Hi all

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a 1997 LX450 with 167K miles on her. So far we love it! I had a '94 Land Cruiser before, but unfortunately she was totalled in an accident I really love the character that these old tanks have, and I'm looking forward to working on my LX. She's a worthy addition to the stable.

I do have a question re: the oil level gauge. I had the same problem in my Land Cruiser before: when I am idling at a stoplight, the oil level gauge drops to low, but when I accelerate, the needle rises to between High and Mid. Is this normal? I just did an oil change, and the dipstick level showed the level was around where it should be. The low oil light does not come on.

Thanks, and I'm looking forward to learning more from the forums, and hopefully I can contribute too!

I believe you're actually talking about the oil pressure gauge (there is no oil level guage, only an annuciator light that kicks on when the level gets low). Oil pressure increases when you accelarate and decreases when you're at idle, so the guage movement is normal. There's a nice little illustration in your owners manual that shows the normal ranges that your gauge should fall in under idle and acceleration.

Regards,
Rookie

Thanks! I actually bought both my Land Cruiser and my LX450 used, and neither of them came with owners manuals, but thank you for clearing that up for me!

Rookie's right -- it's the oil pressure gauge you're looking at.

I don't know if it's still offered, but I was able to get a replacement owner's manual sent to me free of charge from the Lexus.com page. All I had to do was enter the VIN for my LX 450 and my address and they sent a replacement to me.

somewhere in the "owners" section -- you should see the tab on the main page.

My 96 LX450 does the exact same thing. Haven't had any oil pressure problems, except the one time the cap on the oil reservoir shook loose and emptied all the engine oil out. Easy and cheap to fix but quite a scare to lose the pressure so suddenly and completely.

[font="Tahoma"][/font]Many congrats on your new "baby"!
I'm sure it's normal for the pressure gauge to show low while idling & high when on the go.
I also had a '94 Land Cruiser that my husband totaled in an accident & he replaced it with my 97 LX450. She's pushing 180K miles & still runs like new!! We're military so we do a lot of road travel!
BTW: I noticed your from Buffalo. . . I have a trusted mechanic friend (former Marine) from there that worked on my Land Cruiser a time or two. He's great! just in case.