Did My Mechanic Just Ruin My Ls400? Went In With A Drip, Came Home Wit

[TxRedMan]

Help.....please.....having a day from car owner hell.

Bought my LS400 a month ago. Noticed a very slight leak. Had it diagnosed. Took it to my girlfriends mechanic shop because the mechanic shop I was going to use has been in court lately for false diagnostic work...(I fell victim to this, Tireworks in Las Vegas...said I needed new halfshafts...took them to girlfriends mechanic and got under the car and the boots were fine, so were the halfshafts...they claim they have to "weed out" techs who do business the "old way")

They replaced the lower oil pan gasket. I drove it home (25 miles) and parked it backwards to monitor any new spots. Came out an hour later and was shocked to see two new spots, both very large. Drove it back to the mechanic today and I had lost about a half a quart in 50 miles of driving.

Two things guys- First, am I right in believing there's no way you fix a small leak that was due to a lower oil pan gasket and then uncover immediately a much larger leak that was somehow being withheld by the bad gasket? Or is it much more likely that the mechanic who did the job torqued the bolts to hard or accidentally stripped one out or something of the sort? Granted, the new leak is not coming from the lower oil pan, it appears to be coming from the upper oil pan, less likely but still possible the rear main seal, but what I really want to know is- how do I fix a small leak and wind up with a huge one without there being any negligence involved? I like this mechanic and want to have a reason to believe he didn't screw something up.

I have an appointment with Lexus of Las Vegas, $125 to diagnose the problem, whereas the mechanic who has the car right now was wanting to put stop leak in it (I quickly called a few people then called him back and said no stop leak), see if that worked, but he'd charge me by the hour and would have to remove the cross member to check the upper oil pan for a crack, i.e., Lexus can diagnose it for a flat rate (and apply the $125 to any charges if I choose to let them fix the car).

I have $4200 invested in this car and am really sick to my stomach right now....

Thanks for reading, thanks for any responses.

-Tex

[curiousB]

I have $4200 invested in this car and am really sick to my stomach right now....

Relax, take a deep breath. Why don't you top oil up yourself and drive it a few days and see how much loss you have. If you lost 1/2 qt in 50 miles you'd have a lot more than two spots on your driveway. Get an exact "before and after comparison" before you jump off the bridge.

Spots you're seeing could just be oil from the oil change dripping off or past oil on the engine underpanel that just dripped off.

If two spots on your driveway is "car owner hell" what will it be when you have to replace timing belt or water pump or fuel pump? What year is your car? How many miles? Maybe you don't have the stomach for this.

[TxRedMan]

I have $4200 invested in this car and am really sick to my stomach right now....

Relax, take a deep breath. Why don't you top oil up yourself and drive it a few days and see how much loss you have. If you lost 1/2 qt in 50 miles you'd have a lot more than two spots on your driveway. Get an exact "before and after comparison" before you jump off the bridge.

Spots you're seeing could just be oil from the oil change dripping off or past oil on the engine underpanel that just dripped off.

If two spots on your driveway is "car owner hell" what will it be when you have to replace timing belt or water pump or fuel pump? What year is your car? How many miles? Maybe you don't have the stomach for this.

When I say spots, I don't mean half dollar sized spots, I mean basketball sized spots.

And in case your reading comprehension skills are lacking, I thought I made it clear that the hellish experience was not pulling out of my parking space and seeing oil spots, rather, it was taking my car in for a small leak to be fixed and getting it back with a huge leak; being unable to tell if it was caused my the mechanics negligence, or if it was sheer coincidence, and the prospect of figuring out where the new leak is coming from, all wrapped up in one experience I referred to as 'car owner hell' because of the likelihood that there is negligence involved and the frustrations associated with resolving an issue like this.

I used to drive an 06 Z-06 and an 07 Tahoe. I also used to have a much larger income. I'm 27 years old and my business barely makes enough these days to pay back my note to Chase. $4200 is not much money in car terms, especially when we're talking about a Lexus. But I bought this car because I wanted peace of mind, and now that's gone, and in its place is the prospect of whether or not to invest in this for the long haul or get out now. I'm not sick over the amount of money, I'm sick over the fact that I made a bad decision somewhere along the way and now have a royal mess to figure out and a time consuming issue of whether or not there's someone at fault for the new leak.

LOL- I'd gladly trade this problem for a water pump or fuel pump that needed replacing. The stomach for this? Did you type that post while watching a medical drama on Fox or something? An undiagnosed oil leak that springs up when you replace a gasket on the lower oil pan that leaks at 50x the rate of the previous leak.....yeah, I'd swap this problem in exchange for a bad fuel pump. I think in contrast it would be a walk in the park. Maybe you haven't had much experience with cars that start to leak oil.....it usually ends with the word "overhaul".

[billydpowell]

I have $4200 invested in this car and am really sick to my stomach right now....

Relax, take a deep breath. Why don't you top oil up yourself and drive it a few days and see how much loss you have. If you lost 1/2 qt in 50 miles you'd have a lot more than two spots on your driveway. Get an exact "before and after comparison" before you jump off the bridge.

Spots you're seeing could just be oil from the oil change dripping off or past oil on the engine underpanel that just dripped off.

If two spots on your driveway is "car owner hell" what will it be when you have to replace timing belt or water pump or fuel pump? What year is your car? How many miles? Maybe you don't have the stomach for this.

Hay, curiousB, it is a shame you dont know anything about cars, or Lexus'.

I wouldn't touch this one with a ten foot pole......

[eatingupblacktop]

Help.....please.....having a day from car owner hell.

.. the mechanic shop I was going to use has been in court lately for false diagnostic work...

You're not talking about this dude are you?

[Bali26]

Finally, an interesting thread!

::bookmarked::

[curiousB]

I have $4200 invested in this car and am really sick to my stomach right now....

Relax, take a deep breath. Why don't you top oil up yourself and drive it a few days and see how much loss you have. If you lost 1/2 qt in 50 miles you'd have a lot more than two spots on your driveway. Get an exact "before and after comparison" before you jump off the bridge.

Spots you're seeing could just be oil from the oil change dripping off or past oil on the engine underpanel that just dripped off.

If two spots on your driveway is "car owner hell" what will it be when you have to replace timing belt or water pump or fuel pump? What year is your car? How many miles? Maybe you don't have the stomach for this.

Hay, curiousB, it is a shame you dont know anything about cars, or Lexus'.

I wouldn't touch this one with a ten foot pole......

Billyboy, I know much more than you think. As for not touching it with any length pole that isn't an option as the sale was made a month ago. No point complaining about being an owner after you are one. Complaining won't change anything.

As for the point of oil leaking being an indicator of a botched job or a more serious problem. That is entirely possible. But the drama queen delivery of the OP leads leaves the possibility of less heinous crimes and seems to jump to a worst case conclusion. I just don't see the reaction as measured to the situation. Clean it up, top up the oil, and check over a few days how much oil is leaking. Its not like the engine will fall out in 2-3 days of monitoring.

[billydpowell]

I have $4200 invested in this car and am really sick to my stomach right now....

Relax, take a deep breath. Why don't you top oil up yourself and drive it a few days and see how much loss you have. If you lost 1/2 qt in 50 miles you'd have a lot more than two spots on your driveway. Get an exact "before and after comparison" before you jump off the bridge.

Spots you're seeing could just be oil from the oil change dripping off or past oil on the engine underpanel that just dripped off.

If two spots on your driveway is "car owner hell" what will it be when you have to replace timing belt or water pump or fuel pump? What year is your car? How many miles? Maybe you don't have the stomach for this.

Hay, curiousB, it is a shame you dont know anything about cars, or Lexus'.

I wouldn't touch this one with a ten foot pole......

Billyboy, I know much more than you think. As for not touching it with any length pole that isn't an option as the sale was made a month ago. No point complaining about being an owner after you are one. Complaining won't change anything.

As for the point of oil leaking being an indicator of a botched job or a more serious problem. That is entirely possible. But the drama queen delivery of the OP leads leaves the possibility of less heinous crimes and seems to jump to a worst case conclusion. I just don't see the reaction as measured to the situation. Clean it up, top up the oil, and check over a few days how much oil is leaking. Its not like the engine will fall out in 2-3 days of monitoring.

hay, I was on your side, I just didnt like the way he answered you, like you didnt know anything....

believe me I know you are a real help to bloggers on this forum, me included..

I dont think you got the drift of my comments.... sorry, old folks dont think right sometimes...

cheers.

[curiousB]

OK my mistake. Anyway lets how we can help out TxRedMan. This could be serious but let’s look at the facts as presented:

1) Started as a small leak, possibly (maybe even probably) turned into a bigger leak.

2) Repair done was gasket on oil pan

3) Other gaskets could be leaking in addition or instead of but no work done on them yet

4) No evidence of engine seal leaks but not sure if thoroughly checked yet.

So if it has gotten worse. I would suggest a couple day test with topped up oil isn't too much wasted time to validate. If it confirms the leaking then the oil pan gasket needs to be redone (and it should show obvious signs of leaks at that rate). Hopefully mechanic who did it has integrity enough to honor his work when confronted with the problem. If not the worst case downside is another mechanic and a new gasket kit. Not great but not as bad as it could be and you know to stay away from first mechanic on future issues.

If the gasket was botched fixing it may not fix original complaint but you need to get at this sequentially. So if it is leaking 1/2 quart in 50 miles then the gasket is messed up and needs fixing. I seriously doubt that another leak simultaneously appeared as the pan gasket was repaired.

Once the gasket is fixed then see how you're doing. Still dripping? Maybe go to coin car wash and with engine scrub suds underneath engine and around where leaks may be to clean it up and then monitor. Oil leaks can smear all over the pace and make it hard to spot the origin. Maybe a clean underside will point you closer to source. If its a gasket on camshaft cover well that's not too bad of a repair either. Again cleaning there will baseline you to see if fresh oil is present.

I guess anything short of crankshaft and camshaft seals is a pretty good outcome. If you have to dig into those seals then it starts to be a headache. If it those seals then you have to make a decision. Live with it or fix it. If you can get to a couple small quarter sized spots every other day then maybe just a fresh piece of card board on floor of garage is fine for the time being. It may annoy your sensibilities but a seal leak could just stay as a very slow leak for a long time. A bit messy but $1000+ to repair a seal given your current financial situation might be better deferred until better times come along. At that time maybe you get a newer car like you had or put some money into the LS and carry it further.

TxRedMan best of luck on this. No harm intended, you just seemed a little worked up and I took spot to mean a quarter sized spot on the garage floor. Hope your business quickly rebounds for you.

[SRK]

And in case your reading comprehension skills are lacking, I thought I made it clear that the hellish experience was not pulling out of my parking space and seeing oil spots,

Maybe it's just me, but speaking that way to a long term member of this club, when you have but six posts, seems a bit out of line. And just how you think from a distance we can tell more about the leak source than you can by looking at it....well...

[billydpowell]

And in case your reading comprehension skills are lacking, I thought I made it clear that the hellish experience was not pulling out of my parking space and seeing oil spots,

Maybe it's just me, but speaking that way to a long term member of this club, when you have but six posts, seems a bit out of line. And just how you think from a distance we can tell more about the leak source than you can by looking at it....well...

I definitely agree with you, I think he owes curiousB an appology....

[TxRedMan]

And in case your reading comprehension skills are lacking, I thought I made it clear that the hellish experience was not pulling out of my parking space and seeing oil spots,

Maybe it's just me, but speaking that way to a long term member of this club, when you have but six posts, seems a bit out of line. And just how you think from a distance we can tell more about the leak source than you can by looking at it....well...

I definitely agree with you, I think he owes curiousB an appology....

Six posts or 6000, I think when someone replies by quoting the amount of $ I have invested in the car and then down playing my situation, combined with his remark that maybe I "dont have the stomach for this", I'm not out of line by being somewhat of the same nature in my response to his remark, especially given the fact that he seemed to extrapolate from my OP that "hell" was seeing the oil spots, rather than what I thought I had made it clear to be.

I dont think I offended the poster. And for those of you who think I owe him an apology, isn't that for him to say? I think many people, you two included, seem to apply tone to text that isn't neccessarily correct.

As for the new leak, it's been diagnosed as the rear main seal.

If anyone can explain how this is anything other than a coincidence, I'd appreciate your input, and to the poster you all refer to as B, I do appreciate your follow up posts. Hopefully this thread wont get derailed by those who think posting in an internet forum has a hierarchy of allowable speech that correlates to post count.

[TxRedMan]

OK my mistake. Anyway lets how we can help out TxRedMan. This could be serious but let’s look at the facts as presented:

1) Started as a small leak, possibly (maybe even probably) turned into a bigger leak.

2) Repair done was gasket on oil pan

3) Other gaskets could be leaking in addition or instead of but no work done on them yet

4) No evidence of engine seal leaks but not sure if thoroughly checked yet.

So if it has gotten worse. I would suggest a couple day test with topped up oil isn't too much wasted time to validate. If it confirms the leaking then the oil pan gasket needs to be redone (and it should show obvious signs of leaks at that rate). Hopefully mechanic who did it has integrity enough to honor his work when confronted with the problem. If not the worst case downside is another mechanic and a new gasket kit. Not great but not as bad as it could be and you know to stay away from first mechanic on future issues.

If the gasket was botched fixing it may not fix original complaint but you need to get at this sequentially. So if it is leaking 1/2 quart in 50 miles then the gasket is messed up and needs fixing. I seriously doubt that another leak simultaneously appeared as the pan gasket was repaired.

Once the gasket is fixed then see how you're doing. Still dripping? Maybe go to coin car wash and with engine scrub suds underneath engine and around where leaks may be to clean it up and then monitor. Oil leaks can smear all over the pace and make it hard to spot the origin. Maybe a clean underside will point you closer to source. If its a gasket on camshaft cover well that's not too bad of a repair either. Again cleaning there will baseline you to see if fresh oil is present.

I guess anything short of crankshaft and camshaft seals is a pretty good outcome. If you have to dig into those seals then it starts to be a headache. If it those seals then you have to make a decision. Live with it or fix it. If you can get to a couple small quarter sized spots every other day then maybe just a fresh piece of card board on floor of garage is fine for the time being. It may annoy your sensibilities but a seal leak could just stay as a very slow leak for a long time. A bit messy but $1000+ to repair a seal given your current financial situation might be better deferred until better times come along. At that time maybe you get a newer car like you had or put some money into the LS and carry it further.

TxRedMan best of luck on this. No harm intended, you just seemed a little worked up and I took spot to mean a quarter sized spot on the garage floor. Hope your business quickly rebounds for you.

Again, ty.

I did clean it up and look at it closely. It's not leaking from the lower oil pan anymore, judging by where the old oil was on the underneath of the car and where it is now. Also when I got underneath it, it was a steady drip this time. I left it with the mechanic who did the gasket, he cleaned it up again and tells me it's the rear main seal. I can't figure out how this can be related. It is possible that the rear main was leaking very little and it just happened to sprout a geiser on the same day the lower oil pan gasket was replaced, but for now i'm considering two options: taking it to Lexus of Las Vegas, $125 flat fee for a diagnoses, or, paying the mechanic $500 to replace the rear main seal. I want to make it clear that the person who performed the work is not the person I deal with; I know the manager of the shop through a circle of poker players and I have faith in his honesty, but I don't know that I have faith in his mechanics since I went in with a small leak from the lower oil pan (why did they put 2 oil pans on these cars?) and they gave it back to me with a busted rear main seal.....

I'm leaning towards sticking the $500 in it, but I want some peace of mind that there isn't a series of leaks to follow....

But I saw from my own two eyes the leak not coming from the lower oil pan, rather, somewhere up above and behind the cross member.

My plan is to stick the $500 in it, hope like hell it doesn't give me any more problems, and if something else starts to go wrong, dump the car and take a small hit....

Other than 165,000 miles of wear and tear....is there anything that can cause a rear main seal to go out?

[curiousB]

Well I'd get someone else looking at it. The likelihood that the pan gasket was really leaking and then upon its immediate repair the rear seal blew out seems an unlikely coincidence. Possible, but seems like about as likely as a royal flush. Rear seal is about the worst possible situation so you’re wise to get another/second opinion.

Seals do wear as you know but its strange that is suddenly went from drip to sizeable leak. I wonder if the guy is just making an unrelated diagnosis to distract you from his potentially original miss-diagnosis. I'd be suspect if he can really tell you what is going on.

I had an old Volvo years ago with a plugged PCV (valve) and that caused crankcase pressure to rise above normal levels. The weak link is the seals and it blew out a rear seal.

I've never tried these seal/leak repair potions you pour into the oil that can magically reseal dried out and leaky seals. I don't see much downside in trying one of those. Maybe someone online has ideas if they really work.

Doubling down for another $500 with the guys who seem suspect in their first attempt seems unwise. A rear seal is a major disassembly. Not sure I would trust these guys with it.

No apology needed no harm no foul as they say.

[SRK]

So here's my take. Your mechanic saw oil on the pan, and assumed incorrectly it was coming from the pan gasket. He fixes that, and the oil continues to collect on the pan because it's migrating from the leaky main seal, which was the problem all along. So you've got a new pan gasket you didn't need, and now the real culprit, the main seal, needs to be replaced.

At least from this distance, that's what I figure.

[dcfish]

So here's my take. Your mechanic saw oil on the pan, and assumed incorrectly it was coming from the pan gasket. He fixes that, and the oil continues to collect on the pan because it's migrating from the leaky main seal, which was the problem all along. So you've got a new pan gasket you didn't need, and now the real culprit, the main seal, needs to be replaced.

At least from this distance, that's what I figure.

SRK, I have been following this thread and I beleive that your response is the most logical. Poor first diagnosis, Kneejerk fix

[amcdonal86]

And in case your reading comprehension skills are lacking, I thought I made it clear that the hellish experience was not pulling out of my parking space and seeing oil spots,

Maybe it's just me, but speaking that way to a long term member of this club, when you have but six posts, seems a bit out of line. And just how you think from a distance we can tell more about the leak source than you can by looking at it....well...

I definitely agree with you, I think he owes curiousB an appology....

I disagree. I think curiousB owes the OP an apology for that flippant first response, which got a deserved heated reply.

SRK's explanation of what happened seems to be correct. I wonder how many miles are on the car. I wasn't aware that these engines needed much in the way of replacing seals and internal components, etc. up to 200k miles or more!

Welcome to the club, TexRedMan!

[jpourcy]

If it will make everybody happy, I will apologize for everyone:

"I'm really sorry guys, it won't happen again."

There, are we good to go now? :lol:

By the way, I agree, the rear seal seems like the culprit from the beginning.

Jerry

[blake918]

Guys let's move on from the discussion about who owes whom an apology and get back to the issue at hand...

[killerFatty]

I've never tried these seal/leak repair potions you pour into the oil that can magically reseal dried out and leaky seals. I don't see much downside in trying one of those. Maybe someone online has ideas if they really work.

I just put some honey looking stuff in the oil of my dad's '97 camry. He had a decent leak comming from just about everywhere underneeth his engine. After two days of driving the leak is less than half has bad as it was before. For less than $5 it's worth every penny.

[TxRedMan]

I've never tried these seal/leak repair potions you pour into the oil that can magically reseal dried out and leaky seals. I don't see much downside in trying one of those. Maybe someone online has ideas if they really work.

I just put some honey looking stuff in the oil of my dad's '97 camry. He had a decent leak comming from just about everywhere underneeth his engine. After two days of driving the leak is less than half has bad as it was before. For less than $5 it's worth every penny.

The original diagnosis of the lower oil pan leak was made by Tireworks. The second time I took it in they made the same diagnosis, as well as diagnosing (falsely) that I needed new halfshafts. I took the car to this mechanic, who also diagnosed the lower oil pan gasket but lifted the car up for me to see that the halfshafts/boots were fine. His shop did the lower oil pan gasket repair. I'm hesitant to not trust him, because he was the one who warned me of Tireworks (they are engaged in a lawsuit as I mentioned earlier) and also asked that I at least let someone else look at the car (I do not live close to his shop). He also cuts labor rates in half for me. My two beefs with him over this situation are: I told him I had a 5+ quart jug of Castrol and a Mobil 1 oil filter in the trunk, and asked him to change the oil and filter when he did the gasket. When I got underneath the car, there was a fram filter on it (previously had a K&N filter) so I knew the mechanic who did the job didn't swap out the oil. This lack of attention to detail was what raised a red flag with whom ever actually did the job's competency.

He reccomended that we try a bottle of stop leak. But when you use a product that is designed to stop leaks, you get negative results as well as positive results. That stuff can clog oil galleys and gum up areas where oil needs to flow through. Is it a short term cheap solution? Absolutely. Is it a solution for the next 50,000 miles? No.

So this is the real mind boggling part of this; two shops diagnosed the lower oil pan leak. Once it was fixed, the rear main seal went out.

I'd like to agree with the poster who said the rear main was the culprit to begin with, but do you still think so after hearing that two independent shops both came to that conclusion, and that I can vouch from my own two eyes that where there had previously been oil on the underneath of the pan, there was none, and there was a new leak covering just about everything else?

It's funny to me because we put dye in the rack because we wanted to see if the buildup of crud around the rack was from a leak, and wound up finding no leak in the rack, just the rear main...hahaha, jokes on me.

I'm starting to wonder if the owner before me had used some stop leak to fix the problem, because after I had done the paperwork with him I walked out through his garage and saw a leak pan sitting where the car would have been parked if it were in the garage....it was in the driveway when I bought it. Of course I had a sinking feeling, but what could I do...I knew it wasn't leaking at that moment in time, and that I only had $4100 invested in a car that is in remarkable condition inside and out and blew cold air and drove like new....

So I'm starting to think maybe stop leak was put in it, that's why he had the car in the driveway, and that would explain why the rear seal might just spring a leak all of the sudden, because like I said earlier, that stuff is a bandaid, not a cure.

Sound possible?

[nc211]

So here's my take. Your mechanic saw oil on the pan, and assumed incorrectly it was coming from the pan gasket. He fixes that, and the oil continues to collect on the pan because it's migrating from the leaky main seal, which was the problem all along. So you've got a new pan gasket you didn't need, and now the real culprit, the main seal, needs to be replaced.

At least from this distance, that's what I figure.

I agree. I think the real problem was missed from the beginning.

However, at 15 years of age, 165k miles, and in that kind of extreme dry heat out there where you live....it is very possible that you have two leaks indeed, and when your lower pan seal was fixed, it put all the pressure on the remaining leak in the rear seal, causing it to leak even more.

The only time I've ever "heard" of buildup within the engine actually acting as a seal, is when someone puts in full synthetic at a very late time in the engine's life - causing the crud to be removed and the leak to start. I've never seen this, but have read about it.

But at the end of the day, and I mean this with all do respect, you've got a used, 15 year old car with 165k miles on it. They're probably the most expensive Toyota built vehicle to fix, and you can probably expect a few more hits to the wallet with it. I would suggest downloading all the Pdf. files on the car from https://techinfo.toyota.com/techInfoPortal/...o.toyota.com%2F

to protect yourself with knowledge of every nut/bolt/clip/update on the car.

Not saying you got hosed by the mechanic, because I simply don't know if you had one or two leaks. But I will tell you this FACT..... The word "Lexus" is premium, and there are far more stories on here of folks getting the run-around by mechanics (dealerships especially included) over their Lexus repairs, then many other car makers, in my experience. I had to hammer down on my dealership over my former LS a few times. But, once you download these Pdf files, and take a printed copy of what you suspect is the problem with you to a mechanic, they'll know you're paying attention to every bolt on the car, and you're not one to be messed with. Not saying all mechanics are bad, because they're not. But everyone knows a Lexus only has a couple of real repairs needed throughout the life of the car "one of which is the rear seal"....yet we've all read stories of odd repair suggestions on here from "professionals" that didn't make sense, and resulted in big bucks wasted.

[TxRedMan]

So here's my take. Your mechanic saw oil on the pan, and assumed incorrectly it was coming from the pan gasket. He fixes that, and the oil continues to collect on the pan because it's migrating from the leaky main seal, which was the problem all along. So you've got a new pan gasket you didn't need, and now the real culprit, the main seal, needs to be replaced.

At least from this distance, that's what I figure.

I agree. I think the real problem was missed from the beginning.

However, at 15 years of age, 165k miles, and in that kind of extreme dry heat out there where you live....it is very possible that you have two leaks indeed, and when your lower pan seal was fixed, it put all the pressure on the remaining leak in the rear seal, causing it to leak even more.

The only time I've ever "heard" of buildup within the engine actually acting as a seal, is when someone puts in full synthetic at a very late time in the engine's life - causing the crud to be removed and the leak to start. I've never seen this, but have read about it.

But at the end of the day, and I mean this with all do respect, you've got a used, 15 year old car with 165k miles on it. They're probably the most expensive Toyota built vehicle to fix, and you can probably expect a few more hits to the wallet with it. I would suggest downloading all the Pdf. files on the car from https://techinfo.toyota.com/techInfoPortal/...o.toyota.com%2F

to protect yourself with knowledge of every nut/bolt/clip/update on the car.

Not saying you got hosed by the mechanic, because I simply don't know if you had one or two leaks. But I will tell you this FACT..... The word "Lexus" is premium, and there are far more stories on here of folks getting the run-around by mechanics (dealerships especially included) over their Lexus repairs, then many other car makers, in my experience. I had to hammer down on my dealership over my former LS a few times. But, once you download these Pdf files, and take a printed copy of what you suspect is the problem with you to a mechanic, they'll know you're paying attention to every bolt on the car, and you're not one to be messed with. Not saying all mechanics are bad, because they're not. But everyone knows a Lexus only has a couple of real repairs needed throughout the life of the car "one of which is the rear seal"....yet we've all read stories of odd repair suggestions on here from "professionals" that didn't make sense, and resulted in big bucks wasted.

Summary of thread thus far: took car in to have small leak checked out. diagnosed as lower oil pan gasket. took car to second shop for multiple reasons, car was diagnosed the same by the new shop.

gasket was replaced, immediately spawning a substantial leak from the rear main seal.

the consensus at first was that it was initially mis-diagnosed, but i hadn't been clear that two different shops made the same diagnosis.

one poster here and the shop the car is at now suggest that the increased pressure from fixing the lower oil pan gasket could have caused the rear seal to go out. i'm on this side of the fence at this point.

i spent $150 on the gasket, and the shop's manager has offered to give me a really good price on the rear main seal job: $500. i'm sure it could be a 7-8hr job, possibly 9-10hrs.

i've told the mechanic who has the car now to give it a thorough inspection to see if there are any potential problems he sees on the horizon. other than the LCD being out, the car is almost perfect, and since I only have $4200 in it, if the mechanic gives it a clean bill of health i'm going to replace the rear main and cross my fingers and continue to drive it like an old lady.

[jpourcy]

Here's a thought:

You bought the car a month ago and put the car in the shop to have the gasket changed and also the oil changed. This tells me that this is probably the first time that you had the oil changed.

Now I do not know how fast stop leak works or how long it lasts, but there is a possibility of the original owner having stop leak in the car when you bought it, which could have made it leak slow and when you had the oil changed and took the stop leak out and put fresh oil in the leak became faster.

He also might have been using a heavier oil than recommended.

This would be my guess, if this was the first time that you changed the oil.

Jerry

[eatingupblacktop]

Here's a thought:

You bought the car a month ago and put the car in the shop to have the gasket changed and also the oil changed. This tells me that this is probably the first time that you had the oil changed.

Now I do not know how fast stop leak works or how long it lasts, but there is a possibility of the original owner having stop leak in the car when you bought it, which could have made it leak slow and when you had the oil changed and took the stop leak out and put fresh oil in the leak became faster.

He also might have been using a heavier oil than recommended.

This would be my guess, if this was the first time that you changed the oil.

Jerry

Just some of the tricks curbsiders having been using for years! Always Caveat Emptor!