My daughter-in-law called me today concerned that there was fluid all over the ground under the passenger front tire of their '07 RX350. They live far away so I requested some pictures (see attached). I believe the liquid is brake fluid. The pictures show a damaged part but I am not sure what it is. They hit a pothole a few days ago and are wondering if that damaged this part/system. Does anyone know what this part is? Is it part of the braking system? TIA!

The fluid under the car

 

I see no damaged part, fold in the subframe is a factory drain hole. My guess due to the colour is that the metal power steering line on the pass side front subframe rail rusted out.

 

That's what my floor looked like when I blew out a strut. It could be a number of issues any one of which should be corrected. Just be sure it's not the oil cooler lines (if you have a RX350).

 

Update - It was indeed the oil cooler lines as one of them had a small rupture. Thankfully they did not drive it and a local mechanic quickly identified and replaced the hose. We have 4 2007-2009 RX350's in our family driven mostly by our college age children/spouses. They have been so reliable. This event has me wondering if we should check/replace the oil cooler lines for each of them given they are all 15-17 years old.

Thank again for the guidance. This forum is wonderfully helpful.

 

Easy anwer to that is "absolutely" and do it now. This is a known fault with age and if not caught immediately will result in blowing the engine.

Other things to look at with RX's this age:
Radiator - take a flashlight look at front and back both passenger and drivers side look for anything that looks like silly string (that is coolant laking slowly) or dripping. If you see that replace the radiator witha Koyorad or OEM do not go cheap here
Change all the fluids - trans, diff, coolant, brake, transfer case your car will thank you for this.
Headlights - if they have become hazy, brownish/yellow at all that is very common... get "Cerakote" from Amazon or Walmart it is a miracle worker! $16 it works and lasts unlike other products
Take a good look at suspension components - lift the car try shaking the wheel top adn bottom then side to side, any play? All the rubber bits - sway bar links, sway bar bushngs, LCA's have rubber that deteriorates both with time and mileage... this is escalated exponentially if you're in salted road places
Live in a places where they salt the roads? I truly pity you! RXs and Toyotas of these years do not do well in salled road areas as they are very prone/suseptible to rust.
Lastly - want proper stereo, nav, bluetooth/hands-free? Go witha double din of your choice. I opted to do this myself ran me @ $400 for everything including the reverse camera took maybe 8 hours to install

Good luck, glad you solved the problem especailly before it became a BIG problem

 

Thankfully it was caught before damage happened to the engine. I would also opt to change out the VVT-i bank 1 line as well


Part no. here: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...-and-more.html

 

The replacement oil cooler pipe assembly is all metal, no hoses. P/N 04004-29131

2007 - 2011 RX350

L-SB 0154-11

MC-10132341-9999.pdf (nhtsa.gov)

 

Thank you all. I just spoke with the local Lexus Service and Parts folks. Apparently there was a recall to switch out the rubber hoses for the pipe assembly. I had them look up each of my cars and none had the hoses replaced with the pipe. They quoted me $55 for the replacement oil cooler pipe assembly and $630 labor. I then called my independent mechanic who quoted me $400 plus parts. Do these estimates seem right? The small town mechanic that helped my son yesterday just used a replacement hose and only charged $240 including the oil change. I am wondering if I need to also update his to the cooler pipe... TIA.

 

A word of caution using the small town mechanic. The hose assembly is held in place by a nut that screws onto a brazed on bolt. It's not very big and looked very susceptible to breaking when I looked at it. The shop that did my replacement had very experienced mechanics with plenty of tools for welding a new threaded end in place if they broke it. The guy who did the job even commented that he was surprised that Lexus/Toyota didn't have something more substantial in place. So be sure the mechanic who does the work is familiar with performing that replacement.
As for doing all four, Gen 2 RX350s, as has been said absolutely. We bought our 2009 RX350 10 years ago this month ( Sept 2014). We replaced that hose after we owned it exactly three years ( Sept. 2017) before it hit 100K miles. There was zero evidence of leakage, we just did it as preventive maintenance as many on this forum have done. Given the age and mileage on your cars, the ones that haven't been replace are probably on borrowed time.
One last comment, both prices sound about right. We paid $350 in 2017 so adjusting for inflation, either price you were quoted sounds about right.

 

I went w/ dorman #625-022 oil cooler lines & a oem vvt bank one line for around $20. yrs ago.