MikeDio

My IS250 has approximately 60k on it, is just over three years old, and I am also seeing this same bubbling on all of my rims. It started small, and has progressed rapidly through the winter. I live in Indiana, so we did have snow, ice, etc. but would not expect to see this happening. Look forward to hearing what Lexus Canada has to say. If you need some additional info, or Lexus would like to contact me, please let me know.

I picked up my car last night after the dealer spent 2 days trying to diagnose the problem. They put the car through a series of diagnostic checks to see what the failure alarm was, and if it would help diagnose the problem. The failure code was a "communication fault" in the fuel system. They were not able to recreate the problem even after driving the car around quite a bit and at this point are chalking it up to a freak occurence. Given that no one else has seen the problem that I can find nor they can find, it may just be that. The most likely scenario in my mind is sediment in the fuel tank locked open the bypass line, or for some other reason it seized up, and starved the drive system of fuel. The rubber mallet either dislodged the sediment, or loosended the bypass valve allowing it to function properly. If either one of these is correct, it will return. I do typically run my tank down to 1/4 full, where it was when the fault occurred. I drive 350-400 miles per week, and there are no gas stations within a five mile radius of my house to product ground water. If I learn more, I will re-post anything we find. Just a heads up, if you do have the new brake pads put on, they are not nearly as "grabby" as the originals. Thanks to everyone that replied.

Also, the automatic climate control system was probably on. Why do you ask?

The rubber mallet thing really caught me off guard as well. I have hit a starter before with a hammer, but a mallet on a fuel tank?... I did talk to a friend of mine who does quite a bit of work on cars. He thought maybe the fuel pump bypass, which recircs gas back to the tank when the injectors aren't calling for any fuel, may have seized up and the mallet knocked it loose. Which makes a lot of sense. I will let you all know what the dealer finds out later today. They were having trouble diagnosing the problem given the trouble codes that came out of the computer.

I have a 2006 IS 250 AWD with about 41K miles. I have only had the car serviced at the dealer and am the original owner. Yesterday, while driving home from work on the interstate the car suddenly lost power, stalled and wouldn't re-start. I tried re-starting the vehicle three times; each time it was struggling to start and stay running. It felt like a spark plug had failed. Called Lexus RSA who sent AAA to meet me and try to help with the problem. Electricals were still working fine, so we ruled out an alternator. Car would still turn over, thus the starter was OK. Service guy did something very unusual. He took a rubber mallet and smacked it against the fuel tank while I tried to start the vehicle. Car started right up and I drove it the remaining 15 miles home. Next morning, car started right up and I took it to the dealer to see what may be wrong. The dealer is trying to diagnose the problem, and I hope to have an answer tomorrow. Anyone else having this same problem? Also, thanks for the heads up on the dusty brakes. Has been driving me crazy for two years now. Dealer is replacing the pads free of charge tomorrow while fixing the other problem.

I had my 2006 IS250 for about 6 months when a 3 inch crack developed in the upper right corner near the c-pillar. It was obvious there wasn't an initial chip that started the crack, and the crack was straight and angled through the glass indicating it was a stress crack caused by improper installation. The dealer replaced it under warranty.