Todays routine oil change turned into a full day of discoveries. While I was letting the oil drain I decided to take a look at a few issues under the car.......and boy were my eyes opened to how bad a few things were.

My front LCA bushing are so bad that 2 out of 4 are completely gone and the other 2 spin freely with the flick of a finger and are about to disappear as well.

The FMS is leaking more than thought, there is a small stream.

Either my lower or upper oil pan is leaking a bit..............hell maybe both.

I think the RMS is leaking, but I'm not 100% sure on that, because it could be one of the many other leaks causing it to look that way.

The 2 front struts are covered in grease/oil.

Exhaust is about to separate at flange near the 2 way cat due to rust.

There is a fairly loud clicking noise coming from the area of my PS pump.


Alot of these I knew needed attention like the LCA, struts and exhaust and the others I kind of suspected might be any issue but I did not think they were as bad as they are.

SSSSSOOOOO I wonder what I'm going to find the next time around lol

The decision now is whether or not to pull the motor and reseal everything, get a used motor or sell the car? HHMMM

 

Looks like you have a lot on your plate there. With these cars its like a never ending chain or problems/weekend projects. No matter how you look at it its all going to need attention and its all going to add up. If it really is all just seals and you have the extra time you can just pull the motor and buy a seal and gasket kit from Lexus or Toyota for less than $200 and give it a basic overhaul. As for the exhaust, I had mine separate from that same flange. At the time I needed that old rusty exhaust so I had a muffler shop weld it closed and it ended costing me only $20. Its doable since that area is all aluminum. I see you also have the suspension and PS pump to deal with also. Just do what you have to do first to keep the car running. Good luck!

~I went ahead and moved your thread over the the Performance/Maintenance section. Maybe more people can give you some input or advice on how to go about taking care of your issues. ~

 

LOL yeah find myself working on the SC most free weekends lol. I'm really thinking about pulling the motor I'm just a bit hesitant because I have never pulled one before. I'm sure it would be the cheapest fix, considering I have to drop close to a grand just on LCA's and struts lol


NOTE: I'm curious would I have to pull the engine out entirely to change the oil pan seals or can I just lift it?

 

You can just loosen the mount and jack it up and you good that's what i would do
GL man

 

Sweet so I dont have to worry about taking the whole damn engine out for oil pan seals. Now I'm off to harbor freight to an engine hoist. Any easy way to change the RSM seal lol?

Well the exhaust leak will be taken care of Friday when my heads come in , now I'm crossing my fingers about passing visual inspection lol.

 

Just a thought since I'm doing the LCA's and struts, do you think it would be a good idea to change the Rack and pinion as well, there is right around 180k on the car now?