Lexus has announced that it have discovered that there might be the possibility of improperly functioning valve springs in some Lexus engines, which might result in abnormal engine noise or unstable idling, or in the worst case scenario, an engine stopping as a result. These improperly functioning valve springs can be found in the UK market in the GS 450h, GS 460, LS 460 and LS 600h models.
Internationally, they affect the Lexus LS460, Lexus LS600h, Lexus LS600hL, Lexus GS350, Lexus GS450h, Lexus GS460 and Lexus IS350 and the Toyota Crown. Lexus says that they are currently preparing a field action which I am guessing is most likely a recall to inspect and replace parts if necessary.
Lexus Malaysia has not issued any statements so far. The LS 460 is sold here in Malaysia, and our Malaysian model might be affected. All the other affected models are not on sale here in Malaysia. Our GS is the GS 300, which uses a 3.0 litre V6 engine, while the GS 450h uses a 3.5 litre V6 in its hybrid powertrain. But I wonder if the 3.0 engine is also affected since the problem doesn’t seem to be contained to one particular type of engine – there are both V6 and V8 engines in the affected list.
A quick search online revealed that this valve spring problem has been known for quite some time now but replacement has been on a case by case basis. According to a post by forum member Mike_TX in the Club Lexus forums, “in late 2007/early 2008, one of the robots was found to be out of adjustment, such that when it installed the spring, it scraped it and caused a “score” mark on it. That small score mark created a weak point that can cause a failure of the spring after thousands of cycles.”
We will update with any new news as soon as we can. Lexus Malaysia has demonstrated in the past that it will definitely issue swift recalls – the Malaysian distributor recently recalled the LS for problems in the VGRS steering system.
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WTH is this?!!! Y my password can’t b use anymore? This is bull….
malaysia car sure not affected one, our car here are better than those selling in US, Jap, UK. They only bring best of the best quality car to malaysia, so no recall is ever needed.
Malaysia boleh ma.
you ever heard of any car recalled here?
Oh hell…back to the issue….hmmm…Lexus, Lexus, Lexus…one problem then another…pls Toyota, go back to basic like the old days…find ur soul back…stop thinking making profits all the way. I know it’s important but making cars is more than that…there’s passion, soul and tech breakthrough. Love ur LFA btw and can’t wait for ur FT-86…
Ppl used to bash proton.
Now, toyota will gets bashing too…
Good!
i doubt they will get bashed. You know..most malaysian (esp most readers here) are Toyota worshipers?
Bsides, why is it a good thing that ANY car company gets bashed?
hehe..see what i meant? read comments below… toyota got problem..and stil ‘you-know-who’ get bashed.. =p
the biggest ship gets the most flak.
Lexus , in pursuit of perfection , they did mention ‘in pursuit’ tho….
In pursuit of “perfection”, is it “profitability”?
still hv high regards on TMC, they admit their mistake, not like some of the makers….try to hid under carpet…..
aiyo, malaysian buyer are smart already, all quality issue they know, and they find their way to fix it.
Like me, myvi brake problem, nevermind la, change with your own money la.
my car 4 years, now having 5th set of disk brake, 4th and 5th my own money. hahahah
Yes, sadly for them, they were just too focussed oncethey discovered how they could excel in achieving economies of scale..
i do agree that they’ll have to re-visit some of their old products and realise how they got up there first…
YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/user/maxseek
2008 Lexus GS 460 Defective Valve Spring
From: maxseek | June 18, 2010 | 8 views
Only 5,000 miles. Poorly manufactured valve spring caused this Lexus to idle rough leading to a no start condition. This vehicle needed a new intake valve and spring. luckily no head or piston damage. 150 dollars in parts and approximate labor cost of $2,000.
In pursuit of profits maybe, but strangely these reliability issues also affect Lexus cars which supposed to have much closer quality controls due to its premium nature. Unless the parts are common with mass produced Toyota models.
It will be huge shame if the problems happened in the engine department, as the Japanese are known to built bullet-proof engines.
We have enough of these “problems” from Toyota, Sign!!!
Hmmm… Toyota Mark-x is V6 too…
Guess what… it’s a Toyota!!
Toyota dropped the ball big time. That’s why being no.1 shouldn’t be a priority for carmakers. It’ll lead them to cut corners. It happened to GM, it happened to toyota, and it’ll happen to VW.
Toyota, Lexus show be the most problematics car in the world, LEXUS is so what, create another new problem, Our proton is more realiable then LEXUS, congratulation to the car owner. Toyota is the worse car if compare with proton & Honda, because i experience it before.
premium??? after all this headlines?!
toyota used to be renown for its reliability and build quality but now they are ‘renown’ for its recall exercise! come on dude! stop all this before you go liquidated!
“A quick search online revealed that this valve spring problem has been known for quite some time now but replacement has been on a case by case basis.”
Whoa…. that’s bad. Really really bad. This is Michael Jackson bad.
Better admit rather than saying , ” ini biasa la bang, bunyi sikit sikit takkan tak boleh”. PLEASE GUESS!!!!!
So many ppl tell me, P1 ok ma, no problem, never heard any problem also.
Err…..Quality problem is also a problem right?
well said.
nothing is perfect.
Buy national cars…cheaper…and no engine problem like this one…
national car, the engineer also dunno got wat problem. All ok ma.
Did not tell you problem doesnt mean there is no problem.
If like that, P1 and P2 is problem free car. the only car brand in the world without recall.
Hhahaahahahhahahahaah
No worries, Toyota is the greatest car in Malaysia, Malaysia batch for sure problem free one, will still have 101% support from all the Malaysians. Anyone of you just booked a Vios or Camry? :)
in pursuit of perfection… o0o
the parts were most likely made in China, I’d have to assume.
And Toyota was shooting for that ever elusive ¥.001 profit on each spring.
So will all these recall change the mentality of malaysian car buyers’?
Many honda and toyota followers willing to fork out 170k for a Camry/Accord for its name and resale value but run shy of cheaper Continental cars that comes with Dynamic Roll Control, Hill Assist, ESP, NCAP Euro 5 Star rating and extra curtain airbags.
I think all of us should start to change our mindset now. Not just continental cars are problematic, the Japs are not spared too. Worst still, their defects are mostly critical of which may put the driver and its passengers at risk.
Buy smart and look for the car that can provide our family with good quality safety functions and standards.
Well as long as that stuff is made by humans, then there will be problems. Humans aren’t perfect after all. But I agree, we should stop thinking of resale value and think about good safety functions and standards. I mean, in terms of resale value, it’s all a question of supply and demand. If people start to gravitate towards Euro cars, then certainly its resale value will go up of course!
read again.. the robot is at fault..
stuff made by human = problem.
stuff made by robot = problem
Even world branded car have it’s problems.Then need for inventions and perfections.
Come on..Everybody hunted for profit base of course..
hahaha where are the basher