lexusboii Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 has anybody here had sludge clean before?....My rx300 is in service now and they will clean all the sludge, and replace valves cover and so on..... but will this problem happen agian? Im really worried, I think I will trade this SUV and get MDX or something else....any helps???? thanks all..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Tang Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 if you do a search online and on here, you will find that pre-01 rx300's have a history of sludge problems witn this v6 engine. the later models had redesigned oil passages in the head that reduced the sludge issue. other toyotas that use the pre-redesign engine (eg. camry, sienna), have fallen victim as well. it was blamed on lack of scheduled oil changes or low mileage/engine sitting too long, but even some of the properly dealer-maintained ones have gone bad. is this a lexus dealer that is doing the service for you? you're lucky... my dealer won't even acknowledge the problem even exists, despite a technical service bulletins indicating otherwise. i believe toyota has also extended the powertrain warranty on affected models, provided you have proof of proper scheduled maintenance. i've seen that info posted here before but i don't have the time to look... please search online for more details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexusboii Posted November 22, 2006 Author Share Posted November 22, 2006 if you do a search online and on here, you will find that pre-01 rx300's have a history of sludge problems witn this v6 engine. the later models had redesigned oil passages in the head that reduced the sludge issue. other toyotas that use the pre-redesign engine (eg. camry, sienna), have fallen victim as well. it was blamed on lack of scheduled oil changes or low mileage/engine sitting too long, but even some of the properly dealer-maintained ones have gone bad. is this a lexus dealer that is doing the service for you? you're lucky... my dealer won't even acknowledge the problem even exists, despite a technical service bulletins indicating otherwise. i believe toyota has also extended the powertrain warranty on affected models, provided you have proof of proper scheduled maintenance. i've seen that info posted here before but i don't have the time to look... please search online for more details. thank you for replying Tang... yes, I have my car in service at local Lexus now...... I only have this rx300 for 3 months and I just changed my first oil at Toyota and found this problem, rightnow i don't know whether I should keep this rx300 or trade it? any advices... So will this problem happen agian? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arens Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 If you like the RX 300 I would suggest you start using synthetic oil. This should eliminate any sludge issues. As said above it is a design issue. As long as you are using dino based oil the sludge issue has a chance to come back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexusboii Posted November 22, 2006 Author Share Posted November 22, 2006 If you like the RX 300 I would suggest you start using synthetic oil. This should eliminate any sludge issues. As said above it is a design issue. As long as you are using dino based oil the sludge issue has a chance to come back. I dont know about previous owner, but I always use mobile 1 synthic oil for all my vehicles...And with this rx300 this is my first oil change...So are you sure it will never happen agian? my wife really love this rx300.....I have no idea.....thank you all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ericok Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 If you like the RX 300 I would suggest you start using synthetic oil. This should eliminate any sludge issues. As said above it is a design issue. As long as you are using dino based oil the sludge issue has a chance to come back. I dont know about previous owner, but I always use mobile 1 synthic oil for all my vehicles...And with this rx300 this is my first oil change...So are you sure it will never happen agian? my wife really love this rx300.....I have no idea.....thank you all If you change your oil every 5,000 miles you won't have a problem with sludge. Good if you use synthetic but still change every 5,000 miles. Some also recommend changing the PCV valve every 24 months. Toyota does have an 8 year unlimited miles warranty on this engine against sludge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexusboii Posted November 22, 2006 Author Share Posted November 22, 2006 If you like the RX 300 I would suggest you start using synthetic oil. This should eliminate any sludge issues. As said above it is a design issue. As long as you are using dino based oil the sludge issue has a chance to come back. I dont know about previous owner, but I always use mobile 1 synthic oil for all my vehicles...And with this rx300 this is my first oil change...So are you sure it will never happen agian? my wife really love this rx300.....I have no idea.....thank you all If you change your oil every 5,000 miles you won't have a problem with sludge. Good if you use synthetic but still change every 5,000 miles. Some also recommend changing the PCV valve every 24 months. Toyota does have an 8 year unlimited miles warranty on this engine against sludge. good to hear that Eric.... My wife will not trade this rx300 for MDX or, it's 01 rx300 AWD 50,000mi + Navi......and we put remote starter, System DVD player, TVs... .....But I will ask LExus dealer about this when i pick up....thanks alll... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthonyiez Posted November 24, 2006 Share Posted November 24, 2006 its funny...every customer i have that takes good care of their vehicle, this has never happened. i have a camry here right now, that didn't take to kindly to not having its oil changed for almost 15k miles. the guy is actually surprised that the engine locked up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RXHound Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 thank you for replying Tang... yes, I have my car in service at local Lexus now...... I only have this rx300 for 3 months and I just changed my first oil at Toyota and found this problem, rightnow i don't know whether I should keep this rx300 or trade it? any advices... So will this problem happen agian? What do you mean that changing oil at Toyota they found this problem, did they see sludge? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gp1200x Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 I would be curious to know what the dealer does to remove this "sludge" once they find it. They can manually clean the covers, pan (probably not!) and valve train but they would not get it all out. Hopefully there is some flush that they would follow through with. I don't normally like to flush engines but I do it on the RX occassionally. I only run Mobile 1 in it and change around 5K with filter. A flushing changes the fluids' viscosity so it can get messy and splatter easily. I also let it drain for a very long time to remove as much of the oil as possible. I'm over 100K and I have never found anything in the oil to make me think I have any sludge buildup, but I will always keep using Mobile 1 since this is a design defect that cannot be rectified. I would think that if they clean the sludge and you run Mobile 1 (or any synthetic) you will have no problems. There are more serious problems to worry about in life...like when the RX tranny will crap out on a trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexusboii Posted November 27, 2006 Author Share Posted November 27, 2006 I would be curious to know what the dealer does to remove this "sludge" once they find it. They can manually clean the covers, pan (probably not!) and valve train but they would not get it all out. Hopefully there is some flush that they would follow through with. I don't normally like to flush engines but I do it on the RX occassionally. I only run Mobile 1 in it and change around 5K with filter. A flushing changes the fluids' viscosity so it can get messy and splatter easily. I also let it drain for a very long time to remove as much of the oil as possible. I'm over 100K and I have never found anything in the oil to make me think I have any sludge buildup, but I will always keep using Mobile 1 since this is a design defect that cannot be rectified. I would think that if they clean the sludge and you run Mobile 1 (or any synthetic) you will have no problems. There are more serious problems to worry about in life...like when the RX tranny will crap out on a trip. Thank you gp1200x............... I will pick up my rx300 on Tuesday, of course I will ask them how did they remove it and is it all out?? and also they said that they will replace covers, pan and so on...... I always use Mobile 1 for all my vehicles and have them change every 3000--4000 miles.... We may trade it with Acura MDX or 2006 Honda Accord v6........I will never get another Lexus... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gp1200x Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 If you do get rid of it pick the MDX. I know a few that have them and none ever complain about it. They all love it. I have a Honda and I am not that impressed with it. My next SUV will be the MDX. I rode in X5 and X3s and the insides did not impress me but I think the BMW engineering surpasses anything out of Japan. The brakes on most of the BMWs are massive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexusboii Posted November 28, 2006 Author Share Posted November 28, 2006 I just picked up my Rx300...And on the way home my engine light comes on agian... when I 'm at stop light and hit acelerator, the engine light comes on and I also I still hear that pinging noise as I hit acelerator...And my local Lexus advisor told me that it maybe comes from knock sensor...... Here is what they did: they cleaned the sludge and changed some parts and replaced main seal...I have no idea, just talked to them, and they said I might need to replace the knock sensor... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gp1200x Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 There's a ton of things that will turn it on...they need to pull the code to see what it really is before they attempt anything. I wouldn't assume anything ...and those sensors from Lexus are probably expensive compared to a local auto store. They can pull the code or a place like AutoZone can and it should only take a minute. It may be a cheap or expensive fix.. ...plus it will fail inspection in most states if that light is on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexusboii Posted November 30, 2006 Author Share Posted November 30, 2006 When I picked my rx300, they told me that the engine light might comes on agian, i have no idea.... Ok so today it on agian, just talked to them and maybe this time, they will change knock sensor for sure....I have no idea what they will do to fix this engine light??? Im tired of this problem. First I brought this rx300 in for engine light then they adiviced to change rear main seal then oil sludge, but the engine light still comes on agian. any helps?? will the engine light goes away if they change knock sensor???? thanks all.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ericok Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 When I picked my rx300, they told me that the engine light might comes on agian, i have no idea.... Ok so today it on agian, just talked to them and maybe this time, they will change knock sensor for sure....I have no idea what they will do to fix this engine light??? Im tired of this problem. First I brought this rx300 in for engine light then they adiviced to change rear main seal then oil sludge, but the engine light still comes on agian. any helps?? will the engine light goes away if they change knock sensor???? thanks all.... You don't know if changing the knock sensor will fix the check engine light. It depends on what problem triggered the light. The dealer shouldn't have to guess. The computer stores a code which identifies the problem system - the dealer just has to follow the diagnostic procedure to isolate and fix it. From your description, your major problem seems to be the dealer - not the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexusboii Posted December 3, 2006 Author Share Posted December 3, 2006 continious my engine light problem........ my rx300 engine light was on 2 days ago. And In this morning, when I started it, the engine light is gone. It has happened like this many times. And that what I told to the Lexus dealer. Other times, it was on when my gf drove it up hill road....and sometimes, she turned on the key and it on rightaway.....Is this maybe dirty fuel? last time Lexus put fuel injector cleaner and I just put another 1 last time. So any ideas?? thanks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sailandpower Posted March 26, 2010 Share Posted March 26, 2010 My 2000 RX300 whose engine destroyed itself because of the oil sludge problem. In March 2010, Lexus reimbursed me 50% ($3,550 of the $7,100)of the cost to install a remanufactured engine. FYI, Lexus lost a class action suit (www.oilgelsettlement.com) and commonly paid 100% of the repair for if the car was less than 8.3 yrs old and it was properly maintained. Has anyone else had a recent experience? What % of the repair cost did Lexus pay? Thanks. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imsoco Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 My 2000 RX300 whose engine destroyed itself because of the oil sludge problem. In March 2010, Lexus reimbursed me 50% ($3,550 of the $7,100)of the cost to install a remanufactured engine. FYI, Lexus lost a class action suit (www.oilgelsettlement.com) and commonly paid 100% of the repair for if the car was less than 8.3 yrs old and it was properly maintained. Has anyone else had a recent experience? What % of the repair cost did Lexus pay? Thanks. Don I was offered 50% repair, not replacement. The repair estimate for a clean up of the engine was over $8000. I'd like more information on how you got a replacement engine. Was it from the dealer? I'd pay that much if it came with more than the three month guaranty, a guaranty that it will be back to smoking intensely within 3 months. I started a website after doing a little research. www.lexuslemon.info. I'll have more data loaded this afternoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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