Lexus 3.0L (182 cu in) firing order — diagram & guide

If you own a Lexus vehicle with a 3.0-liter engine, chances are you are loving the experience and the reliability of it. However, when the time comes to do even minor repairs, drivers are often confused by the Lexus 3.0L (182 cu in) firing order, and for a good reason.

Some models like the ES300 feature a V6 under the hood, while others like IS300 have a 2JZ straight-six engine. Naturally, the firing orders for these two are different, so our team thought we’d clear that up for you. By the end of this guide, we’ll go through the firing orders of both these engines, their differences, and related specs.

Lexus 3.0L V6 firing order

The first engine we’ll mention is the more common 1MZ-FE engine which is a V6. To make things clear for you, the Lexus 3.0L V6 firing order is 1-2-3-4-5-6 thanks to the ignition system that doesn’t feature a distributor.

So, the firing order can’t be impacted by the distributor connections which often dictate how the engine’s cylinders are firing. This means that you’ll have an easier time working on your V6 when compared with the 2JZ straight-six counterpart that features a more complex ignition system, so let’s take a look.

Lexus 3.0L 2JZ firing order

The Lexus 3.0L 2JZ firing order is 1-5-3-6-2-4 which is substantially different from that of the 1MZ-FE engine. The reason for this is in the distributor connections and the overall engine design with a different layout of the cylinders as we’ll discuss in the following section.

So, the main way you can differentiate between these two besides the engine code names is based on the cylinder configuration. The mentioned firing order is only valid for straight-six engines, while the 3.0L V6 features a 1-2-3-4-5-6 firing order.

Lexus 3.0L cylinder diagram

One major difference between the 1MZ-FE and the 2JZ engines is in the cylinder layout. While the first one is a regular V6 with two cylinder banks, the latter one features a straight-six configuration.

So, the V6 has the cylinders 1, 3, and 5 in the left cylinder bank, and the cylinders 2, 4, and 6 in the right cylinder bank. On the other hand, the straight-six is a bit easier to configure since the cylinders go from the first one near hte radiator to the sixth one at the back of the engine in a straight pattern.

Lexus 3.0L vehicle application

One of the easiest ways of distinguishing the V6 from a straight-six Lexus 3.0-liter engine is by the model. The 2JZ was exclusively used in the Lexus IS300 and the GS300, while these are the models that were powered by a 3.0-liter V6:

• Lexus ES300
• Lexus RX300

Along with these, the V6 engine was also used in quite a few Toyota models from the Avalon full-size sedan, to the Highlander SUV and the Camry.

Our take

In the end, the sole purpose of this guide was to teach you the differences in firing orders of different Lexus 3.0-liter engines. We hope we were successful in our mission and that this guide will help you figure things out for your particular model and its engine’s firing order.