duffer649

I have a small oil leak on the car. I took it today to Lexus to get them do a quick check and it's coming from the back of the engine near the top on the right side. Does anyone know what gaskets are in that area?

The car has already had the crank seal and timing cover gaskets replaced at 31,000km.

The car has 60,000km on it now. Also, does anyone know of any common problems with the ES350 to do with oil leaks?

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

jcat_350

VVTi oil hose would be one of the first things I'd check. There's a TSB for that. Other than that, I'd be looking at valve cover gaskets.

duffer649

The VVTi oil hose was also replaced on my car. I will check out the valve cover gaskets as you suggested.

Is it possible for the TSB items to have an oil leak recurrence?

Thanks.

jcat_350

I wouldn't think so; seemed to be a one time deal for most people.

nevernu

i recall during the oil line replacement debate, that many were insisting that a steel oil line be put in instead of replacement rubber one, just to prevent such a re-occurrence.

jcat_350

meaning braided I assume? Would work, but probably overkill. I'd bet the original ones that failed were just a bad run from the factory that made them.

mlacomb

No it is an actual steel line - think brake line.

jcat_350

huh...that'd be interesting to see.

Paul3637

Too many dealers said they did the recall but really did not do it. They may have inspected the hose but not replaced it. In one case, a highlander owner had the service performed but when he took a picture of it after it failed, it clearly was the original hose. The dealer even committed fraud by warrantying it onto another vehicle.

In another case .... a rav4 owner's engine failed when dealer did not perform service. Toyota paid for her new $10,000 engine replacement even post warranty.

Shine a flashlight light on your vvt-i hose on the passenger side of your engine compartment (you don't have to take off the engine cover) and make sure it's either got a solid yellow line or is spec'd for OIL (correct part) not AT ....... automatic transmission fluid ...... and make sure it's not wet with oil.

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

LexBob2

As I recall, some of the early replacements were rubber and then some steel (braided) were being used later on. My '07 got the rubber hose early on and that was fine for me..

duffer649

The oil leak is coming from the front timing cover. Interesting enough this was already replaced on the car in 2010 under warranty. I have an extended care plan on the car right now so the 15 hour job is covered. My concern is why is this happening again? Wasn't the original fix supposed to solve this issue?
Seems very strange to me. Has anyone had to bring their car in more than once for the timing cover issue?
Thank god I don't have to pay anything but this seems weird to me. It hasn't leaked for 3 years and now it is again.
Thanks.

garsarno

Amen for the extended warranty for these cars. When something goes, it usually is bigger $$.

duffer649

I went to the dealer to get my loaner car and they said after taking apart the engine further, the leak is actually coming from the head gaskets. This is even a bigger job apparently but it's still covered under ECP. Has anyone had this problem before?

duffer649

I got my ES350 back today after 2.5 days worth of work.

I just have to mention that my car was from the May 2006 build and I had a ticking noise in the engine that I could hear quite clear when it was cold and very faintly when it was warm.

It's completely gone now. It's very quiet. So whatever they did to replace the head gasket seals, it fixed the ticking noise problem too.

I thought this was an interesting thing considering a lot of people have this issue with the 2006 built ES350s.

junwu2000

This is interesting. Our 2007 ES350 (purchased Oct 2006) developed an oil leak. The tech at the local garage thought it was from power steering pump. Took to the dealer, and the dealer figured it was from timing belt cover. The cost was about $1,500 and was covered under extended warranty (expires in 3 months!). It didn't have anything indicating removing transmission. It was a bunch of gaskets including head gaskets, oil etc and 12 hours of labor. Before the service, I did notice a knocking noise (frequency proportional to the RPM) from the engine and didn't pay much attention. My wife drives the car. After the service, the knocking noise disappeared. She doesn't know what I am talking about. But I could tell the knocking noise that was there before. I thought it was from some kind of loose part in the exhaust...