99magna

The parts came in yesterday evening. I opened the box to inspect the items ; oil cooler hoses + 2 metal gaskets and an oil filter were all there. I am going to change it out soon so I do not have to worry about it and hopefully get my reimbursement back from Lexus like you did. Thanks for the head up on the 10 years warranty extension.

roadbike56

I have my lines checked every time I change oil. I think I'm going to invest in the part and have the cooler lines change made the next time I change oil, which will probably be in a couple months. I've got a 2009 with an in service date some time in 2008. In addition, we're still under 100K mileage. I'm going to look into if they will reimburse us for the cost of the part. I'll have my local garage put it on and that will save quite a bit. Even if I don't get reimbursement, it's worth the peace of mind just to know those lines won't burst open. We plan on keeping this car a long time and it may be a hand me down to my kids when we part with it. So a little preventive maintenance will pay off.

DennisMik

Toyota/Lexus has a "kit" for this, meaning one part number gets you the pipe and 2 gaskets. The part number is 04004-29131 and is less expensive than the 3 parts separately. The best price I have found for this is a dealer in Richmond, VA, McGeorge Toyota.

https://parts.mcgeorgetoyota.com/oem...ler-0400429131

99magna

Well, I finally changed out the oil cooler hoses myself about 2 weeks ago. About 2 days after that, I called Lexus customer service and and give them all the information. After talking to the Lexus customer service, she gave me the fax numbers and I faxed in all my receipts for the oil cooler hoses, oil filter and 1 jug (5qts.) of full synthetic oil 5w30. The Lexus customer service lady was very nice and she said I should receive the reimbursement check in the mail from 5 to7 business day.
Yesterday I received the check in the mail for a total of $100.77.
Kudos to Lexus for the reimbursement even thought I still think they should have the oil cooler recall here in the U.S.A like they did for the Canadian.

I would like to thanks OP ( Blacklexrx ) for the information. For those of you that would like to tackle this project and if you see oil leaks after you replaced the oil cooler hose, I suggest you disassemble it and wipe clean everything then go to your auto part stores and buy the Copper spray-a-gasket coating to apply on the metal gasket and reinstall again. I used that Copper spray on one of the metal gasket and it stops the leaks. I guess there is a small imperfection on one of the mating surface therefore it was weeping.

I had a small leak (weep) after the first installation on the lower end connection and I had to removed the oil cooler hoses and inspected, cleaned and applied copper coating on the metal gasket and reinstall it again. You can use a 3/8" drive torque wrench to torque them nuts and bolts, you just have to use varies of extensions but it can be done because I did it. There is a guy on you tube video said it is about 22-23 foot pounds but I do not know where he get that torque specs. from because I can not verify. Well, I am happy that I do not have to worry about the time bomb any more. I was glad that I did it. Thank you to everyone.
Here is the check from Lexus :

BlackLexRX

Nice work. Definitely a good feeling doing it. Must have been a little testy having it leak some, there's like 60psi in the line there. Mine never leaked and I didn't torque it, just used the old German guess method of gutentight. Your check came crazy fast, mine took like 50 days, lol but I submitted to an online link. Glad someone else got a check. Lots of people here were saying, "I'm not eligible, etc."

99magna

Thanks BlackLexRX, yes, it was kinda tick me off having to do the work twice but I am still glad that it was done. The reimbursement check was surprisingly fast compared to your. I forgot to mention that I drained and filled my transmission oil and flushed the steering fluid system while I am at it under there.

Even thought my rx350 only has 50.000 miles on it, but the transmission oil show a little dark on the color. I did drained and filled total of 3 time and the transmission fluid looks red pink now. I never have any shifting problems with my car but I just do not believe any fluid is life time fluid, therefore I did the drain and fill. Maybe when it gets to 100.000 miles I will drop the pan and change out the transmission filter.

cfcubed

Ugh. Add our 2008 RX 350 to the rubber-oil-cooler-hose-fail list (not to be confused with VVT-i related 9LH which car had done way back.) Car has 100k miles, bought @ local Lexus & had all scheduled service there including one one month prior to failure. Called service dept. & manager was well aware of this issue (ZLC) BUT it was never even suggested to us to consider replacing the guaranteed-to-fail rubber hose pair + flanges w/metal circa 2011 replacement. We would have done so on our own dime to replace this well-known, faulty designed time bomb.

Wife was staying somewhere 2hrs away & noticed oil patch under car, it'd lost 1/2qt then. I'd instructed to top it off & try not to drive it. She had to drive 15 miles twice & it lost another 1/2qt. No Lexus nearby so its @ a local mechanic who had a hard time locating OEM replacement. Saga still in progress as they're trying to source the OEM part. Have case # from Lexus & awaiting call back. We are lucky it didn't fully let loose & brick the engine.

Nothing new here apparently. Lexus US' actions here are reprehensible, not issuing a recall (but only an if-a-leak-happens-to-be-noticed OR customer-has-predicted-failure warranty extension. Lexus US should not be commended on covering this or reimbursing related expenses, though that's "nice", but rather seen as negligent as its a good bet ALL vehicles w/the rubber hoses will experience the failure sometime in their service life. And as ours was in for service just one month prior to failure, relying on inspection during service is no solution.

P.S. Don't get me started on our steering rack that "needs replacement"... Steering racks should last the life of the car. Which, coupled w/this oil cooler hose thing, Lexus apparently interprets as 100k.

DennisMik

Your 2008 should still be covered by the extended warranty that Lexus created for this issue. I find it amazing that the mechanic cannot find the part. How far is it to a Lexus dealer? Have the car towed there and Lexus will cover the tow. In fact, you can call Lexus and they will arrange the tow.

As I said up in post # 63, the kit that has all the parts is part # 04004-29131. This kit consists of 3 things the pipe and 2 gaskets. Separately the part numbers are 15768-31020, 15785-31010 and 11496-31010. The kit is less expensive than the 3 pieces bought separately. Dorman, a big maker of after-market parts, has a kit also. It is Dorman part # 625-022.

Even if you continue and let the local mechanic fix the car, save the receipt and Lexus will reimburse you. But I'm not getting any warm, fuzzy feelings for that mechanic.

cfcubed

Sage advice DennisMik but I left out that we're about 1 month past the "10 years from date of first use" condition of ZLC WEP. So all costs are out-of-pocket until/unless Lexus Customer Care/Corporate grants an exception (waiting to hear).
And agree, a bit wary about local non-Lexus mech, though he/they've good reviews. We're stuck on this train now due to the logistics/expense of switching to Lexus dealer. Wife wants it fixed where it is, its her car & these are work days for us both.

It's been said many times, many ways across the forums if you're still driving around a 2007 - 2011 RX w/o metal pipe version of this part, don't. Replace your rubber hose version NOW to avoid certain failure of the part later.

BTW Talked to Lexus service manager, where we bought car and got all scheduled & suggested service work, why they aren't even mentioning possible replacement of this known-to-fail part. Even when its clear that inspection is insufficient / they'd not detected this even one month prior to its failure. He said it'd put them in a "bad spot" should someone spend $$$ on precautionary replacement and their friend/neighbor got a free replacement (by waiting for detection of leak, or rupture). A very small % of the 100k/year RX sold owners frequent forums & discover this (I didn't). So the majority/uninformed may be unhappy at having spent their own $$$ on it. Also said he bets, if asked, they could suggest $1k - $2k additional "precautionary" work on a 10yr old / 100k mi car. A bit silly but there it is.

mdbrown

They won't recommend it because this is what is known in the industry as a "quiet recall." Basically, they won't mention it at all but if you experience the failure within the extended time period they will repair it free of charge. If you don't experience a failure during the extended period then... oh well.

DennisMik

It is sad that the corporation made this pipe an extended warranty instead of a recall. But that is to the consumer's point of view. To the corporation's point of view, it is financially responsible as it will cost them less money.

A warranty item is only worked on when the customer has a complaint, whereas a recall is to be done on all the vehicles after actively contacting the owners.

I have an 07 and knew about this over a year ago and did nothing. Finally this spring I decided to stop ignoring it and replaced the pipe myself. Not that bad of a job, really. I won't get my money back from Lexus, but I only paid about $50 for the kit on-line, so I didn't screw up that bad.

cfcubed

That is until/unless one or more is killed as a result of one of these rubber lines rupturing, e.g.

* maybe < 1 min after rupture to pull over & stop car prior to engine damage. Lots of dangerous/life-threatening places this could happen, e.g. multilane roadsides w/75mph+ cars like NJ parkway esp. in sections where there's little or no shoulder.

* if the several quarts of oil dumped in rupture case are on curve, etc. & cause accident.

Will hopefully never happen but certainly a possibility. Esp. with more & more of the subject (400k+?) RXs hitting 10 yrs / 100k+ miles, if only even a few % have rupture failure things could get ugly fast. Especially given Lexus' knowledge of the fault / ZLC issuance / stance / 2011 metal part update. Guess its a gamble/risk their lawyers have decided is an efficient one to take.

P.S.: Guess that "2007 RX Oil Line Failure - Catastrophic Consequences" thread may be the "master" thread about this.

mdbrown

I think they kind of straddled the line on this one, they should've made it an active recall type of repair like the dash replacement but, to be fair, 10 years or 150k miles is more than sufficient in terms of time/mileage. I say this as one who has missed out on the repair too. At the 10 year/150k mile point, almost anything on the vehicle is subject to failure and it's no longer a manufacturing defect issue, it's simple wear and tear. Before you get to worked up about Lexus witness the poor SOBs that bought a 1st gen V6 Fiero that has a chronic failure of the main wiring harness and GM would replace it... until your basic warranty expired then you were on your own.