Please help me confirm my worry. I bought a 2004 certified Lexus RX 330 less than a month ago and opening the oil cap today I saw a thick black oily build-up inside the cylinder head?.Taking the oil cap ,you'll see it inside. I touch the stuff and some would come off like sand saturated with oil. What is this crap?.Is this what you call carbon build-up?.It only has 36000 mi. on it.

 

That sure sounds like carbon built up. It can be clean but its not cheap.

 

Oil Sludge? I suggest taking it back to the dealer ASAP for a diagnosis and solution. It should be under the certified vehicle warranty.

 

What is the process of cleaning out carbon build-up?

 

If this is in fact a Lexus certified vehicle, I'd be hot footing it back to the dealer and let them handle the issues.

 

DEALER issue right NOW

 

1) Could you post a picture to confirm whether it is sludge
2) If it is sludge, ask dealer to pull the valve cover for inspection.
3) Auto-RX can slowly disolves sludge and deposit them into oil filter, but since you are CPO, try 2) if 1) is confirmed

 

Does your engine ping? Thats a sure sign of severe carbon build up on the cylinder head. If it is a mild case then chemical treatment can get rid of it. If it is a severe case, you will need to remove the cylinder and scrape it off. Ask the dealer for their opinion.

 

Your post has caused a bit of confusion ..
cylinder head ..> inside the cylinder (one has to open up cylinder head after removing the valve train).
Valve cover ..> is the thing that the oil filler cap i screwed in.

Correct me if I am wrong ... you are seeing oil lumped up ... gell like as you peer through the oil cap hole.

Salim

 

I agree, go to the dealership and let them look at it. A couple of months ago Toyota (read Lexus too) settled on a class action law suit of engines that clogged up with sludge, they will replace the engine up to 100,000 miles, no charge. I read about it on Edmonds and covers the V-6 and 4 bangers.

 

I brought the car to the dealership this morning. Tech removed the valve cover and found that the inside is perfectly clean and I'm told that the black sandy build-up I saw when I removed the oil cap was just a coating and that that was just how the car was designed.What keeps me from being convinced is that when I touch the stuff, some of it would come off like grit. has anyone have an '04 330 with something like this?. When you remove your oil cap do you see any black sandy stuff in there or it just look clean?. and I mean if you look iside where the oil cap is, do you just see clean metal?

 

If you are talking right inside the oil cap, we have the film on our RX330 and have since purchased new.

 

I would suggest asking for second or third opinion at Toyota/Lexus, and other dealerships.

Does anyone have any details on that law suit, and which VIns are affected?

 

O.K everyone, I was called by the service advisor yesterday to look at the upper internals of my engine to prove that there was no oil sludge or anything and as shown, the engine is very clean and in perfect condition.The carbon build-up that I saw as the technician explained and did a pretty good presentation of how the whole engine parts work and all that is a by-product of unburned oil and fuel which he explained that how the engines design would be cycled back and burned (He said it's all emission thing)They even printed a complete vehicle service history(the car has been at their service dept faithfully) So that cleared my worries and my thanks to all of you who tried to help.

 

yeah I see this all the time, dont worry about sludge. when you start your car and you see smoke in the tail pipes for a few minutes then goes away, thats when you should start worrying about sludge.