lambition

One more thing, if I recall properly, the owner's manual of the RX 350 states that the battery should not be charged with more than a 5 Amps charger, or it could explode, or something to that effect.

Also, CTEK has updated its products. It is best to visit their web page. The MXS 5.0 seems like an ideal product.

Any battery can be damaged by those high current fast chargers.

High current charging is bad for battery and no battery manufacturer would recommand using one.

Also, when lead acid battery is charged at high current, it can overheat and also can produce hydrogen gas. That is what can cause explosion.

Can't help you with the alignment, but as far as the battery is concerned, If I were you I would buy this http://www.amazon.com/Multi-12-Volt-Smart-Battery-Charger/dp/B000FQBWCY/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1363393989&sr=1-1&keywords=ctech+battery+charger and connect it to the battery for a full week. If I'm not mistaken, Porsches come with such charger. I have two chargers and they do a great job.

Take the time to read some of the reviews.

If you need such a charger on car that is driven often, something is really wrong with your car's electrical system. Alternator not being able to produce enough current or devices on your car using too much.

Battery on my car is original and may need to be replaced in couple of years, but I would use it until I need a jump.

Is your car lowered? If not you may find relief with the FIGS lower control arm replacement bushings they sell for the front. SPC also has an adjustable upper ball joint. Take a look at this thread, it may surprise you what goes on in front :)

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-f/645343-front-f-bushing-offering-and-eye-opening-video-inside.html

It is not lowered. It is in original setting.

Does it also happen with stock setting?

Apples to apples .

The Lexus battery is a prorated battery (84 month). And is made by interstate. Fair price , ask if they can help out.

Did you take the car back to the alignment shop after you found out the alignment didn't fix the problem? It is common , there is no camber adjustment , spec tire on a IS only last 20 to 25 K anyway.

Good catch on the water pump.

Battery's have become ultra important key on voltage can't go below 9.5 volts while cranking or the ECM won't turn on.

As technicians we always advise of needed repairs we don't set pricing the market and the area does . Customers always have a simple choice a yes or a no .

Well.

Costco Kirkland Battery is also prorated. 3 year free replacement, 100 month prorated. As far as I know they are made by Johnson Controls and they are the same company that makes Intersate.

I do not think any battery would like 100 month. I believe they are doing this so that customer buy battery from Costco again with a little discount.

Only down side I found was you must be Costco member to get warranty replacement. So, if you cancel Costco membership, warranty is gone with it.

I was told battery is low, but not sure what they meant by low. Probably voltage was little lower than full charge. Since it is original battery on 2008 model, it probably is about time to change it.

For alignment, even service rep from dealer said it is normal for IS. But mechanic did not know if I did alighment on it and he recommanded it because they recommand alignment to be done every 10,000 miles. (Which I don't see point if tires are going to go bad anyway)

I'm not complaining about technician's recommandations. Just repair prices at dealer.

Water pump on my 08 IS250 failed, making a lot of noise.

Water pump is being replaced under powertrain warranty. Mechanic is recommanding me to do 4 wheel alignment and he also says battery is low and recommands new battery.

I already have done 4 wheel alignment at local shop instead of dealer, but did not fix problem with inside of tire wearing out baddly. I was told this was normal for IS, but if dealer price was ok I was willing to do it.

Price they qouted me was $170. Much higher than local shops I have been to. ($70 - 80)

Also price to replace battery was $185. I could get battery from costco for $60 - $70 and replace it myself in minutes, and local shop will probably charge little over $100.

Are these prices really normal for lexus dealers? or are they just tring to rip me off ?

Being within spec with only one side of tire wearing?

That does not sound right.. Are you making lots of left turns? That is only thing I can think of if it really is within spec.

I didn't say everyone was having the problem. The dealer was aligning my tires and I still had the problem. There were a lot of other people with a similar problem. Google it.

That is the part puzzles me. If not everyone is having problem, what is the cause?

It seems everyone with this problem is refering to factory alignment problem. But if that is true, everyone should have problem.

I wish I had a shop I can trust, but I don't. Reason why I do most repairs/maintanance my self.

Uneven tire wear has been a problem since I bought my 2006 IS 350 (not a new problem). When I bought my car I purchased something the dealer was offering "Tires for Life" for $1,800. I quickly calculated the cost of replacing all my tires and concluded this was a good deal as long as I planned on keeping my car for a few years. I still own the car and get my tires replaced free when they wear out. The only requirement is that I need to get my tires aligned each year. There are a lot of Lexus IS cars with this problem of uneven tire wear. My dealer at first tried to tell me it was my fault but I showed that I had my tires aligned yearly and that other cars were having the same problem. They eventually gave up and replaced the tires. Do a little searching and you should find out more about this problem in case your dealer is fighting you on this. I'm going to give you some links on this:

http://www.clublexus...p-normal-2.html

http://us.lexusowner...d-tire-wear-07/

http://my.is/forums/...re-wear-272748/

Everyone have this problem?

Reading your link, it does not appear everyone has problem.

It seems like factory setup of IS has significant negative camber and therefore, tires do not last long?

Will there be any problem if camber is adjusted to be more straight (which probably will be out of spec) on everyday driving?

Does anyone have uneven wear problem in front tires.

Inner tread of both front tires are wearing much faster than rest of tire.

It happened to original tire car came with. It was so bad, it was showing threads inside tire, while outside still had good amount of tread. Attached picture shows how old tire was like.

Tought something was wrong with allignment and changed tires and did wheel alignment. I was told it was not off by much.

It has been about 10000 miles now, and I began to see inner side of both front tires are wearing faster again.

Is this common problem with IS250?

Is something broken?

The shop I did alignment didn't do it right? (They did not give me alignment print out saying their printer is broken. )

Lip is from wear. Get cheap calipers from Harbor Freight to measure them, but its probably time. Depends on driving style and many other factors, but 60k might be normal for you/your car. I tend to get 100k+ on my street car, but only 60k or so on the SUV. Chinese ebay rotors work just fine and are dirt cheap. May as well just replace them with the pads.

I already have replaced both rotors and pads over weekend. I had caliper, but not micrometer. So, I used 2 nuts as spacer to measure. Only had 25.6mm left.

Original rotor said "MIN TH 25MM LEXUS 26MM OTHERS" inside vents.

My highlander still has original rotor with 165,000 miles on it. Never had such a deep lip. It was warped a little, so will be replacing on next break job.

Between .5 and 1.0 thickness is where I would start looking for good cheap pads and rotors. The lip sounds like the pads weren't seated completely flat or an angle.

The rotors and pads I added to the GS are mostly metalic but they rust like crazy. Yes they were cheap at $425 for rotors and pads all around.

Lip was on both outside and inside of rotor, so I don't think it was installed incorrectly. Edge of pads where rounded, which probably means when pads were replaced last time, rotor was not turned.

I was looking for not cheapest, but good enough quality ones. Most did not have any rust protective coating. Ended up getting Napa Ultra Premium, which I believe actually is Raybestos Advanced Technology. Only first digit is different on part number.

The 2IS is a naturally aspirated engine and should not have excess oil burning. Take it in to a reputation mechanic to have a look ...or the stealership if you don't mind paying the premium for inferior service.

but also since the car is a little aged, you can try switching up your engine oil

e.g. if factory recommend 5W30, maybe try 5W20 so it's a thicker liquid and therefore won't burn as fast

5W20 is thiner than 5W30. Higher the number, higher viscosity is.

Also, putting thicker oil will reduce fuel economy.

About 100,000km should be fine (whatever miles that it)

Pads is about half of that, so about 50,000km (and whatever miles that is as well)

Usually I change rotors every other pad change

That would be 62137 miles. So, I guess it is normal for IS250 rotors to wear so much.

My Highlander has 163,000 miles (262,323 km) and still has original rotor. I was surprised to see IS250 rotor to wear out so fast. Must be semi-metalic pads causing it.

Now i have ceramic pads on it, it will probably last longer. Won't break as good as semi-metalic, but don't need to be for daily driving.

Ok. I just did break job.

Used Napa Ultra Premium Rotors (880494) and Akebono Pro-Act Ceramic Pads (ACT1178).

Napa rotor had rust preventative paint on it, but missed few spots at outer rim edges. Paint is some sort of polimer based, so it does not come off with break cleaner. Which is good thing.

Inside vent was pretty rough compared to stock rotor, but since it is forged, understandable. Hope it is well balanced.

I have no tool to measure runout, but did not have any vibration during break in.

Original rotor was rusted and fused to hub. It took me a while to get them off. Tried hammer, but did not work. Put some WD-40 and tried again, still did not work. Went through my left over bolts bin and luckly, I found 1 bolt that will fit on rotor. It was left over from office chair :D.

I measured thickness of rotor with vernier caliper by placing 2 small nuts as spacer.

Original rotor only had 25.6mm left. Rotor did not have any minimum thickness stamped on it, but from what I have fround on google search its minium is 25mm. So, it was right thing to change rotor. Original thickness of the rotor was 28mm. (Lip was measured 28mm).

New Napa rotor had minimum thicnkess of 26mm stamped on it. I could not measure thickness of new rotor because I could not find my vernier caliper at the time. (It was hidden inside one of my drawers. :( )

Has anyone tried Napa Ultra Premium Rotors?

I'm considering just replacing rotor with new one.

I was going to work on breaks this Saturday.

Dealer parts are too expensive. I see some good rotors like Centric and Raybestos, but have to order on-line and will take about a week to get it.

Napa is only local place I can find rotor with some sort of rust protection.

It says "Onyx Guard Protectant Prevents Rust & Corrosion On The Rotor's Hat & Vanes" Don't know if that is just simple paint, or something equivalant to dealer part.

Any ideas?

Thanks for replies.

Breaking is smooth and stopping very well. I believe factory pads are semi-metalic considering amount of dusts it creats. Right?

I will be replacing with Akebono Ceramic pads. Hope it is as good as semi-metalic pads on breaking power.

My IS250 is using about 1.5 qt of oil every 5000 mile oil change ever since I had it. Have to put about 1 qt in it at about 3000 miles. Bought used and only at 65,000 miles now.

I was told this is normal, but I don't know..

There is no smoke, no oil in coolant, no check engine light.

How long have you used front rotors on IS250?

I have IS250 at 65,000 miles and got this car used at about 50,000 miles

Front rotors on this car have lip on router edge about 0.5 to 1 mm thick from surface of rotor. Because I never seen such a lip in any of cars I had before, I thought it was how rotors were designed.

Now, its pads are almost worn out. While ordering pads, I looked at some of the rotors and non-of them had lips on outer edge.

Is this lip from normal wear? If so, what is life expectancy from OEM rotors?

I wish I can measure thickness of rotor to check if it is still thick enough, but I do not have a micrometer.

Should I take rotors to shop and have it machined to remove lips? Or is it going to be ok to just chang pads?