DL1221

Hi all!
Very first post on this forum about my "new" 1999 ES300. Anyway, I'm about to buy this car for $5500 from the original owner, it has 91,000 miles. I know the price is a bit high, especially since it's gonna need a new timing belt and new tires, but it runs great.

I just have one big concern before I hand over the cash. The current owner was not too concerned with her oil changes. She had it changed every 5-6000 miles. She said the car never used one bit of oil, but to me that's still too many miles between oil changes.

So here's my problem; when I opened up the filer cap I looked inside and saw quite a bit of oil sludge build up inside there. I even pulled some out with my fingernail, this seems excessive to me. Is this something to worry about, I read these engines have an issue with oil sludge. Any ideas, should I cancel the deal?

Thanks.

ES3_Ray

The 99 has nothing to worry about. Please read the owners manual. you will see that the manual will tell you if you use synthetic, it calls for a 7000 mile interval.

all the people with stock motors doing oil changes every 3000 miles or even 5000 miles is a waste IMO for a STOCK motor.

DL1221

Yeah this lady is kind of cheap when it comes to car maintenance, I'm pretty sure she didn't use synthetic oil. In fact, she had her oil change at the cheapest place she could find.

My main worry is that sludge I saw inside the engine. I was always told engine sludge is bad thing.

Thanks for the reply. . .

MikeLex

Do not sign anything before taking the car to a reputable mechanic. If your main concern is sludge, have someone to remove the front valve cover. Looking inside the oil fill hole may not be conclusive due to the baffle plate (it's normal that a thin layer of carbon - not sludge - builds up on it).

yeskay

you should contact your local lexus dealership for sludge coverage with the vin#. The engine warranty may be covered for sludge issues.

ES3_Ray

just a FYI, like the guy 2 posts above me, looking inside the oil cap doesnt show you the true condition of the heads. remove the valve cover to see if theres sludge.

good luck!


btw: engines in a lexus prone to sludging does not include the 99.

angmedic91

iTrader: (5)

I concur with MikeLex, you might have confused the baffle plate/cover under the oil cap as sludge. I myself looked in there and noticed what I thought was sludge and even put my finger in there and scaped with my nail and felt like a hard carbon build up and then realized it was a baffle cover. I realized this was normal from the experts on this forum. So, the best way to check for sludge is like what everyone else has stated, got to take off the valve cover. IMO oil change every 5k is nothing to be concerned about, unless the lady raced the car. I have synthetic Mobil 1 oil and change it every 5k and its daily driven, no racing, but I do the occasional, lets see how fast she will go today, lol. Good Luck bro.

DL1221

Thanks for the replies, I guess I''ll have to buy the car and find out.

Hopefully it's nothing bad. But it definitely was not just hard carbon buildup on the baffle. It was soft enough that I scrapped some off with my fingernail, that's why it looked like it was sludge -- the type that you see on high mileage engines that have been neglected. So my first thought was that if it was this dirty up near the oil cap, then rest of the engine and down on the oil pan must be horrible. Anyway, as you all said, no way to know for sure unless I look inside.

So I get the car next week, I'll drive it around for a while then, I'll change the oil and send some in for an oil analysis.