Oil Gelling And Tranny Worries...

[Tiredoldman]

Hi everybody. I used to drop in when I had my SC300 a few years back.

Well, I just bought a 99 RX300 yesterday. It has 81,000 miles and seems to have been

well maintained. My mechanic checked it and gave his approval. Anyway, after the fact,

I've been reading about the car and I've managed to freak myself out regarding the possibility of transmission

problems and oil gelling.

The transmission does seem to whine just a bit. No way could I afford 4 grand to fix it

if it goes out.

The oil looks clean, but from what I've read now, even the folks who did proper oil changes

have had the gelling problem on some cars.

To be honest I'm shocked as hell about this stuff because my former impression of Lexus

cars was that they were almost bullet proof.

Am I a worry wort or are these problems that I should concern myself with?

I'm not sure I would have purchased the car if I had known about these possible problems.

The car actually did spend some time in Chicago in a cold climate before the owner moved

here to CA.

[PK_3]

I live in California , bought mine used, and I have the same mileage. I‘ve had the transmission rebuilt and my motor shows all the signs of gell.

Lexus wants 1 to 2 hundred to take the valve covers off and confirm the gell. If your not smoking or using oil don’t sweat it on the trans.,you can do a lot better than 4k, find a good indie.

I to am quite disappointed by this thing. I’ve always bought German and at least I knew what I was in for...if anything. I’d have though the best Japan could offer would fool proof.

Regards, PK

[Tiredoldman]

I might not keep it very long if I have to live with the fear of expensive repairs.

[djspawn00]

I have a 2000 solara with the same v6 engine... toyota extended my warranty should sludge become an issue after a class action lawsuit... I pulled my Valve Covers the other day at at 60k... it looks clean... I only use full synthetics though...

I think the warranty extension applied to lexus vehicles also.

[lenore]

The warranty was 8 years 120 days. Good luck, by the way I have 157k miles but use a class 4 synthetic. Castrol 0-30 european formula is such a synthetic. Also Amsoil, and some Mobil 1.....My neighbor had only 51k miles on his highlander and the engine is sludged, maintenance performed by Toyota on schedule. But dino oil..... As for the tranny drain and fills every 15k miles, but not a flush....

[Tiredoldman]

Our mechanic(who is really great and very honest) said that if it blows he can fix it for $3000. That's little comfort since my girlfriend waits tables and for 3 grand the car would have to sit for years if the tranny blows.

He said that out of the high number of these cars made, sure some transmissions are going to go out.

He said that transmissions go out on ALL cars.

He thinks that I'm a worrywort.

Thing is, I had SC's and never had a hint of trouble. And I know that they go 2 or 3 hundred K, trouble free.

So I'm shocked to see transmissions blowing out at 70 and 80K.

I still think I'll probably flip it, because just the idea that it might blow and I'll have to pay for it will keep me up at night.

[tmastres]

I still think I'll probably flip it, because just the idea that it might blow and I'll have to pay for it will keep me up at night.

If you like the style, feel etc.. of the RX 300 then you could probably get into a 01-03 for not a whole heck of a lot more. Depending of course what constitutes "alot" for you. I've seen some pretty good deals on those RX vintages recently, especially when gas was at $5.00. You should be spared the sludge worries and have a better shot at having the tranny last with those model years.