2007 Lexus Ls

We were driving to Fort Bragg, CA on Hwy 20 W of Willits, CA in the mountains out of cell service, and the car was surging like it was out of gas, would not respond to throttle input, then just died. This put us in danger because we were heading down a steep hill on a narrow 2 lane road, and could easily have lost control from loss of braking and handling due to loss of power steering & power brakes. I was able to coast a few yards and immediately pull off into a small cut out on a corner and stop. I have no idea if the recall to fix the defective valve springs was completed on this car because I purchased it used in 2015. I had previously mentioned it to the Roseville CA Lexus Service department, and he dismissed it as the "car recalibrating itself" after every oil change. There were no warning lights or messages until the engine died, then all the lights came on immediately. Once we pulled over, I tried to restart and it would not start. We had over 1/2 a tank of gas, and the engine temp was normal. In fact, there was no warning prior to the engine dying - it just stopped and never started back up. I had the car towed to Freeman Lexus in Santa Rosa, CA and they finally determined that a valve spring had "let go", causing the engine to fail. I am convinced that the valve spring was defective per the recall in 2010 that addressed this very issue.

WHEN DRIVING WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON VSC(VEHICLE STABILITY CONTROL), TRACTION CONTROL, CHECK ENGINE; WARNING TEXT TO TAKE TO DEALER. THE CRUISE CONTROL DID NOT WORK AND THE PERFORMANCE OF THE MOTOR DECLINED, LOSS OF POWER AND EXCESSIVE ENGINE NOISE. WHEN STATIONARY UPON INSPECTION BOTH HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMPS THAT RESIDE IN THE REAR TOP OF THE VALVE COVERS SHOWED SIGNS OF LEAKING GASOLINE AND OIL. THE PASSENGER SIDE WAS SO BAD THAT THE CHANCE OF IGNITING WAS IMMINENT, AS IT LEAKED ONTO THE EXHAUST BELOW AND CAME IN CONTACT WITH AN O2 SENSOR DIRECTLY BELOW ON THE ENGINE BLOCK, THAT HAS AN ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR. MY VEHICLE CURRENTLY HAS 170K MILES. AT 85K MILES THE RECALL #10V30900 (VALVE SPRINGS) WAS PERFORMED. UPON INVESTIGATION THIS RECALL WAS INCOMPLETE AS IT DID NOT INCLUDE A SERVICEABLE PART GASKET #2322438010 THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN THE "VALVE SPRING KIT"#0400037338. THIS GASKET IS ALWAYS REPLACED WHEN THE FUEL PUMPS ARE REMOVED. IT RESIDES IN THE VALVE COVER UNDER THE REMOVABLE FUEL PUMP PLATE. ALL OTHER SERVICEABLE GASKETS IN THE FUEL PUMP WERE INCLUDED: 2 O-RINGS FOR MOUNT BOLTS, 2 RING GASKETS FOR FUEL DAMPENER, 1PUMP TO PLATE GASKET BUT NOT THE PLATE TO VALVE COVER GADKET. THIS IS A KNOWN LEAKING PROBLEM FOR 2007-2008 LS460 (YEARS INCLUDED IN THE RECALL), MOST COMMONLY SEEN AS OIL LEAKS AT THE VALVE COVER BUT MINE AND OTHERS SHOW DEGRADATION TO WHERE GAS LEAKS FROM THE PUMP TO PLATE GASKET AS WELL. THE POSSIBILITY OF A SEVERELY DETERIATED GASKET AT THE VALVE COVER #2322438010 HAS THE POSSIBILITY OF PIECES FALLING INTO THE MOVEABLE PARTS AREA THAT WERE THE REASON FOR THE RECALL. THIS NON REPLACED GASKET SHOULD HAVE BEEN REPLACED AND IT HAS CREATED A FIRE HAZARD. I CURRENTLY SHOW DTC P0455, P0441, P0455, P0441. THE P0012 VSC ERROR HAS RESOLVED RECENTLY AFTER CLEARING THE MEMORY.