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Hi everyone! I'm a proudful owner of a fully stock 2011 IS F. This past Friday I had the low engine oil level light come on. I immediately took it to the Lexus dealer Saturday morning. The tech said the engine was 2 quarts low on oil. The dealership offered to top it off for free since my interval had at least another 1500 miles left before a complete oil change. I opted to conduct a complete oil change instead and gladly paid for their services. I even entered the service bay since the regular tech who works on my F wasn't there that day. I ensured the tech topped off the oil correctly and asked if there was any harm to the engine? He said absolutely not, the sensor did its job! No harm no foul...everything was good until last night...
I daily drive my F and you can say I drive my F hard. It was between 10pm and 11pm the ambient temperature couldn't have been past the lower to mid 80's. When all of a sudden my oil temperature started rising! And rising fast! I immediately let off the gas and began to worry. This has never happened! Not even on my previous F, which was driven in the same manner, and with straight pipes. I've had this F since January but I'm getting the feeling something is wrong and it's killing the joy of driving it freely. I was in F mode and paddle shifting like I always do every night. I also could have sworn I lost power. I did a search and only ran into the F that was taken to the track, but the thread didn't really answer anything for me. Other than freak me out even more as one owner mentioned his F never goes past 3 bars! After a track session! I'm sure it was for 2008-2010 F as the gauges are different. Any similar experiences? You fellow members have had? Should I not worry? I drove it conservatively this morning and opened her up a little and everything was fine. I wasn't in F Mode just sport and auto. Thanks in advance!
Per the manual, 1.6 quarts is the oil quantity between LOW and FULL on the dipstick. You should check your oil level every time you fuel up and continue monitoring any consumption.
Yup that oil temp indicator is where mine sits now a days in the 40c heat we have here. Just a little aggressive driving gets it above half way mark very easily.
Push the car some more and see if it'll go up any further because I doubt you'd get it higher than this on the streets.
I haven't until now and we have 104f ~40c constantly
Per the manual, 1.6 quarts is the oil quantity between LOW and FULL on the dipstick. You should check your oil level every time you fuel up and continue monitoring any consumption.
Will do! Thanks for the advice...I have been checking it every other day since the oil change. So far so good...
Yup that oil temp indicator is where mine sits now a days in the 40c heat we have here. Just a little aggressive driving gets it above half way mark very easily.
Push the car some more and see if it'll go up any further because I doubt you'd get it higher than this on the streets.
I haven't until now and we have 104f ~40c constantly
This is my concern...because stable oil temp has always been 1 bar before the middle. It has never gone higher on me, not even on my previous F. I snapped the pic when it occurred to me! By then the oil temp was cooling down....but when it was all happening the bars just kept raising right before my eyes!
This is all street driving 25 mins tops! I been driving the F like you should...I hope I'm not wrong for saying that. Since January, I been driving it hard...and my previous F I drove the same way and it never acted this way. I work third shift and I leave every night at 10pm...you could only imagine how the open road welcomes me to open up this beast! I can't resist! I appreciate all the responses thus far! I called the dealer they said monitor it and they'll let the tech I normally go to aware.
my gauge temperature looks just like yours in the pic when i push it hard, race after race on a hot day.
I raced my F too, temp, has never acted up though...which catches my attention now...Its mostly hard spirited driving from my behalf. On a side note, I did go through your entire build thread! A while back...You sir! Have a very awesome F! And you certainly have good taste in the mods you've done and the way they were executed! Not just on the F but all the vehicles you own and owned! Loved the Z! You're a great inspiration!
I don't push my car all the time, but even when I do, the temperature gauge does not do this.
I am not too thrilled hearing the dealership just changed your oil, especially knowing you lost 2 quarts without further investigating why. To me that's more like putting a band-aid on the problem, then finding out what's really going on. You should also ask what kind of oil they used, who knows, may have used the wrong grade. Most dealerships use whatever oil brand they get the best deal on. If you look at my avatar, you'll see what oil I recommend for this car.
1. Did they check for leaks? 2 quarts of oil don't go anywhere on their own. Surely the manual says the car may burn a little bit of oil, but 2 quarts is a lot.
Potential leak places:
A. Drain plug, especially if someone re-used the crush washer.
B. Oil pan seal, if it was hit or damaged by anything or anyone. The manual shows the proper place to put a jack and even warns against putting it right under the oil pan. If anyone has done that, you could have a crack in the oil pan. Have someone check the oil pan for cracks
2. What grade oil are you using? Make sure it's the correct grade. The manual is very specific about it being 5W-30.
3. What type and brand oil?
4. I would make a table of dates/oil level and check the oil every few days to see how much you lose.
IF all of the above fails, may be time for a compression test to see what's going on inside the engine. A leak down test may be next. Is the drive-train still under warranty?
Wow! Thanks for all the information 2URGSE. I'll bring them up to my rep on my next phone call. The tech said he checked for leaks as I requested for them to do so. His reaction didn't sell me, as he said no. I also asked him what brand oil did he use and he said Castrol. Car has about 50k and it's a CPO. It's covered until 100k.
I raced my F too, temp, has never acted up though...which catches my attention now...Its mostly hard spirited driving from my behalf. On a side note, I did go through your entire build thread! A while back...You sir! Have a very awesome F! And you certainly have good taste in the mods you've done and the way they were executed! Not just on the F but all the vehicles you own and owned! Loved the Z! You're a great inspiration!
Wow! Thanks for all the information 2URGSE. I'll bring them up to my rep on my next phone call. The tech said he checked for leaks as I requested for them to do so. His reaction didn't sell me, as he said no. I also asked him what brand oil did he use and he said Castrol. Car has about 50k and it's a CPO. It's covered until 100k.
Did he say what grade? if he gives you the run around or incomplete info, bypass him and go straight to the Service Manager. Explain him what's going on and say that losing 2 quartz of oil in this engine isn't normal and you would like to know the cause of the issue, since there are no leaks. Let us know his response. He won't be able to BS you from there.
I have a feeling a compression test and leak down test are coming soon.
God only knows how the first owner broke-in the car. Anyways, enough about that, at least it's covered. (so no need to freak out)
OP I would be worried. On hot days with getting on it in M and Paddle Shifters it will never budge from one bar below mid, it will climb up higher than yours when I track the car in 90F's, but that's beating the hell out of it for 20-25min.
07-31-15, 06:13 AM
Oil Temp Worry
