Carbon Built-up In Cylinder In Rx330

[celionyang]

Does anyone have problem with their RX330 in terms of carbon built-up in the cylinder and making rattling noise when accelerating at low speed like 20-30mph?

We heard the rattling sound 3 months after we bought the car, we bought it back to lexus dealer and they said its the gas that we use and suggested that we change the gas. We tried and tried for months and we keep going back to them with the same problem. Eventually, the lexus dealer got frastruated and was willing to investigate the noise. Turns up that carbon bulit-up in the cylinder and they had to take the whole engine out to clean it. We asked if the problem will come back and they said no. 3 months later, the same problem again and they said it is fixed, and then another 3-4 months later, the same problem again. This time, lexus dealer themselves got frasturated and told us that after the 3rd time of dealing with this problem and it is still not fix, they will not be responsible for handling the problem and lexus HQ should take over.

Now, the problem comes back for the 4th time. But this time, when we brought the car back to the dealer, they turn around and said its not a engine default or problem and there is nothing they can do about it. We called the HQ and complaint and the HQ specialists said they also cannot do anything about it cause the dealer said it's not a engine default or problem.

What type of service is this? after 2-3 times of admitting that it is a problem and they will fix it and not, suddenly they said its a commom lexus issue and there's nothing we can do about it?

Can someone please tell me what to do? We are now stuck with this car, which sounded like a truck most of the time cause of the rattling sound!

[tmastres]

Go back to the dealer an dinsist they write it up as an engine problem. At a dealership there is no such thig as "we don't know what it is" They have to tell you something and since it was diagnosed as an engine problem before and its the same problem again ask them how it cant be aan engine problem. Once they admit its an engine problem it looks lik ecorporate ca take over from there.

[Booyah]

Thats B/S--you need to hop on the phone and start talking to some higher ups!!! Be persistent but nice too. Something is wrong for sure as you have documentation already, what 3 times? LEMON LAW TIME

[mehullica]

Can I get the VIN #? I work at a dealer and would like to see what they have done.

[SKperformance]

What year?

What dealer?

Have you had a motorvac as it would make more sense than ripping apart an engine for carbon.

[celionyang]

Thanks for the reply and advise. I'm going to answer everyone's question as below.

tmastres: I already told the lexus coperate person that they initially admitted that it was an engine problem, and how can they turn back this time and said it's not a engine problem. THe coperate specialist said it's what the dealer told her. Now she is going to check with the dealer again and will get back to me. It has been 3 days already... still no news...

Booyah: Yeah totally B/S i agree! But I'm so stuck here... I don't think they will let me talk to the higher ups. And yes, my husband and I think it's lemon law time. We are thinking if they still come back and said it's not an engine problem, we will get a lawyer and sue them. P.S. I always try to talk nicely to all lexus ppl, corporate or dealer, but they keep B/S with me.. how sad can that be.

mehullica: I'm not so comfortable to post my VIn # online. Can you give me your email so I can send it over to you? Please do check it up and let me know what they have done to my car that I do not know of. All I know is I'm the most unlucky one to get an unlucky problematic car.

SKperformance: I have 2004 LEXS RX 330 AWD and we always go to the lexus Bay Ridge dealer in NYC. What do you mean by motorvac? Not sure if we did that or not.

Thanks everyone. I'll keep you posted on what my next step is.

[Booyah]

Dont wait on tem to call you--Get on the phone every Day yourself, it doesnt take them 3-4 days to make a call--SO now you have to wait till Tuesday morning and first thing make that call and ask to speak to a supervisor, not just a phone boy:) and get some answers, Im sure Lexus will make it good as they have a ton of reputation to uphold.

[Grumpa72]

While I equate the typical consumer lawyer with a shark, I will offer this opinion. In PA, if you have an issue with your car this is repeated 3 times and is still not satisfactorily corrected, you can sue under the lemon law. Iirc, this gives you some pretty substantial rights. Have you explored lemon laws in your area?

Gary

[SKperformance]

A motorvac is a extremly good carbon cleaner.

It decarbonizes the engine completly and should have been the first step taken if it was a carbon issue.

[celionyang]

SKperformance: I believe lexus would be smart enough to use the motorvac already to take care of the issue.

Booyah: I know, I am going to call them first time on Tuesday. And this time I will try to speak to their supervisor if they still don't give me an answer. Which i'm sure they will not have one yet. However, I do not think their supervisor is going to do anything much. We'll see.

Grumpa72: I'm think the lemon law in NY only covers the first year. But my husband spoke to a lawyer and the lawyer said we can still use lemon law since we approached them with the same problem in the very beginning. It's their fault for not listening and finding out the problem until almost coming to a year.

My next step is to call them on Tuesday and see what they say. Then we will have a lawyer involve and the lemon law. Hopefully I can get a satifactory solution and get myself out of this lousy "truck".

[mehullica]

I tried to email you my email address for the vin# but your mailbox is full, private message me your vin # through this site and I'll check the dealer history.

[celionyang]

I tried to email you my email address for the vin# but your mailbox is full, private message me your vin # through this site and I'll check the dealer history.

That is weird. I check my mailbox and it's not full. I tried to message and email you, but somehow I don't have access to do it. Please send email to me again at celionyang@yahoo.com.

[SKperformance]

Need atleast 5 posts to have full acess to the site.

[celionyang]

Ok, here's the update.

The HQ Customer service specialist finally called and said that she spoke to both the dealer and regional representative. They both told her that they have inspected my car and that it has something to do with the gas. She kind of claimed that we are not using the most expensive gas, but we did. We had been constantly telling the dealer that we did and we even have the gas receipt to prove it. So now, the finaly answer they come back to us is that" I'm sorry but there is nothing we can do for you because your car is BUILT AS IT IS". What kind of answer is that? I questioned and said" do you mean lexus meant to built all RX330 2004 model as it is- to have carbon bulit-up in the cylinder?". the specialist then said "Oh, i mean your car only, i don't know another other car". They are all trying to get away with this. This does not make sense at all.

We are thinking of sending the lexus legal department a letter, but does anyone has a better suggest to deal with this problem. I'm just thinking that they might not reply or simply ignore our letter. I also asked to speak to the supervisior while on the call, but they said they cannot do anything about it so they are unwilling to transfer me to their supervisor.. which i think their supervisor will give me the same BS anyway.

[SKperformance]

If they said it was the gas and you proved you do not use lower octane then they should stand by the car and replace it or fix it for once.

I have yet to hear of such an odd story where they did not try and get a master tech out to figure out the issue and resolve it.

[celionyang]

I do not think they want to replace or fix it. They had been dealing with the same problem for 3 times, so looks like they don't know how to fix it. I still have most of the gas receipt for the last few months, but they don't care. So we are going to have a lawyer involve.

[lenore]

Good luck, keep us posted, Just another example of how Lexus of America cares............All talk and no action. I must say I have never heard of a car carboning up. Must be something really messed up on your car.

[SKperformance]

Lenore i don't think it is fair to make such judgmental comments.

In 90% of issues they step up to the plate which is more than any other car maker.

There is always 3 sides to a story and who are we to assume we are getting the full picture in this thread? Such as what the mileage is ,did i miss it? Is the car frequently started and turned off such as moving it on a driveway or idled for long period of times such as in NYC traffic. Another issue could be it is never pushed hard enough to break any carbon down but make it build up.

Always 3 sides ,you can't assume you know them all.

[retired00]

Amen, and was the car bought new, used, or perhaps even damaged? Each has a different impact on the discussion.

[LEXIRX330]

Lenore i don't think it is fair to make such judgmental comments.

In 90% of issues they step up to the plate which is more than any other car maker.

There is always 3 sides to a story and who are we to assume we are getting the full picture in this thread? Such as what the mileage is ,did i miss it? Is the car frequently started and turned off such as moving it on a driveway or idled for long period of times such as in NYC traffic. Another issue could be it is never pushed hard enough to break any carbon down but make it build up.

Always 3 sides ,you can't assume you know them all.

GOOD POINT...SK!

All I use is 87 in mine and it runs fine. Look at the attachment that is what is required...what are they telling you to use...It says that you can use 91 for improved performance...

RX330_GAS.pdf

[celionyang]

FYI, my RX was brought brand new and not lease directly from the Bay Ridge Lexus location. The car is now 25,000 miles.. it was 3000 miles when we first realized the problem and told the dealer. They insisted its the gas that we use and suggested us to change a different brand, even to go to the one that they go and we did. And we have always used 91 gas beacuse think about it, we brought the car so that we can drive it for at least 5yrs and we love the car. Why would we do something stupid to destroy the car? But then, we still have the same problem.. so it's not the gas, it's the engine.. they just don't get it.They don't care, they just give stupid excuses so that you just have to live with what you got.

And we do not start and stop the engine frequently to drive in and out of driveway, I mean who would be so boring and have the time to so such a stupid thing.. what is the point of moving the car and and out of driveway if we are not going someway? In terms of traffic, I believe traffic is a problem in every state. How about CA and texas they have traffic problem worst than NYC. As for step on gas hard enough to break carbon down, I believe we did because we are not a slow driver. On average, we get on highway to work at 60MHP and my husband also initially thought of the possibility of step hard on the gas and he did... but still, same problem.

I guess my problem belong to the 10% of the issues where lexus would ignore and try to get away from it. At this point, I will agree with Lenore, that they are all talk but no action.. What will you do if you buy brand new car with engine problem and when you go back to them, they give you the answer as "sorry, there is nothing we can do because YOUR CAR is built AS IT IS, but it does not mean all of 2004 RX 330 which is the same care as you has the same issue." So, now what!!

[Richard Carver]

Have you spoken to an attorney? It sounds as though you have enough documentation to make a case for a refund or another car should you want one. It seems to be your only remaining option.

[lenore]

Ok, The car was new and has been seen three times for the same problem, You know with the advent of computer controlled ignition and timing, there should not be the buildup of carbon, something is definetly wrong, and driving habits should not cause it in the modern engines. Carbon build up is a thing of the past in the old carburated engines of yesteryear. I would definetly contact the bettter business bureau, the Bureau of Automotive repair, and lastly a lawyer with your best interests in this matter. Lexus is not standing behind there product, and maybe they need some real prodding.

[spunderdog]

Had a problem back in the late 80's with both my Audi and BMW (Bosch fuel injection). Heads would carbon up. Needed to clean them both about every other year. Finally had an Audi mechanic inform me that he had the same problem but found that the use of Amoco BP gas which contained the Techron additve kept it from happening. Changed over to Amoco gas and also would buy the Techron additive by itself every so often at an auto parts store or Target. Never had another problem. Don't know if it will work as my RX350 has 22,000 on it with no problems but it might be worth a try. So far the SuperAmerica gas has worked for me but old habits die hard. Still fillup every so often at an Amoco BP. Other that, give 'em hell.