SEOGURUTEX

Hello all,

First may I say that I love this forum and am always on here reading up on things, but rarely posting as I have minimal knowledge to offer this community. I have owned this 2000 GS300 for about 2 1/2 years, no problems besides this oil leak that seems to be coming from somewhere on the engine.

I have pics that show were I have noticed the leak and it has begun to drip from the bottom of the vehicle.

The car is at about 180,000 miles and runs great! I have used Mobil 1 Full Synthetic 5-30 High Mileage oil for the past year and a half. Haven't had this bad of a leak before...A year ago I took the car to Toyota and had the timing belt, and all the gaskets done over. I would have hoped that this should have ensured a non leaky car. But noooo lol...I love Lexus' and the GS series so much, my previous car was a 1st gen 1995 GS300 that I drove to 250,000+ before selling it. After this one, I am looking at a 3rd Gen.. Thanks again yall. This is the #1 Lexus Forum!

SEOGURUTEX

here are some more pics, if there are any angles of the engine bay i need to take photos of please let me know..

burny

VVTI gear or the oil control valve. Any idle issues or acceleration issues??

SEOGURUTEX

There have been no noticeable issues with idling.

However, acceleration IS sluggish and definitely not the same as when I originally bought the car. It's almost like I have to inch up on the accelerator a little bit through 1st and 2nd gear for it to have a healthy/smooth shift above 2k RPM.


Thank you for the assistance!

ttaylor993

You didn't mention if they changed the cam seals and crank seal when they changed the timing belt. I would hope that they did. If they didn't then that may be the source of your leak. I just serviced my car, it's the same year as yours with about the same number of miles. My valve cover gaskets were leaking terribly. You may want to check that too.

Tuanville

It looks like it's leaking from the vvt-i cam... take off the cover and take a look. It's really simple to remove. Clean up the oil and then turn your car on without the cover and see where it is leaking from.

SEOGURUTEX

Ok, just to clarify that plastic cover you are referring to houses the timing belt as well?

I will take this off tomorrow morning and post pics.

SEOGURUTEX

Yes, I did have them change the cam seals when they did they timing belt. I am just not sure why this part of the engine is already leaking if seals were just replaced..Anyways ill take off those 2 plastic coverings and post pics tomorrow morning..

wbmx1981

Maybe the cams weren't seated properly. They shouldnt be leaking especially after replacing.

burny

It is going to be the VVTI cam gear. Let us know what you find

srob817

Yup VVTI cam gear gets my vote as well.

wbmx1981

From where the leak is, when the passenger side cam leaks the oil tends to drain and accumulate on the waterpump, but eventually it'll make it's way down to the crank pulley. Remove the vvti cover then start the car and inspect for leaking oil or squirting oil. My guess is still the cam since it's on the waterpump side. Goodl luck.

SEOGURUTEX

As you can see from these pics, there is oil on the left side (facing the engine bay obvi)..thankfully no oil around the spark plugs, I performed a full oil change on Friday and it has already lost almost a half quart of oil it seems..

I know you told me to start the car once I removed the two plastic coverings but that wont hurt the engine/spray oil everywhere? I guess if I am going to start the engine and take more pics while the car is running I should first fill the oil up to the top indentation so that the engine has the correct amount (plus I am sure it will leak a small amount more while she's on)..

Thanks again for everyone's timely responses. You have already been a great help!

wbmx1981

That is your cam leaking, it's not even on the vvti side.

SEOGURUTEX

Ok thanks for the info, so I need to replace the cam seal/s then? I cannot imagine why it is leaking already as I replaced these seals at Toyota about a year and a half ago..

With the car in this condition, would it be a ok to fill the oil up to the correct level and drive on it? I would rather wait until tomorrow to drive it to the shop if it's too risky..But then again, I imagine it has been leaking like this for the past 3 months and it has been my daily...

Would it be beneficial to start the car and take pics of these areas with the plastic covers off to better determine the source of the leak?

Thanks!