lexrally

Hi Forum

We are on the road about 2500 miles from home, when we hit a curb, the left front tire, I would say going about 10mph. The curb was about 4-6 inches. Upon first examination, nothing seemed wrong, I did notice that the wheel alignment was very slghtly off. When we got to our destination, I found a shop that specialized in front wheel alighments, and got one done. A week later, I noticed the alignment was skightly off again, so I brought the RX back to have the alignemnt checked.

What they found this time (they said they did not notice it the first time) was that the left front
drive shaft's cv boot sprung a leak, and grease was coming out. They showed it to me, sure enough nasty brownish grease stuff was all over the inner wheel well.

I asked if the car would make it back home (~2500 miles). They said it should be ok for another
3-5K miles before I would notice the effects of the lack of lubrication (noises when making right or left turns).

They also suggested when I got back home to replace strut, collar, drive shaft and boot, because it looked like something got bent. The strange thing is that the car is within specs for the alighment, and it drives straight as an arrow right now.

Does the problem with the cv boot leaking sound like it could be related to hitting the curb?
Can I just replace the boot and refill with grease?

salimshah

The CV boot gets ripped due to age and exposure to elements. Every time the wheel spins it flexes.

You can have the boot replaced. Lexus sells a fine kit. I have not gotten around to writing a DIY but it can be done at home or at a shop. There may already be a DIY dealing with front drive shaft replacement.

There are options of insitu boot repair with two half shells of rubber boot. I was very tempted to follow this trail, but I gave up as I could not find the right parts ... you or your mechanic may have better luck. But do pursue it and share what you find.

Although I manged to keep the scope of the work some what limited, but to do it right, you would need to replace the oil seals on the transmission, drain and fill the transmission, buy new retaining clips etc. Also keep in mind the age of the second boot on this shaft and the age of the pair of boots on the other shaft could be nearing an end too.

Other alternative is to replace the shafts.

Salim

lexrally

Thank you for your response. It gave me a little more comfort at that time that we could make it home allright.

Well we made it home no problem. After researching this a little, found that a torn cv boot is common, as you say, due to wear and tear. It is not a problem requiring immediate repair. The shaft would last even without grease because the bearing are packed with grease. As
long as nothing can get in (which in this case nothing would because the tear in the cv boot was very small), it should stay lubricated enough to last for a "while".

Since this one is my wife's and she drives the kids around with it, I wanted to get this fixed right away though.

I brought it to my mechanic and asked about repairing the cv boot only. They said the best course of action is to just buy the whole preassembled shaft/cv boots, and remove the old one. The total cost of the repair is $275 for the left front axle. So I went ahead and made the repair taking that route, to be on the safe side, also I got a 3/36K mile warranty. They said just repairing the boot would be more labor, cheaper parts, but no warranty. About the same cost.

The part # was "L/F Axle Shaft Assembly 411360CQ" (does not say the manuf.) and it cost $123. Labor was $148. I can get more info from the shop if anyone is interested.

For the amount of time it would take me to do this myself, this was well worth it.

The RX300 shined the entire trip. Even after the curb incident. For those interested, here are some of the things I did to prepare the RX for the long trip:

1. Drained and filled the tranny fluid 4 times, with 2-3 week intervals between drains. I did not drop the pan and inspect because I did not want to take a chance on any seals leaking during the trip. I calculated this gave me an 88% fluid change.
Capacity 8.8 quarts
Drain 3.7 quarts
1st drain - 42% replacement
2nd drain - 66% replacement
3rd drain - 80% replacement
4th drain - 88% replacement
I bought a case of Toyota Type IV from dealership for around $60, and did each drain/ fill myself in about 30 minutes.

2. Changed the oil myself using mobil 1 filter and Mobil 1 5W/20 extended performnce. I noticed the difference with this oil, the engine ran smoother. Also this oil will last for 15K miles. My previous oil was Mobil 1 synthentic 5W/20. I plan on changing it soon, but for this long of a trip (we put 7K miles on the RX in 3 weeks) this oil was perfect.

I also was considering selling this car in a year or so, but it still drives almost the same as it did when we bought it. I think this car is a keeper. if I keep it maintained, it will last another 100K miles. Also the RX300 odometer hit the 100K mile mark along the way. We watched as we were driving along the highway as it turned 100K. Never seen that before, always used to miss seeing that when it happens :-)

Here is a pic of our RX300 in the foothills on Oak Creek Canyon AZ. Our RX300 kept us quiet, comfy, and cool the entire trip.

hypervish

I love the RX300 on the open road! It's a fantastic road trip vehicle!

Any idea what type of mpg you got over those 7k miles?

At 100k miles, it's barely broken in!

lexrally

Sorry didn't think about checking gas milage, that would be for the Mobil 1 Extended Performance oil I used I guess. That oil is a bit expensive but as I said, I noticed the difference, and that difference was from Mobil 1 synthentic. Engine was smoother.

Cant say enough about the RX300's performance for that trip.

imherenow

you mentioned 5W20?? isn't it suppose to be 5W30?? a typo?? or you actually did go with 5W20? And have you been using synthetic for a long time or was it recently. At what mileage did you switch to synthetic ( if so)

lexrally

Sorry that is a typo. I used 5W/30 Mobil 1 Extended Performance.
My other car uses 5W/20, that's probably why I got it mixed up.
This was the first time I changed the oil myself too on the RX.
The plug was easy to remove and drain the oil, hardest part is getting the oil
filter off/on. I removed it thru the top of the engine. A little oil will spill out of the filter
but luckily I put something underneath to catch the little bit of oil. I got an Oil filter cap wrench
from Autozone to remove the oil filter along with a socket wrench, made it somewhat easier for me.

I started using Mobil 1 Synthetic around 44K miles when we purchased the RX300.
I have been using Mobil 1 in my cars ever since I can remember. Only exception now is my Honda,
which I use Castrol Edge 5W/20, another fine oil.

Whenever I did calculate mileage on that car, it was always around 20MPG on average.
I change the oil every 6 months, Dec and June. I usually do not surpass the 5K miles
between changes, but after this trip I did (~7500K miles since June),
Mobile 1 Extended Performance lasts up to 15K mile, so I
will check it now and then, if it starts to look dirty, or I notice the engine is running
rough, etc. then I will change it.

hypervish

I understand that Mobil 1 Extended Performance is rated for up to 15,000 miles. However,that does not make it safe to do so in the 1MZ-FE.

I highly encourage you to change every 7,500 miles max. At 100k miles, the inside of your engine probably looks like new since you used to change the oil every 5k miles.

DO NOT turn it into a sludge bucket now.

Stick with 7,500k OCI.

lexrally

Yea that what I was thinking too. some engine are engineered for 15K mile changes, some are not, this one is not. even if the oil on the dipstick looks clean. I am planning on changing it before the end of the summer when I get a chance.