Is350 Engine Noise At Time Of Ignition

[tw0leftskis]

...

[h3smith]

I have a 08 and report that I get it. Only happened recently for me too, within the last month or so.

[justflyin83]

I have a 08 and report that I get it. Only happened recently for me too, within the last month or so.

I've had my 2006 IS350 for 2 months now and i just noticed this sound. It does it like every 10 or so startup's, it's very weird. It also make it nearly impossible to show the dealer as you never know when it's going to happen. My car just his 40k too. At first I also thought something was caught in the radiator fan.

[smooth1]

I have a 08 and report that I get it. Only happened recently for me too, within the last month or so.

I've had my 2006 IS350 for 2 months now and i just noticed this sound. It does it like every 10 or so startup's, it's very weird. It also make it nearly impossible to show the dealer as you never know when it's going to happen. My car just his 40k too. At first I also thought something was caught in the radiator fan.

It's the Vvti. There's a position that they can come to rest in when you turn the car off and it gets cold, then restart it and it causes them to rattle. There's a TSB out on it. Tell your tech and they will keep the car for a few days and try to get it ot do it for them. Once they determine it is doing it, they have a kit put together, but it does take a couple days to get done, so you'll be without your ride for awhile. But I would only have them replace the Vvti system if you really have to. They literally have to take your entire engine's top end out to get it done. That isn't something you want them to do so you can have a new part on your motor. There's nothing like a factory sealed motor. Once you open it, "things" just don't fit back together right, or the same. And later "other" things start happening.

[justflyin83]

^^^I agree with you on that one. It the noise bad for the motor, will it shorten it's life. If not then I have not problem in leaving it alone. I'm running 5w30 mobil one sythetic in it so i'm hoping to get much life out of it. I just hope my tranny lasts as long as the motor!

[justflyin83]

Well it's starting to do it more now during startup. I hear everyone saying it does it when it's cold. It's been nothing but 80+ degree for the past couple months. Yesterday it made the noise twice and it made tyhe noise once the day before. When I got out of work after an 8 hour day it did it during start up it also did it after I left the gym and the car was only turned off for an hour. It's weird because some morningswhen i wake up and start it up the sound does not happen, it's 100% random but it's starting to become more common, I would not say it happens one of of every 5 times. I'm beginning to think it may be something else but the ratcheting sound fits the decription so well. Once it's started it purrs like a kitten.

[ame03]

I had the same problem, took it in and the dealer told me it was a problem with the cam gears, of course its under warranty and they replaced wutever they needed to replace and the noise is gone.......hope this helps.

[justflyin83]

I had the same problem, took it in and the dealer told me it was a problem with the cam gears, of course its under warranty and they replaced wutever they needed to replace and the noise is gone.......hope this helps.

Does anyone have the TSB on this? I've been looking and can't find it. I have done alot of research on it and I now know exactly what it is. It appears that the majority for is350 owners have this problem. Someone on another IS forum recorded the sound and it sounded just like mine. According to lexus it is a VVTI actuator or something like that. There are two of them but some dealers only replace one. It also does not require a removal of the head as some may think.

[bartkat]

I had the same problem, took it in and the dealer told me it was a problem with the cam gears, of course its under warranty and they replaced wutever they needed to replace and the noise is gone.......hope this helps.

Does anyone have the TSB on this? I've been looking and can't find it. I have done alot of research on it and I now know exactly what it is. It appears that the majority for is350 owners have this problem. Someone on another IS forum recorded the sound and it sounded just like mine. According to lexus it is a VVTI actuator or something like that. There are two of them but some dealers only replace one. It also does not require a removal of the head as some may think.

http://www.lexustsb.com/questions/201/TSIB...At+Cold+Startup

[justflyin83]

I had the same problem, took it in and the dealer told me it was a problem with the cam gears, of course its under warranty and they replaced wutever they needed to replace and the noise is gone.......hope this helps.

Does anyone have the TSB on this? I've been looking and can't find it. I have done alot of research on it and I now know exactly what it is. It appears that the majority for is350 owners have this problem. Someone on another IS forum recorded the sound and it sounded just like mine. According to lexus it is a VVTI actuator or something like that. There are two of them but some dealers only replace one. It also does not require a removal of the head as some may think.

http://www.lexustsb.com/questions/201/TSIB...At+Cold+Startup

Great thanks! I'm going to need to bring this to my dealer so I don't get the run around.

[2007is350blueonyxpearl]

I have a 2007 is 350 , if I dont get the rattling fixed do you know if it will shorten the life of the engine or will cause something else to go wrong or loose power ? thanks

[JayLo]

I did some digging and could not find a definitive answer so I’ll ask here.

Is the power train warranty transferable?

If so, does it still cover this TSIB repair?

I have an ’06 IS 350 with about 56,000 miles on the clock that has this issue about 10% of the time on cold startup.

[justflyin83]

Yes the lexus warranty is transferable. If you have less than 70,000 miles get it done. I just got mine done yesterday and I couldn't be happier. It took one day to repair and the car runs so much smoother, I noticed that the engine idles much better than it used to previously and the startup noise is eliminated. Do not listen to anyone who says they have to take off the heads to do this repair! The repair is detailed but not that intrusive. They have to take off the valve covers and cam gears but it's not dismantling the entire motor like i've been told previously. My dealer was able to replicate the sound easily and fixed it per the tsb no questions asked. I felt very comfortable knowing my tech owns an 08 is350 and has done this repair on his own car himself. Funny thing is I started to ask him a ton of questions. I asked him about the fsport intake and he said he had it on his car for a week and took it off as it was a piece of junk that made his car sound like a honda. He told me to just replace the pipe and leave the airbox alone.

[justflyin83]

***Update***

After having my car for no more than 24 hours since the engine work was performed I noticed an unusual amount of exhaust gases exiting from the tailpipes. Sitting still the exhaust would build up a small cloud behind the car. After further inspection there is exhaust soot all over the rear bumper with a bluish tint to it, i'm assuming oil. Also my tailpipes have a large amount of rust on the inside which was not there prior to bringing it in for engine work and the tailpipes themselves are corroded on the outside. Not sure what happened but something was obviously not put together right. It's back at the dealer right now and has been there for nearly 3 days. I'm going to make sure they clean the tailpipes and also check/replace the catalytic converters. With that much burnt oil coming out of the pipes I couldn't imagine it doing any good for the cats!

[Rickaokc]

***Update***

After having my car for no more than 24 hours since the engine work was performed I noticed an unusual amount of exhaust gases exiting from the tailpipes. Sitting still the exhaust would build up a small cloud behind the car. After further inspection there is exhaust soot all over the rear bumper with a bluish tint to it, i'm assuming oil. Also my tailpipes have a large amount of rust on the inside which was not there prior to bringing it in for engine work and the tailpipes themselves are corroded on the outside. Not sure what happened but something was obviously not put together right. It's back at the dealer right now and has been there for nearly 3 days. I'm going to make sure they clean the tailpipes and also check/replace the catalytic converters. With that much burnt oil coming out of the pipes I couldn't imagine it doing any good for the cats!

I would be interested in another update justflyin83. Do you regret getting the maintenance done or did the dealer resolve your issues after the so called fix was done. I too have an 06 IS350 with the same issue as everyone else on this tread. After reading all the posts to date I am still undecided as to whether this repair is worth it or not. I would still like to know from someone "in the know", if damage is being done to the engine when this rattling noise occurs. I can't imagine it's not, from the sound it makes. The randomness of it is very confusing.

I cringe at the thought of my engine being opened up, I read the entire TSB, and it is a pretty invasive procedure. I agree, once you open up a factory built engine, it's never the same. I am going to monitor this thread for awhile before I take the plunge. I have 35000 mi. on my car, so I have plenty of warranty left, my only concern again is, am I doing damage to this engine or not.

Rickaokc

[bartkat]

***Update***

After having my car for no more than 24 hours since the engine work was performed I noticed an unusual amount of exhaust gases exiting from the tailpipes. Sitting still the exhaust would build up a small cloud behind the car. After further inspection there is exhaust soot all over the rear bumper with a bluish tint to it, i'm assuming oil. Also my tailpipes have a large amount of rust on the inside which was not there prior to bringing it in for engine work and the tailpipes themselves are corroded on the outside. Not sure what happened but something was obviously not put together right. It's back at the dealer right now and has been there for nearly 3 days. I'm going to make sure they clean the tailpipes and also check/replace the catalytic converters. With that much burnt oil coming out of the pipes I couldn't imagine it doing any good for the cats!

I would be interested in another update justflyin83. Do you regret getting the maintenance done or did the dealer resolve your issues after the so called fix was done. I too have an 06 IS350 with the same issue as everyone else on this tread. After reading all the posts to date I am still undecided as to whether this repair is worth it or not. I would still like to know from someone "in the know", if damage is being done to the engine when this rattling noise occurs. I can't imagine it's not, from the sound it makes. The randomness of it is very confusing.

I cringe at the thought of my engine being opened up, I read the entire TSB, and it is a pretty invasive procedure. I agree, once you open up a factory built engine, it's never the same. I am going to monitor this thread for awhile before I take the plunge. I have 35000 mi. on my car, so I have plenty of warranty left, my only concern again is, am I doing damage to this engine or not.

Rickaokc

Some of the guys on my.is had it done. I've never had the noise on mine.

http://my.is/forums/f126/

[justflyin83]

I absolutely do not regret having the work done on my car. The noise does not do any damage but it's a noise that is unacceptable for any car let alone a Lexus. I did post an update stating that I had excessive smoke coming from my tailpipe. It was just residue that was burning off from when the worked on my car. It actually went away within 2 days. The car runs and sounds perfect. It actually idles and runs much smoother overall.

First off let me clear up a forum myth on this procedure. They DO NOT open up the motor to do this. All they are simply doing is replacing the cam gear which requires the partial removal of the timing chain. If the head is not lifted than are hardly call this opening up the motor. They do not even drain the oil to do this procedue, that should tell you something in itself.

Overall it's a simple fix that should be done by anyone who is experiencing the noise.

***Update***

After having my car for no more than 24 hours since the engine work was performed I noticed an unusual amount of exhaust gases exiting from the tailpipes. Sitting still the exhaust would build up a small cloud behind the car. After further inspection there is exhaust soot all over the rear bumper with a bluish tint to it, i'm assuming oil. Also my tailpipes have a large amount of rust on the inside which was not there prior to bringing it in for engine work and the tailpipes themselves are corroded on the outside. Not sure what happened but something was obviously not put together right. It's back at the dealer right now and has been there for nearly 3 days. I'm going to make sure they clean the tailpipes and also check/replace the catalytic converters. With that much burnt oil coming out of the pipes I couldn't imagine it doing any good for the cats!

I would be interested in another update justflyin83. Do you regret getting the maintenance done or did the dealer resolve your issues after the so called fix was done. I too have an 06 IS350 with the same issue as everyone else on this tread. After reading all the posts to date I am still undecided as to whether this repair is worth it or not. I would still like to know from someone "in the know", if damage is being done to the engine when this rattling noise occurs. I can't imagine it's not, from the sound it makes. The randomness of it is very confusing.

I cringe at the thought of my engine being opened up, I read the entire TSB, and it is a pretty invasive procedure. I agree, once you open up a factory built engine, it's never the same. I am going to monitor this thread for awhile before I take the plunge. I have 35000 mi. on my car, so I have plenty of warranty left, my only concern again is, am I doing damage to this engine or not.

Rickaokc

[Joe Strickland]

We have a 2008 IS 250 with 47,000 miles. We have noticed that the engine started making a noise that didn't sound like a loaner and took it to Lexus of Orlando. (sometimes after being in a car you don't realize the subtle change in the way the engine sounds till you get into a loaner). We were told that the varible timing valve pulleys were a known issue, but they were instructed by Lexus to replace them for a customer ONLY if the noise could be reproduced or heard by the technician. Ours noise was heard by the technician and the varible timing valve pulleys were replaced under warranty. (PERFORM TSIB ON VVTI GEAR SET). During this repair they noticed the WATER PUMP IS LEAKING - DETECTED WHILE CAR IS BEING SERVICED and it too was replaced.

After driving the car for a week we were still hearing the noise. The car has been back at Lexus of Orlando for the past 10 days (since 12-29-09). The head service tech replaced the lifters and the noise is still there. The Field Service Technician has been called in and they seem to think that there could be a piece of carbon in one of the cylinders (because that was the issue on a previous car he diagnoised). So, they are taking it apart to determine what the issue is. We are very concerned that we have a lemon that is getting ready to lose it's warranty due to the miles.

You can email me directly if you want to connect and compare issues or ban together to get these lemons replaced. hjoe@tworld.com

Joe Strickland