After a week of owning my first Lexus, 2012 GX 460 w 81k miles, I'm loving it and also learning some lessons. I went to the dealership to get the free fix for the Takata airbag recall (17V006) and the service rep also provided a list of other items that need fixing:

1 x replace heater blower motor due to squeaking sound - $400
1 x replace rain sensor for automatic wiper due to failure - $200
1 x restore headlights due to wear and cloudy lenses - $95
4 x resurface rotors and replace brake pads - $750
1 x replace rear main seal due to oil drip - $2885

Ouch! I downloaded the service manual and am researching the DIY options so if anyone has any advice, recommendations, or other threads to share I'd love to have them.

 

• Blower motor should be easy to change and appears to be same one used in a 4R as well. / PN: 8710360400 . - ~$120

• Does the rain sensor work at all? If so it might just need a new gel pack on the windshield. Does windshield say Lexus on it anywhere or it is a aftermarket name? It may have been replaced in the past and gel pack wasn't replaced

• You could replace rotors and pads yourself for a lot cheaper

• Rear main seal link is a rare one and can't say I remember anyone reporting a leak in that area. Does it leave drops of oil on the ground? Can you see it from the ground when you are looking at area where engine and transmission comes together? If you can get any pics that would be good. IIRC...if it was real I believe only way to fix would be to pull engine and repair that. I would need a pretty severe oil leak before I would go down that road.

Always a chance it could be a valve cover gasket oil leak that is making it's way back there. A far simpler job and much lower in cost. I would get a second opinion on that last one.

Check out FAQ page.. lots of DIYer links back here

https://lexusgxor.com/

Was this Lexus of Seattle?

 

You can do this yourself, especially if you have a polisher (you can do it by hand but it'll take longer). Many products on the market like (there are cheaper ones also).

 

Thanks Acrad and EXP_Cougar, I appreciate the responses!

The blower motor, headlight, and brakes all seem fairly doable with my current skill level. For the blower motor I'm thinking of just taking out the unit, cleaning and lubing the moving parts, and reinstalling.

As for the rain sensor, the auto wiper mode is inoperable but the regular on/off works fine. It does appear that the windshield was replaced with a non-Lexus aftermarket part, and the note from the dealer says the "tape" failed. I've found some good threads on getting the sensor to stick to aftermarket windshields and once I pick a method I'll do a how-to writeup.

About the rear main seal, I crawled under the GX last night and saw a bead of oil on the bell housing, not even sure I would call it a leak so much as a slow seep. When I wiped it away it took a good 15 to 20 minutes for another bead to appear. Not great but not terrible. The dealer quoted pulling the engine as the fix, and most of the cost was labor. I did check the valve cover too and it doesn't seem to be the source.

Acrad, I'd prefer not to mention the dealer name but would be happy to discuss offline if you're interested.

 

For the rear main seal, since it's a big job you should try to see if it's coming from above the transmission/engine. The engine cover comes off easily, flash a light in there and see if you can feel around. Sometimes a leaky valve cover or something coming from the top of the engine works its way down. I would be surprised if it was really the rear main seal at your current mileage.

 

Thanks ltsr! Given the vehicle service history (1 previous owner who had all service performed by the dealership he bought it from) and the mileage, I was pretty surprised to see that issue too! I'll definitely spend some more time looking for the source and will post back here with my findings.

 

You might want to drop the skid plates as well to give yourself an easier view.

 

Hi, I see you're in WA..check out Randy's Ring and Pinion in Everett, if its not too far for the rear seal. Pulling the engine to fix a leak on the rear bell housing sounds extreme to me...but what do i know? Looking to learn from this.
At these prices, I'm going to guess Lexus of Fife or Bellevue quoted you this price. I got quoted almost $400 for front pads last week and have paid almost that for rear pads the last go round ( I was in a time crunch so i agreed to it).
Needless to say, I will be doing the front myself since you can get new pads and NEW rotors for about $225 online.

 

Msgs, thanks for the lead on Randy's! It's only 26 miles from me so that works great. I'll get a 2nd opinion from them and post back here with an update.

 

My gearhead neighbor and I were talking and it came up that his Volvo’s have had seal leaks caused by a bad PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) valve. It got me wondering if that could happen to the GX’s 1UR-FE. Anyone seen this?

 

It could happen but the bigger issue is why you are having bad blow by at 81k miles. Changing the PCV if it's bad, can temporarily fix an issue. Now you're looking at more serious things wrong with your engine.

Does anyone know when the PCV is called to be replaced? I'm not sure if it's a maintenance item at 81k miles.

Have you pulled the skid plates to verify it is the rear main seal? it's all speculation at this point. Post some pics for us. I don't want to suggest drastic tests until you are fairly certain where the oil is coming from.

 

I was gonna change mine out last year but you have to remove the air plenum to get at it so backed out as I really didn't need to change it at my mileage.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gx-...-location.html

 

Totally true on the speculation point, ltsr, I was just checking to see if PCV valves are a common issue with this engine. About checking the rear main seal, it's behind the transmission bell housing so there's no way to diagnose if that's the issue without dropping the motor and pulling the motor and transmission apart. I'm hoping to eliminate every other possibility before going down that route. A couple of nights ago I pulled the skidplate off and observed a very slow drip forming on the bell housing near the point where it connects to the engine. It was dark and I was cranky so I didn't snap a pic of it. I'm gonna run down a few other possibilities this weekend and will take some pics.

Thanks, Acrad, that's a helpful link!

 

Take it to an independent or check it yourself. Dealers always find a pool of problems and try to convince you to get you into a new vehicle instead of throwing money onto the old one. The RMS is highly unlikely IMHO. Brakes / blower are obvious to check and the wiper is either working in auto mode or not.
Then go skiing with the money you saved!

Cloudy headlight lenses... LOL!

 

A faulty PCV can cause pressure to build up and cause leaks at seals. If your RMS is truly faulty you should see drops or puddle of oil underneath the engine. And even then, you need confirmation that the oil dis truly coming from behind the engine and not from some other place. And even after confirming that you have a leaky RMS it is simply not worth fixing it until you truly start losing oil rapidly. There are conditioners available (I have not tried any yet) that recondition old seals and suppose to help or fix these sort of leaks.

The bottom line: DON'T TRUST THE STEALERSHIP!

While I am fairly new to Toyota/Lexus, and I am no professional mechanic, I have not heard an RMS fails at that low milage!

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Oil-Leak-...xoCDgsQAvD_BwE