Well, I just feel like I dodged the biggest bullet of my life. Some of you might remember me posting here with a strange grinding noise intermittently when I started my car. ( I will try to find the thread to thank those of you who kept encouraging me to keep on the dealer about finding the noise!) The car was in for the third time today and they finally found it and not a moment too soon. My warranty runs out in July, I believe. It needs a new engine to the tune of 7-12k! Is this common? They claim that the previous owner must not have changed the oil often enough, but I remeber the previous owner showed me the receipts when I bought the car...??

Should I expect more major things to go wrong since this did?

Thanks for any and all input! I am literally dizzy thinking that I might have had this expense.
Erin

 

did it gel up?

 

toy4two-i am going to get more details today. I am a single female who knows nada about cars. This freaks me out a bit...do you think that having a new engine put in (in terms of service history) will hurt the value when I sell?

Also, do you think this is an indication of other future problems to come?

UGGHH!
Erin

 

Oil gelling (sludge) was a known issue in '99 and '00 RXs - and a few other Toyota products using the 3.0 V6. It was pretty rare but when it happened it was usually blamed on overlooked oil changes. A new engine means you will be driving a practically new car, courtesy of Lexus. Follow the break-in procedures religiously and change oil with the recommended grade (I prefer Mobil 1 as cheap insurance) and change your oil filter too at the proper intervals. You are very fortunate, and should have a long uneventful relationship with your new RX. Resale value might even improve a bit with a lower mileage engine.

Just in case the previous owner skimped on other services, have your mechanic pull an oil sample on the transmission and differentials (if AWD). Might also ask him to check CV joints and brakes for excessive wear too. A thorough check might be in order just to be sure that abuse or lack of attention might have compromised other expensive parts. If yours was a CPO vehicle, most of this was probably done and you will have some additional warranty.

I put nearly 64K on my '00 300 with the only service cost in addition to scheduled maintenance being new tires (got rid of OEM Integritys at 28K) and an oxygen sensor. Had I kept the car, the brake pads would probably have been next at around 80K. Michelin Cross Terrain tires would have easily made it to 80K as well. You've got a great car there, erin. You're gonna love it!

 

Tlil4x-hanks so much for taking the time to give me such great info. You have relieved my mind significantly and I will follow your advice. I have already reaplaced the front and rear brakes at 35k and 42k respectively. ...is this normal?

Thanks again!
Erin

 

Follow up-yes the dealer did tell me today that it was oil sludging or gel like you mentioned above. Thanks again!
E

 

lexus is honoring a 8 year unlimited mile engine replacement warranty for the RX300's

 

How can it only be attributed to 99 and 00's? Its the same engine.

 

I'm a little hazy on this, but I seem to recall that there was some issue on the oil galleries in the heads being perhaps a little too small to carry heat away effectively, thus - under certain conditions of weather, service, and lubricant properties - the hot oil could break down prematurely. Synthetics were somewhat more resistant to high-temperature breakdown, but not immune. The oil passages were opened up slightly as a running change sometime near the introduction of the '01 MY, and reduced or eliminated the problem.

Back about the time that a very few '99 and '00 owners began to experience "oil gelling", there was a famous case on this forum of an RX owner who was a huge advocate and distributor of a lubricant that was sold through an MLM program. They advertised that "you never needed to change oil again", recommending that you change (their own brand) filters on some extended schedule and keep the oil topped off – that’s all.

I remember my Dad’s story years ago about one of his engineering profs back in 1928 claiming that the heat of an internal combustion engine would only refine the lubricating oil in the crankcase further, and that changes were never needed – IF you changed the filter regularly and topped off the oil supply carefully. It seemed to work well on commercial vehicles that were driven heavily. Dad tried it on a series of fleet cars a few years later, and the old prof’s idea worked just fine. BUT those engines were big, slow-turning, under- stressed power plants that were extremely tolerant of abuse and neglect. Of course motor oil then was "rock oil", sort of a heavyweight mineral oil with no additives, and it's sole purpose was lubrication.

That was then, this is now.

Today, oil performs not just as a lubricant, but a coolant, a cleaner, and an integral part of the emissions control system as well. Modern high-compression engines – particularly those with today’s severe emissions controls require oil that is more “additive” than lubricant. These additives clean the engine, reduce foaming, and hold carbon, water, acids, etc. in suspension - while lubricating and protecting friction surfaces at the molecular level. The oil is designed to be changed, and it is critical to do so regularly.

The CL RX owner and his “moose milk” lubricant? He trashed his engine at 24K – having NEVER changed the oil. The pan was supposedly full of gunk, (guessing here) causing his oil pump to starve and running practically every bearing surface in the engine. He was pretty worked up over the fact that Lexus refused to honor his warranty….said his oil was advertised to "never need changing". Lexus, very kindly told him to take it up with the oil company, maybe they'd underwrite the repair (as they claim in their advertising). Never heard from him again.... Anyone remember this?

EDIT: I notice on the oil company's website that they now recommend oil changes "twice a year" or about every 7500 miles. This is in line with Lexus "normal service" recommendation. Evidently they’ve replaced a few engines…..

 

when you guys go for oil changes.. do you look at the oil color? if it's jet black then you should change it more often.

My rx300 has had regular oil changes and never over 3000miles. You guys know how you drive the car. if you hammer the gas pretty often then you may need to change oil even at 1500 miles. When my car had 70k miles i decided to do a test. I drive pretty much the same way all the time in the RX.

@ 70k oil change. oil looked very dirty did a full engine flush and oil change
@71k oil change. oil looked clean
@73k oil change. oil looked slightly brown
@76k oil change. oil no longer looked translucent but not jet black

since then i've been doing oil change every 2800 miles or so.

it's not okay to just go by what service manual says. it's YOUR car. YOU need to look after the vehicle's needs.

Never having to change oil is just silly.... i wouldn't do anything that the car manufacturer's are not doing or recommending.

on the other hand.

on my lexus service manual it says that i should change the transmission fluid every 15k miles... but I do a full flush and i do it every 25-30k miles. I check the viscosity of the oil (a few drops of new oil vs old oil) and i make the decision.

Also things like power steering fluid... i sniff that stuff.. if it smells like it's burnt, i flush it... if your radiator fluid looks murky when all you ever used was the red stuff? time for a full flush.

the car will only drive as well as you care for them...

just following the service manual is not enough.

 

There is so much debate about flushing the tranny or just putting in new fluid. Even from Toyota dealers. I have heard of blown trannies not long after a flush. But some dealers recommend it, others swear never to do it.

Anyone have experience with flushing on a RX?

 

the RX300 tranny has been smooth for me the life of the car. I've flushed it 2 times now. It seems to have made no difference for me. It's just smooth as ever.

 

Actually, '01 and some '02 have the same issue, too. I received a vaguely-written letter from Lexus telling me that it is important to change oil at specific interval blah blah blah, and that they'd extend engine warranty to 8 years/80,000 miles. My dealer told me that I should follow the 5,000-mile interval instead of the 7,500-mile one no matter what my driving condition is.

The '99 isn't affected if I remember correctly. Sometime in the 2000 model year, Toyota narrowed the coolant passage to increase upper chamber temperature. The idea was to lower emission. The problem was that oil is more likely to gel when it experiences rapid temperature drop (from 265F to 210F down the pan.)

Overall, this 3.0L V6 is still more reliable than most other engines. And it's the smoothest and most quiet V6 that I've ever driven.

 

Actually, I had to have the engine on my 99 replaced with 72000 miles on it(bought it used). This was before Lexus offered to replace the engines. My mechanic was doing a search for me to see if he could find any changes in the engine during the different model years and he said he came back with nothing. But I do seem to remember reading somewhere that they did make the running change to enlarge the sump holes to allow for better oil drainage back into the pan. If anyone wants to pull the valve cover off their newer engine, I have pics of the new and gelled engine that I could compare(both were '99, BTW).

 

I see. Thanks for the info.

Or maybe the previous owner used the snake oil that "never needs changing."