savon

Last friday I noticed 2 drops of oil in my garage floor. I went under car and noticed under passenger side is oily. oil pan and filter were clean. I took it to dealership. Today, I got my car back. They claim timing chain cover had poor fit?? I looked on the invoice I see items that were used are gaskets for head cylinder. Does it make sense to you? they have also changed coolant. They have done a very dirty job, I saw dried coolant all over the place. I still havent driven the car for a long period, so I dont know if everything is going to be ok. I was worried about transmission and I never thought engine will be a problem. I dont have a lot of confidance in my car any more. I have driven only japanese cars toyota and honda's last 20 years and I never thought I am going to have a major mechanical problem with a brand new car especialy my first lexus. It is a nice car and I like it, but one more problem with this car and I am out. It is not worth the hassle and headache. By the way, my car has only 7500 miles on it and it is 04/06 built.

purebliss

See my post in the GS forums. I tryed to warn them over there but they thought I was bsing. I work for Corp so I see all the problems from my reps and there has been a high number of these cases in the IS and the GS. This is the exact same problem. There is a new kit coming out to help this problem soon.

http://sr1.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=263951

ES350Bob

Savon,

I'm curious what you mean by under passenger side is/was oily. What areas were oily, or were you talking about your garage floor was oily on passenger side?

I would not get too hung up on wording of your service receipt as to being overly concerned as a result of wording there as they really are very brief and in my experience very limited in revealing what was wrong at times.

I'd just call your dealer svc. back and ask them about it in detail speaking with shop tech foreman at your dealer about it.

If you are still not satisfied, then call another dealer in your area and ask for their shop tech foreman and discuss it with him or her based on what you are told.

ES350Bob

pure,

Do you think the issue is related to the ES as well as the IS and GS?

I know it seems you do from your adding this info, but is there more to why you think it is?

I do think Savon having a blown gasket on a car with so few miles is absurd, but I was/am hoping it was just a fluke due to factory not tightening something properly.

caha14

Purebliss, can you say with some certainty whether there has been a production change, and if so, when it was implemented? I'm assuming that once a TSIB is issued, there will be cutoff VINs in there, and that's what I'm trying to get a sense of.

Thanks!

LexBob2

savon, they may have changed the head gaskets as a precaution while they had the car, just in case it wasn't due to the poor fitting timing chain cover. The coolant change may have been for the same reason, to make sure there was no oil in it. I hope the work takes care of the leak for you.

purebliss

There is no production change or TSB on it. But this is the problem for sure. It's the not really the head gasket it's the timming chain cover that they seal with this black stuff. The cover leaks. Now the real fix is coming out. It will be a new timming chain cover or something like that. Maybe then they will change the production. Lexus is very quiet about all this stuff. I only here it from my reps. They had only told me it was the IS and the GS but the ES I guess has a timming chain also. They also told me it's ussually hidden because its a small leak and it's hard to spot because of all the covers. They had also rumored that is why the GS had such little supply for the month of Jan. But that is just a rumor that part. The leak is def true and the dealers are aware of it. So if you get the problem at least they know how to fix it. The proper fix is to pull the engine but they remove the radator instead.

ES350Bob

The radiator removal seems the reason for the coolant showing up on Savon's work order receipt. And I know what you mean with all the covers up under there, it will pool up on the top of the covers before it ever starts to show on the garage floor or driveway. I'll get under mine just for kicks to check it in the next day or so, right now I just don't want to know.

caha14

Thank you. Hopefully this is a luck of the draw issue. I really don't want anyone doing such an invasive procedure on a car that's so new.

savon

It is interesting. Now, At least I dont feel that bad knowing I am not the only one with this problem. We (humans) like to live in denial most of the time. I am not surprised peolple in that forum arent taking your words seriously. I myself if I didnt have the problem I would probably doubt what you are saying. Anyways, thank you for the info.

savon

There were two oil spots on the garage floor and the chasis on passenger side behind the wheel was oily, and I could see an oil drop hanging from the chasis. I guess when driving wind blows underneath the car and It had smeared oil on the chasis. That is all I could see. I didnt want to open engine cover and inspect it. I thought If I break something they would say it is my fault. I have worked my late teens and early twenties in my dad's auto repair shop. I am not a expert but I knew a oil leak is not a good sign that is why I didnt bother to do anything but take it to the dealership.

savon

Thank you for the info.

ES350Bob

Thanks,

That will narrow my search area in case my neighbor is right and was not teasing around with me about my own car.

He said it, or some other vehicle, had an oil leak and I insisted it was the AC condensate line spot where it drips and he said well how come the AC spot never dries

I just dismissed it as the AC drip area because the "water" spot is so clean looking and oil spot is dark from all I know, which it still may be AC water but thanks for your info and certainly that from purebliss.

purebliss

Here is another post with the same problem

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=247085

ES350Bob

pure,

Just ignore the cry fire claims, other off the wall comments you are getting you mentioned, I'm sure this is said about all other issues that can happen with a vehicle when it is first being reported by someone or first being talked about. Whether a car has this or not, it is smart news to at least be aware to check for it, no harm done knowing to check now and then with that knowledge. Best news is there is a kit being designed/made to then be able to address this in vehicles with this.