Hey Guys!
Its been awhile since I posted here. I normally just read alot of the good posts here.
I have a 2008 LS460L with 99,910 miles and about to go out of warranty with Lexus. The Tuesday night my wife was driving it home and the Low Oil Light came on. When she came home I checked and had to add a little over 4 quarts of oil. Now 4,000 miles prior to this, we had the 90K service done at the car in December. (We did not do it at 90K obviously). During that service everything checked out fine with no issues. We discussed that she would contact the Dealer about the low oil.

Wednesday morning as she was driving to work, one of the rear screens was not going down on the windows. So she called and spoke to Service who said just bring it in for both issues to resolve anything before the warranty goes out. For whatever reason the screen was working for them with no issue. As far as the engine goes, they found no leaks and no oil in the coolant. They asked for the okay to do a Compression test and I said okay. They found cylinders 3 & 5 lower in compression compared to the other six cylinders. The six cylinders are at 140 psi and #3 & 5 are at 130 psi.

At first I thought maybe bad exhaust valves or head gasket. We even thought that maybe the Technician didn't fill the oil up all the way. Of course the dealership denies that idea. Funny how for whatever reason they don't do a leakdown test with the compression test.

Either way they called Lexus Extra Care. Extra Care said it sounds like something is wrong but did not want to authorize any additional work to get done. They told the dealer, who told us, for us to approve a teardown of the engine to find what is going on with the engine and that teardown would cost $3,300. Dealer said the teardown cost is basically the cost to repair the top end of the engine basically but if they find something defective, Extra Care would more than likely cover it. Then again it could be an item they don't cover but still looking at a cost of $3,300.

My wife and I were taken aback a little and just picked the car up and paid for the compression test. So now the car is home and just contemplating what to do over the weekend before going over 100k miles. Besides the 90K serrvice, we did the brakes all around, new tires, and wheel alignment all before Christmas. One idea is to just keep an eye on it and add oil as needed until we really need to address what to do. Either fix it or sell it. The other is to take a chance to go forward with Lexus and possibly pay $3,300 if Extra Care doesn't cover it. There is having an independent shop do the work, which would cost less. Any thoughts?

 

So, the dealer's claim is it went through 5 quarts of oil in 4K miles.

Skepticizm...I haz sum.

I mean, I cannot imagine a Lexus dealer not putting 9 quarts plus a little back into the engine, but strange things happen.

Standard compression pressure: 1400 kPa (14.2 kgf/cm2, 203 psi) or more
Minimum pressure: 980 kPa (9.9 kgf/cm2, 142 psi)

They should have done both a 'dry', which is what it sounds like they did, and a 'wet' compression test. The 'wet' one adds a little oil into the cylinder before doing it, so as to determine if the reason is worn rings or cylinder damage. Being as you reference a leak-down test, you probably know this, but I just wanted to throw it out there.

All of them are low, which I can't believe you couldn't feel as a lack of power, but if the car is driven gently, it may go unnoticed.

Let me put a few brain cells on it, because this is a tough call.

edit: How much oil does this engine consume between changes, historically? How often between said changes, under your ownership? How long/how many miles since you bought it?

 

I used to wrench for a living on motorcycles and friends cars. I still do basic maintenance but my hands are shot to rely on doing anything more.

Pruor to now, the car would consume at most one quart. More than often hardly any.

 

Okay, so you know your stuff.

Man...I vote the dealership blew it and refuses to own up to it. However, this is going to be nigh-on impossible to prove.

With the pressures being even...mostly...I vote to have it torn down (though having it done at that dealership...the thought terrifies me), because it's more than head work. I fear it's going to need a short block.

However...the key word here is "defective". Not putting enough oil back into the sump isn't the fault of the machine, so they have an out.

This makes me feel a ill.

I changed the oil for the first time, yesterday. I'm going to go out and check it right now, just to ease my mind.

You have every possible amount of my empathy on this.

 

Yes the Dealership did say short block work for about $3300 to approve to discover if it is something that Extra Care wouldcover

i have never seen any oil leaks under the car nor out the exhaust. Always using Premium fuel.

 

An entire engine is only $2500...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ENGINE-4-6L-...xYmMYv&vxp=mtr

 

Another one for $250 less, claims 85K miles on it (vs. ???), and free shipping:

http://tinyurl.com/j7xc4lg

What bothers me is, why wasn't the first one fixed, and why is the 2nd one being parted out?!

 

The issue though is still paying someone $800 to $1000 to do the work. Which then $3300 is cheaper.

 

No, it isn't.

(You have fly cross country to the breakers yard, remove the engine, transport it back across country to your car, install the engine, etc, etc).

My biggest concern would be Lexus' recent history with warranty work on older cars. Makes you wonder what the warranty is worth the paper it is printed on?

 

Thank you for the humor.

Even if the dealer didnt do anything wrong and it is strictly an engine issue, the fact for having to authorize a $3,300 job first (which is the cost of the repair) before Extra Care becomes a roll of the dice and not sure if in in the end they would cover anything.

 

^^^ BINGO!!!

How does it run, though?

 

I wouldn't put any confidence into anything this dealer says

first take it to a trusted (that can be hard) , or any other mechanic and ask them for a compression/leak down test

Dont tell them anything about what lexus said, just say your curious to see how well the engine is wearing as you near 100 000 miles

I bet they find nothing wrong , the dealer probably just didnt put enough oil in

 

To us, it runs well.

Apoke to Service Manager today. He thinks that as the car gets older the cost of maintenance will go up due to being a 2008. He said the 2010s had a lot of little issues resolved and would last better as a high mileage car.

 

I would say the kid they are paying $10 an hour to put in 4 or 5 quarts and called it a day. I doubt you are consuming that much. I say keep an eye on it. A couple thousand miles will tell you if you burn thru a couple quarts.

 

Should there be some oily residue in the exhaust is it is burning that much?