MD350

Thanks, Bluejays. Interesting! Glad to see you got yours taken care of prior to the failure.

bluejays

iTrader: (1)

It does help (however I have only driven the car for 300km since the reflash). If the problem comes back I will mention the TSB for the torque converter replacement.

Regarding the VVTI Oil Hose, I think it's a good idea to call the dealership and see what they can do. I hope they can replace the Oil Hose for your ES350.

CPMD

iTrader: (2)

Cat litter will soak up the oil...the snow won't do anything. Buy the cheapest cat litter from Walmart. That will do the trick

bluejays

iTrader: (1)

You are welcome MD350. I am sorry to hear the problem on your ES350 - it must be difficult to remove the oil stain from the garage floor / drive way.

racingt

[QUOTE=bluejays;5097505]I am posting both the original letter and the service record (it says campagin "923"). Hope it hepls!




What makes 'certain 2007 and 2008 Model Year Lexus ES350's' different from the other ES350's from 2007 - 2008 that do not receive the recall letter? That is the magic question!

NJLEXES

That is the MAGIC QUESTION is right !
Mine is an early 2007 (built 6/06) and I have not received any letter on this campaign nor does the Owner Section on MYLEXUS show this campaign for my vehicle. Only shows the "floor mat" campaign message.
Could this mean Lexus made an "in production" change on the engine early on which didn't work out as planned and caused this problem ....
Be curious to see what's the earliest build that received this letter to determine what's the cutoff date.
Has anyone out there with an "early build" gotten this letter from Lexus on an ES350 and if so, what's your build date?

NOTE: Just got curious and wanted to confirm verbally with Lexus corporate that my vehicle was not involved in this campaign 923. They mentioned that these letter started to go out in NOV 2009 and if my vehicle were included, it would have showed up by now in writing as well as on the MYLEXUS website. They said it mostly applied to RX350. When I asked her for the starting VIN number on the Es350's affected, she said she didn't have that info.

WISH WE COULD GET A STRAIGHT ANSWER !

dreyfus

[QUOTE=racingt;5098308]From the letter it looks like there was an incorrectly formulated batch of rubber hoses used on some cars (improper rubber material). If you didn't get that lot or batch of hose then your car isn't in danger. If you got the defective lot then you'll need a replacement.

This is likely a supplier problem.

NJLEXES

From all indications, looks like Lexus/Toyota has updated these to ALL METAL lines in the newer models.

MD350,
Guess this means you never got the letter from Lexus on this issue....what was your build date?

Has anyone approached their LEXUS DEALER about using the newer ALL METAL line on their 07/08 models? It should work as some TOYOTA dealers are doing this on the Camry with no issues. The part number for the ALL METAL is 15772-31030.

MD350

Never got the letter and mine is a 7/06 build. I am sure, as more of these fail with time, Lexus will broaden the recall including more ES 350's.

NJLEXES

Don't know if you all knew, but a pretty widespread problem for Toyota made products using the 2GR-FE engine:

http://sites.google.com/site/toyotav6oillinescandal

MD350

Wow! Wouldn't make any owner with this engine confident taking the car on a long trip.

krzysiu

With this problem Toyota went "GLOBAL". It's repairing lots of these rubber connectors in 2GR-FE engines in EUROPE as well.

Elex

Well, I called Lexus corporate today. My car is a 1/07 build date and I never received a letter. I talked with Zandra Foreman and she basically told me that it only applied to RX's and I said that I am looking at a letter that clearly states it applies to ES's. She had to put me on hold and then came back and said it only applies to certain ES's, but couldn't give me any criteria, all she could say is that mine isn't impacted. I asked why 2008's are involved if there was a production change before mine was built, again she could only say that mine wasn't affected.

I asked what happens if my hose goes at 70001 miles - she said they would have to review it (read engine oil sludge debacle) to see if they would cover it as a goodwill gesture.

I wasn't happy when I got off the phone as I don't think they're leveling with us. If they could give some rational explanation I'd feel better about this.

My brother in law who has his independent garage has seen several of these on Avalons and is concerned about mine. He says I should be pushing for them to do something and it's just not smart to wait. I don't know what else I can do other than trying to look out for signs of failure - I guess inspecting this weekly etc. I have 51000 miles now, if it doesn't fail before 70,000 and I plan to go over 70,000, I may just have my brother in law replace it for peace of mind.

garsarno

We drive from Wilkes Barre, PA to Cleveland frequently (6 hour drive) and I am concerned. But a bright light shines - if it happens on the road, maybe the engine will blow up to the point that they will need to replace it and bye bye diesel engine noise. Car is at 36,000 miles / one more year of new car warranty left and Platinum warranty takes over.

NJLEXES

ELEX,

Keep in mind the start of this thread. MD350 who was also an early build (7/06) had his hose fail suddenly at 54k miles & he wasn't part of this campaign either as he didn't receive the letter.
For all of us, waiting for it to fail is really not a good option. There won't be a way to predict the failure even if you look at the hose once a day.
At minimum, the rubber should be replaced for any customer soonest if you've got any amount of mileage on it. According to the google link above, somewhere around 45-50k miles is a good time to start thinking about replacement. If you can swing the metal line, that is the best option regardless.


I spoke to my dealer about my car and they totally agreed with me that the "metal oil line" was the correct fix....even with the "923 campaign", replacing it with another rubber hose (even if it is "improved") is simply a band aid.
The rubber hoses will fail, just a matter of time.
The metal oil line is the only permanent and correct fix.
If anyone contacts Lexus corporate or their dealer and they question that there is a problem, you could always ask them why did Toyota/Lexus make the change on all newer 2GR-FE engines to the all metal line.
WE ALL KNOW THE ANSWER to that question.

I've opened a case with LEXUS corporate and they are going to contact my dealer about it.
I'll let you all know how I make out.

Happy New Year to all !