Important Recall (Per Lexus): Intake Vvt Actuator Gears

LEX-SV · October 31, 2013

In late October I received another recall letter from Lexus regarding replacement of Intake VVT Actual Gears (certain 2006 to 2011 IS350's), will require car to be in shop about a day.

Anybody had this fix done yet?

clubfoot · November 1, 2013

I've had mine replaced twice already,...no big deal about six hours labour according to the previous TSIB.

LEX-SV · November 1, 2013

I've had mine replaced twice already,...no big deal about six hours labour according to the previous TSIB.

I guess it was a known trouble area, btw how many miles on your IS350?

tex2670 · November 2, 2013

I've had mine replaced twice already,...no big deal about six hours labour according to the previous TSIB.

I had mine done under the TSB too. One day in the shop.

clubfoot · November 28, 2013

I've had mine replaced twice already,...no big deal about six hours labour according to the previous TSIB.

I guess it was a known trouble area, btw how many miles on your IS350?

It's now at 180,000Km and the alternator died today :(

LEX-SV · December 10, 2013

Has anybody actually experienced a Intake VVT failure? If so, what happened?

clubfoot · December 10, 2013

Has anybody actually experienced a Intake VVT failure? If so, what happened?

From what they described in the recall letter the bolts could come adrift and fall into the engine,...

LEX-SV · December 11, 2013

Yes, I read letter. "The bolts used to secure the housing and sprocket of the intake-side VVT gear assembly could become loose due to abnormal impacts generated within the gear assembly immediately after a cold start. In certain cases, the VVT gear housing and sprocket could separate and result in the engine stopping while the vehicle is being driven, increasing the risk of crash."

So thankfully nobody here has experienced that failure.

LEX-SV · May 16, 2014

Picked up my IS350 from Lexus dealership today (they had it overnight to do my VVT actuator recall and annual Mobil 1 synthetic oil change for $129). They returned it clean and with a full tank of gas, runs great.

btw - I enjoyed have the new and loaded CT200 loaner (it had 13K miles on it) for 24 hours. Certainly nicer than the current gen Prius I drove a couple years ago for a week in Canada.