Lexus Es300 96

[Pambie]

1996 Lexus ES300, one owner, bought in 2003 for $9,000 with approx. 80,000 miles.

This has been the best car that I have ever owned, relatively few repairs, etc. I put on a set of new tires, and had it inspected regularly along with regular oil changes. I have had the inspection & minor repairs taken care of by a local Exxon service center.

In March of 2008, the car was running sluggishly so I took it in & they removed the valve cover, cleaned old gasket material & replaced with new gaskets (cost $448.03); in January of 08 it had throttle bore service.

The car now has about $143,000 miles. Since having the gasket/valve work done, it seemed to go through a lot of oil and when I started the car it would emit a lot of smoke initially but ran fine otherwise. It passed inspection fine in May of 2008.

On 11/14 the car began running poorly and the check engine light came on. When I took it in, Exxon told me that the "test failed systems & sensors"; the gentleman told me that it was spraying oil into the engine and it was only a matter of time ("3 days or 3 months" ... he couldn't tell me). Said it would cost several thousand to rebuild the engine.

I am presently unemployed (was recently laid off) & do not have any funds to buy a new car. Any advice? Should I get a second opinion or is the car shot?

They cleaned the #2 spark plug & it is running fine right now.

Thanks!

[George_Jetson]

White smoke at startup is the valve stem seals.

You state that the engine started going thru a lot of oil after they did the valve cover gaskets. Have you noticed oil spots where you park? Can you smell burning oil (as in oil leaking out of the valve covers and burning on the exhaust headers)?

If it started right after the gasket replacement, chances are you should see some signs of leakage. While you are inspecting the engine, make sure the pcv valve is pluged into the valve cover correctly. It should fit into the rubber gromet snuggly. Some people with that a whatever attitude on this, on my car, someone had wrapped electrical tape around it. The correct grommet is only a couple dollars at a auto parts store.

As for the spark plug, was the outside of the plug also oilly? The valve cover cover could leak enough to short the wires. If the outside is not oilly, then a compression check tell you what the problem is. Check all the cylinders, and record the values. They should be app 5 to 10% of each other. If one is much lower than the rest, put app a teaspoon of oil into the cylinder. If the pressure rises significantly, you have bad rings.

[Pambie]

White smoke at startup is the valve stem seals.

You state that the engine started going thru a lot of oil after they did the valve cover gaskets. Have you noticed oil spots where you park? Can you smell burning oil (as in oil leaking out of the valve covers and burning on the exhaust headers)?

If it started right after the gasket replacement, chances are you should see some signs of leakage. While you are inspecting the engine, make sure the pcv valve is pluged into the valve cover correctly. It should fit into the rubber gromet snuggly. Some people with that a whatever attitude on this, on my car, someone had wrapped electrical tape around it. The correct grommet is only a couple dollars at a auto parts store.

As for the spark plug, was the outside of the plug also oilly? The valve cover cover could leak enough to short the wires. If the outside is not oilly, then a compression check tell you what the problem is. Check all the cylinders, and record the values. They should be app 5 to 10% of each other. If one is much lower than the rest, put app a teaspoon of oil into the cylinder. If the pressure rises significantly, you have bad rings.

Ummm, I am a female and a lot of this is Greek to me. I should tell you that when I would get the oil changed, there was always a problem with sludge prior to the valve cover job.

Should I take it to a dealership?

[Pambie]

PS: No, I did not see oil leaks.

[George_Jetson]

I think the what the guy from Exxon said sounds a little funny. Stay away from dealers, especially Lexus dealers! You will end up paying way too much for the repair. You need to get a good independant mechanic to look at it and give you a estimate on what really needs to be done. Also, do not have the engine rebuilt. There are several dealers on ebay that sell used engines from Japan. They have such strict emissions laws in Japan, that they have to replace the engine at around 40 to 60K miles. You can get one of these engines delivered for less than $1000. Of course it will cost a few more bills to have it installed. I have installed several of these engines, and have not yet found a bad one (of course having said that, I am sure that the next one will have issuse)!