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Hey Guys!
My 2002 RX300 (168K miles) was using 1/2 quart every 100 miles with new PCV . It had the screw in PCV valve. BUT the valve cover was a 2nd Gen, Not a 3rd Gen. The 2nd Gens are also oil suckers!
Found a used 3rd Gen rear valve cover on Ebay for $50.
Finally got around to installing it. Have driven 200 hwy miles at 75+ and haven't lost a drop of oil. HALLELULAH.
Motor had no sludge and 180 psi all cylinders thank God.
Anyway......for those of you with screw in PCV valves- want to know how to tell if you have a 2nd or 3rd Gen valve cover?
There are slight differences on the outside that you can use to ID your cover. The 3rd Gens PCV valve boss is slightly slanted. ALSO there are 4 notches on the 3rd Gens edge and only 2 on the 2nd Gen.
Inside the covers it's obvious...the 3rd Gen has the PCV vent all the way over on the side, and none in the middle.
Hope these pics help someone.
Does anybody know the part numbers and the vehicles for both the 2nd Gen and the 3rd Gen valve covers that would fit on a 2001 RX300?
Dont have part numbersbut if you search ebay for "toyota valve cover" and "lexus valve cover" skim thru the listings photos looking for the 4 notches on the top side. Most sellers have no idea what they have other than the vehicle it came off. You will see it on camrys, highlanders, rx300. But a non-specific search can pull up what you need.
In June I bought a completely green CARFAX 2000 RX300 and even have a printout from the local Lexus Service Dept showing it received every service throughout its life at the dealer. When my truck started smoking horribly when I start it first thing in the morning, I learned about the problem of engine sludge and excessive oil consumption in the Toyota/Lexus 3.0L V6. Thank God for the help of ClubLexus.com and the part number above. I visited the local dealer's service dept, called twice and emailed asking for an appointment and they kept saying they'd get back with me. Fortunately I found a Toyota mechanic on Craigslist to replace my rear valve cover and PCV and gaskets, etc. Mine has 107K so we also changed the Denso Iridium spark plugs. Anyway, now it runs marvelously! THANK YOU!!!
Oh, the red L-shaped PCV valve I got at the Lexus Parts Dept was the wrong one (it pushes down into place into the stock 2000 RX rear valve cover). So, I went back and got a silver and brass I-shaped screw in PCV valve for a 2004 RX330 that screws into the the reengineered valve cover.
2000 RX300 3.0L with a 2004 RX330 3.5L rear valve cover
I just wanted to thank you for your post. It was very helpful and I was able to use the part information, as well as the rest, to successfully solve the oil usage problem with my 2000 Lexus RX 300. I purchased the car new in November of 2000 and used synthetic oil ever since. I have taken great care for this car and even had Lexus install a new transmission at the 300,000 mile mark (yes I said 300,000 miles). It currently has 334,000 miles on it, and I have given it to my son because it's such a dependable vehicle. I thought I was going to have to replace the engine until I started to research the issue. You were such a great source of information, and I am grateful for people such as you. Thanks again, R. Scott Tipton, MPA
I just wanted to thank you for your post. It was very helpful and I was able to use the part information, as well as the rest, to successfully solve the oil usage problem with my 2000 Lexus RX 300. I purchased the car new in November of 2000 and used synthetic oil ever since. I have taken great care for this car and even had Lexus install a new transmission at the 300,000 mile mark (yes I said 300,000 miles). It currently has 334,000 miles on it, and I have given it to my son because it's such a dependable vehicle. I thought I was going to have to replace the engine until I started to research the issue. You were such a great source of information, and I am grateful for people such as you. Thanks again, R. Scott Tipton, MPA
Can you please share at what milage you noticed oil consumption?
Would replacing the PCV every 10,000-15,000 milesserve the same purpose? It would certainly be cheaper than replacing that rear valve cover.
no, I'm about to do the valve cover myself cause I believe the pcv setup might have been some kinda flaw. All I know is when I take the pcv off you can tell oil is going into it. I have been loosing quarts of oil when I drive high speed.
I just want to warn everyone that not all 2005+ 3.3 (3MZ-FE) engine cars have the revised 11201-0A060 (Rear/right cover). I bought some 2005 Toyota Sienna valve covers for my 2002 Highlander as I have the "Gen 2" covers as well as seeping valve cover gaskets. The covers I received are PN: 11212-0A031 (Front/left cover), & PN: 11211-0A051 (Rear/right cover). A quick search revealed hardly any information. I'm not sure which cars had these, but the Sienna seems to be the car that most commonly came with these covers based upon posted listings. They appear to be a modified Gen 2 cover with 4 baffles (two large, two small) on the rear cover instead of 3. Maybe a last ditch effort before the final vision? Parts numbers aren't returning any results.
So I have been putting off doing the replacement to my rear valve cover for probably four or five years. The car doesn't get driven much but I just can't take continuously buying quart after quart anymore. I've read probably every page of this thread and feel highly confident. My only question is regarding the valve cover part number. If I order part number 11201-0A060 from the dealership am I definitely going to receive the 3rd generation of the valve cover or is there a chance it will be the 2nd generation (which I've read can still cause issues)? I am hoping each generation had its own part number. Thanks
Well, this was an interesting weekend of testing the fixed orifice idea. I get about 320 miles to a tank of gas using 87 octane. I drove mid-way to swap vehicles with my daughter who lives in Tulsa OK which put us in St. Louis as a meeting place. We had a wonderful time sightseeing the city I went to college in 1988-90. But that aside, I stopped about 200 miles from home to refill with fuel and check the oil level. I was frustrated with my results because I was over half a quart low in just 200 miles. Reference the picture above of the hose and restrictor as it is setup in post #188. The restriction is about 6" in on a 20" hose and at that point was closest to the PCV valve. I don't know why but I thought of reversing tne position of the restriction to the intake side as if that would change the vacuum on the PCV. Any way, thats what I did and got back on the road after refilling the oil to the high mark. After another 110 miles and 2 hours later, arriving at the hotel, I re-checked the oil level and shazam! No oil loss. Of course that can't be so, and I just ignored the results. Today we left St. Louis and the RX300 headed to its new home in Tulsa 350 miles away.
This evening I had my daughter check the oil level again after 6 hours at 80 mph and Shazam! The oil level is still at the high oil mark. So we will keep an eye on it for a while, but I think I finally solved the oil sucking issue without deleting the PCV system or buying the newest cam cover costing $250.
The offer still stands if anyone with oil consumption wants to try this out before replacing their cam cover, PM me.
Thanks….”Drcoffee” for an excellent idea.
I modified your concept just a little:
1) Used two PVC valves. The one that fits into the GEN1 valve cover had it’s PVC check valve defeated..( use an 1/8”drill bit to ruin the seat).
2) The second PVC valve was a normal PVC; it was put 20” away from the valve cover PVC (the no check valve one) The other end of the 20” line was connected to the normal PVC valve using a ½ inch hose and a 5/16 barbed connector. (See photos). The 20” hose was sloped so oil vapor collections could drain back into through the valve PVC, if needed.
Bought the 2000 RX300 with 40000mile; it now has 214010 miles. The timing belts replaced were twice with water pumps. Always use is Valvoline Full Synthetic 10w30 oil; it was change every 5000 miles, transmission drained every 10000 miles. At 5000 miles it used to be down ½ qt.
Prior to installing this 2-PVC, the 2000 RX300 started using one quart (plus) of oil for 300 miles of highway driving at 65...75MPH, and ¼ to 1//2 quart for 100miles.
Now with the two PVC setup, the RX300 has stopped using excessive oil, its back to normal.
So, Thanks again….”Drcoffee” for the heads up idea… RobThanks again….”Drcoffee” for the heads up idea… Rob
Last edited by Sonoita1; 03-22-22 at 02:03 PM.
Reason: added pictures
I see the picture with the double-barb coupler, but the picture showing it with the hoses looks different. Is the coupler buried inside that hose connecting to the "normal" pcv?
Is there a flow restrictor in the coupler?
I see the picture with the double-barb coupler, but the picture showing it with the hoses looks different. Is the coupler buried inside that hose connecting to the "normal" pcv?
Is there a flow restrictor in the coupler?
There are no flow restrictor, the double barb is simply use to connect the engine vacuum line to the 8” hose connected to the normal PVC. They only restrictors would be the normal holes in the PVC valves. Regards Rob
My 1999 RX300 was smoking blue on every start and intensely burning oil (a quart every 300 miles or so) for over 4 months. Note that it started burning oil within oil changes over a year ago and gradually got worse some months ago.
After reading a lot of long threads on ClubLexus, I started by changing my PCV valve (plastic to another plastic) which only worsened the oil burning and smoking issues (Sidenote: I actually had the lower end of the old valve broken and lost in the baffle - after vacuuming to no effect, I left the broken part there and inserted another PCV valve - with a bit of assurance from an auto mech's answer on https://www.justanswer.com/car/c2ilq...mmet-1999.html). My local mechanic (whom I had not yet shared my clublexus research findings with) kept telling me I may be needing a new engine very soon as repairs/replacement of piston rings and valves were not just expensive but did not have long-term warranty.
However, I strongly felt my engine wasn't gone for good. So, I bought a 3rd gen rear valve cover with the metal pvc and was waiting for gasket and extended hose to get to me so I can send my car over to my local mechanic for valve cover change and other necessary maintenance. Note that around this time, my oil consumption had got so bad that an oil quart was burnt in just 2 days city driving (just over 50 miles total driving) that I had to park the car for a while.
While randomly surfing the net , I found myself on an "oil consumption" thread on "toyotanation.com" forum (https://www.toyotanation.com/threads...ption.1655608/).
Long story short, the thread starter (a toyota highlander user) was also contemplating change of valve cover but ended up doing a PCV reversal hack (with tips from someone who did it a long time ago).
His testimony spurred me to getting hoses and fittings and doing the pcv reversal myself at home and guess what? Since then, with over 300 miles driven (50% highway miles at over 60mph), no smoking and no single shortage of oil on drop-stick.
My sincere appreciation to all the contributors that have made my research worthwhile.
Hoping my attestation helps someone someday just as I had been helped.
10-31-16, 07:14 AM
THANK YOU!!!
