NewSlang

Hello! So today I wanted to do my first oil change on my 1998 ES300 with 50000 miles on the odometer. Upon opening the oil fill hole, I found what appears to be sludge on the oil fill hole. Attached are pictures of said sludge.




Is it safe to perform an oil change? How should I go about removing the residue/sludge?

PFB

This is NOT sludge. You can only see sludge by removing the valve cover and looking inside
. Nothing to worry about

NewSlang

Thank you for your response! I'm on the edge of my seat worrying if my engine is doomed. Do you know what it happens to be?

EDIT: I should have also mentioned that this is my very first oil change on a car. I've read about this being a "baffle" which I believe prevents you from seeing inside the oil fill entry. So if that is the case, when I drain my old oil, I can just simply put a funnel into the oil fill entry and fill it without a worry?

NewSlang

Here are some more photos. This residue blocks the entire oil fill entry.

Arsenii

Hello,

There is a cover on it, please refer to picture below; that is what you see under the oil fill plug. I believe it is a sort of baffle for a PCV system, but I am not sure about that.. It is just an oil that got trapped, and then cooked on that plate, it is the same for all 1MZ-FE engines. To see if you have any buildup, you will have to remove the valve cover, which, in your case, doesn't make a whole lot of sense.



In short, it is how it supposed to be, there is nothing to worry about, so you can go ahead and replace the oil.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

sdls

....they all look like that...

NewSlang

So how would I add oil to the through this oil fill hole? Do I have to remove a cover?

Arsenii

You don't have to remove anything, just pour the oil in there, like in most of the other cars around.. Be sure to go slow, otherwise you may spill it all over the place. Below is the video that shows how to do an oil change in 1998 Lexus ES300.


P.S. There should be a gasket on the drain bolt, the author forgot to replace it. That washer is really cheap, so I would suggest replacing it while you are in there.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

sdls

If it means anything, the first time I took a look under a 1MZ-FE oil cap 20 years ago I thought that the motor was sludged solid, too.

NewSlang

Thank you for clarifying my thoughts lol. That is exactly what I thought and why I made this thread.

Oro

The baffle serves two purposes - A) you can't easily drop anything into the valve train when the oil cap is off, and B), if an oil cap fails or you forget it, you won't spray your oil out steadily through the open hole.

It does make an oil change a bit more tedious as you have to go slowly, and you can't easily inspect the drivetrain, but it serves a valid safety feature.