2000 Rx-300 Engine Problems

[Ibuild]

I own a 2000 rx-300, I purchased it with 55,000 miles it was a one owner. My wife drives this car and we have the oil changed every 4000 miles. we had the local toyota dealer do the 60,000 mile maintaince/ check up they did not report any problems. the car now has 90,000 miles on it and the check engine light stays on. I asked some toyota tech.s and they informed mr that it was probally due to the car needing its 90,000 mile dealer checkup. the car began making a thumping noise and stoped on my wife last week. I was advised it was a timing belt failer. I purchased a new belt and tension , from toyota and installed. After all of this I cranked the engine and it began making the same noise and cut off, the check engine light was blinking as well as the oil light. I changed the oil and filter myself about two weeks ago and took the oil pan off to install new gasket sealent, I noticed that the pan was burent looking and the oil pick up screen was almost compleatly cloged i took the pick up off and cleaned it in my parts washer and cleaned the inside of the pan as well, and reinstalled both. I called the toyota dealer about this problem and they dont seem to know what the problem might be, I am thinking the moter might be shot due to sluge. I need advise on what to do next, like most people we a tight with money now and i dont want to spend alot of money just to find out that the engine is shot. PLEASE HELP!!!

[lenore]

There is a 8 year warranty on sludged engines. Suggest you pursue this with Lexus.

[Ibuild]

Thanks, I have the car at the lexus dealer and they did a inspection and informed me that the engine was locked-up,due to oil sludge. I summited all my oil change recepts and my lexus service recepts(every 4000 miles). The service manager informed me that he had to turn in all of findings to the Atlanta office,and they would decide on the repair. The service manager told me from what he saw there sould not be any reason why Lexus will not replace the engine at thier cost. The down side of this is that he also told me that the repair would take 48 to 60 days and lexus would not allow me a rental car for use during the repair, i could rent a car and after the repair i could turn in the cost and Lexus may or may not reinburst me for the rental. There is suppose to be 3 other rx-300's at the same dealership waiting for parts ahead of me for the same repairs. If ANYONE has any suggestions that may help me through this please let me know!!!!!!!!

[edwardh1]

Thanks, I have the car at the lexus dealer and they did a inspection and informed me that the engine was locked-up,due to oil sludge. I summited all my oil change recepts and my lexus service recepts(every 4000 miles). The service manager informed me that he had to turn in all of findings to the Atlanta office,and they would decide on the repair. The service manager told me from what he saw there sould not be any reason why Lexus will not replace the engine at thier cost. The down side of this is that he also told me that the repair would take 48 to 60 days and lexus would not allow me a rental car for use during the repair, i could rent a car and after the repair i could turn in the cost and Lexus may or may not reinburst me for the rental. There is suppose to be 3 other rx-300's at the same dealership waiting for parts ahead of me for the same repairs. If ANYONE has any suggestions that may help me through this please let me know!!!!!!!!

what was the oil change frequency of the previous owner, when you bought it at 55000 miles?

[Ibuild]

Thanks, I have the car at the lexus dealer and they did a inspection and informed me that the engine was locked-up,due to oil sludge. I summited all my oil change recepts and my lexus service recepts(every 4000 miles). The service manager informed me that he had to turn in all of findings to the Atlanta office,and they would decide on the repair. The service manager told me from what he saw there sould not be any reason why Lexus will not replace the engine at thier cost. The down side of this is that he also told me that the repair would take 48 to 60 days and lexus would not allow me a rental car for use during the repair, i could rent a car and after the repair i could turn in the cost and Lexus may or may not reinburst me for the rental. There is suppose to be 3 other rx-300's at the same dealership waiting for parts ahead of me for the same repairs. If ANYONE has any suggestions that may help me through this please let me know!!!!!!!!

what was the oil change frequency of the previous owner, when you bought it at 55000 miles?

[

what was the oil change frequency of the previous owner, when you bought it at 55000 miles?

I did not have that information when I bought the car, It was a Lexus leased car that came off a 2 year leased program. Maybe lexus pulled the service records from the vin number from the previous owner.

The lexus dealer has pulled the engine from the car and they are waiting on the new engine to com in to install. The dealership said that the 48 day turn around has since been reduced due to lexus steping up and responding to the repairs and the demands placed upon them.

[tmastres]

So I'm assuming you (and Lexus) used standard dino oil in all the oil cahnges that you know were done on the vehicle? I mention this becuase your story of having a sludge related failure even though you did regular 4k oil changes seems to prove, at least partially , that doing regular oc's with dino oil is not enough toprotect from sludge. A point that has been debated on this forum several times in the past.

[Bob1998es300]

I have a 1998 Lexus ES300.

My car was off a lease plan and I did not have the service information. I received a letter from Toyota about the sludge problem. About that time (at 75K miles),I experienced the problem. I contacted the Lexus dealer in Huntsville AL and they promply scheduled a repair and furnished a new ES300 during the week repair. No hassle about the previous oil changes or loaner car. Since the dealer/factory sponsored sludge repair at 75K, I've only used Full Syn and change it myself every 5K. The car now has 149K miles without oil useage or problems until 3 weeks ago when about 2 miles from home the oil pressure light flicked a few times then stayed on. Oil level was full.

Since the oil sensor was low cost, I replaced it. Oil light was off until the engine warmed then same problem as before. I next added a Gunk flush to the existing oil and let it idle for 5 minutes per recommendations. I then changed oil and filter. Same o same o. Next I connected an oil pressure gauge (liquid) to the sensor port to be sure I don't have instrument or electrical problems.

At cold idle, the gauge reads about 20-25PSI. At warm idle 15-20PSI. At 3000RPM, the pressure drops to 5 PSI or less. According to what I have found idle, pressure should read 43-70 PSI or so at 3000RPM.

I might add that I parked the car immediately after the light came on and now only crank it to test. No noises so far.

My next step was to drop the oil pan and check/clean the oil pickup screen. That turned out to be an easy task on the 98. According to some sources on the internet, the oil pump is pretty reliable but a suspect if the pickup is ok.

Turns out that a 2" piece and smaller bits of the black RTV that was used on the lower oil pan as a gasket was clogging the screen. I cleaned the oil case cavity and the pick up screen and replaced the black RTV with an after-market Felpro gasket (about $10) from Auto Zone.

My oil pressure gauge then read 75 PSI at cold idle and about 60 at warm up.

Hope this helps someone with a similiar problem.

[SludgeBoy]

Need help!!

I have the sludge problem on my 1999 RX 300. Engine shot. I need input on how to deal with Lexus customer service. Out of class action warranty (8 yrs 2 months) but only 102K on the engine. Changed my oil routinely etc. Lexus only giving me a partial discount. Any suggestions? Thanks

[Paticake]

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007...settlement.html

I found this to be interesting, it says 8 yrs and 120 days......

Good luck

[lexrx3]

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007...settlement.html

I found this to be interesting, it says 8 yrs and 120 days......

Good luck

I'm in Hunterdon too and I'm curious where you have your car serviced? I've have an 01 RX 300 with 74,000 on it.

[Paticake]

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007...settlement.html

I found this to be interesting, it says 8 yrs and 120 days......

Good luck

I'm in Hunterdon too and I'm curious where you have your car serviced? I've have an 01 RX 300 with 74,000 on it.

I have only done oil changes, trans. fluid change, and brakes at Midas. Looking @ James Toyota for timing belt. Have 93K on 02 Rx 300.

[lexrx3]

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007...settlement.html

I found this to be interesting, it says 8 yrs and 120 days......

Good luck

I'm in Hunterdon too and I'm curious where you have your car serviced? I've have an 01 RX 300 with 74,000 on it.

I have only done oil changes, trans. fluid change, and brakes at Midas. Looking @ James Toyota for timing belt. Have 93K on 02 Rx 300.

I've used Fisher Autobody in Flemington for a lot of work on my car and I'm extremely satisfied. Unfortunately body work too and their very good. I will go to them for the timing belt when its due. James is definitely cheaper than a Lexus dealer but Fisher was signifianctly cheaper than James on the repairs I've had done. Airconditioning, full brake job, heating cooling issues and most recently the replacement of an exhaust gasket and air fuel sensor. They do oil changes etc too but I normally do that myself. Anyway, their worth a call unless you feel you must have the timing belt done by a dealer.

[pmerryman]

I have seen Lexus repair and replace engines due to the sludge problem outside of the 8yr sludge SPA. You need to call 800-25LEXUS. Enough complaining will result in action. Do NOT listen to what the dealer says, call Lexus directly.

[shortyhodge]

Ok guys, new to this forum but wanted to pick up on this topic of "sludge" and also interject a few other concerns I am dealing with.

1st, did I miss something or should "we" as registered Lexus owners be made aware of this class action lawsuit? I have a 2000 RX and my car is at Lexus as I type with multiple issues that a claims adjuster (elaborte on in a minute) says the cause of damage is as a result of maitenance and sludge.

2nd, if my car is at Lexus, has been serviced at Lexus 2 twice for 75k and 100k services, there was no mention of "sludge". Does this develop overnight? I bought this car in 2004 used with 60k miles with one owner. Ihave the manual and all his service records from Lexus but again no mention of sludge..... Is there a way that Lexus or any dealer/mechanic for that reason can print me off a list of every repair, service or oil change ever made to my car thru the VIN#?????

Lastly if the suit is 8 yrs and 120 days I believe I am out of this range owning a 2000 unless is there like a "born on date" or something to see what the actual date was??? Sorry, I know now it is completely obvious I am a woman and a bud light fan. Should I still call Lexus?

------------------------------------

Okay now onto the serious stuff......

I am like most that relies on the little sticker they put in my window to determine when the next oil change is due.... afterwards I trash the receipts and check it off my list of things to do!

On Nov. 23rd I brought my car to WalMart one Sunday after church for an oli change. We had some shopping to do and we had an upcoming 644 mi drive that I wanted it changed prior to.

I had a coupon from Tire Kingdom for a 16.99 oil change so I was on a mission! ( Wal Mart excepts competitors coupons BTW). The encounter from the very minute I stepped foot into there Tire and Lube was horrible. The girl at the desk would not accept the coupon, was nasty and finally I called for a manger, who also wouldn't accept the coupon. I finally had them look up their own coupon policy at walmart.com that clearly states they do accept them etc.... so now I think we are getting somewhere!

Husband kids and I did some shopping, played with toys, rode bikes in the store etc..... and went back to check on the status. After 1.5 hours- STILL NOTHING. Went back to playing with toys riding bikes etc..... another 1 hour passed..... then the claws came out! The promised our car was next so we sat for another 30 minutes and it was done. GREAT we paid and off we went. THEN the feeling hit- ever had the feeling as if someone has sabotaged you?

Almost immediatley after we left the car started driving really funny. It started making noises and just no running smoothly. It has 156k so I just assumed maybe it was coming to it's life expectancy end. Having toyotas in the past that had 250k it just seems a little early. So I continued to drive it as normal and the nosie was persistent. My husband heard it everytime he drove it too- so I know it wasn't me imagining things. The noise was like a loud fanning noise as if a fan was racing. It seemed to be a little louder when I was turning or accelerating.

2.5 to 3 weeks later the oil light started sporadically coming and going. I just fiured it was something with the light and not actually the oil since it was just changed. We ended up making our trip to VA and back to drop off the kids at the in-laws for a week (woohoo) and on the way the AC stopped working for a period of time. I have never had problems with the AC. I have had the air flow sensors replaced but that is it for the rough idoling.

We drove home that night and the car started sputtering as we were almost pulling into our neighborhood. Of course I had ome pictures on the dash of the kids, my husband pulled them off and the check engine light was on. I don't know when this came on...... I know BAD! I have been plenty scolded about it. So we talked about it for a day and what the possible course of action we would take and who to take it to Lexus vs. smaller local mechanic.

That Tuesday morning I called Lexus and spoke with the same service rep that has worked with me in the past! What a great guy and in conversation we go to the same church. That is a great feeling to know you have an honest person in your corner! I outlined everything I just did above for him and he suggested I bring it in ASAP. He asked the colors of the lights etc... and suggested I not drive it but tow it. I ended up taking my chances because it would be 3 hours before a tow could get to me. Dropped off the car, picked up a wonerful 08' 400h loaner and off I went. Next day got a call from Lexus stating that the car was missing 4.5 quarts of oil and that noise I was hearing was the oil pump. It is damaged. Oh and BTW it also appeared that the OLD oil filter was still on the car....Then a few days went by, New Years came and went and the following Monday I received the news that not only was the oil pump not functioning properly but they had insected the engine and there was internal engine damage as well! The suggested replacing the oil pump and the long block engine to the tune of 11K- OH, is that all???

So needless to say I called Wal Mart, emailed their corporate hq in Arkansas and called my prepaid legal attorney! Wal Mart was to send a claims adjuster in the next few days to Lexus to view my car. In the mean time the rep from Wal Mart's claims department was calling and harrasing me as to who had done my previous oil changes eluding to the fact that the maitenance was not kept up. still not sure what that has to do with 4.5 quarts of oil being absent from the car.....

Their claims department came out took several pictures of everything Lexus had found and did their own inspection as well. In addition to what we already knew they found that the oil pump screen was clogged and severly blocked, they found extensive sludge and they found oil leaks in the rear seal and bill house (??) not sure if that's right but I think that is what they said. I am still awaiting a copy of this report.

Wal Mart did note that there may be sludge when they did the oil change and may cause engine oil burn off.

They also noted that I had 77k for mileage, I have 156k

They also noted that they filled my car with 5qt of oil and replaced the filter, checked tire pressure and checked fluids.

They also noted that my car pre-fill was full of oil- Now no rocket scientist here BUT if they are trying to say that due to the past maitenance of lack thereof is what casused the engine and oil pump to fail and there were to oil leaks to a slow drip.... which was there exact words..... how the hell did 4.5 qts of oil not leak out of my car from Sept. when my husband changed it last until I took car to Wal Mart in end of November????? But due to the same leaks this is what caused my car to leak 4.5 qts of oil in less than 1 months time????

They said the Wal Mart techs use a wax crayon to make the plug- which has not been tampered with... it aligns perfectly- STILL.

If I lost almost a gallon of oil in the driveway I think we could see it...... you can see evidence of oil spoys on the driveway but that are VERY little.....

HELP!!! I am going to have to sue Wal Mart and I don't know how to fight this other that stating the obvious above- any suggestions on how I can further button up my case to tell how they did not due their job to create this problem???

[lenore]

Well after reading, I do believe Walmart failed to put oil in the crankcase or didnt fill properlly, The bad, was that you covered your light and didnt stop driving it. I am afraid from my perspective, you both were at fault....Bad mistake, and quite costly....Oil pump is not bad, but the damage that was caused from no lubrication or very little can be a disaster. My neighbor found you can get a rebuilt long block (the whole engine minus all accessories for $3800, but the labor to install is what will kill you.... Sorry to be the messenger of bad news...

[tmastres]

Well after reading, I do believe Walmart failed to put oil in the crankcase or didnt fill properlly.

IMHO this is where it ends. Whether its around the block or across the country, driving a vehicle without oil in the case means the engine is compromised. Those responsible for the error are liable for making you "whole" again which means a new engine on their dime. It's an intolerable mistake, no excuses.

[lenore]

I agree, my train of thought was not good last night, Walmart should buy this one....

[SludgeBoy]

Well after reading, I do believe Walmart failed to put oil in the crankcase or didnt fill properlly, The bad, was that you covered your light and didnt stop driving it. I am afraid from my perspective, you both were at fault....Bad mistake, and quite costly....Oil pump is not bad, but the damage that was caused from no lubrication or very little can be a disaster. My neighbor found you can get a rebuilt long block (the whole engine minus all accessories for $3800, but the labor to install is what will kill you.... Sorry to be the messenger of bad news...