jcjr

I have a 2001 RX300 with 87K miles on it...it is my wife's car and it is mostly for local driving around town...little highway use.....We just took two highway trips of about 600 miles(roundtrip) each over the last month....I noticed after the two trips that the oil was down about 1/2 quart to 3/4 quart....

The car has never used oil before......I replaced the 3/4 quart of oil at work without a funnel(dumb a**) and spilled some on the engine....

We have had a persistant smell of burning oil that I have now noticed...it has been a week since the top off....

Should I still be smelling this?????

Do I have another isuue for the smell????

Thanks in advance

lexus114

take your top cover off,and clean everything real good under their (the "L" badge unscrews) and some bolts on the front,and it comes right off. The part that concerns me is;where is this oil going? Could it be sludging up?

ByTor

I have a 2001 that smells like burned oil as well. Have had the car for 4 months, and it still smells. No oil spills on the engine in two oil changes. It smelled that way the day I got it. I think it is body undercoating that got sprayed on the heat shields or catalytic converter. All fluids are fine, it's not burning any oil, or tranny fluid. The car runs like a
top. I have no idea what is causing it. If it was the wifes' RX, it would be in the shop to find out where it is coming from, but since it's mine, I just live with it.

lexus114

Just for the heck of it,change your pcv valve. That might be some of the problem.

ByTor

Me? or jcjr? or both of us ?

lexina

You could have problem with the main seal or unless you have leaking piston which would produce smoke of the tailpipe. this is assuming you don't have oil leaking on the floor.

lexus114

Well,if neither of you have changed it yet, I would do so any way. Because a good clean pcv valve is essential with these motors.

jcjr

Rear main was done at 60K miles....no il on floor....hoping it is just the spilled oil!!!!

Lexmex

What is the type (brand) and weight of oil you are using?

jcjr

Super 76....going to PP with next change....right now I have 3500 on S76....Planning change at 4K

jcjr

Sorry 5W-30 Super 76

Lexmex

What does the oil look like on the stick?

What I mean by that is that if you hold a paper towel on it and let the dipstick blot the towel with a drop, does the drop hit the paper towel and expand or just drop and stick like a dot. Sometimes the oil is just plain chewed up after a while (known as oil shearing) and it's time to change out the oil.

carguy07

Stink is usually a valve cover gasket.

jcjr

The oil seems fine on the stick Lex. I am fairly close to changing the oil and the smell appears to be going away. I am assuming it was from the spilled oil on the engine.

Super 76 is a blend. Thinking of doing 5K OCI with PP.

lexus114

Hahahaha! very simply put carguy.