2006 GS300 Spark Plug Change & Borescope view of Carbon buildup on pistons
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2024
- This video documents detail steps I've taken to replace spark plugs on 2006 Lexus GS300. This video includes borescope view into the piston chambers, which showed a lot of carbon build up.
In the near future, I plan to:
■ clean the carbon on piston heads
■ clean the carbon on intake valves
■ remove and clean intake throttle body
I have a 2006 Lexus GS300 exactly like this one. ( mine is red metallic) I bought it used 12 years ago. Right after buying it the check engine light came on and I took it to Lexus. They told me that this was due to carbon build-up and that this model & year (2006) was notorious for this issue. The cure was to rebuild the engine with Lexus replacement parts, including pistons, rings, rods, etc to correct the problem. Lexus completely rebuilt the engine as part of a call back and I was not charged a dime. It took quite awhile, but they gave me a loaner for the entire time. When I got the car back it ran perfectly and still does today. 122k miles. When right, these cars are a dream to own. I don't mind doing the maintenance and paying whatever expenses it takes to keep it in top condition. Went on a 7500 mile road trip last year and the car was amazing. Powerful, smooth, comfortable, handles well and 31 mpg on the road. I hope it lasts forever.
These cars accept a Tesla style radio with a 12.8" touch screen. Replaces the entire center control panel. Takes some getting used to, but is very nice upgrade. I used a Phoenix unit and so far it's been good......
Thanks for the detail feedback. About what mile was the car's engine rebuilt? 2006 is a GDI engine, which means the fuel is sprayed directly into the piston chamber ONLY. Starting in 2007, they have dual fuel injection - one directly to the piston chamber, and one to the intake valves. Since no fuel is sprayed to the intake valves, heavy carbon builds up, and there is no easy way to get hard baked on carbon build up, other than to manually scraped them off or do a walnut powder blast to get them off. I did the manual intake valve carbon build up cleaning. So this is something you might want to consider in the future. This is the video. czcams.com/video/m0fGP3MrqFQ/video.html
@@DIYLifeSkills Thanks for that tip and video. Right now the car runs extremely well. Like a new one. I am reluctant to do anything along these lines for that reason. I will definitely keep that in mind in the future. These cars are 17 years old and their actual value is low. However, finding a really nice one is worth the price. It's always a trade off. As I said I hope to keep this car for at least a few more years.
@@DIYLifeSkills 54.000k engine rebuilt. I was told that this was the factory rebuild fix for this issue???
There was a recall for these cars because of how notorious they collect carbon build up. Mine has 177k and need valve retainer and spring replaced causing misfire on cylinder 1.
@@DIYLifeSkills I have a 2010 GS 300 GDI the last version made no problems yet 130,000 km
I don't drive it much 3,000 km Oil changes every 6 months
Good video even after so many years... Not sure why but there seems to be a lack of online resources on the 3GR-FSE engine...
Doing Gods work with these videos
Beautiful video, well done!
Your 1st half looks very DIY lol but second half scare me off. Very detail thank you
1 more thing, my gs350 07 is idling around 6k-6300 rpm which i believe is very low, wonder what yours is idling at thank you
Mine is exactly same as your. :-)
It’s usually 600-650 for few mins after cold start. And once I start driving for more than 10 mins and stopped at a light, it’s more closer to 600.
@@DIYLifeSkills yes exactly that, but a very rough idle, wasnt sure if i did a bad job with the throttle body clean and not cleaning the sensor. i will try that again, it happens everytime when i stop at a sign or red lights. wonder if you ever had that bad experience and hopefully you never will lolz
Initially after I bought the car I had rough idle sometimes right after dataset and when stopped at a light and periodically get random CEL.
All that’s been fixed with combination of PCV replacement, MAF and TB cleaning, gas cap change (yes gas cap on this car doesn’t seal right), and seafoam spray. Oh I also use Lucas fuel cleaner every 1k miles or so. Afterwards, I’ve not had any rough idle. It’s very smooth that even water bottle in the cup holder doesn’t shake.
When did you clean the TB? Because the car can have rough idle until ECM relearns the proper idle air-fuel mixture. Cleaning MAF is the easiest thing you can do. Takes 5 mins, so so that also if you haven’t.
After TB and MAF cleaning, within few hours of driving, the car will auto adjust the idle. You can also check to see if the TB flap is nearly 100% closed when idling. Check this both in cold start and once the engine is in operating temperature.
Same as mine cylinder 1 was having much carbon than the rest of the others cylinder so now you confirmed is there’s some design flow or something for sure but for your case since your spark plugs covered with oil you need to replace the engine cover gasket and that will eliminate the oil pass through and get on your plugs 👍🏼!!!!
Were any or your spark plugs coated with oil? Few of my spark plugs were coated with oil, even on threads. That tells me that means I'll have to replace the spark plug tube seal, which means I'll have to open the valve covers and replace the valve cover gasket as well. But here in Houston we hit 107 high today, so that's keeping me away from working on cars more often this summer. As oil reaches the spark plug, I'll be losing some oil and also it's going to cause piston to build up carbon more quickly, so sometime this year, I need to get this done. But otherwise, my goodness this 16 year old car runs so smoothly. I love it.
@@DIYLifeSkills all my spark plugs was kinda wet from the threads but not too much oil only 1 spark plug in cylinder 1 was dark coated with carbon buildup but I did notice some oil in this hole chamber but not too much, last year I did change spark plugs tube seal and valve cover gasket and water pump and thermostat, my car now drive very smooth expect that white puff smoke that only comes and last for 3-4 second when I startup the vehicle and engine is warm ,, that’s why I keep changing oil to see maybe the oil or something.. any idea what can cause that ,, also do you have telegram so I can shoot you text in there and pictures
@@costantineyoussif6679 Upload it to your CZcams channel, and then you can also post it on Club Lexus, but based on your description that is quite normal...as long as you don't see your coolant level going down.
@@costantineyoussif6679 Also, do you park outside vs. inside the garage? Because the white smoke happens more if you park outside because more condensation builds up on the exhaust pipes so you'll see more smoke. When I park my car inside the car, I get very little white smoke.
Very well done video. Thanks for sharing. I have an 06 GS300 with about 185k miles. I have replacement plugs, but have been procrastinating changing them out😂. Engine burns a lot of oil and plugs have never been changed but it still runs smoothly. It seems a bit sluggish on acceleration so want to change the plugs and your video helps greatly. Thanks!
Passenger side is super easy. Driver side, you have to move the wiring harness out of the way, so it’s more tedious but nothing difficult.
Expect the sole wire connectors to break, but I have videos on how to find the part numbers and replace just the connectors.
Also be sure to check the gaps on new plugs. Though they are supposed to be set, my new plugs were slightly off. Only use flat filler gap to measure the gap and not the round (cheap) coin shaped one that’s not accurate at all.
Also, only use the matching OEM plugs. This car is sensitive if you use different plugs. Also, there are so many fake plugs in the market. Buy from reputable auto part store only. I bought mine from rockauto.
While at it, I suggest you get a borescope camera and check out the carbon build up on piston head. Cheap borescope is about $20. Good ones start $50+.
Also go read about the 3rd piston ring, and why oil burns when small holes around the 3rd ring gets clogged with carbon.
I also use Lucas fuel injector cleaner pretty regularly. I buy the 1 gallon one, and add few ounces to gas tank every few fill up.
@@DIYLifeSkills thanks. I do have a cheap borescope already so I was glad to see another good use for it😂. I think these motors had a recall at one time to replace the rings but at the time I wasn’t having an issue with it and thought it better not to have them open up the motor. Probably not a good decision in hind sight. Did you figure out a method to remove the carbon?
@@kaleacoco because piston rings make pretty tight seal, it’s hard to get any carbon cleaning solutions to the 3rd ring. So I did what I can, which is cleaned the Carbon build up on intake valves and piston tops.
@@kaleacoco The master Toyota mechanic says, the 10k miles oil change is the biggest reason why so many Toyotas and Lexus are burning oil eventually. He says if you do oil change every 5K miles, the carbon build up will slow significantly. So I’m doing 5K miles oil changes on all my cars now.
Could come from using regular gasoline instead of premium.
Quick question dose your transmistion hasitate to shift into 2nd and 3th gare.
@@XenialMusic No trans shifting issues. But I rarely floor the gas pedal on start.
The oil is from is probably from the valve cover gasket.
Yup I’m pretty sure it’s the spark plug tube seal also, so I’ll need to do entire valve cover gasket change once the whether cools down. It’s been scorching hot here in Houston.
Was wondering I wanted to do a spark change on my Lex but I have gs450h and it's a bit more stuff there to dismantle
What year? Can you post a close up video of your engine on you CZcams channel. Basically steps are similar, and it just comes down to what you have to remove to gain access to ignition coil and spark plugs.
@@DIYLifeSkills hi sure no problem I will do it after work. I'm in UK so there will be a time difference. Tha ks
@@DIYLifeSkills and its 2011
so yours was burning a little bit of oil. mine is burning 3 quorts oil in 1k miles i hope this methord will fix it
I'm burning about 1 quart per every 5000 mile oil change. I bought this car at 105K miles, and I've been only doing 5K mile oil change as 10K mile oil change cause serious carbon build up on piston ring, which causes oil burning.
I know this cleaning probably helped some but probably only by 1/4 quart every 5K miles. BG has this product that supposedly cleans the carbon build up on piston rings, and this is what I'm going to try next.
www.amazon.com/Bg109-Engine-Performance-Restoration-Makers/dp/B00IAPLIDK/ref=asc_df_B00IAPLIDK/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693070740373&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3926538468400984815&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9027782&hvtargid=pla-569805723483&psc=1&mcid=18d7cf6321d53a32a8f7e18c025ec530&gad_source=1
@@DIYLifeSkills I would love to see that video pop up when you try it.
@@DIYLifeSkills Yes the piston rings were also my go-to for the oil-burning but others say that it's just an internal leak somewhere.
thank you for doing all these videos, very helpful.
Is it Gs450h use the same spark plug? Thank you again!!
What year?
Check under the hood cover and there should be a sticker with the engine name. Mine is 3GR-FSE. Some GS450H were same engine but some are 2GR-FSE.
@@DIYLifeSkills 2008
it is 2gr-fse 3.5L engine, I guess 2gr, 3gr basically is the same thing?
@@2gr775 yeah they are sister engine and looks like identical spark plugs are used. If you want to be sure, call local auto part store and have them check against the VIN #. I tried a slightly cheaper denso plugs and they misfires so I returned it and got these. So go with the the matching OEM plugs for optimal performance
Great job man May I ask how many mileage when you was filming this video and what kind oil you use ? And what gas Station brand and what octane you normally use ? and did you ever use any fuel additive at all ? My top pistons on my GS 350 were the same if not worse than yours it has 124,000 I owned for a year n half and using shell 91 all the time sometime Costco and now switch to chevron
Due to pandemic, I’m working from home so I don’t put too many miles on the car. That was done just short of 115K miles. I usually use Mobile-1 full synthetic but last one was with Walmart Super Tech synthetic oil because they didn’t have what I needed. I only use Costco gas (regular now that price is high). I also use Lucas fuel additive every few months. I buy a gallon of Lucas because it’s cheaper and put few ounces each time.
@@DIYLifeSkills I been using pennzoil platinum High milage 10w30 and i ordered the ultra platinum version 5w30 they said it keep pistons and valve cleaner because it has high additive, but one of my friend told me just use mobil 1 to see if my car will stop the white smoke or not, not sure why I’m getting this white smoke not sure due to carbon buildup getting burnt or I have a problem not really know !!!
@@costantineyoussif6679 Brief white smoke at the start, especially, cold start after sitting overnight is quite normal as long as it goes away once the engine has warmed up to normal operating temperature. If you see white smoke coming out after driving for 10 minutes, then that's a strong sign that small amount of coolant is leaking into the piston chamber. Check you coolant level very closely for few weeks. Mark a coolant level line when engine is cooled, and keep checking it for few weeks to see if it's going down...it shouldn't.
@@costantineyoussif6679 If coolant level goes down, then it's head gasket leak, but based on your carbon build up on piston top, this is likely not the case. When coolant leaks to piston chamber, they actually end up cleaning the carbons on piston top. Sort of like using water mist to clean the piston carbons.
I think I see white smoke when I start the car in the morning for about 5 to 10 seconds. Once it warms up, I don't see any smoke.
Nice. Drivers side seems like a pain lol
Yeah, wiring harness gets in the way, so you just have to get that out of the way a bit. It's not terribly difficult. Just look at what I had to do, and you can complete all 6 plug changes within 1 hour or so. Depending on how many miles you have, prepare for ignition coil connectors to break, but you can just buy the replacement for connectors and they are cheap.
czcams.com/video/nX33dk11EU4/video.html
czcams.com/video/rhp-ENvNje0/video.html
czcams.com/video/wWBCgY9nN_0/video.html
I can get cylinder 2 out. The manifold is blocking the way
Can or cannot? I’m any case, driver side plugs are blocked by thick wiring harness so you’ll have to get that out of the way to be able to remove plugs on that side. Take a look at 18:15 time mark in this video, you can see how I gain access to the #2 plug by getting tuning harness out of the way.
@@DIYLifeSkills*can't. I had no problem taking the middle and back but the front is too tight. I did unbolt some of the harnessing around it but ultimately I can't get a socket on it nor have enough room to work a wrench. The manifold is in the way of the bolt
@@csl9495 Please watch my video very closely. You can see once the wiring harness is loosened and pulled down, you have direct access to the plug. It might help if you have a universal joint.
@@DIYLifeSkills whelp... doesn't matter now. I think I've concluded, it's a timing chain slip.
@@csl9495 Oh no. What year and how many miles do you have?
At what mileage you supposed to change plugs?
Owner's Manual states very 60,000 miles, but these Denso/NGK Iridium spark plugs are designed to last 100,000+ miles, so you could possibly go longer. This car is getting first spark plug change at ~113K miles. It's running smoothly, but once I remove the spark plugs, I can clearly see the wear and buildup and mine definitely needed to be changed.
If you do change, go with the matching OEM Denso FK20HBR11 (aka 3473) for optimal performance and reliability. RockAuto seems to provide the best price. Also be aware that there are many fake plug sellers online, so only buy from reputable stores.
You’re so dam lucky. The 460 is so different and difficult its dang near impossible. The the coils. There are no room to take it out without lifting the engine. Smh.
No kidding! How could Lexus engineers design it that way? LOL
To be frank, this was pretty tight too, but do-able with patience.
@@DIYLifeSkills when the day comes for new spark plugs ill be happy to pay the dealership to do it haha. I manage to replaced 3 out of 8. Smh.
@@30minforasn What year is your GS460? I found one video. czcams.com/video/62znZ-Eu5_c/video.html
@@DIYLifeSkills i watch that video as a reference. It didn’t help
Are these engine port or direct injection
2006 GS300 and earlier is GDI and later is dual GDI and port injections for US market.
I come to learn that in some other countries, later 2006 can also be GDI.
I have the same car I’m getting a misfire on cylinder one and 6
You need to rule out whether it’s spark plug, ignition coil, or fuel injector. Cheapest way to do this without blindly buying things is swapping things for test. Swap ignition coil #3 with #1. If misfire moves to #3, you need to replace the ignition coil.
If not, then also swap #3 plug with #1. If misfire moves to #3, get a new spark plug. If misfire doesn’t move, then it could be your fuel injector, which is difficult to get to because you have remove upper (plenum) and lower intake manifolds.
You can apply same diagnostics to cyl #6 by swapping with #4. Let me know how it goes.
@@DIYLifeSkills ok thank you 🙏 I am currently doing this right now
@@DIYLifeSkills so I checked the spark plugs and they were toasted one one cylinder when I took the coil off it was full of oil I think it might be a gasket leak .tomorrow I will buy new spark plugs and test it out
Oh my oil between the coil and plugs caused the misfire. I had slight oil coating on couple of plugs also but these plugs didn’t have much torque when I unscrewed them. So I torqued to ~20 ft lbs when I put the new plugs in.
Back on oil on your coil and plugs, if tiny holes around the 3rd piston ring area gets clogged with carbon, then then this 3rd oil ring can’t scrap the oil back down to the crankcase, which means some oil is left in the piston chamber and on upward compression stroke it will push the oil through spark plug threads and and onto the coil.
So first be sure to torque the plugs to about ~20 ft lbs, but you should really get a borescope to look at the piston too and the edges. About $70-80 borescope have a second camera lens that can also look at the piston walls. If you don’t see dark spots on the piston wall then it’s a good sign. Take a look at my piston top carbon cleaning video and also go look at “Care Care Nut”, the master Toyota mechanic that explains how carbon build up on 3rd piston ring causes oil burn and misfires.
Music got to go
Worst car to buy, freaken starter is a pain to replace..
Looks like this guy was able to pull out the starter without removing bunch of other parts. Have you seen this video?
czcams.com/video/PXwYPqdhwes/video.html
I had my starter replaced Mechanic said it was easy changed my alternator too
Great to hear. I’ve watched some videos on starter and it is tricky to remove the starter in very tight space so the manual suggests a longer route of removing other parts.
You just have lack of skills, gs300 is the best car to buy
@maciekoks I've been working on cars since a teenager, lexus is the worst car to work on I gave mines away.. pos