Hi everyone,
I have a 2009 Lexus IS250 and about 16 months ago I had an accident where it was raining on I565 while I was driving and I hydroplaned and bounced off the concrete barrier hard twice. Nobody else was involved and the car was still running fine so I just drove it home (I was only 5 minutes away). It was all body damage and nothing else had to be replaced; however, ever since that accident my car's MPG went down and it has less power and there is a rattling noise under the hood when the car is under stress (like climbing a hill). The rattling noise sounds like a piece of tap blowing in the wind.
I thought maybe it needs a valve job? I don't know... if you can help, that would be wonderful
Thanks,
Gabriel
Valve jobs are not a routine service item any more. That kind of thing went away with the likes of the 1949 Hudson. If there were a valve problem a compression or leakdown test would quickly pinpoint it.
A rattling noise is frequently caused by loose exhaust heat shields, but after a collision it could be just about any loose part.
As far as performance and mileage issues you could go after low-hanging fruit like examining vacuum hoses and electrical connections for problems. Also check regular maintenance items like filters and spark plugs in case some of the problems are not caused by the accident. Really what should be done though is scanning for codes and analyzing live data to get an idea of what's going on.
