I just changed the oil in my 2007 RX 350. I messed up and let my funnel overflow and some oil ran down the front of the engine cover and came out underneath where the oil filter cover is. No big deal I thought.

Upon startup, when I rev the engine, I now hear what I can only describe as a clatter from that side of the engine. It only occurs at rpm's over 1200 or so, so it sounds normal it idle.

Did I get oil on the timing chain or an accessory belt and this is causing this? I listened under the hood while the wife revved the engine and to me it was coming from the area where I spilled the oil.

Anyone have any ideas how to fix this, or should the noise disappear on its own?

 

you dont have a timing chain, you have a belt.

oil wont cause this, its probably coincidental. more than likely its you heat shield coming loose. have your wife rev the engine and push on some heat shields (wear gloves, its gets hot). once found, remove, no need to replace.

 

Did more investigating by popping off the fuse/power steering reservoir cover. I definitely got some oil on the accessory belt. I assume the oil won't hurt it and the noise will eventually go away?

Kiwi, I thought one advantage of the 3.5 in the 2007+ was the adoption of a timing chain that requires no maintenance. In fact, I'm certain the 07+ RX 350 has a timing chain, not a belt.

 

One of the reasons I bought the 07 was for the chain not a belt.

 

You dripped oil on your ACC belts, not any of the timing belt (chain), right?

 

Yes, oil on the Accessory belt. She didn't notice the noise on her way to work this morning, hopefully all is well now.

 

It should evaporate in due time. If they were not really soaked, they should be good after a few days of driving.

Somebody sugegsted spraying WD40 on belts...I do not know if I will recommend this though.

 

Perhaps Simple Green.

 

It has a chain. The chain is inside the engine, not outside like a belt. As such, it's already in oil, and there's no way you could have got oil on it. There's also no way you'll every have to pay $600 for a timing belt change, which is a good thing.

 

Thanks for the info about the chain being inside the engine. I am almost positive I got some oil on the accessory belt, it was still "chirping" this evening. Hopefully it fixes itself after the oil disperses and wears off.

 

my mistake on the chain vs belt. i must have misread the year.

 

TIMING CHAIN ON 350 MODELS YEAH NO MORE TIMING BELTS :-( THERE GOES 4 HOURS flat rate but on the good note water pumps go bad on them thats 8.7 flat rate hours for a water pump :-) i did 2 of them today yay and was done in 4 hours for both :-)

 

I've alway wondered how they come up with the 'flat rate' times.

Do they give a chimpanzee imperial sized tools to work on a metric sized vehicle, blindfold it, handcuff it, and then time it? This becomes the flat rate?

I mean, you did two in four hours and I know lots of mechanics / dealerships that can get stuff done faster than the flat rate time.

 

What year the lexus rx started having Timing Chain in the engine?

 

2007 model year with the advent of the 3.5L engine in the RX350.