mburnickas

How and where can I test my oil for $25. Can you suggest me any specific place? ← Take a sample of the oil (in the supplied oil test conatiner) and then send it to them. I have listed some companies (below) and they will test the oil. Price vary by each place. http://www.oaitesting.com/ http://www.blackstone-labs.com/index.html http://www.butler-machinery.com/services/p...support_oil.asp So far OAI has the best price and the most results. All you need to look at is viscosity, TBN and OXD. If you have thick oil, low TBN and high OXD, you have a sludger. Example, if you oil was a 5-30 and is now a 5-50 look out. Or if your TBN is vary low and you OXD and NOX are like 60%, you have problems.

I think they made cooling lines larger or cylinder head mods. I am not 100% sure.

Typical Lexus answer. They want you to bring the car to them blah blah. I simple $25 oil tests can tell you better then they can. As these years are "sludge enginers" the odds of having one is very slim. It affects 3.3 million cars made during 1996 to 2002 but only around 3,400 cars needed replacements.

The "up to 25K miles works for some and some are short. It depends on the car. My old man does over 20K drain and works fine.

I stated I have a sludge engine since all the lexus's in certain years are known to sludge; hence the engine "sludge". Based on my oil tests, I do not have a sludge problem but I have the Lexus with the engine prone to sludging. I call all the IMZ V-6 engines sludge engines since they could be and are prone to it. So far, mine looks fine

Really???? Umm, the oil tests show what works and what does not. So far, their oil works fine. Again, I am no chemical engineer (only mech eng) and so far in 10+ years, with all the oil tests, it works.....Nothing really hard to get. Now when Amsoil states 25K miles from the start, that I do not like. It is a +/- with every auto. I had a person say the samething about Dri-wash and guard over dirt on his SL-500 and next, BAM I was detailig his $90K car.... Unless someone has oil tests to prive it does not work......the businesss has been stating the same drain intervals for over 30 years...

This might help ya. I made this a while ago. http://home.comcast.net/~94gsxr1100/lexus/oil/oil_sludge.htm ← Kudos to you. It's very good eye opener for customers like me, who just go by dealer's statements. Thanks! BTW, I really enjoyed your waterless cleaning tutorial section. I have the exact black 98 ES300 with grey border all around. I would like to give it a shot. Can you tell me what are the things I should buy (cleaning liquid, cloth etc.,) and where can I buy all these things. Man your car rocks!! ← Thanks I only use a buffer machine 3 times per year at 1700 rpms. I clay (by hand) with Magic Clay 4 times per year using their fine compound with the proper lube. The claying makes the car like glass. I did it last week again and the car is unreal how smooth it is! People think I am nuts going over the dirt but once they see it, they are amazed. So I do detailing on the side if time permits. Outside of that, I use Dri-wash and guard on everything, then clay. I use micro-fiber towels to remove the polish from Dri-wash and also use the towels to remove the clay lube. Notice my bike baught from in the fall of 1993. Never washed with water!

This might help ya. I made this a while ago. http://home.comcast.net/~94gsxr1100/lexus/oil/oil_sludge.htm

I use Amsoil 5w-30 in my 98 ES. Been using Amsoil since my old Mustang 5.0 days. I am not turning this into Amsoil oil war, but for the price and benefits it is hard to beat. If you read up on it [Amsoil]. You can go 1-year OR “up to 25,000 miles"; whichever is first. I am currently doing 12 to 14K mile intervals (1-year) on my ES. I have been doing extended drains for about 10 years on cars, diesel engines, my gsxr1100 etc. It works. I spend $45 for my 6 qts of Amsoil 5w-30 (asl) and 2 filters, for 1-year. Yes, it works but in my engine (sludge engine) I can not go 25K miles. I can only go about 17,000 miles on 1 oil change before the TBN gets low. Any questions, ask since I have been asked about every question in the world, since most are on the standard low milage drains.

Prices change alot! Here is what I posted before: You might have seen this on the other thread but: Herb Chambers (MA): (Water Pump & Timing Belt): $850.00 plus tax *(Price via email and called) Hoffman (CT); Timing Belt $500, and Water pump is $200: $700 *(Called and Emailed) Balise (MA): Timing belt $399.95, Water pump $212.50: $616.50 *(email and stated price voicemail) ***Had this done and cam/crank seals. About $740 out the door.

I am not advanced here but if you want I can hook up my good-old micro scanner on my way to work in the morning and tell you what I get do to the single rpm's...But I have a 98.... Based on memory that sound about right for the speed. I want to say I am over 2K rpm's for 50 mph. ← my 97 80 mph = 3000 rpm in over drive (4th) ← Jsut checked today. 70 mpg is about 2655 rpm.

So it will add another $11 for 1-year (5 qt sys) with better numbers? I think so but I still use the asl for another 8 months......:) I am going to try it after this 13K+ mile run.... Also why do you change 3 times per year???

Yes, there ASL is cheaper and works very well. The only thing there Series 3000 5-w30 is it will shear less and should retain better ZDDP etc.

Depends on if you are installing a new water pump or not. I just had the following done: installed prices timing belt: 350 water pump: 250 cam and crank seal $90 and prices vary alot, so shop around.

If you test the oil yes, you might/should be able to go longer. I am currently going for another longer drain here (about 13K to 14K miles on my current oil). But again yes based on my past usage of oil and long duration. But if also depends on what oil you start with. If you do not test, if you use a good oil (4 or 5) you can go 1-year easy. At least I have since 1994/1995 It seems that people are scared of the sludge deal; which I have address ways to check for it. Even if you are going 6-month intervals, you still could have sludge in the oil. To find out if you have it, you need to do an oil test ($20 to $25) and look at some areas. In my 98 ES, based on past usage and tests I should be able to run a MAX of 17,000 miles (27.3 km) in 1-year in my ES using the oil I do. I bet 100 to 1 that test comes back ok except for 1 area, TBN; which will be lower then I like. I could go longer if I used there better oil. No, Amsoil has only 1 group 3 oil; there XL-7500. The rest are group 4 and 5. Mobil has some group 3 oils so be careful. You need to look at how they word it, synthetic, full synthetic etc. Then do some homework. You can have a group 4 but be low in ZDDP, Ca and TBN.

A full synthetic will last much longer it is a fact. I have gone almost 3X longer and could have gone longer based on oil tests (oil tested fine). The high levels of acid, tested as TAN levels will not be an issue. Your TBN will drop with rises in TAN (they are integral) and I would watch out for slugging long before acid becomes an issue. So your good factor called TBN is a buffer to fight acid. The TAN is the level of acid in the oil. So far in my almost 10 years of testing my oils, the TAN level is about #14 out of 20 things to look at when testing. Case-in-point, do not even worry about it. Also the oil full synthetic needs classifaction since some are really good and some are poor in level or TBN, ZDDP, Ca etc. Example, I have seen some full synthetic oils have TBN's of only 6 and some over 13. Again, price is related to higher levels. etc etc. Yes, there is a way to test for ph but again, if you have acid problems, you will have other issues as well. So spend the $20 and get the oil tested, not drain the complete system. PS. If you use a good synthetic oil (group 4 or 5) you can go much longer then 6 months. The problem with the full synthetics are most times they are a group 3 and they do not last long; but better then group 1 or 2 dino oils.

I am not advanced here but if you want I can hook up my good-old micro scanner on my way to work in the morning and tell you what I get do to the single rpm's...But I have a 98.... Based on memory that sound about right for the speed. I want to say I am over 2K rpm's for 50 mph.

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...?showtopic=3794

well, you can buy rotors for $75 each (so that is $140 for front). Pads are $35 each; so that is $70 for rear and front. $140 to $70 = $210 your price. Doing it yourself is about 1 hour.

normal noise. It is cooling of exhaust most times as byohzrd said. Nothing to worry about.

My 98 ES does that when I use the AC and then park on hot days. Per my book this is normal. It does stop when I start moving if not, it blinks till the engine temps goes down. I would look in the book for something.

Mine goes up to the middle and stays there all the time. When I used my scanner 3 days ago, the engine coolant temp showed to be around 188 to 191 degree F when running. (correct temp). The outside temp will effect warmup speed. It sounds fine to me and would not worry about it.

No war here. But I must add that I know of a gentleman in Arizona who has a 1990 LS400 with over 400,000 miles he bought the car new and immediatly switched the oil to neo and the car purrs like new with no major work done outside of regular maintenance. and he still drives it to this day. I will not respond to any feedback on this subject. To each his own...... ← It is not a bad oil, just overpriced I feel for what you get. For the high price and the soon intervals, you can find a cheaper oil that will perform the same. Just trying to save some $$$ for ya that is all! :) You could use Mobil, redline, and a few others here. I did not intend to say it was a bad oil, just overpriced for what you get and if you are not doing longer drains, it seems to be a waste of "jingle".

Not starting an oil war here all all, but that last NEO (5w-30) test I saw had lots of lead, about 168ppm of it (new oil). It does have ash too (about 0.64% of it). There 10w-30 has a TBN of 8.3 and 1.03% of ash. There 5w-30 has a TBN of 6.2 and it goes for the crazy price (over $10 pet qt). For the price, a HT/HS of 3.3 and a CCS Viscosity of only around 3,100 cp, I personally do not know how they say "it last 3 to 6 times longer then than other leading brands". The low TBN scares the heck out of me. I would try one year and then test or find another oil since for the price and what you get, I would have a HARD time using a over $10 per qt that has these numbers.

Based on not testing it is a toss up. If the engine is running great then you “could” leave it in there. If you do not know how the engine is running you could have fuel, water, low TBN, high TAN in the oil; therefore you would need to change the oil. Based on the price of the oil, I would dump it. Based on what I remember about Castrol the ZDDP (Zinc & phosphorus are about 900 and 800 when new) and the Ca is around 3000pm when new. It does have moly and born etc so I would think it would be able to hold up based on those numbers. But TBN will drop fast since it is not a true synthetic oil. It is a group3 hydro dino cracked oil. If you have some good filters (full flow and a by-pass) the duration of a true synthetic will last longer then an engine on a single drain. So if you are doing extended drain (longer then manual, which I do) you need to use Amsoil oil and their filters to go “up to” some interval, not 25K in my case (based on my testing). If you are doing the old normal oil changes then what stevej stated is fine for filters; but I would add A/c to the pix too. In oils you need to worry about zddp, vis (for shear), TBN & Ca. The higher the numbers you want, the more it will cost you $$$$.