smithfh

Hi everyone,

Forgive me if there is another post related to this issue but I’ve only seen oil burning posts for the 3GS. I have a 2014 GS 350 with 175,000 miles.

Since around 165,000 miles I typically only go about 3,000 miles after an oil change before my “low oil level” light comes on. I recently took it in for a diagnostic and they did not find any leaks or issues with sensors, etc. The mechanic said it was 2 quarts low and that it’s likely burning oil. He used an additive to hopefully prolong the oil life.

Has anyone else experienced this?

I

bclexus

Two quarts low in just 3,000 miles of driving - that's not good! You say this happens typically very 3,000 miles or so, and not just a one-off circumstance.

Have you noticed any white or blue smoke emitted when accelerating normally from a stop after idling the engine for awhile? If so, that would indicate possibly some valve guides not sealing and leaking some oil into the cylinder which is then burned along with the fuel.

909

Use a quality synthetic oil.
Check your oil regularly , and add as needed.
Never let the low oil level light come on again.

smithfh

I haven’t noticed any smoke. I have smelt the odor of burning oil every now and then.

bclexus

Your futile advice in no way addresses the cause of why he commonly experiences so much oil consumption every 3,000 miles.

bclexus

After the engine is fully warmed up to typical operating temperature from driving at least 4-5 miles - what type of exhaust do you see in the rear view mirror when suddenly going WOT (wide-open-throttle) from 10 mph to 2nd gear upshift? Is the exhaust color a grayish, brownish white like it's blowing out steam and carbon or is the color a thicker, heavier white with maybe even a blueish tinge? Or is the exhaust during WOT no discernible color at all?

smithfh

I haven’t noticed any smoke in general. I will keep an eye out. What would a brownish color mean? Or blue?

bclexus

Exhaust color that is grayish, brownish white that is like it's blowing out condensation as steam and some carbon is very normal. However, exhaust that is thicker, heavier white with maybe even a blueish tinge is indicative of oil burning.

jgscott

iTrader: (1)

If no leaks were found, then it's burning the oil either by ring blow by or other. The best test would be a compression and leak down to see was the results are? With the GS having 2 Cats and other. Until it really become major, major it's very hard to see smoke. If you go to the 2nd Gen IS forum there are 1 of these almost every week. A few have done some kinda Piston ring carbon cleaning procedures that slowed the consumption down to far less than what you are burning right now. Is why I smh every time I see these 10K oil changes and those being ok with how contaminated gritty and dirty that oil is in 10K.

Be careful with the problem right now, and try to research what some did in the IS forum.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...ce-engine.html

Knucklebus

That's a lot of oil to burn in 3,000 miles. If you smell smoke and it was mine, I'd get under it to see if it was dripping from something onto an exhaust pipe. Valve covers would be an easy fix.

My second thought would be to see if the PCV valve had failed. If it is stuck open, it would suck oil constantly into the intake.

I'd expect your tail pipes to have some oily residue by now if it is going through the cylinders. If it smoked at startup after sitting a few hours, I'd assume it was leaking in around the valve guides but that would not usually use nearly that much oil.

Also, actually burning that much oil should show up on the plugs by now. Are you getting any misfire events in the OBDII?

Anything you do is likely a stop-gap measure if the valve guides or rings are worn out. You could run a grade heavier oil to see what change that makes.

I'll be interested to see what you find out.

LexusGSboy

Lots of good info from @bclexus and @Knucklebus

The PCV valve could be a good call for the amount of oil you seem to be losing in the short time frame.

I've always tended to see the most smoke from an cylinder oil leak to happen after the cars been sitting over night. During that time a bit of oil leaks into the cylinder and you get the white/bluish smoke when you first start the car. Under driving conditions you might not notice it if the leak is minor but given the amount of oil I'd expect more smoke more often.

You mentioned smelling oil which makes me think of something more along the lines of a valve cover gasket leak that's then dripping down onto something hot. You may not smell it all the time, again, it sort of depends on how bad the leak is and where it might be dripping. In the case I'm thinking of, the smell was primarily for the first 5+ miles. Basically oil from the driving the day before would drip a bit when the car was parked at the end of the day. As things would heat up that would burn off and smell but then go away because the leak wasn't very bad.

I assume you're not seeing anything under the car if you left it parked for a couple days? You mention it going in for a diagnostic so I would think they'd be able to see something.

As someone else mentioned - I assume you're using a good synthetic oil and the correct weight of oil? Although the amount just seems sooooo high for that.

And lastly - one clarification. Oil changes are only every 10k and you mentioned this from 165k, to 175k. Does that mean you've had one oil change that this happened after or two? If it were one, I also wouldn't be surprised if the tech doing the oil change managed to not get the fill level right - sadly I've seen that happen before.

Another thing that comes to mind to check that I've seen - look at your engine coolant and make sure it's still it's normal color. If it's gray instead of that nice yellowish green color that's bad.

bclexus

And, it makes me wonder who did the last couple oil and filter changes - a Lexus dealer or some kid at the corner oil change place.

Below is a DIY video of @jgscott changing oil in his neighbor's car, which hopefully will help some people here on the 4GS forum.

Good ol' Jamie is always willing to help others by sharing his knowledge. He's a good ol' boy!

Pay close attention to the technique this mechanical genius uses...

jgscott

iTrader: (1)

No smoke, no leaks but..... the mirrors can be make some confused.

One of many threads, 3rd Gen GS350 also has them too.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...uming-oil.html

bclexus

@jgscott - Jamie, is that really you in that DIY oil change video posted above?

cnc369

holy crap, 2 qts within 3000 miles and for the light to come on is not a small issue especially when there's no external leaks. either your piston rings are damaged and not sealing oil from going past the piston and cylinder or you have extremely bad scoring on your cylinder block walls. if you get a new engine put in, don't ever go with the factory those 10,000 mile or even 5000 mile interval oil changes, as that is the problem of premature engine wear especially if you are hard on the vehicle. always use a good synthetic motor oil and don't go with that 0w-20 as that crap doesn't offer up any real protection.