itsmejs

We had our 2007 RX350 towed to the Lexus dealer back in July 2009. The oil hose starting to leak while my wife was driving and by the time she got home over two quarts of oil had leaked out. The undercarriage was covered with oil. Thank goodness there wasn't a fire. The dealer told me that the hose was defective and this was a rare event. It looks like it may be more common after all since they have issued a recall.

Just because I don't agree with you doesn't mean I want all viewpoints that support exactly my views. I have to say your view about leaking oil not being a fire risk has simply given me a bad impression of you. I really hope with that belief that you're not with Lexus. You posted your views and I thank you for that. As my mom would say back in the days, it's time to take a time out from each other since you guys can't seem to get along. :)

This I agree with in part, however the only way to get rid of the smell is time, it has to burn off the exhaust components. Not a lot they could have done. Now if its knocking and still leaking you need to take it back. The warranty covers the work, but also the components which the work was done to. Should you have an issue later you have some leverage because the car was addressed within the warranty. Anyways its a moot point because the components you've had an issue with are covered under the powertrain warranty and that is still if effect. Do an experiment. take a little bit of motor oil and try and light it on fire. Motor oil is designed to operate at very high temperatures, your engine block is 250 degrees or so. It doesn't catch on fire very easily...its not like cooking oil... Again, I'm trying to help stop trying to pin me with an agenda I'm sharing my Lexus experience with the group, kind of strange that you personally feel that I'm trying to pin you with an agenda. Whether you're employed by Lexus or not, I do understand you're trying to support Lexus and that's fine. But you seem to have your own spin on what happen here with the oil leak. Let me clarify to the group that the three quarts of oil that leaked from the defective oil hose, did so only when the vehicle was running. The oil that leaked on to our garage floor came from the undercarriage of our Lexus that was saturated from the oil leak. By the time our Lexus was towed, there was little or no oil dipping down from the vehicle. On the oil leak not being a fire risk, we are going to have to agreed to disagreed on this one. I'm not debating that oil doesn't catch fire easily, I'm stating that if you have a major oil leak, it can be a fire risk. Anyone who has this problem should not be complacent and have it addressed immediately. Thanks for your feedback.

Sounds like you work at Lexus to me. I’m sorry to disagreed with you but just because an engine light didn't go on doesn't mean that there isn’t engine damage as three quarts of oil is a lot to lose. We do now have a knocking noise coming from the engine since this event happened. From my understanding the repair warranty only covers the repair work done. You asked me what more I would have liked my Lexus dealer to do in regards to service? In this situation I would suggest that Lexus not give the vehicle back to the customer if it reeks of degreaser, it’s still leaking oil and the engine is knocking. Lastly, you mentioned there was no fire risk with this oil leak. I’m a bit surprised that you would state something like that? Three quarts of oil leaking on our engine and exhaust system to me is a fire risk.

Yes it will, thank goodness still 6700 miles left on the warranty Sounds just like what I had. Mine went while I was driving and I didn't notice until I got home and got out to open the garage door. I thought the engine was on fire with all of the smoke coming out. Other than the oil line, there were a bunch of parts with foam in them that soak up the oil and these will all need to be replaced too. This happened right after replacing the heater core for the white dust problem - in fact, while driving it home from this repair. Lexus gave me a 100k platinum warrantee and a few k$ for the trouble. BTW, that was about 9k miles ago and the cars been fine ever since. I did try to get Lexus to extend the warranty but Lexus respectfully declined. While the dealer did clean it up our Lexus nice inside & out it smells bad. I also noticed one spot of fresh oil on our newly cleaned garage floor and also that the exhaust is more visible. I'm hoping that what I'm noticing will just clear up in a few days. The rubber oil hose that was replaced was item#15707-31030 not related to the current TSB for an engine oil leak, so yes, another oil hose to worry about that could fail. I think this could be a problem for Lexus in the future because when this hose fails you have a lot of oil leaking out quickly, three quarts in our case. I asked the service person how long the rubber hoses on the Lexus were supposed to last and his response was the life of the vehicle. That didn't sound right to me but what do I know? He also said that this hose that failed is now re-manufactured replacing the original OEM hose. He thinks that was done for a reason but didn't go into detail. I wish I felt more confident that there was no long term damage done to our vehicle. I have to say that I didn't feel this situation was handled any better or worst than if I owned a Dodge or a Ford product so overall I'm kind of disappointed in Lexus as this is when they should have stood out from other guys.

Yes it will, thank goodness still 6700 miles left on the warranty

Update#2 Here's an update from the dealer, Lexus of Madison, where we purchased our RX350 and where it was towed. The service associate informed me that the oil line bust and they have to order the part. They're also concerned that there may be damage to the engine because of the excessive oil loss as there are 3 quarts gone. Their service tech is working with Toyota on checking the cam gear. I guess there's a plastic piece that pops out like a turkey timer if the cam gets too hot. According to my dealer this is not related to the TSB that I found as that’s another oil line issue. I was told that the oil line developed a pin hole leak and this is the first oil line issue of this type that they have come across. Used to think that Lexus’s were very safe but now I’m not so sure. I asked for a loaner remembering that our sales person stated that whenever we have our RX350 in for service we would get a Lexus loaner. I guess they didn’t have any and I'm going to get an Enterprise rental (Toyota Rav 4) which is better than not having anything at all. No estimate on when we will get our Lexus back.

There is an oil line that goes up to the valve timing system. Mine got a leak after dealer did the TSB for the white powder issue - dealer replaced it with an upgraded part. I don't know if there is a TSB for it or not. They told me they've been seeing a lot of these oil lines fail. Thanks, I may have found the TSB. It's TSB Number:01107, engine oil leak from front timing cover. I'm surprised that this is not a recall. Any oil leak has the potential for causing a fire. With this leak we lost at least 2 quarts of oil. The undercarriage of the Lexus is covered with oil with a good amount on our garage floor since it's been sitting. No sign of leaking at least on the garage floor until this happened.

The oil was last changed on May 16th. We have the oil and tires rotated at a local Toyota dealer. It's $50 there vs. $180 having it done at the Lexus dealer. I first thought of the oil change but there was no sign of leaks or smell until today. Since it's still under warranty I'll have it towed in to the Lexus dealer. What a mess.

My wife came home today and said that she smelled something burning after she got out of the vehicle. We noticed a huge amount of oil had leaked and was continuing to leak from the Lexus while parked in our garage from the right front side under the engine. There had not been any oil on the garage floor from the vehicle in the past. I checked the oil and there was no oil showing on the dip stick. Any ideas? Update: It's been towed so I will hopefully know what caused this on Monday.

Just wondering why the fuel pump is running hours after the vehicle has been shut off? It is a pump but it's actually evacuating any gas vapors in the tank as I recall. It's covered in the hybrid manual, I expect it's also in the regular manual. The hybrid also has a few other similar sounds right after you turn it off. Thanks for the information, you've been very helpful.

Just wondering why the fuel pump is running hours after the vehicle has been shut off?

I heard a noise coming from our garage and found it to be coming from my wife's 2007 RX350. It sounded like it was coming from underneath near the back of the Lexus. It had been sitting for a few hours since she came home. It sounds like a electric motor running and it continued to run at least 3 minutes while I was out in the garage trying to figure out what it was. Any ideas what this could be? We did have a dead battery issue several months ago and Lexus just told us that they thought a door may have been left a jar. Maybe this had something to do with it.