Lexus RX300 2002 85k - Losing 1 quart every 750 miles
11-16-12, 07:19 PM
#61
Driver School Candidate
#4 and #6 had good compression, 160 PSI. I live at 4500 ft so the compression numbers are always a little low. The plugs look good also, but #6 looked like it might be a little lean. I didn't check 1, 3, and 5.
11-24-12, 09:12 AM
#62
Driver School Candidate
RX300 Oil Consumption, Good Compression??
I have a '99 RX300. I've put 8 k miles on it in the last 2 months. Bought it with 113k miles to do highway driving. Now has 121k miles. Runs great on the road, but consumes oil. About a qt every 500-750 miles. I know the oil sludge problems and have researched. The mystery is: car has 200 psi compression on all cylinders and I pulled the valve covers expecting to see huge sludge problems. Boy, was I surprised. A little dirty, but not in any way sludged. PCV was dirty, but not completely clogged. I bought the new style valve covers and the newer style PCV and hose. Compression is great on all cylinders. With the intake control valve removed from the plenum, you can see that it has been sucking oil thru the pcv and feeding it through the intake manifold and burning it thru the plugs. (3 back plugs are getting the brunt of the oil). Has anyone experienced this? Will the new valve covers resolve this? What else should I look for while I have it apart. Everyone wants to sell me a short block. Seems like a simpler problem. Need some advice!! thanks, John
11-24-12, 09:45 AM
#63
Lexus Test Driver
I have a '99 RX300. I've put 8 k miles on it in the last 2 months. Bought it with 113k miles to do highway driving. Now has 121k miles. Runs great on the road, but consumes oil. About a qt every 500-750 miles. I know the oil sludge problems and have researched. The mystery is: car has 200 psi compression on all cylinders and I pulled the valve covers expecting to see huge sludge problems. Boy, was I surprised. A little dirty, but not in any way sludged. PCV was dirty, but not completely clogged. I bought the new style valve covers and the newer style PCV and hose. Compression is great on all cylinders. With the intake control valve removed from the plenum, you can see that it has been sucking oil thru the pcv and feeding it through the intake manifold and burning it thru the plugs. (3 back plugs are getting the brunt of the oil). Has anyone experienced this? Will the new valve covers resolve this? What else should I look for while I have it apart. Everyone wants to sell me a short block. Seems like a simpler problem. Need some advice!! thanks, John
11-24-12, 11:25 PM
#64
I have a '99 RX300. I've put 8 k miles on it in the last 2 months. Bought it with 113k miles to do highway driving. Now has 121k miles. Runs great on the road, but consumes oil. About a qt every 500-750 miles. I know the oil sludge problems and have researched. The mystery is: car has 200 psi compression on all cylinders and I pulled the valve covers expecting to see huge sludge problems. Boy, was I surprised. A little dirty, but not in any way sludged. PCV was dirty, but not completely clogged. I bought the new style valve covers and the newer style PCV and hose. Compression is great on all cylinders. With the intake control valve removed from the plenum, you can see that it has been sucking oil thru the pcv and feeding it through the intake manifold and burning it thru the plugs. (3 back plugs are getting the brunt of the oil). Has anyone experienced this? Will the new valve covers resolve this? What else should I look for while I have it apart. Everyone wants to sell me a short block. Seems like a simpler problem. Need some advice!! thanks, John
12-02-12, 08:56 PM
#65
I have a '99 RX300. I've put 8 k miles on it in the last 2 months. Bought it with 113k miles to do highway driving. Now has 121k miles. Runs great on the road, but consumes oil. About a qt every 500-750 miles. I know the oil sludge problems and have researched. The mystery is: car has 200 psi compression on all cylinders and I pulled the valve covers expecting to see huge sludge problems. Boy, was I surprised. A little dirty, but not in any way sludged. PCV was dirty, but not completely clogged. I bought the new style valve covers and the newer style PCV and hose. Compression is great on all cylinders. With the intake control valve removed from the plenum, you can see that it has been sucking oil thru the pcv and feeding it through the intake manifold and burning it thru the plugs. (3 back plugs are getting the brunt of the oil). Has anyone experienced this? Will the new valve covers resolve this? What else should I look for while I have it apart. Everyone wants to sell me a short block. Seems like a simpler problem. Need some advice!! thanks, John
I guess that you're right at one point, the oil had been suck into the intake manifold and burn out. I'll check my plugs later and tell you the finding. Please keep us posted if you find anything,thanks.
12-03-12, 05:32 PM
#66
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I have a 2002 RX300. I bought it in 2009 at 87,000miles and currently it has 120,000. Until couple of months ago my car used to burn 1qt oil every 300miles or so. Then all of a sudden it got better. There was no smoking, no oil lights while driving. Then last week I had a very rough engine with VSC and Check Engine lit up. I took it to the local mechanic who said I need to replace 1 coil and all the spark plugs. After those been replaced he told me there is too little compression in cylinder 1 and I need to replace the gasket. Then after couple of days he calls me over to his workshop and shows me a broken valve. He says I need to replace all the valves and it's gonna cost me a fortune!
If any one can advice me if replacing the valves would fix my problems in the long time I'd be indebted to you forever. Do I have to replace all the valves? How much is a decent charge for this work? Does it make sense to replace the Engine itself?
Here are the images:
If any one can advice me if replacing the valves would fix my problems in the long time I'd be indebted to you forever. Do I have to replace all the valves? How much is a decent charge for this work? Does it make sense to replace the Engine itself?
Here are the images:
Last edited by jijotomy; 12-03-12 at 07:18 PM.
12-04-12, 12:29 AM
#67
=jijotomy;7631341]I have a 2002 RX300. I bought it in 2009 at 87,000miles and currently it has 120,000. Until couple of months ago my car used to burn 1qt oil every 300miles or so. Then all of a sudden it got better. There was no smoking, no oil lights while driving. Then last week I had a very rough engine with VSC and Check Engine lit up. I took it to the local mechanic who said I need to replace 1 coil and all the spark plugs. After those been replaced he told me there is too little compression in cylinder 1 and I need to replace the gasket. Then after couple of days he calls me over to his workshop and shows me a broken valve. He says I need to replace all the valves and it's gonna cost me a fortune!
If any one can advice me if replacing the valves would fix my problems in the long time I'd be indebted to you forever. Do I have to replace all the valves? How much is a decent charge for this work? Does it make sense to replace the Engine itself?
If any one can advice me if replacing the valves would fix my problems in the long time I'd be indebted to you forever. Do I have to replace all the valves? How much is a decent charge for this work? Does it make sense to replace the Engine itself?
I think you need to get as far from that mechanic as you can get. He's either incompetent or very dishonest. He's crazy telling you that you need to replace all the valves. That won't stop the oil burning, which is SERIOUS from looking at those heads. It probably DOES need an engine by the looks of it. All new valves will do NOTHING for the oil consumption that those heads show. Get FAR from him! I wouldn't let him do any more work.
12-04-12, 08:25 AM
#68
Moderator
Head job will not fix the problem at the bottom. i hope you mechanic is not in the discovery mode and has done proper diagnosis, i too feel your root problem will not go away..
Salim
Salim
12-04-12, 11:55 AM
#69
Driver School Candidate
Rebuilt Engine
My engine was shot also due to sludge. We decided to replace it.
There is a local independent shop that specializes in Toyota/Lexus and they are going to remove the engine, and send it off to be remanufactured. They are aware of the Toyota sludge problems, valve cover issue, and will replace the valve covers with the re-engineered designed. Hopefully no more sludge problems.
Probably, we are going to spent close to $6000 when it is all said and done, but we like the car so we decided to bite the bullet. Motor comes with a 3 year warranty.
There is a local independent shop that specializes in Toyota/Lexus and they are going to remove the engine, and send it off to be remanufactured. They are aware of the Toyota sludge problems, valve cover issue, and will replace the valve covers with the re-engineered designed. Hopefully no more sludge problems.
Probably, we are going to spent close to $6000 when it is all said and done, but we like the car so we decided to bite the bullet. Motor comes with a 3 year warranty.
12-04-12, 01:13 PM
#70
Lexus Champion
My engine was shot also due to sludge. We decided to replace it.
There is a local independent shop that specializes in Toyota/Lexus and they are going to remove the engine, and send it off to be remanufactured. They are aware of the Toyota sludge problems, valve cover issue, and will replace the valve covers with the re-engineered designed. Hopefully no more sludge problems.
Probably, we are going to spent close to $6000 when it is all said and done, but we like the car so we decided to bite the bullet. Motor comes with a 3 year warranty.
There is a local independent shop that specializes in Toyota/Lexus and they are going to remove the engine, and send it off to be remanufactured. They are aware of the Toyota sludge problems, valve cover issue, and will replace the valve covers with the re-engineered designed. Hopefully no more sludge problems.
Probably, we are going to spent close to $6000 when it is all said and done, but we like the car so we decided to bite the bullet. Motor comes with a 3 year warranty.
Now lets just pray the transmission holds up.
12-06-12, 10:56 AM
#72
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I think you need to get as far from that mechanic as you can get. He's either incompetent or very dishonest. He's crazy telling you that you need to replace all the valves. That won't stop the oil burning, which is SERIOUS from looking at those heads. It probably DOES need an engine by the looks of it. All new valves will do NOTHING for the oil consumption that those heads show. Get FAR from him! I wouldn't let him do any more work.
This guy says he has already done half the work and will complete in another two days. He didn't even give me an estimate nor I authorized him to do the work. I know him for more than 4 years now and used to trust him.Sad story apart, what do you think causes the oil burn? Would there be possible fixes that we should look into before buying a replacement engine?
If it's going to be a new engine, what precautions should I take? How do you make sure the mileage quoted is accurate? How much would it cost me to replace the engine with a <100K one?
12-06-12, 12:23 PM
#73
Driver School Candidate
Consider a Remanufactured Engine
From what I have been able to learn on this chat room and other sources, these early Toyota V6's are very prone to engine sludge caused by a faulty PCV system. This results in major engine problems.
Any used engine for the RX300 most likely has sludge problems plus probably has been sitting around for awhile. Any engine sitting around could have rusty parts and cylinder walls. I believe the 2003 RX300 didn't have these problems.
When you buy a used engine, you could quickly end up with the same problems. We decided to be safe and go the remanufactured route with a reliable Toyota mechanic. Although this is more expensive, we know what we are getting plus a warranty.
Any used engine for the RX300 most likely has sludge problems plus probably has been sitting around for awhile. Any engine sitting around could have rusty parts and cylinder walls. I believe the 2003 RX300 didn't have these problems.
When you buy a used engine, you could quickly end up with the same problems. We decided to be safe and go the remanufactured route with a reliable Toyota mechanic. Although this is more expensive, we know what we are getting plus a warranty.
12-06-12, 12:34 PM
#74
Moderator
Salim
12-06-12, 01:15 PM
#75
Lexus Test Driver
This is the first time I have heard this [does not mean it is incorrect]. The engine oil gelling problem has been attributed to narrower flow down oil channels and engine oil subjected to elevated operating temperatures. If quality oil was not used or not replaced frequently, the oil would jell up and not flow down.
Salim
Salim