I just cleaned my car's valves. I used the zip tie method and a drill, it cleaned it out very well and saved me a lot of time. I would recommend using berryman's b-12 chemtool carb cleaner It worked very well for me. I didn't have an air compressor and I think it would have been way better than using a vaccum, once the carbon turns into a sludge, it's hard to get out. That's where it's easier if you have an air compressor that can kick it out of the holes.
Good job. Next time I’m gonna try BG’s carbon cleaning that supposedly can remove carbon on piston rings. My vacuum was pretty powerful to remove the liquid with 3/8” clear hose as you can the liquid getting sucked out and rest were burned off by driving (hence the white smoke coming out for few minutes). Using a zip tie with drill is interesting idea, though you have to be careful not to let that somehow break and fall into piston chamber which could be tricky to retrieve. I do have air compressor but when you stick an air hose through the hole, not sure how much liquid could actually come out but that could be interesting method to further loosen the carbon after soaking. Thanks for the feedback
OMG I did the same with the zip ties + drill, it worked incredibly better than the rifle barrel brushes (yeah, those are gun brushes but they works just as well lol), and you do have to drill that soup down for maybe 10mins each hole? But I did start to worry about using those metal brushes, they could bend the pistons if they get jammed. I used the expensive stuff to soak the pistons but I found that the Brake Cleaner does better at removing the carbon buildup than the expensive stuff, just have to let it sit for 24hrs. Also, I didn't have to do the whole stick measuring contest he does in the vid, I could see the valves open/close just fine by shining an LED light down the valve holes :) I do wonder if those common kitchen oven spray cleaners would do a better job at dissolving the carbon... You might find it useful to get yourself an electric Computer duster, the DataVac Dust Blower is badass www.amazon.com/Computer-Powerful-Electronic-Environmentally-Friendly/dp/B01FWSYOME 2008 IS250 RWD - 206K mi.
Thank you so much for putting the entire process in one single video for us. I am so excited right now as you have just saved me £400 (USD 508) from walnut blasting my IS250’s 4GR-FSE 2.5 V6 engine 😆 and I get to play too!! You amazing man!!!
Yeah, I bought this because it was a good price (105K miles for $5K nearly 4 years ago). Had I known about this being the GDI, I would've looked for 2007 or above, which have dual injections that cleans intake valves. Other than this, I love the car.
I live in the Caribbean and i drive a Toyota Mark X which is very popular outside of the US, they all use the same 3GR/ 4GR FSE engines, so this was very helpful my friend :)
@@DIYLifeSkills The Toyota Mark X was only sold in Japan....toyota gave the Japanese market a option between the Lexus and Camry....it is the successor to the Toyota Mark 2, has some luxry features but not as much as the Lexus IS 250/350...sadly toyota stop manufacutred them in 2020 siting low sales and a more focus on the lexus brand....but on youtube in many countries aroudn the world you will find Mark X Clubs, i have a first Gen 2008 Modle :)
@@DIYLifeSkills i am planning to do this soon to my Toyota Mark X, it has on 140 000 KM plus right now, i got it from Japan with 70,000 KM plus... i have never clean the valves but it runs an works great, i have had that car since 2015
Dude, I'm impressed with your mechanical knowledge!! 👍👍👍👍 I'm having the spark plugs removed, replaced on my Lexus IS250 at 100,000 MI. I want the carbon cleaned. What should I ask the mechanic to do for me?
@@DIYLifeSkills You're the best!! I can't believe how quickly you responded. I certainly appreciate you, and because you were kind to me, I'm going to like and subscribe.
The machine ranges from under 100 to 400. I thought about it but new cars are moving away from GDI style engine so I probably won’t have much use for it. Modern cars now have both direct and port fuel injections, so they don’t build carbon in intake valves like this older engine.
Once thick carbon builds and the intake valves can’t open or close fully, engine can misfire, lose power, cause knocking, and give poor mileage and acceleration.
You should be ok the 350 line up has port injection. Which washes the valves with fuel to prevent this. If it's idling with slight misfires or shaking. Look into all vacuum lines are tight. If you can rotate vacuum lines by hand. It's mostly getting unmetered air. Also spark plug change should be around every 60k miles. Look in your manual for interval change.
Since 2011 is dual GDI & Port injection, there shouldn't be big carbon build up like me. However, I bet your piston heads are pretty carboned up. Here is how I cleaned the carbon on piston top. ua-cam.com/video/SS8vFbBLIG0/v-deo.html&ab_channel=DIY%26LifeSkills
I think it’s fine if you don’t live in cold area that can freeze in winter because oil catch can will be mixture of oil and water vapors. If you do it, get the one that’s easy to empty. I live in a Houston so I’m considering it but quite haven’t figured out where I can mount it that’s convenient to access. If I figure it out, I’ll definitely do a video.
@@DIYLifeSkills Thanks for the quick reply! In my country it goes below freezing often and i haven't though about this before. I just got an IS250 and will have to do the a carbon cleaning (Thanks to your vids it wont be hard
Yeah it’s a headache to have oil catch can if if you long winter. I recently bought 2008 IS250 for my son, so eventually that’ll need carbon cleaning as well. I’m just too busy these days but I’ll get to it probably in the fall when I take a vacation. But you have my GS300 video instructions and the things attached to engine are mostly same, but some external parts,wiring harness and hose routing could vary slightly in IS250.
This cleaning is probably needed every 100K miles as it wasn’t as bad as some of the German cars that foul up really bad only after 30K miles. So due to the infrequency, I would probably just do it manually. To invest ~$500 for blaster machine and walnut powders, I would have to have more regular use to justify the spending.
Also, newer cars are moving away from GDI engine to dual (port and direct) injections so such carbon build up problem doesn’t happen. This is for older GDI engines only.
@@DIYLifeSkills thank u appreciate it. Going to try the stp valve cleaner 1st take some b4 and after pics of the valves and see if if works if not ill do this.
@@mcp08gt Cleaning as in just spraying through air intake? Or doing the scrubbing like I did? Those carbon was hard baked on and it took poking and scraping to get them to come off the valves and stems. So spraying method may remove some soft deposits but hardened ones will likely requires scraping
@@DIYLifeSkills i havent looked at the valves yet. Waiting on my camera to come in today. To see how bad it is. Hopefully its not too bad and i can just use the spray to clean them up
@@awesomusmaximus3766 with hybrid work I also only go to work twice a week, which means I also do 3-5K miles a year on this car, so barely one oil change a year. LOL
I have the same car. Just turned 140,000 miles. Company called ATS Chemical. Purchased their cleaning product. Check them out. 505 system treatment. Gonna try this first. Thanks.
Main reason for the oil burning is likely worn piston rings. But heavy carbon build up can prematurely wear out the piston rings and intake valves and can accelerate wearing out the piston rings. Also be sure ti change the PCV valve as clogged PCV will not relieve high pressure build up in the crankcase from combustion, and it’ll eventually lead to oil and air leak in internal or external gaskets. Also it can cause more oil to burn.
Yup carbon on oil control piston ring is a whole different story. I’m gonna try some engine flush…though I have no way to verify if it’ll clean some carbon build up on piston rings. LOL
I just cleaned my car's valves. I used the zip tie method and a drill, it cleaned it out very well and saved me a lot of time. I would recommend using berryman's b-12 chemtool carb cleaner It worked very well for me. I didn't have an air compressor and I think it would have been way better than using a vaccum, once the carbon turns into a sludge, it's hard to get out. That's where it's easier if you have an air compressor that can kick it out of the holes.
Good job. Next time I’m gonna try BG’s carbon cleaning that supposedly can remove carbon on piston rings. My vacuum was pretty powerful to remove the liquid with 3/8” clear hose as you can the liquid getting sucked out and rest were burned off by driving (hence the white smoke coming out for few minutes). Using a zip tie with drill is interesting idea, though you have to be careful not to let that somehow break and fall into piston chamber which could be tricky to retrieve. I do have air compressor but when you stick an air hose through the hole, not sure how much liquid could actually come out but that could be interesting method to further loosen the carbon after soaking. Thanks for the feedback
OMG I did the same with the zip ties + drill, it worked incredibly better than the rifle barrel brushes (yeah, those are gun brushes but they works just as well lol), and you do have to drill that soup down for maybe 10mins each hole?
But I did start to worry about using those metal brushes, they could bend the pistons if they get jammed. I used the expensive stuff to soak the pistons but I found that the Brake Cleaner does better at removing the carbon buildup than the expensive stuff, just have to let it sit for 24hrs. Also, I didn't have to do the whole stick measuring contest he does in the vid, I could see the valves open/close just fine by shining an LED light down the valve holes :)
I do wonder if those common kitchen oven spray cleaners would do a better job at dissolving the carbon...
You might find it useful to get yourself an electric Computer duster, the DataVac Dust Blower is badass www.amazon.com/Computer-Powerful-Electronic-Environmentally-Friendly/dp/B01FWSYOME
2008 IS250 RWD - 206K mi.
Thank you so much for putting the entire process in one single video for us. I am so excited right now as you have just saved me £400 (USD 508) from walnut blasting my IS250’s 4GR-FSE 2.5 V6 engine 😆 and I get to play too!! You amazing man!!!
Great to hear. Thanks for the feedback.
Cant believe this doesn’t have more views, awesome video!!
Thanks!
Amazing video quality and content! Awesome!
Thanks for the feedback
Quality quality precise coverage on this job well done such a good car but I hate direct injection for obvious reason
Yeah, I bought this because it was a good price (105K miles for $5K nearly 4 years ago). Had I known about this being the GDI, I would've looked for 2007 or above, which have dual injections that cleans intake valves. Other than this, I love the car.
I live in the Caribbean and i drive a Toyota Mark X which is very popular outside of the US, they all use the same 3GR/ 4GR FSE engines, so this was very helpful my friend :)
Wow never heard of Mark X, I need to look that up. Such car doesn’t exist in USA. 😀
@@DIYLifeSkills The Toyota Mark X was only sold in Japan....toyota gave the Japanese market a option between the Lexus and Camry....it is the successor to the Toyota Mark 2, has some luxry features but not as much as the Lexus IS 250/350...sadly toyota stop manufacutred them in 2020 siting low sales and a more focus on the lexus brand....but on youtube in many countries aroudn the world you will find Mark X Clubs, i have a first Gen 2008 Modle :)
I watched few mark x videos on UA-cam, and I can see some resemblance of GS300. Pretty interesting to learn these things. :-)
@@DIYLifeSkills i am planning to do this soon to my Toyota Mark X, it has on 140 000 KM plus right now, i got it from Japan with 70,000 KM plus... i have never clean the valves but it runs an works great, i have had that car since 2015
wow! you deserve more followers for this explanation
Thanks for the kind words. :-)
EPIC video, NO BS great camera work! You sir deserve a sub!
Excellent video! Thank you for taking the time to share you knowledge with us.
Dude, I'm impressed with your mechanical knowledge!!
👍👍👍👍 I'm having the spark plugs removed, replaced on my Lexus IS250 at 100,000 MI. I want the carbon cleaned. What should I ask the mechanic to do for me?
@@davefox7516 This is called “intake valve carbon cleaning”. Thanks for the nice comments.
@@DIYLifeSkills You're the best!! I can't believe how quickly you responded. I certainly appreciate you, and because you were kind to me, I'm going to like and subscribe.
Nice video I came across! Have you consider walnut blasting ? Is it an expensive machine to invest with?
The machine ranges from under 100 to 400. I thought about it but new cars are moving away from GDI style engine so I probably won’t have much use for it. Modern cars now have both direct and port fuel injections, so they don’t build carbon in intake valves like this older engine.
Also you probably only have to do this once or twice in the life of car’s life
Super helpful my friend 👍🏼 keep up the good work
What kind of issues can happen if carbon build up is not taken care of ?
Once thick carbon builds and the intake valves can’t open or close fully, engine can misfire, lose power, cause knocking, and give poor mileage and acceleration.
How long did this process take you?
I have 2011 gs350 175k mile do you think I have a carbon build up or it’s normal, it does run smoothly and I don’t have any problems
You should be ok the 350 line up has port injection. Which washes the valves with fuel to prevent this. If it's idling with slight misfires or shaking. Look into all vacuum lines are tight. If you can rotate vacuum lines by hand. It's mostly getting unmetered air.
Also spark plug change should be around every 60k miles. Look in your manual for interval change.
Since 2011 is dual GDI & Port injection, there shouldn't be big carbon build up like me. However, I bet your piston heads are pretty carboned up. Here is how I cleaned the carbon on piston top.
ua-cam.com/video/SS8vFbBLIG0/v-deo.html&ab_channel=DIY%26LifeSkills
This a Stanford Class!
HI! what's your opinion on oil catch cans for these direct injected engines?
I think it’s fine if you don’t live in cold area that can freeze in winter because oil catch can will be mixture of oil and water vapors. If you do it, get the one that’s easy to empty. I live in a Houston so I’m considering it but quite haven’t figured out where I can mount it that’s convenient to access. If I figure it out, I’ll definitely do a video.
@@DIYLifeSkills Thanks for the quick reply!
In my country it goes below freezing often and i haven't though about this before.
I just got an IS250 and will have to do the a carbon cleaning (Thanks to your vids it wont be hard
Yeah it’s a headache to have oil catch can if if you long winter. I recently bought 2008 IS250 for my son, so eventually that’ll need carbon cleaning as well. I’m just too busy these days but I’ll get to it probably in the fall when I take a vacation.
But you have my GS300 video instructions and the things attached to engine are mostly same, but some external parts,wiring harness and hose routing could vary slightly in IS250.
If you had to do it again would you blast it?
This cleaning is probably needed every 100K miles as it wasn’t as bad as some of the German cars that foul up really bad only after 30K miles. So due to the infrequency, I would probably just do it manually. To invest ~$500 for blaster machine and walnut powders, I would have to have more regular use to justify the spending.
Also, newer cars are moving away from GDI engine to dual (port and direct) injections so such carbon build up problem doesn’t happen. This is for older GDI engines only.
How often should it be done
I did mine at about 110K miles. So I think you can do it every 100K miles assuming you change oil on schedule and use good tier one one gas.
Very helpful cheers
Thanks for the feedback. :-)
Hows the car doing ?
Engine is running great but now it looks like one rear wheel hub bearing is going out so that my next project when whether improves.
Very helpful thank u
Thanks for the feedback.
How many miles were on the car when u did this.
I think it was about 110K miles. I still only have 122k miles since I’ve not driven much during pandemic.
@@DIYLifeSkills thank u appreciate it. Going to try the stp valve cleaner 1st take some b4 and after pics of the valves and see if if works if not ill do this.
@@mcp08gt Cleaning as in just spraying through air intake? Or doing the scrubbing like I did? Those carbon was hard baked on and it took poking and scraping to get them to come off the valves and stems. So spraying method may remove some soft deposits but hardened ones will likely requires scraping
@@DIYLifeSkills i havent looked at the valves yet. Waiting on my camera to come in today. To see how bad it is. Hopefully its not too bad and i can just use the spray to clean them up
@@mcp08gt What year and how many miles do you have?
Great video! Thanks!!!
I'm probably going to have to do this
This is good to do when you have to change spark plugs as some work overlaps. And it’ll be good time to clean the MAF and intake plenum.
@@DIYLifeSkills Mine has 85 k Miles so they'd be the original ones
I plan on changing them soon too
@@awesomusmaximus3766 you can wait until 100k miles and do spark plug at the same time
@@DIYLifeSkills I only do 3k miles a year my last oil change interval was only 800 miles it was still clean ha ha I change it every 6 mths
@@awesomusmaximus3766 with hybrid work I also only go to work twice a week, which means I also do 3-5K miles a year on this car, so barely one oil change a year. LOL
Thanks - perfect!
Excellent
Great work!!!
Thanks bro.
@@DIYLifeSkills anytime bro!!
Do you have the list and part numbers for all the gaskets?
Let me see if I kept the receipt that has that.
I have the same car. Just turned 140,000 miles. Company called ATS Chemical. Purchased their cleaning product. Check them out. 505 system treatment. Gonna try this first. Thanks.
Great. Let me look into that and let me know how that goes. I got 3 more cars to do in coming weeks.
Howd it go?
Hello my friend, how are you? I have a question. Does this cause a shortage of engine oil?
Main reason for the oil burning is likely worn piston rings. But heavy carbon build up can prematurely wear out the piston rings and intake valves and can accelerate wearing out the piston rings. Also be sure ti change the PCV valve as clogged PCV will not relieve high pressure build up in the crankcase from combustion, and it’ll eventually lead to oil and air leak in internal or external gaskets. Also it can cause more oil to burn.
I would do a compress test on pistons to check the health of combustion chamber and piston health.
How much oil are you losing?
I switched PSV to no avail
Currently, I use 20 W50 engine oil, which is a little less drained
good vid
What’s the torque specs on the lower intake manifold
LexusForum says 13 ft/lbs for both upper and lower intake, so that’s what I used.
@@DIYLifeSkills for 2007 lexus is250 ?
My 2006 GS300 and your 2007 IS250 both should be the same 3GR-FSE engine so torque spec should be same.
@@DIYLifeSkills ok Do you know the torque spec for the spark plugs?
This OEM spark plug manual says 15-22 ft/lbs, so I used 19.
verry good Sahib
Did attempt it yet? If so, let me know how bad was the carbon build up.
What’s your opinion on the sea foam for the is250
Seafoam is great for maintenance if you use it regularly. But heavy baked carbon can only be removed by walnut blasting or manually scraping them off.
Seafoam works on the upper, depending on how bad multiple cans can get rid of it. Too carbon much on the pistons that's a different story.
Yup carbon on oil control piston ring is a whole different story. I’m gonna try some engine flush…though I have no way to verify if it’ll clean some carbon build up on piston rings. LOL
Be careful vacuuming flammable liquids through your vacuum, it can EXPLODE when fumes pass through the motor due to electrical sparks!
Good point, but Berryman is not flammable
Nice work! Unfortunately one of the sh** engine toyota ever made! Vvti gears,oilburning etc.
Pretty much all GDI engines have this issue. It’s even worse in German cars.
Yes true! I have gs300,drives ok,but should have bought gs430 or 350 instead.
@@Re1nTs I have same regret. 350 is dual injection so it doesn’t have this carbon build up issue.
Hmmm... Too much work...
Yup it is a lot of work or cost about $1000 to get it done on this car.