Leaderboard

This is a well known issue with the LS 400. When the power steering pump leaks all the fluid goes right into the alternator and takes the destroys it. Your going to have to rebuild/replace the power steering pump and the alternator. All your your lights are on and dimming because the alternator is not charging the battery. That's dried up transmission fluid in your alternator.

It is quite a stretch to accuse a dealership of damaging your vehicle, then noting something on the repair order to back themselves up. It would not be uncommon for a 6-year-old vehicle, even a Lexus, to start to weep at the pan gasket. It may never develop into a leak...pan gaskets in some vehicle weep, but never drip, or only have a single drip when the fluid gets very warm, which would be while on the road. My bet is that they believe the gasket is partially saturated, and may develop into a leak. I would check the garage floor occasionally, but would certainly not obsess over it.

I wouldn't ignore it and would keep an eye on it. Fluid can "weep" past gaskets for many years without causing puddles, measureable low fluid levels or noticeable performance changes. A good example is the 1998 Camry V6 that my wife bought new and passed to a nephew in 2012. Oil weeped at the rear valve cover gasket for at least five years before we had it fixed and we fixed it mainly because the car was going to the nephew. There was never a puddle or a smell and there was no measurable drop in engine oil level between 5,000 mile interval changes. I suppose if you are "mobile" and have the interest in doing it, you could wiggle under your RX and take a look for yourself. If you do see oil at those two components, maybe wipe it away with a rag or a paper towel and then check again in a year or so to see if the oil has returned. Toyota has eliminated the transmission dip stick from most automatic transmission vehicles it manufacturers making it impossible to easily check the fluid level. I think the level can still be checked through the fill hole which was how it was/has been done on manual transmissions.