ttaylor993

You will be ok to drive it until you can have it seen about. Keep an eye on the oil level though. I agree with wbmx1981, the non-VVT-i cam seal is leaking. Or more precisely, it looks like both cam seals and possibly the VVT-i pulley itself are leaking. If those seals have been replaced, then they were not seated correctly.They should be good for at least 90k miles. My car has 180k+ miles on it and the seals had never been replaced until last week. It was leaking only about half-a-quart a month from all three seals and the valve covers.

Running the car with the cam gear cover off will probably spray a little oil. That's how you will be able to tell exactly where it is coming from. However, it will not hurt the car.

SEOGURUTEX

Ok I will turn the engine on and see where its leaking and post pics. I just filled up my oil so that its at the fill mark.

Anyone in Dallas have a place they take their Lexus to or know a guy?

I'd hate to give Toyota Richardson more money when I can pay someone who knows about this stuff and can work on it..

Thanks

SEOGURUTEX

Well I turned on my car and attempted to observe where the oil leak was coming from around the cams and VVT-i...

Once the car was on I help my flashlight up to the cam/VVT-i area and immediately noticed that it was spraying tiny flecks of oil that would have been nearly invisible without the flashlight...

I took some pics and some oil to the face (jumping in the shower now) but it did indeed spray a light mist of oil, I cannot tell if it is coming from the Cam or VVT-i gear because it the whole assembly spins very fast but if I am correct it spins in a counter clockwise motion that would explain my drivers side of the engine bay around my fuses, power steering and even over the drivers side fender to get more oil spray than on the passenger's side..this is also shown in the following pics.

Also after shutting my car's engine off and checking the dipstick it shows that it sucked up another 1/4-1/3 of my total oil..(Also in the pics)

Is this not an accurate reading even after I waited 5-10 minutes to check the oil level?

So now I need to determine if the leak is coming from just one source or the cam AND VVT-i?

Please correct me if I'm wrong, You all have been very helpful and I am grateful for this forum.

SEOGURUTEX

Also that oil spray shown in the last post and in these pics were the result of the car being on for 3-5 minutes (wanted to let it warm up since it hadnt been started all day). Just a heads up..

SEOGURUTEX

Ok so I took the car into Toyota of Richardson today and it needs new timing belt, cam seals, tensioner bearing and some other stuff...TOTAL= $700

Is this price reasonable or should I look elsewhere for a better shop to perform the service..


Thanks.

ttaylor993

That's not too bad a price for a dealer. It's about a 4 hour job and the parts will run about $200 for your basic TB/water pump job. You may get a little better deal at an indie repair shop. Or better still, do it yourself. I just finished doing mine a couple of days ago; first time. I'm somewhat mechanically inclined. I've changed alternators, starters, plugs, etc. But it's not something I do often. Anyway, I looked at JeffTsai's videos and decided to give it a shot. It took longer than it probably should have since this was my first time and I was a little out of my comfort zone.

I changed the serpentine belt, timing belt, water pump, thermostat, o-rings and gasket, tensioner and bearing, valve cover gaskets, plugs, cam seals, front main seal and the VVT-i pulley. The timing belt kit (OEM) cost me about $295 on eBay and included everything but the VVT-i pulley. The pulley was $70 for a rebuilt one. As everyone knows, the biggest problem will be getting the main crank bolt off. It is on insanely tight. You will probably have to buy or borrow from someplace like Autozone a couple of specialty tools. It'll make the job a lot easier.

Give it a try. Jeff's videos can be found on this forum and will walk you thru the process. There 5 of them each about 10 minutes long. You'll save a ton of money and you might even learn a few things.

SEOGURUTEX

Ok so the car is now fixed and under a 1 Yr. warranty at Toyota.

The ultimate source of the leak was some $200 part related to the VVT-i. I will post the specific component that was the cause of the oil leak later when I get home.

Basically, I will post the entire work order from Toyota so you can see and compare the parts and labor to your respective mechanics.

Here are some pictures of my 2000 GS300 in the meantime to tie yall over!

GsLex02

Awesome, Im pretty sure I have the same leak. Car looks good brotha

VPP64

Thanks for sharing! I am having a similar leak on my 2002 gs300 with 147K on the car. Sounds like I might need to get all of the seals replaced.

ttaylor993

I hope you intend to have the whole service done. They will have to take the timing belt off to get to the seals so you may as well change that. Since the water pump is behind the timing belt and you gonna have it off, may as well replace that too. With those amount of miles, you probably need valve cover gaskets and plugs. It will all be cheaper in the long run.

VIP161

iTrader: (3)

Your VVTi cam gear looks like it's spraying all over. It's always a good idea to have it rebuilt or replaced and the valve cover gaskets replaced and caps reseated. It's annoying when oil gets all over the place. You might as well do a major tune up because you'll be needing a new timing belt since it's most likely got oil.