to squeeze the clip and push it out the hole. In my case the zip tie part of the clip came undone so the wiring loom was free. 5) Use the ratchet and 10mm socket to undo this bolt till you feel that the hose clamp is loose. As you can see this bolt also has a phillips head so you may be able to use a scredriver to undo this screw. When re-installing the torque specs for this bolt is 4nm but i didnt have a torque wrench that goes this low so i just tightened it what i thought was enough i.e not too tight. 6) Now undo the 5 clips on the air filter housing. Once you do this put your hand under the intake pipe assembly, just where it bends to go down to the throttle body and push forward. This should break the pipe free from the throttle body. Now just keep wiggling the pipe assembly forward and backwards while trying to pull it upwards and the entire assembly should lift off along with the top cover of the air filter box exposing the throttle body. As you can see there was quite some carbon build up around and on the edges of the butterfly valve it wasnt excessive just a thin layer. For 94k i think this isn't bad at all. Cleaning Spray some cleaner on your rag and start wiping with your rag. Use your fifingers to push open the butterfly valve and clean thoroughly using different clean sides of your rag after soaking it in clener. Do not spray cleaner directly into the throttle body you dont want that carbon going in you want it out. Dont use metal screwdrivers etc to keep the butterfly valve open you could cause damage. When pushing open or closing the butterfly valve make sure to be gentle. The spring action on the valve is quite strong so dont just let it go. Slowly release it to close when cleaning on the under side of the valve or around the throttle body walls on either side of the valve. Once done re assembly is just the reverse. Remember to connect back the hose you disconnected and plug in the MAF sensor. Overall i guess it is good to do this once in a while.

So finally attempted this today. Got all 3 done in around an hour. Everything was super easy. Just for context mine is a 2014 executive with around 95k miles on the clock and I reckon this is the first time these tasks have been carried out on this car. Overall having now done it i can say while its fine to do as a DIY task it is by no means necessary especially if your car is around the same mileage as mine? as everything was quite clean anyway. I havent driven the car since carrying out the below tasks so cant say yet if it made any difference to how the car drives and feels but i suspect it will be the same. A more important DIY i feel would be cleaning the hybrid battery fan and filter when i did that at 90k it came out really dirty and cleaning it felt worth it. MAF sensor cleaning: Tools Needed A phillips head screw driver. My screwdriver bit said P1 so i assume this is the size. You will also need some EGR / carb / MAF sensor cleaner ...basically something that wont leave a residue. Do not use brake cleaner or wd40. Procedure 1. Unplug the maf sensor by pressing down and releasing the plastic locking tab and pulling the plug away. 2. Undo the 2 screws marked in blue and pull the sensor out. Be careful to not use the wrong size of screw driver and strip the screw heads as they seem quite delicate and if you damage them you will need new screws. Fortunately they were aluminium screws i think as they had white corrosion not rust. 3. Once removed make sure to clean the rubber seal/ o-ring with a clean towel. This o ring seals the sensor in the housing and keeps dust / dirt out but gets really dirty when removed. Also clean the outside of the sensor. 4. In an open well ventilated area spray some cleaner on the metal sensor wire. There are 2 of these metal bars with a resistor or something connecting them in between. Do not touch these bars with anything. Do not use a cotton swab / towel / brush or anything else to clean these bars. Only use the cleaning spray and let the cleaning spray and the pressure from the can do all the work. Use gloves and avoid the fumes from the cleaning spray. 5. There are 2 more sensor wires hidden inside spray these too. Once done let the sensor air dry in a clean ventilated area Once the sensor has dried reinstall it. Do not overtighten the screws. Connect the plug back in

Awesome. Sounds like a good weekend DIY job. I agree that the original toyota pads are super dusty but wonder if its intentional to prolong life of the discs. My major gripe with the originals is squealing. Disappointing on a premium car. Despite having the shims etc my fronts squeal when stopping at low speeds. Do these EBC brakes fix that? Is there no squeaking/squealing?

So i planned to do MAF + throttle body clean and replace the PCV valve. I ordered a new PCV valve on amayama and its finally here after 3 weeks or so. I am surprised at the price difference between lexus parts direct and amayama. The pcv valve costs £47 at lexus parts direct and it costs only 7usd and i paid 8 usd for shipping so less than £15 on amayama with shipping. Thats a massive difference. https://lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/product/lexus-is-phase-3-pcv-valve/ https://www.amayama.com/en/part/toyota/1220436040 Anyway. Hopefully il find the time soon and make a DIY guide on it.

On the ML not sounding great. This could be because the new lbx is more compact. I have heard that the more space in the car the better it sounds which is why previously also it sounded much better in the Rx and NX vs the IS for example. One more thing you could try is to tune it to your liking e.g increase the base / trebel etc. I managed to tune my poverty spec 6 speaker system in my old IS to an acceptable level. Had to turn the bass all the way up but now it sounds acceptable over Bluetooth. Also android auto dropping out etc could be software issues. Sometimes unpairing and re-pairing your phone can fix it else the dealer may be able to update your infotainment with the latest firmware in a future service. I could be wrong but generally speaking from various threads on the forum it sounds like newer cars arent built to the same standards that lexus had about 10 years or so ago.

Not sure about the 2019. I have a 2014 exec 6 speaker system and its just ok. The best sound quality i have found is achieved using Bluetooth and it also lets you change tracks etc using the steering controls. For some reason aux quality isnt as good and also you can't use the steering controls. I don't know about USB on a 2019 but on a 2014 usb is only for flash drives as far as i know.

Mine is a 2014 executive with 94k. At 70k your car has probably not even lived half its serviceable life. With regular maintenance you should easily get 200k+ of trouble free motoring its a Lexus after all. The one thing i do recommend doing as a DIY if you're comfortable with DIY is to clean the hybrid battery fan it is not done by lexus when servicing but it will help prolong the life of your hybrid battery. Also at 90-100k service ask for a transmission oil change that is also not a maintenance item but might be worth having it done for peace of mind if you plan to keep the car long. Else like wharfhouse has mentioned above as yours is an 18 plate if you service it at lexus you will have lexus relax warranty up to around 2029 (if you time the last service right)+ Get the hybrid health check done at lexus every year after that and your hybrid battery will have warranty up to 2033. By then you will probably want to change your car anyway. So chill and enjoy your new Lexus.

If youve had your pads changed at Lexus they should have re-used the old shims. Mine used to squeal when braking and turns out the previous owner changed the brakes and didnt use the shim kits. So i bought it and got it fit but the brakes still squeal when applied. So ive learnt to ignore it and assume its the pads . Also if you can wait a bit its cheaper here https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166687780944?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338365712&toolid=20006&customid=EB211510275&

Yes will definitely do a guide or a video. Just waiting for the weather to be more conducive. Its just been so cold lately. I seem to have figured out how to do it in theory at least. When i actually go to do it, as is often the case, new hurdles show up. This engine just seems so DIY friendly that im tempted to keep it forever.

Yeah i did a lot of research on this and sounds like its normal. The ECU deliberately decides to run the engine lean to generate more heat faster. This made no sense to me as i always thought more fuel=more energy and hence more heat. But apparently that is not the case. A lean mixture generates more heat because there is a more complete burning of fuel taking place vs a rich mixture where relatively speaking more fuel is wasted also in a rich mixture the unburnt fuel conducts some of the heat away. So i guess it makes sense that under certain situations where power demand is low e.g in traffic and when the engine wants to warm up fast that the ecu decides to run it lean. Strangely i was in the same situation today but it didn't do it and everything was smooth as always. Sometime in the next few weeks I'll still clean the throttle body, MAF sensor and replace the PCV valve just for good measure. Its also strange that cars these days dont come with replaceable fuel filters. Ive seen videos of people opening up the pump assembly to get at these "lifetime" filters and what comes out is nasty.

So yesterday I started my car drove on to the road and immediately got stuck in traffic. Given the engine was cold it was running as the car was trying to warm up. While sat in traffic I noticed something strange, at idle I could feel vibrations of the running engine in the cabin intermittently. The best way to describe it would be as if the car is running lean and was close to cutting out except it wouldn't cut out. when the car is moving its fine. Which got me thinking that given it has run 94k now perhaps as good practice it might be worth cleaning the MAF sensor and throttle body but couldnt find any info on anyone having done it on the IS300H. The maf sensor should be straight forward and i found videos for how to do it for the 2ar engine but for the Throttle body it seems like a bit more of an involved job and disconnecting the intake hose doesnt seem like a straightforward easy job. Any tips if anyone has done it would be appreciated. Also when researching i found that this lean running when cold might actually be normal for hybrids as they do all sorts of weird stuff including running lean to heat up faster. But strangely I never noticed it before. Any thoughts?

The UAE could be an option. Heard they dont have taxes in Dubai.

Honestly given its a lexus i feel like the odds of it being something simple are quite high. As someone above suggested it could just be the steering shaft or components on or around the shaft rubbing against something. But on the flip side it could be anything from CV joints to steering or suspension components failing too. I would recommend getting it investigated as whatever it is its definitely not normal.

That might be a good idea frankly as dirt can indeed get trapped in between the mudflap and the body in some areas and scratch the paint which might be visible if you remove the mudflaps. I didn't do this though as i plan to keep the mudflaps on for as long as i own the car. If they fall off il replace them.

Not an owner but i havent heard many owners complain much about the 200t in the UK at least. I know that since the 2.5l V6 has only direct injection it is prone to carboning up at higher mileages. Also i think most people are skeptical because it was viewed as not a very reliable engine in the US probably due to many people running it on regular fuel when it needed premium fuel (in the US). In the UK even non premium fuel is already good quality and 95octane so not as many issues with it in the UK from what i understand but perhaps people avoid it just because other arguably better options are available like the 300h for the IS and the 300h/450h for the GS.

Steering wheels dont make that sound normally. Maybe check to see if something is fouling between the steering and dash i.e change the position of the steering wheel if its that you should not hear the sound after changing the position. Else its better to get the dealer to investigate. From what i understand even though you might want to claim warranty they charge an hour or so of labour to diagnose the fault and if there is no fault you have to pay else if there is a fault and you're covered then they sort it out with the warranty without you having to pay

I think it should be. Its very unusual for Toyota axles to fail like this. Maybe open the window turn the wheel completely to one side and drive the car slowly on full lock if it clicks and pops then ita most likely your axle has failed.

Check to see if your engine has D4S i.e direct and port injection. I had this on my is300h a while ago it sounded like a lifter tick on cold starts and lasted more than a few seconds and would not be present when the engine was warm. Was told that its normal and is because of the engine switching to direct injection under certain conditions. The noise was most likely the high pressure fuel pump or the injectors themselves.

No you do not have to remove the wheels. I did it myself without removing the wheels. For the front you can just turn the wheels to one side to make space. On the rear they do recommend drilling the wheel arch liner to fit one of the screws ( the middle one). If you want to do this then you do need to remove the wheel. I only fit one screw in the hole already in the wheel arch liner ( the top one) using a ratchet ( you can use a spanner too) and the pastic rivet on the underside of the bumper. Its held perfectly well with just these 2 fittings on the rear. I did not drill so didnt need to remove the wheel and i have 18 inch wheels with not much space but still managed it.

So much so that people are actively avoiding cars like the RX as insurance prices on those are crazy. I seen a forum post from a member where his RX got stolen so he bought another one and the insurance companies wanted £5k to insure this one. However now Lexus have a solution for the RX and said that for other models a solution would be available by end of April. Would be interesting to see what they come up with as the issue is unencrypted communication between modules on the CANbus

I agree...i wonder how people with SUVs manage daily driving. Everytime we go to the supermarket i see people with SUVs struggling to park between 2 cars. It always seems to be a tight fit. At times even the IS feels long and sticks out of parking spaces. For supermarket trips or around the city we always use the wifes jazz - its got all the features youd expect in a city car like dents, scratches, curbed wheels etc. Enough for me to not care if there is small new damage that doesnt impede its running.

Yes the is300h does not have a belt tensioner. Its just a stretch belt that drives the water pump. Its super simple and easy to replace the waterpump and belt if needed. Full thread here

Gald you found the right one but wow! £2.5 for 1 clip. Lexus have insane margins i imagine if they want £2.5 for 1 plastic clip thats probably made in china just like the generic ones anyway.

Add mudflaps to that list if you dont have them already. Its such a life saver in the UK. I havent washed my car since December 😋 and it looks nice and shiny still. From a distance at least. Before the mudflaps the doors would have a much thicker buld up that needed to be washed off more frequently. And it only cost me some £15/20 from Aliexpress fitted them myself.