Ok, so I have now owned my Lexus LX 450 for two weeks. I noticed a small oil leak. Don't know if this will turn into a serious problem or something simple to address. It has 137K miles on it, and it runs very good. It is going on a rack tomorrow and being looked at. I have read about people having problems with the engine blowing head gaskets, which kind-of frightened me. I don't want this to happen, but what can you do? What do you guys recommend I should do at this point as far as maintenance? I absolutely like this vehicle and plan on keeping it until it falls apart. Took me forever to find one! Thanks - David

Have a pressure test done on the engine and also get a a computer diagnostics, if you start getting cyl no 6 errors your head gasket is starting to act up - (check your oil also for a milkshake looking consistency)don't delay because the longer you wait.....more damage is done, I just had my head gasket done with a head rebuild for $2000 - Make sure your mechanic does not use the OG alumimun gasket- these are the ones that fail !!!

It's important to monitor and keep your cooling system in top running order. I do a coolant flush and fill about every 18 months. I've installed a new cooling fan, and in order to more closely monitor engine temperatures, I've modified the factory temperature gauge to get rid of the built in dead zone of the factory gauge. The factory guage has a 30 degree or so dead zone built into it. You'll notice your gauge never goes above the mid point, that's because of this dead zone. If you're engine temperatures get hot enough to move past this dead zone, you have a cooling system problem. Without the dead zone in there, I'm better informed how the engine is performing, so hopefully a coolant problem doesn't creep up and hit me when it's too late.

Edit: I about forgot the most important thing... the coolant. Don't mix different types and make sure to use the right kind. Toyota Red's the safe bet. Almost all of the coolants that you buy at the autostore, have an ingredient in it that is not compatible with the headgaskets that are in these vehicles. The old Prestone green was okay, but not anymore.

Rookie

Thanks for the information. I just had the tranny serviced and going to do a coolant change during the first of next year.

problems with head gaskets are relatively rare.

did you track down the source of the leak?

The last time I saw the poll, it was at about 1 in 5. That means one of us in this thread has either already had one fail, or is overdue.

How did you mod the gauge? I've been thinking about replacing it for the same reason. Jag is famous for these gauges.


Agreed. I would add that the coolant should only be mixed with distilled water, otherwise you're looking at mineral deposits down the road, especially on the water pump.

Yeh, I was looking into adding a guage, but it just seemed that changing the factory gauge wouldn't be that difficult. After getting some wheels turning on another cruiser forum, somebody much smarter than me went to work on it. And he did an excellent job. His username is Raventai on IH8MUD.com. He ran some calculations and then set up a test bed to verify his calculations on a extra gauge someone provided. ANyways, he worked out what resistors need to be changed to, and did a great writeup on how to fix the gauge to elliminate the dead spot. Not too hard of a mod, and alot cheaper than installing a gauge on the A pillar.

Here's the link, with everything you need to do this mod:

http://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/642...dification.html

Regards,
Rookie

Wow. I totally forgot about replying to this. Anyways, turns out there was a seal busted in the wheel. It was fixed and is not there anymore.