My '98 GS 300 oil light came on the other day.

Lexus Dealer says I have multiple leaks and gave me a $2,600 estimate.

This vehicle has 220k miles on it and is in "fair" condition at best.

What are my choices here?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

scrim

 

What is included in that $2600 estimate?

 

Where are the leaks?

 

for $2600, you could damn near replace the entire engine with a low mileage used motor...

I'd like to see a list of leaks as well...

common ones are
valve cover gasket
oil pan gasket
main seal
rear main seal
cam seals
oil pressure switch(es)

but even all of that shouldn't be $2600

let me know...

 

Reading directly from the estimate from the Lexus dealership:

Possible front crank seal
front cam seals 5.5 hrs

valve cover gaskets 4.0 hrs

need to drop subframe 8.0 hrs

oil filter housing - need to do valve covers and then recheck

rear main seepage- not major




Hope this helps....scrim

 

That's effectively 1/3 of what your car is worth if its as you described it, not worth fixing IMO at that cost.

I'd either:

1) clean it up, try some of the 'miracle' oil stop leak additive products which sometimes help for a while and sell it / trade it


or 2) find an independent shop to either swap you another motor at near the same cost or repair at a much lower cost. That estimate seems excessive but would look for some of the techs to chime in on book time and work overlap betwen the leaks that would cut hours.

 

I can't imagine the fair mkt value of this vehicle being anywhere near 8k. I was figuring around 4-5k. It does have dealer NAV

scrim

 

Why no mention of the oil pump? The light comes on when there's insufficient oil pressure. The oil pressure switch may be defective or simply need cleaning.

Do you see multiple leaks? It's not making sense.

 

I was being generous not really knowing the condition of your car

 

I agree..

I would either sell the car and get into another. Or get a good used engine with low miles, and swap it out.

For the price quoted you could get a new/used engine put in for sure. You would just need to do the leg work on finding one yourself, and find a good indie mechanic that you can trust for the best deals.

 

It depends on what you want to spend and do you treat the car as a beater or your pride and joy. Do you park it in the street or in your driveway? How much oil does it leak per week and how many miles do you travel? Low cost method would be try the sealer and run a thicker high mileage oil. Keep a quart or two in the trunk and check level at least once a week.

 

Question - why would you need to drop the subframe?

Valve cover gaskets - only once have I ever seen them leak bad enough to cause massive oil loss, and on that car, there was actually part of the valve cover missing right above the gasket...

Cam/Crank seals -definitely worth doing... replace the timing belt while you are in there, and you just did a 60k service at the same time...

Oil filter housing - very possible...

Here's what I'm surprised about - they don't know for sure... all these possibles... I hate to say it, but take it to a reputable shop that knows what they are doing... It sounds like Lexus is trying to take advantage...

If it were my car, I would have the engine steam cleaned and put dye in the engine oil. Drive it 5 miles, and look to see where the dye shows up under UV light (you can actually buy the kits to do this yourself extremely cheaply) This will give you a real good idea of where the major leaks are.

I would bet the valve covers aren't leaking bad enough to warrant replacement - they are not under pressure, and are not holding in quantities of oil. Cam/Crank seals have oil pushed up against them 100% of the time, and same with the lower oil pan gasket... The oil filter housing, and, more specifically the gasket between it and the block are under high pressure and definitely known for leaking on many vehicles...

Take it to someone that isn't trying to get every single penny out of you, and I bet you can save this car for less than a grand (and do it right)

 

why dont you try to have the engine cleaned first and drive for a bit, then have it checked again for new leaks. its probably only leaking from 1 or 2 places. my mr2 just sprung an oil leak and I changed every damn seal in the front of the engine. took me about 2 days to finish.

if its the cam seal do everything in the front. timing, water pump so you wouldnt have to pay for that labor again later