Tecwerks

might not be such a wise idea. 2 Years ago I purchase a used 1999 LS400 with 70K miles which equates to around 5K miles per year and thought what a find. Excellent condition, other than the engine which I found out later and has run me around 5K so far. Turns out I developed oil leaks at the front end of the engine. The timing belt was replaced at the dealer at around 60K miles. Have an excellent independent Toyota/Lexus mechanic. He quickly figure out that the camshaft seals where leaking. Had those replaced as well as valve cover gaskets and any other gaskets on the front end. He did comment that he thought it was strange that the dealer had RTV sealant all over the place that was probably done when the timing belt was replaced.

So, I go on down the road and a couple months later I have oil leaks again. He was perplexed and figured it was on the bottom end somewhere since all the possible serviceable gaskets, bearings etc he just replaced a couple of months before. But no, the leaks seemed to be coming from the top end again. He pulled the top end apart again and low and behold there was oil splattered all around the timing belt/cam covers where there should be none.

He did some searching on the internet on a Lexus mechanics site and low and behold there was an article about a VERY RARE AND HARDLY EVER HAPPENS of oil leaking on a non serviceable part related to the camshafts. The leaks were on both sides front end of the cams. He did a close inspection and found that the VVTI Actuators which have a small o-ring thats non serviceable was hard as a rock and had a flat spot. Both of them had this. The failure is so rare that NO ONE carries these in the USA. It is going to take 3 days for FEDEX from Japan to obtain these.

We could only surmise that this vehicle being hardly driven probably sat idle a lot and was not driven much and really had no consistent break in period. So, its waiting for parts and I am going to get it fixed and cross my fingers. I am not worried about my mechanic as he is a stand up guy but we determined I have replaced almost all seals other than the rear main seal so I should be good to go for thousands of miles after this.

So, the moral of the story is watch out for super low mileage cars.......

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

very curious as to what exact part is causing your leaks. i suppose the low miles and lack of driving, break in improperly, etc can contribute but this has got to be a very rare case as you pointed out. also climate, type of oil, competence of the previous mechanic even if they were lexus certified, are still other factors.

Tecwerks

I will know more when I pick up the car next week as I will have the repair sheet but he stated it was the "VVTI Actuator"......

Tecwerks

Not that the actual actuator itself was bad but the o'ring that is I guess there to hold oil back or something was bad but you cannot just replace the o'ring. Need to buy the whole part. Thats why its called non-serviceable.

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

i'm sure the labor involved with an install like this is just like a timing belt job...again. i hope your mech isn't pulling a fast one on you. ask for the old part back and the part number of the new part from japan; a very valid request that will determine his telling the truth, and will get the part in question at the same time.

EmpPenguin

Yes, you make me feel much better about passing that 1992 Lexus ES300 I found near my home with only 65,000 miles on it. Had I not two cars already I would have bought the car .

We need to do more a more in-depth study of the true hazards of not driving enough miles on a car.

My present backup car is a 2001 Honda Accord EX with only 69,000 miles on it, and I only drive it to and from the gym every morning to keep the batteries charged. The next backup car I will buy will be a Tesla, and as a backup car I will put on about 1000 miles per year on it.

Sc0pe

iTrader: (1)

Lowest mileage I'd say going after would probably be 80-85k.

peace101

I had the same leak at around 249K, I replaced cam seal two times, crank seal, and timing belt because it was full of oil, I later figure out the leak was from vvti. I don't think is because of car seating down for too long, I drive my car every single day.

peace101

This is the unit you need to replace, is color coded make sure to match the color with what you have installed in the car.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

Yeah If it's that rare an issue I would have just picked up a used one with a warranty.

Shmee

iTrader: (3)

Little old lady driven is usually not a selling point for me. I'd rather hear that the car just sat around a lot as the owner didn't drive it much because she/he had other cars...

I almost bought a 94 with 40k miles on it but the owner wouldn't sell it.

Tecwerks

Thanks peace101 for the Pics. Now I know what my mechanic is talking about. 249K miles is quite a run and I would not have been so upset that part going bad but at around 80K miles on a 99. It just sat around way too much resulting in that flat spot. The real pisser is that the Lexus dealer could not figure it out and just put a bunch of sealant around the covers to contain the oil. That really torques me off.