Hi, my name is Seth, i am new to this forum and i own a 2001 RX300. A couple days ago my car engine oil light come on. My first thinking is maybe my oil is low but appearently it not, my second thought it would be my oil pressure sensor switch but i can't find where it located. Maybe this oil sensor switch gone bad, or mybe the oil pump break down. I want to investigate where this light come on. Would anybody please tell me where it located, i appreciated if you can post a picture with the reference point of this parts locatated.

Could this be a seriouly problem to the engine if i continue to drive?

Thanks,
Seth

 

You should take you car to an Autozone or other type of automotive store and have them check the code(s)....this will help narrow your trouble shooting search

 

It does not sound like the check engine light is on, just the oil light. So a code reader is not going to tell you anything.

If it was me I would stop driving it immediately and start looking for evidence of sludge. If the oil pickup is getting plugged up with junk you really do have little to no oil pressure and need to try to save it ASAP. You might be able to run a scope in through the drain hole in the oil pan and get a look at the pick up or pull a valve cover to see what's in there. You could get lucky and just have a bum sensor, but given the track record for these cars I would take it very seriously.

 

I agree with carguy07. I suggest pulling the valve cover right away, and stop driving that car till you can confirm there's no sludge after pulling the front valve cover... If there is no sludge, then it's probably just the sensor, but I wouldn't take any chances...
If it is sludged up really bad, it'll show some blue smoke at start up, similar to what you would get if the valve guides or rings were bad.

 

You dion't have to take out the crank pulley.
I just took these pics when I was doing my T-belt.

Hopefully it's just a bad sensor.

 

Thank you all for your feedback, I'll follow all ya's Recomendation, where is valve cover located at? Do I need to drain the oil out first before I open the valve cover?
Oh, I forgot to mention that I also hear a rattling sound from the engine, look like from the bearing. What does this sound mean? I just changed my oil one hour ago and it still the same problem, when I test drive it. Could this be oil pressure pump, I would like to look into the oil pump condition also but don't know where it located?
Thanks Guys,
Appreciated your feedback
Seth

 

Stop running it now! With the oil light on and a rattling sound coming from the engine the sensor is the last place to look. You likely have no oil pressure and are about to destroy the engine.

Pic of a valve cover, you have to remove the plastic intake cover to get to it. No need to drain the oil. It could be the oil pump, but look for sludge first.

 

Yes, will do that no more driving. I'll open the valve cover and look for the sludge this weekend. If i see a sludge in it, what is the next thing i should do? and if there is no sludge, and then i should check the oil pump? Is the oil pump difficult to locate and hard to remove? Please tell me where the oil pump located. Sorry for the all dump questions i'm new to this and i want to know and learn as much as i can.

Thank you sooo much guys,
Seth

 

did you ever find out where it is?

 

Welcome to Club Lexus. This thread has been dormant since 2011.

Please state the issue once again and share with us some of the details .. If Check engine light is on then what codes are you getting.

Salim

 

I wish this thread had continued…

 

Once the post is out, it does not terminate/expire. It can be locked [no further posts are allowed and if needed deleted]. It does go down in the history order.

When some one asks a question from a person who posted a few months ago, I remind them not to expect an answer. At the same time I appreciate that a person went through the trouble of finding a related post and a new post would end up rehashing old stuff.

Salim