indypwr

if you look at yr distributor, look at the bottm of it to see if you have any oil leaking. i found some oil leak a few days ago, nothing big though, maybe just a spoonful of oil but still, it needs to be taken care of.
have you guys had the same problem?

eric: i remember that night we met up, i had found some oil also beneath your distributor. can you find out where exactly it's coming from or correct me if im wrong.

link13

Indy, I had an oil leak on my car, but I'm not sure that it's from the same spot that you're talking about. The service records on my car show that the oil filter housing o-ring was replaced in Dec. 2001 to fix a leak. I noticed a leak in June of last year and asked Lexus to check the o-ring and replace it if necessary or find the source of the leak. They replaced the o-ring, then I noticed the same leak was back a few weeks later. I took the car back to Lex and they said the leak was from the oil filter housing. I had the oil filter housing replaced ($249 or so) and now there are no more leaks. Lexus paid for a good portion of the labor as they said they should have found the correct source of the leak the first time.

indypwr

the oil leak i found was coming beneath the distributor, though, not frm the oil filter.
it's in the opposite to be exact. dont know where it's coming from but i will find out this wknd.

link13

Let me know what you find out. The guys at TRD said that oil leaks on the 2JZ are pretty rare. The o-ring that failed on mine is the most common according to them. How many miles do you have on your car? I wonder if you have a leaky valve cover gasket or something.

lexusaht

iTrader: (1)

I had this problem a few year ago, Fix it ASAP. the gasket around the distub needs to be change, while at it change head gasket also. I did not fix it soon enough, the oil cause my alternator to fail. hope this helps

007

I believe this is your problem as well... i had developed a small leak in the same area but it ocurred around the time i was replacing the timing belt.. so i replaced the distributor cap, gasket, wires, valve cover gaskets etc. (Had hook up on parts).


link.... I was told to use lexus/toyota oil filters because aftermarket ones didnt seal well. and would cause a small leak that would drip down and hit the rack and pinion. Once i changed to lexus/toyota OEM filters i had no more problems. Does anyone use aftermarket filters and not have leakage? If so what brand?

link13

I have always used Lexus/Toyota filters and they seal fine. The filter housing o-ring is known to fail given enough time.

I just did an oil change yesterday and used a filter that I bought from a Toyota dealer. It is a US-made filter (I have always had the Japanese-made filters in the past) and it seals fine, but the oil filter wrench I use on the Japanese filters does not fit. Wierd stuff.

007

hmmm.. okay, i have never had the o-ring to go out and man do i put miles on my car. But this may be because when i install a oil filter i put a little oil on my finger and rub it around the seal on the filter.. kinda like lubricating the rubber seals. I was taught this as a kid and have always done it. But you may do the same, so it just may be some more of that "weird stuff"

link13

I lube the oil filter rubber ring as well to help it seal. The oil filter housing o-ring is located where the oil filter housing attaches to the engine block. It may have been replaced on your car at some point in the past, but I dunno. The Lexus tech said that this o-ring is the most frequent cause of leaks until the car gets a lot of miles and other gaskets start to let go. By that time, the Lexus techs are usually not doing work on the first gens anymore anyway. Too expensive to have Lexus do the service once you're out of warranty.

007

Thanks... good to know.

LB Lex

There seems to be to issues dicussed here: 1) distributor gasket; and 2) oil filter seal.

As far as the oil filter sealing, it is recommended to put a little oil on the rubber seal on the oil filter before it is installed. If it leaks, maybe it wasn't tightened enough or the mounting surface is damaged. I don't know what is the best oil filter, but I remember seeing a couple threads here discussing this topic. Apparently, not all of Toyota/Lexus' filters are made the same. Someone cut two of them open and you can see that one of them has a lot more filter area than the other. Here is the link: http://mkiv.com/techarticles/parts/t...ter/index.html

In regards to the leaky distributor gasket, it seems to be a common problem on our GSs. Indy and I seem to have the same problem, so we should get this fixed. Does anyone know how much it would cost to fix this problem?

indypwr

tks for all the infos you guys. this really helps a lot.


ERIC: hey, maybe we can meet up again to see if we can change the gasket around the distributor. i have the "bible" at home, i mean the whole manual book for lexus gs300.......everything you need to know -are included on this book. call me at my cell: --323-841-5397

Jmai22

Patrick and Eric, i just checked under my distrub and there seams to be oil there there too. There is this piece of metal under the distrib and its soaked in oil. I wanna fix this. whats the 5 dollar part you told me bout earlier patrick.

LB Lex

Ya, we should all get together at someone's house to work on our cars, a mini-meet. A Saturday seems nice, we can get together around 1:00 and work on our cars and drink beer for the rest of the afternoon. I can't make it this weekend, and I'm not too sure about next weekend, but I'll find out.

The only thing I'm worried about is putting back the distributor in the correct position. I've never done this, but it should be simple. Hopefully one of us has experience with distributors.

Jmai22

i'm down to drink if you guys don't tell my mommy on me. hehe. anyone wanna volunteer to bring sum gurls too. lol.