Do many 350 develope a expensive to fix oil leak.

 

Probably lower than domestic brands like chevy, ford, dodge. It's a toyota after all.

 

The 3.5 engines tend to leak where the timing cover and right-side cylinder head meet. It is more of a seepage, and not a critical leak. Our 07 ES350 leaked, and now our 18 RX350. You can spot the seepage from the bottom. Look up and above the PS pump. It is covered by powertrain warranty if you catch it in time. I did on the RX and will be making an appointment. Even the rear-drive Tacomas with the 3.5 also have this issue. Look up video by Car Care Nut dude. He shows exactly where it leaks. And also states you could live with it.

On the ES I reduced the seepage by switching from 5/30 oil to 10/30. On the RX, I’m staying with 0/20 and expecting Lexus to fix it under warranty.

 

There are no power steering pumps!

 

That's disappointing to know that this 3.5L V6 engine still has leakage issues so far into production. Since it debuted around 2005, one would have expected Toyota to fix the issue by 10 years after introduction.

 

True that. I was thinking 07 ES. It’s where the PS pump would be, hee hee, above the passenger side CV.

 

Hi, my 2007 ES350 has the oil leak where the front cover meets block meets cylinder head. I've seen posts from folks performing an RTV fix with great photos of the leak area. My question is: Do I need to move the PS pump out of the way to get to the leak area?

 

Yes, you need to remove the pump but it is not the cover all the time. Sometimes the VVT-i hose leaks where it meets the block, especially if it has been replaced without replacing the washer.

 

Thanks for the reply and tip about the VVT-i hose. Car has 65K miles on it and nothing has been replaced. I just cleaned off all the oil that leaked with the car up on jacks. It sure looks like the oil was dripping down where the front cover meets the block but I can't really see all the way up to where the cylinder head meets them with the PS pump in the way/ After cleaning the leaked oil I put fluorescent dye in the oil. I ran the engine for about 5 minutes and checked with the black UV light and could not see any green glowing oil. The leak is probably very small so I'll drive on the freeway a few miles and check again.