Oil Leak On New Es350

[K.C. Dia]

I took my three month old ES350 in the the dealer about ten days ago for the 5000 mile checkup (I drive around 1700 miles a month). They topped off all the fluids. Since then, I have noticed an oil leak of some kind on my driveway that is between the two front wheels. I am taking it back to the dealer next Tuesday. It seem a little thin for motor oil, but I don't know what else it can be. Anyone else have any experience with this type of leak? The overnight leaks are about three inches in diameter.

[hdryder2002]

I took my three month old ES350 in the the dealer about ten days ago for the 5000 mile checkup (I drive around 1700 miles a month). They topped off all the fluids. Since then, I have noticed an oil leak of some kind on my driveway that is between the two front wheels. I am taking it back to the dealer next Tuesday. It seem a little thin for motor oil, but I don't know what else it can be. Anyone else have any experience with this type of leak? The overnight leaks are about three inches in diameter.

[hdryder2002]

I took my three month old ES350 in the the dealer about ten days ago for the 5000 mile checkup (I drive around 1700 miles a month). They topped off all the fluids. Since then, I have noticed an oil leak of some kind on my driveway that is between the two front wheels. I am taking it back to the dealer next Tuesday. It seem a little thin for motor oil, but I don't know what else it can be. Anyone else have any experience with this type of leak? The overnight leaks are about three inches in diameter.

I found the same thing happen during the cold winter months, but it seemed to be an intermittent occurance. However I just had my 07 ES 350 in the other day on a recall for a defective oil cooler hose as well as an oil change. I asked the dealer to check for any oil leaking under the can and they could not find anything. Hopefully the oil line replacement will do the trick. Another possibility is the dealer may have spilled some oil while filling it or they may have not tightened the oil filter housing causing it to leak. My advice is contact the dealer again and explain what is happening to your car. Hopefully this helps you and good lick.

[K.C. Dia]

It turned out to be that the gasket on the oil drain plug cracked and failed. No harm done, thank goodness.

[SW03ES]

They are supposed to replace that gasket every time they change the oil as per Lexus specs...

When the dealer charges $150 for an oil change...I absolutely would let them know how displeased I am when they cut corners with THAT kind of profit margin.

[joeb427]

They are supposed to replace that gasket every time they change the oil as per Lexus specs...

When the dealer charges $150 for an oil change...I absolutely would let them know how displeased I am when they cut corners with THAT kind of profit margin.

Steve,my dealer gets $65 for just an oil change. :)

[K.C. Dia]

This was the 5000 mile free oil change. I suppose that they had to add more fresh oil as they couldn't change the gasket without draining the oil from the crankcase (but not from the filter). However, the dealer had me in and out in less than 15 minutes. Didn't even bother with a loaner vehicle.

[SW03ES]

Steve,my dealer gets $65 for just an oil change. :)

Just an oil change, but not the 5,000 mile service...

[K.C. Dia]

They are supposed to replace that gasket every time they change the oil as per Lexus specs...

When the dealer charges $150 for an oil change...I absolutely would let them know how displeased I am when they cut corners with THAT kind of profit margin.

I assumed that they changed the gasket at the 5000 mile checkup, but maybe they didn't. I remember in the 60's, I had a volkswagen that also had a gasket on the drain plug. On time during a oil change, a mechanic did not change the gasket but used the old gasket. In three days, I lost all of my oil. After that, I remanded every mechanic to put a new gasket in when the oil was changed. I may have to do that with my dealer.

[K.C. Dia]

It turned out to be that the gasket on the oil drain plug cracked and failed. No harm done, thank goodness.

Now I have discovered that my oil leak is worse than ever. I noticed on my driveway that there is a series of oil leaks approximately six inches apart that run the full legnth of the driveway. That means that it is leaking almost continuously. I can't take it back to the dealer until next Monday and am afraid to drive it as it may run out of oil. This means I can't use it over the Easter holiday. Luckily I have another vehicle. I am not a happy camper.

[SW03ES]

You're not going to run out of oil. The engine holds 6 quarts of oil...if it were leaking to an extent that you could run out of oil...lets just say you would know. Thats 1.5 gallons of oil. Thats a LOT of drips.

Are you sure its oil?

[K.C. Dia]

You're not going to run out of oil. The engine holds 6 quarts of oil...if it were leaking to an extent that you could run out of oil...lets just say you would know. Thats 1.5 gallons of oil. Thats a LOT of drips.

Are you sure its oil?

Yes, you can even smell oil in my garage. However, it is nice to know that I wont run out of oil. I will start driving it again until next Monday.

[AZ08LexusES]

Isn't there a dipstick? Can't you see how low you are and add a quart if necessary? I know cars these days are high tech, but they are still mechanical. Also, have you looked at the oil plug itself and see remnants of oil on it? Can you tighten it a bit?

[K.C. Dia]

Isn't there a dipstick? Can't you see how low you are and add a quart if necessary? I know cars these days are high tech, but they are still mechanical. Also, have you looked at the oil plug itself and see remnants of oil on it? Can you tighten it a bit?

Car was running this morning when I noticed it so reading wouldn't be accurate until it rested a while. Will check this afternoon when I get home. I'm too fat and too old to crawl under car to check oil plug.

[AZ08LexusES]

Isn't there a dipstick? Can't you see how low you are and add a quart if necessary? I know cars these days are high tech, but they are still mechanical. Also, have you looked at the oil plug itself and see remnants of oil on it? Can you tighten it a bit?

Car was running this morning when I noticed it so reading wouldn't be accurate until it rested a while. Will check this afternoon when I get home. I'm too fat and too old to crawl under car to check oil plug.

I know, and the car is so darn low! Wouldn't it be great to have a hydraulic lift at home?

Dip sticks have an acceptable range on them, as long as the level is between the two lines it should be fine. You can be a little low and still be OK, at least until you take it in and have it fixed. Just keep an eye on it. Also, oil tends to leak more while the engine is not running. While it is running the pressure keeps most of the oil busy, sort of. I remember being in a friend's car once and we ran over some (big rock) debris that was on the road and it gouged the oil pan. We didn't know anything was wrong until the engine was shut off and then it all came out.

[cl206]

HI I just changed my own oil on the es350 last week and if it is oil leaking from your car I can make a couple of guesses that you dealer might have messed up on.

1) could be the drain bolt gasket like you said but if he did reuse the old gasket that is despicable and if he did not, he might have gorilla tightened it.

2) If not 1) then the oil filter has 2 rubber gaskets inside of it. It is possible they forgot one or dislodged one when putting them back and is causing this leak.

3) There is a cap which they might not have tightened. You can actually tighten this yourself if you have a 3/8in ratchet without even lifting the car. Maybe they forgot to put this on!?!?

4) of course the last thing is did they tighten the filter housing itself. You can actually tighten this by hand but the space is a bit tight with lifting the front.

BTW unlike regular filters, there really isn't a whole lot to tighten. You screw the cap in until it bottoms out and the whole filter can even be tightened by hand as mentioned above. 15 minutes is too suspiciously fast to do the whole oil change because I even let the oil drain for a good 5-10 minutes.

You should look under your car and see if you see oil from the drain bolt or the filter housing. You don't even have to lift the car. Just get a flash light and get down and look. Don't know what it looks like? Follow this link: http://members.cox.net/n0v8or/avalon_oil_change.pdf

This pdf is for an avalon but they have the same oil filter. It is located kinda near the passenger side wheel.

Also, I remember when I got my 5000 complimentary oil change, I only got 5.2 oils put in. that's what it said on my invoice. I wasn't educated at the time but now I suspect they maybe didn't even change my oil filter! I had a toyota dealership do my next two oil changes and I just started doing my own last week.

Regardless, I would be professionally angry about it and maybe mention that when you get the survey afterwards, that how they respond to this incident might determine how you rate the service you were provided.

[eatingupblacktop]

It turned out to be that the gasket on the oil drain plug cracked and failed. No harm done, thank goodness.

Now I have discovered that my oil leak is worse than ever. I noticed on my driveway that there is a series of oil leaks approximately six inches apart that run the full legnth of the driveway. That means that it is leaking almost continuously. I can't take it back to the dealer until next Monday and am afraid to drive it as it may run out of oil. This means I can't use it over the Easter holiday. Luckily I have another vehicle. I am not a happy camper.

Fooled me once, shame on you! Fooled me twice, shame on ME! Time to change dealers!

[K.C. Dia]

It turned out to be that the gasket on the oil drain plug cracked and failed. No harm done, thank goodness.

Now I have discovered that my oil leak is worse than ever. I noticed on my driveway that there is a series of oil leaks approximately six inches apart that run the full legnth of the driveway. That means that it is leaking almost continuously. I can't take it back to the dealer until next Monday and am afraid to drive it as it may run out of oil. This means I can't use it over the Easter holiday. Luckily I have another vehicle. I am not a happy camper.

Fooled me once, shame on you! Fooled me twice, shame on ME! Time to change dealers!

Unfortunately, the next closest dealer is nearly 200 miles away.