Hey all,

I drive a 2000 RX300 with 215K miles. On my last trip to the mechanic, they inspected the engine and found my valve cover leaking oil and also oil behind the timing cover.

They gave me a quote of $507 to replace the valve cover gasket.

For the oil behind the timing cover, they're quoting me $649 to replace the crankshaft seal and the two camshaft seals.

Picture of valve cover: https://i.imgur.com/iwzAnv0.jpg
Picture behind timing cover: https://i.imgur.com/usZ1Ano.jpg

I'm not experienced in doing any repairs myself, but $1100 is a little steep for me right now. Is one of these things more urgent than the other? Is it possible that the valve cover leak is causing the oil behind the timing cover?

Thanks!

 

Welcome to Club Lexus!

Yes, it's definitely possible that the oil seen near the timing cover is from the rear valve cover leaking.

How many miles on your RX300? The cam/crank seals should generally be replaced when doing a timing belt job because it's very little additional labor.

 

Thanks! I've updated the post. There's 215K miles on my RX, have stuck to the dealership's maintenance schedule so far.

Is it about time for a timing belt job then?

 

Timing belt is due every 90k miles, so if you didn't have it replaced for a second time at 180k miles, then yes it's time for another tb job and a good time to replace these "leaking" seals.