Terrible Engine Noise

[gojo]

What a terrible sound. I never want to hear it again. I thought I blew the Timing belt and dis-integrated the engine! This is a '99 LS400 with 72,000 miles on it. It sat for 5 days in the garage over Thanksgiving and when my wife started the engine to leave for work that Monday, it happened. After about a minute it quieted down and I had her turn it off and checked the oil level. It was down a half a quart. It never used oil before, and then I remembered that I had a local shop change the oil recently because I didn't have the time and I figured they didn't put the correct amount in. (Mobil 1, and they charged me $80.00!) OK fine I thought. I monitored the cars performance for weeks after that and no reoccurance, I thought I was out of the woods. It happened again over the Christmas break. Oil full this time, sat without use for 3+ days. I checked with a friend of mine (Mechanic). I asked if the lifters could be bad(?). He looked at me and asked what kind of oil filter the garage put in,..... surprised at the questioned, I mumbled "I don't know". Then he explained how Lexus filters have a valve to hold pressure. That they probably used some cheap after market filter. "Change the filter, use the OEM Toyota filter or WIX brand. I changed the oil myself with Mobil 1 as usual and installed a Toyota filter. So far so good. I've learned a valuable lesson here. From now on I'm never too busy to work on my precious baby. ;)

[dcfish]

What a terrible sound. I never want to hear it again. I thought I blew the Timing belt and dis-integrated the engine! This is a '99 LS400 with 72,000 miles on it. It sat for 5 days in the garage over Thanksgiving and when my wife started the engine to leave for work that Monday, it happened. After about a minute it quieted down and I had her turn it off and checked the oil level. It was down a half a quart. It never used oil before, and then I remembered that I had a local shop change the oil recently because I didn't have the time and I figured they didn't put the correct amount in. (Mobil 1, and they charged me $80.00!) OK fine I thought. I monitored the cars performance for weeks after that and no reoccurance, I thought I was out of the woods. It happened again over the Christmas break. Oil full this time, sat without use for 3+ days. I checked with a friend of mine (Mechanic). I asked if the lifters could be bad(?). He looked at me and asked what kind of oil filter the garage put in,..... surprised at the questioned, I mumbled "I don't know". Then he explained how Lexus filters have a valve to hold pressure. That they probably used some cheap after market filter. "Change the filter, use the OEM Toyota filter or WIX brand. I changed the oil myself with Mobil 1 as usual and installed a Toyota filter. So far so good. I've learned a valuable lesson here. From now on I'm never too busy to work on my precious baby. ;)

Hopefully that was the fix, This is why I always use 100% OEM parts. Owners choose to take short cuts, cheap aftermarket parts, poor indie mechanics and the list goes on and on. Then they expect the results to be the same or better than OEM and never take the responsibility of there choices and put blame on others. It is quite clear cut - USE TOYOTA/LEXUS PARTS WHEN MAINTAINING YOUR VEHICLE. I am sure there are are many members who would agree with this. Except for a few who decided to downgrade there car with aftermarket. After all when your lexus came off the assembly line it was at it's pinnacle/apex/top.

[cardona6569]

You can use in all confidence, Purolator filters, and K&N with no problems for your oil, besides OEM. I have used them both on my 1998. CPR

[LSORL]

This sounds a little like a problem I have with my 95. If I start it and let it only run for a minute or less and then start it the next day it sounds like the engine is going to explode for a few minutes. It stops in a couple of minutes, but sounds really bad. I just make sure we always let the car run for a few minutes before turning it off.

[SRK]

I too have noticed this problem. My 92 will run very roughly if it has been started and run only briefly earlier, like moving it in the driveway. I suspect the cold start injector sequence is at fault - perhaps it injects another big shot, or leaks down in between. The roughness appears to be an extremely rich fuel ratio.

[nc211]

I haven't had any noises, but I have had a "flooded engine" stumble once or twice under the same conditions of a quick start, stop, then start. It is quick, maybe a second or two of a stumble, then it smoothes itself back out. I use the generic Fram oil filter you find in stores. I've never had a problem with the filter. But, I have also run a cup of seafoam in my engine oil, at idle speed for 15 minutes, right before doing an oil change the past 3 or 4 times, which has flushed out a lot of black gunk. And I use Mobile 1 full synthetic. I have also seafoamed the intake once, about a year ago, and still have the original spark plugs in there, never replaced them after the intake flush. This is on my list of things to finish this winter, as Blake was kind enough to send me his left over plugs many months ago, which are sitting on my work bench at home.

[steve2006]

Cheap non OEM oil filters do not normally have the non return valve fitted so when the car is stood for several days the oil in the filter drains out,you start the car and it is starved of oil until the filter reprimes itself.

Not a good thing for the engine during this time.

[blake918]

I haven't had any noises, but I have had a "flooded engine" stumble once or twice under the same conditions of a quick start, stop, then start. It is quick, maybe a second or two of a stumble, then it smoothes itself back out. I use the generic Fram oil filter you find in stores. I've never had a problem with the filter. But, I have also run a cup of seafoam in my engine oil, at idle speed for 15 minutes, right before doing an oil change the past 3 or 4 times, which has flushed out a lot of black gunk. And I use Mobile 1 full synthetic. I have also seafoamed the intake once, about a year ago, and still have the original spark plugs in there, never replaced them after the intake flush. This is on my list of things to finish this winter, as Blake was kind enough to send me his left over plugs many months ago, which are sitting on my work bench at home.

LOL Funny enough those couplings you sent me are still sitting here waiting to be installed too! One of these days they will make their way in to the car! My '95 always starts up smoothly and quietly even when it sits for a while, but there is a little smoke and the smell of unburnt fuel for the first few seconds while the computer gets the mixture figured out.

[gojo]

Hi All, I just wanted to confirm for sure that the problem was indeed the oil filter. The car sat still for 6 days this time and started up like a champ. It purred like a kitten without any chatter or unexpected noise. It has been operating perfectly ever since I put that OEM oil filter in, and that's all it's going to get from now on. Cheers Everyone!