07 Lexus Rx350 Bad Oil Leak

[itsmejs]

My wife came home today and said that she smelled something burning after she got out of the vehicle. We noticed a huge amount of oil had leaked and was continuing to leak from the Lexus while parked in our garage from the right front side under the engine. There had not been any oil on the garage floor from the vehicle in the past. I checked the oil and there was no oil showing on the dip stick. Any ideas?

Update: It's been towed so I will hopefully know what caused this on Monday.

[jgr7]

When was your oil changed last and who changed it? You will have to take the cover off the under side to see where the oil leaked from. You might want to have it towed to the dealer if they change the oil, but do not drive it.

Jeff

[RXinATL]

When was your oil changed last and who changed it? You will have to take the cover off the under side to see where the oil leaked from. You might want to have it towed to the dealer if they change the oil, but do not drive it.

Jeff

There is an oil line that goes up to the valve timing system. Mine got a leak after dealer did the TSB for the white powder issue - dealer replaced it with an upgraded part. I don't know if there is a TSB for it or not. They told me they've been seeing a lot of these oil lines fail.

[itsmejs]

When was your oil changed last and who changed it? You will have to take the cover off the under side to see where the oil leaked from. You might want to have it towed to the dealer if they change the oil, but do not drive it.

Jeff

The oil was last changed on May 16th. We have the oil and tires rotated at a local Toyota dealer. It's $50 there vs. $180 having it done at the Lexus dealer. I first thought of the oil change but there was no sign of leaks or smell until today. Since it's still under warranty I'll have it towed in to the Lexus dealer. What a mess.

[itsmejs]

When was your oil changed last and who changed it? You will have to take the cover off the under side to see where the oil leaked from. You might want to have it towed to the dealer if they change the oil, but do not drive it.

Jeff

There is an oil line that goes up to the valve timing system. Mine got a leak after dealer did the TSB for the white powder issue - dealer replaced it with an upgraded part. I don't know if there is a TSB for it or not. They told me they've been seeing a lot of these oil lines fail.

Thanks, I may have found the TSB. It's TSB Number:01107, engine oil leak from front timing cover. I'm surprised that this is not a recall. Any oil leak has the potential for causing a fire. With this leak we lost at least 2 quarts of oil. The undercarriage of the Lexus is covered with oil with a good amount on our garage floor since it's been sitting. No sign of leaking at least on the garage floor until this happened.

[itsmejs]

My wife came home today and said that she smelled something burning after she got out of the vehicle. We noticed a huge amount of oil had leaked and was continuing to leak from the Lexus while parked in our garage from the right front side under the engine. There had not been any oil on the garage floor from the vehicle in the past. I check the oil and there was no oil showing on the dip stick. Any ideas?

Update: It's been towed so I will hopefully know what caused this on Monday.

Update#2

Here's an update from the dealer, Lexus of Madison, where we purchased our RX350 and where it was towed. The service associate informed me that the oil line bust and they have to order the part. They're also concerned that there may be damage to the engine because of the excessive oil loss as there are 3 quarts gone. Their service tech is working with Toyota on checking the cam gear. I guess there's a plastic piece that pops out like a turkey timer if the cam gets too hot. According to my dealer this is not related to the TSB that I found as that’s another oil line issue. I was told that the oil line developed a pin hole leak and this is the first oil line issue of this type that they have come across. Used to think that Lexus’s were very safe but now I’m not so sure.

I asked for a loaner remembering that our sales person stated that whenever we have our RX350 in for service we would get a Lexus loaner. I guess they didn’t have any and I'm going to get an Enterprise rental (Toyota Rav 4) which is better than not having anything at all. No estimate on when we will get our Lexus back.

[MBman]

is this going to be under waranty, seems like it should

[itsmejs]

is this going to be under waranty, seems like it should

Yes it will, thank goodness still 6700 miles left on the warranty

[RXinATL]

is this going to be under waranty, seems like it should

Yes it will, thank goodness still 6700 miles left on the warranty

Sounds just like what I had. Mine went while I was driving and I didn't notice until I got home and got out to open the garage door. I thought the engine was on fire with all of the smoke coming out.

Other than the oil line, there were a bunch of parts with foam in them that soak up the oil and these will all need to be replaced too. This happened right after replacing the heater core for the white dust problem - in fact, while driving it home from this repair. Lexus gave me a 100k platinum warrantee and a few k$ for the trouble. BTW, that was about 9k miles ago and the cars been fine ever since.

[itsmejs]

is this going to be under waranty, seems like it should

Yes it will, thank goodness still 6700 miles left on the warranty

Sounds just like what I had. Mine went while I was driving and I didn't notice until I got home and got out to open the garage door. I thought the engine was on fire with all of the smoke coming out.

Other than the oil line, there were a bunch of parts with foam in them that soak up the oil and these will all need to be replaced too. This happened right after replacing the heater core for the white dust problem - in fact, while driving it home from this repair. Lexus gave me a 100k platinum warrantee and a few k$ for the trouble. BTW, that was about 9k miles ago and the cars been fine ever since.

I did try to get Lexus to extend the warranty but Lexus respectfully declined. While the dealer did clean it up our Lexus nice inside & out it smells bad. I also noticed one spot of fresh oil on our newly cleaned garage floor and also that the exhaust is more visible. I'm hoping that what I'm noticing will just clear up in a few days.

The rubber oil hose that was replaced was item#15707-31030 not related to the current TSB for an engine oil leak, so yes, another oil hose to worry about that could fail. I think this could be a problem for Lexus in the future because when this hose fails you have a lot of oil leaking out quickly, three quarts in our case. I asked the service person how long the rubber hoses on the Lexus were supposed to last and his response was the life of the vehicle. That didn't sound right to me but what do I know? He also said that this hose that failed is now re-manufactured replacing the original OEM hose. He thinks that was done for a reason but didn't go into detail. I wish I felt more confident that there was no long term damage done to our vehicle. I have to say that I didn't feel this situation was handled any better or worst than if I owned a Dodge or a Ford product so overall I'm kind of disappointed in Lexus as this is when they should have stood out from other guys.

[SW03ES]

Wow..what a freak thing. I've never heard of anything like that happening before. In terms of the warranty, any work they do is warrantied for 12 months or 12,000 miles, so since you brought the vehicle in for this now that clock starts running now, so you are covered. It should be a powertrain warranty issue anyways, and thats still going to be under warranty for 70k miles.

I wouldn't worry about damage in the future, you would have gotten an oil pressure light if it had fallen down into unsafe territory. The smell will wear away too as will the little drips.

As for the service...what more would you want them to do? They fixed the issue and covered the repair at no cost to you. The Lexus is a very reliable machine but nothing is perfect and things do happen. Your particular hose had some sort of weakness when it was manufactured that caused it to fail.

No fire risk...try lighting some motor oil on fire and see how easily it lights.

[itsmejs]

Wow..what a freak thing. I've never heard of anything like that happening before. In terms of the warranty, any work they do is warrantied for 12 months or 12,000 miles, so since you brought the vehicle in for this now that clock starts running now, so you are covered. It should be a powertrain warranty issue anyways, and thats still going to be under warranty for 70k miles.

I wouldn't worry about damage in the future, you would have gotten an oil pressure light if it had fallen down into unsafe territory. The smell will wear away too as will the little drips.

As for the service...what more would you want them to do? They fixed the issue and covered the repair at no cost to you. The Lexus is a very reliable machine but nothing is perfect and things do happen. Your particular hose had some sort of weakness when it was manufactured that caused it to fail.

No fire risk...try lighting some motor oil on fire and see how easily it lights.

Sounds like you work at Lexus to me. I’m sorry to disagreed with you but just because an engine light didn't go on doesn't mean that there isn’t engine damage as three quarts of oil is a lot to lose. We do now have a knocking noise coming from the engine since this event happened. From my understanding the repair warranty only covers the repair work done.

You asked me what more I would have liked my Lexus dealer to do in regards to service? In this situation I would suggest that Lexus not give the vehicle back to the customer if it reeks of degreaser, it’s still leaking oil and the engine is knocking.

Lastly, you mentioned there was no fire risk with this oil leak. I’m a bit surprised that you would state something like that? Three quarts of oil leaking on our engine and exhaust system to me is a fire risk.

[SW03ES]

I do not work at Lexus at all, I am simply a Lexus owner and enthusiast like everyone else and I was attempting to make you feel better. Sorry I bothered I guess.

My point was you did not loose 3 quarts while the engine was running. You lost three quarts at some point, a lot of that is on your garage floor, a lot of it is on the towtruck, and a lot of it is on the floor of the Lexus dealer. You were smart and did not continue to drive the vehicle which probably saved you from lasting engine damage IMHO.

Not the check engine light...the oil pressure light. No low oil pressure=no low oil pressure light.

You asked me what more I would have liked my Lexus dealer to do in regards to service? In this situation I would suggest that Lexus not give the vehicle back to the customer if it reeks of degreaser, it’s still leaking oil and the engine is knocking.

This I agree with in part, however the only way to get rid of the smell is time, it has to burn off the exhaust components. Not a lot they could have done.

Now if its knocking and still leaking you need to take it back.

The warranty covers the work, but also the components which the work was done to. Should you have an issue later you have some leverage because the car was addressed within the warranty. Anyways its a moot point because the components you've had an issue with are covered under the powertrain warranty and that is still if effect.

Lastly, you mentioned there was no fire risk with this oil leak. I’m a bit surprised that you would state something like that? Three quarts of oil leaking on our engine and exhaust system to me is a fire risk.

Do an experiment. take a little bit of motor oil and try and light it on fire. Motor oil is designed to operate at very high temperatures, your engine block is 250 degrees or so. It doesn't catch on fire very easily...its not like cooking oil...

Again, I'm trying to help stop trying to pin me with an agenda

[itsmejs]

I do not work at Lexus at all, I am simply a Lexus owner and enthusiast like everyone else and I was attempting to make you feel better. Sorry I bothered I guess.

My point was you did not loose 3 quarts while the engine was running. You lost three quarts at some point, a lot of that is on your garage floor, a lot of it is on the towtruck, and a lot of it is on the floor of the Lexus dealer. You were smart and did not continue to drive the vehicle which probably saved you from lasting engine damage IMHO.

Not the check engine light...the oil pressure light. No low oil pressure=no low oil pressure light.

You asked me what more I would have liked my Lexus dealer to do in regards to service? In this situation I would suggest that Lexus not give the vehicle back to the customer if it reeks of degreaser, it’s still leaking oil and the engine is knocking.

This I agree with in part, however the only way to get rid of the smell is time, it has to burn off the exhaust components. Not a lot they could have done.

Now if its knocking and still leaking you need to take it back.

The warranty covers the work, but also the components which the work was done to. Should you have an issue later you have some leverage because the car was addressed within the warranty. Anyways its a moot point because the components you've had an issue with are covered under the powertrain warranty and that is still if effect.

Lastly, you mentioned there was no fire risk with this oil leak. I'm a bit surprised that you would state something like that? Three quarts of oil leaking on our engine and exhaust system to me is a fire risk.

Do an experiment. take a little bit of motor oil and try and light it on fire. Motor oil is designed to operate at very high temperatures, your engine block is 250 degrees or so. It doesn't catch on fire very easily...its not like cooking oil...

Again, I'm trying to help stop trying to pin me with an agenda

I'm sharing my Lexus experience with the group, kind of strange that you personally feel that I'm trying to pin you with an agenda. Whether you're employed by Lexus or not, I do understand you're trying to support Lexus and that's fine. But you seem to have your own spin on what happen here with the oil leak.

Let me clarify to the group that the three quarts of oil that leaked from the defective oil hose, did so only when the vehicle was running. The oil that leaked on to our garage floor came from the undercarriage of our Lexus that was saturated from the oil leak. By the time our Lexus was towed, there was little or no oil dipping down from the vehicle.

On the oil leak not being a fire risk, we are going to have to agreed to disagreed on this one. I'm not debating that oil doesn't catch fire easily, I'm stating that if you have a major oil leak, it can be a fire risk. Anyone who has this problem should not be complacent and have it addressed immediately.

Thanks for your feedback.

[SW03ES]

Well if you're only interested in viewpoints that support exactly your take on the situation I'm not sure why you would post it on a discussion forum? Best of luck.

[itsmejs]

Well if you're only interested in viewpoints that support exactly your take on the situation I'm not sure why you would post it on a discussion forum? Best of luck.

Just because I don't agree with you doesn't mean I want all viewpoints that support exactly my views. I have to say your view about leaking oil not being a fire risk has simply given me a bad impression of you. I really hope with that belief that you're not with Lexus. You posted your views and I thank you for that. As my mom would say back in the days, it's time to take a time out from each other since you guys can't seem to get along. :)

[SW03ES]

I'll choose not to be rude to you despite your continued rudeness towards me...

[jeremyh]

My wife came home today and said that she smelled something burning after she got out of the vehicle. We noticed a huge amount of oil had leaked and was continuing to leak from the Lexus while parked in our garage from the right front side under the engine. There had not been any oil on the garage floor from the vehicle in the past. I check the oil and there was no oil showing on the dip stick. Any ideas?

Update: It's been towed so I will hopefully know what caused this on Monday.

My 2007 RX had the same problem a month ago. It started with the AC light blinking and warm air coming out. I phoned the dealership to let them know that I was bringing it in. In the 4 miles that it took to get to the dealership, the engine started to make a clicking noise, as if a belt were loose. Two blocks from the dealership, the whole engine started making a horrendous amount of noise. When I pulled in, oil was splashing out of the engine. The oil-line had basically exploded. My car spend the next 3 weeks off and on in the shop.

My lease is up and I'm turning it in. I hope that Toyota/Lexus recalls this flawed part, as I have been reading about it happening all over the web. My regular mechanic, as well as the mechanic of another friend are both familiar with this problem. Did your noises go away? Mine still has some strange new noises since last month, and Lexus has replaced the oil line, the cam shaft and some gears.

[MBman]

My wife came home today and said that she smelled something burning after she got out of the vehicle. We noticed a huge amount of oil had leaked and was continuing to leak from the Lexus while parked in our garage from the right front side under the engine. There had not been any oil on the garage floor from the vehicle in the past. I check the oil and there was no oil showing on the dip stick. Any ideas?

Update: It's been towed so I will hopefully know what caused this on Monday.

My 2007 RX had the same problem a month ago. It started with the AC light blinking and warm air coming out. I phoned the dealership to let them know that I was bringing it in. In the 4 miles that it took to get to the dealership, the engine started to make a clicking noise, as if a belt were loose. Two blocks from the dealership, the whole engine started making a horrendous amount of noise. When I pulled in, oil was splashing out of the engine. The oil-line had basically exploded. My car spend the next 3 weeks off and on in the shop.

My lease is up and I'm turning it in. I hope that Toyota/Lexus recalls this flawed part, as I have been reading about it happening all over the web. My regular mechanic, as well as the mechanic of another friend are both familiar with this problem. Did your noises go away? Mine still has some strange new noises since last month, and Lexus has replaced the oil line, the cam shaft and some gears.

so is there something we should be looking at on our 07 350's???, head off disaster at the pass so to speak??

[SOB]

I really thought Lexus was "better than that?"   I just experience the "catastrophic oil "dump"" which everyone is still complaining about. to this day. No "idiot light" lit up on the dash and I was 5 quarts low!  What's up with that? I have a 2009 RX350 with exactly 100,000 miles. I bought it from BMW of Scottsdale and it appeared to be a cream puff....One year ago. I've only put 5,000 miles on it before it blows up!  Why have they, not, had a total recall of all the affected Lexus vehicles?  I will not "go away quietly!" .....After calling corporate, they came back with, "Your vehicle meets the under 150,000 miles, but is 3 months past the 10 year limit for consideration of extended warranty for this issue."  What a load of crap!  I would love to start a class action lawsuit against Lexus to get their attention. Does anyone know how to get their attention or assist in starting a suit against Lexus/Toyota Corporate???  They need to wake up and understand that customers who, formerly, loved their products can disappear just as fast!!!