Engine Problems Es300

[Dal Shannon]

I have a 1996 ES300 that I bought in 1999. It was a certified vehicle with 31,000 miles. I got a 3 year or 100,000 mile warranty. I have had all service done at the local Lexus dealer.

When the car had 69,000 miles, the engine light came on and I drove directly to the dealership. The car died just as I arrived. I was told that the oil sending unit was not sending oil and the engine has locked up and would need to be replaced. After some hassels, they did replace it. After I got it back, it used oil rapidly. I had to add 1 to 2 qts. between 3,000 mile oil changes. They investigated that and said I needed new gaskets. There was considerable debate as to who should pay the appx. $400 bill. I asked if new gaskets were installed when the engine was replaced. They relented and said they should have been replaced and did it at no cost to me.

The car now is out of warranty. Two weeks ago the oil light came on and the car started making noises. I had to drive about two miles to get off the expressway. I had it towed to the dealer. They called the next day to say the problem was internal to the engine and they would let me know the extent of the damages and would ask Lexus for assistance. No news yet. The car now has 117,000 miles and this engine would have about 48,000 miles on it. Is there a problem with the v6 engine?

[bbsal]

thats very weird.theres no real bad problem with the v6 engine from our year es.oil sludge is a known problem in 97 up but not 92/96.i know a guy that lives down the street from me that has 240,000 miles on a 95 es300 with the original motor and trans so i think you just cought another bad motor.bad luck i guess :chairshot: .either that or the dealer messed up on the install of your new motor.now that its out of warrentee i doubt they will even replace anything for free but its worth a shot.good luck!

also welcome to the club!

[SKperformance]

Not a normal problem at all

i am interested to see what they say the problem is now.

[JPI]

I've seen sludge from 92-2002 V6 engine. but mostly 97 up though.

JPI

[VGR]

Every owner I know that complains of early engine death fails to post their oil change service history records and fails to state how often they check the engine oil level. So I frankly ignore their whining.

[bbsal]

acually he stated that he changed the oil every 3,000 miles if you read the whole thread.

[Lexusfreak]

What kind of oil & filters did you use out of couriousity Dal?

[Lex3486]

Once my 92 got a low oil pressure light, so I dropped the oilpan and discovered that the screen on the oil sump was completely blocked with sludge. Thumbed back through my service records, including those done by Lexus when the car was still new, and discovered that LEXUS had put SLICK 50 in it!! I figure that's what caused my problems in the long run. Cleaned it up and never had that problem again, although when I had the valve covers off for gaskets, I noticed considerable but not terrible sludge on top of the cams, so I cleaned that up too. Face it, if you don't change your oil regularly and you use additives like Slick50, you're gonna run into problems. I'd say that the engine you got had a bad history of oil changes, therefore causin irreversible damage before you ever got it and started takin care of it.

[bbsal]

that could be true if the previous owner neglected the engine.but if it was a brand new motor that they put in there then i dont know what to think.

[VGR]

that could be true if the previous owner neglected the engine.but if it was a brand new motor that they put in there then i dont know what to think.

Dealers typically drop in rebuilt engines, not brand new engines. And not engines rebuilt by Toyota, but rebuilt by American companies like Jasper using Ford/Chevy/Dodge/Autozone/PepBoys quality parts and tolerance fitting standards. Junk engines essentially. So once a Toyota / Lexus owner ruins their factory original engine through neglect or abuse, they will never get an equivalent quality engine unless they get a good factory original engine out of a Lexus that was totalled in a traffic accident.

[bbsal]

well sometimes its rebuilt but i have heard of dealers putting in new motors not rebuilt ones for there customers.i dont know if this is the case with this car but some due put new motors or at least one out of the same type car.if it was rebuilt by american parts then that would explain it!lol.