AJT123

I'll let y'all know if my garage ever shows any leaks. Not switching to synthetic. Wouldn't worry about it if I did.

Not a drip so far on the garage floor. This car is old but I still don't ever expect any engine trouble for as long as I have it. There are no common major engine issues, just valve cover gaskets that leak. That's about it.

SW17LS

A few oil leaks on an old car aren't "engine trouble".

Which is, an engine oil leak!

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

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Och

iTrader: (3)

But they can lead to engine trouble, depending on the engine design. A bad cam/crank seal leaking even a slight amount of oil, splashing it onto the timing belt, and associated gears and pulleys, will cause trouble.

On the 3UZ in particular, valve cover gaskets are very simple to replace.

SW17LS

Sure, you have to stay on top of them but they happen with an old car.

Sure, but it’s still an oil leak.

Och

iTrader: (3)

I must be getting old, because when I think an old car, I think 80ies Buick or a Towncar, not an LS430, lol.

AJT123

I know. There’s no engine trouble at all. The UZ V8s are indestructible. Valve cover gaskets yes, but as pointed out are easy to replace. Hardly a Jaguar or BMW leak. That’s the biggest issue they have that I know of.

Och

iTrader: (3)

Timing belt is the achilles heel of these engines. Leaking water pump and cam/crank seals can cause a pulley to lock up and break the timing belt, and then the interference 3UZ is done.

SW17LS

I know! Its hard to believe.

Nothing is indestructible. Like Och said, the timing belt is a huge issue as the cars get quite old and people haven't replaced them. The older they get, the less likely people are to do that expensive job.

On my old 2003 ES300 we made the conscious decision not to replace the timing belt. The car is rarely driven, and the cost of replacing the best basically totals the car.

JeffKeryk

If my Oldsey or Vette don't leak that just means there is no oil in the pan.

Striker223

You are wrong on this. If a car only has wet seals and seepage with conventional and then gets noticeable leaks synth is not to blame for that. It just flows better and revealed the leaks more clearly to people who don't pull the belt covers and check or run their hand along the bottom of the VC rail. A seep or wetness is a leak, just because it doesn't hit the ground doesn't mean it's not leaking

SW17LS

You are arguing semantics lol. Synthetic oil didnt "cause" the leak, but it exacserbated the leak. It puts the vehicle owner in a position where now they have to repair a leak when before they mat never have had to.

You live in this world where everybody is constantly looking under the hoods of their cars and pulling covers etc, and thats not reality. I have a 2003 ES300 with 220k miles on it. It has all kinds of seeping oil leaks...I have no intention of fixing any of them, there is no reason to. If I switched to synthetic oil, likely I would have a bunch of active leaks staining the driveway I would HAVE to fix. Why would I do that?!

AJT123

Right. But TB/WP/idlers/drivebelt are normal maintenance items, stay on top of it every 90-120k you're fine.

There is this funny meme I shared a few weeks back on FB that said "20 year old car to me" and it showed a 1989ish Taurus. Below that it said "20 year old car in reality" and showed a 2002 Altima SE. Ouch.

If people don't stay on top of maintenance (which is nothing on LS430 even including TB) and the car acts up, that's their problem. Doesn't speak to the reliability of these engines at all. I can't recall ONE single engine failure on here not from a snapped belt, and even a snapped belt I've read about maybe twice on here in a decade? Yeah, they're old but still. 4.3 was a beast, insanely overbuilt and under stressed.

4.3 is as indestructible as a gas engine can get, I would posit that for sure.

Och

iTrader: (3)

Yep, when someone says 10 years ago, I think 1992, before I realize its 2002.











Oh wait...

SW17LS

An ICE is a pretty robust thing if you keep up with the maintenance, all of them are. The UZ engine is one of the best, but there are many, many engines that have stood the test of time. The issue is, not everybody is going to a $1,000-$1,500 worth of preventative maintenance on something that gets to a point where it has very little value. A timing belt is NOT nothing, thats a huge job and a very expensive job. Most people just ignore it past the first one when the car is only worth a few thousand dollars and drive it until it breaks. Thats what I'm doing with my 03 ES300. Not worth the cost of replacing it, or repairing the myriad of oil leaks, They don't stain the driveway, and the car runs the 10 miles or so it gets driven a week.

Its a hard sell to put $1,500 worth of preventative maintenance into a car that might be worth $1,500.