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Oil level on dipstick WAY over normal level when cold
Again, have not owned a Lexus, or car of this caliber before, so im slowly understanding the car day by day.
One this that caused me great concern is my engine oil level. I have always had vehicles and performed my own oil changes (for the most part) by looking at the oil level on the dipstick while the engine is COLD. It has never steered me wrong and have always been able to maintain accurate levels of oil this way. HOWEVER, with this car, when I check the dipstick in the morning before I have started it up for the day, the oil level shows WAYY over the normal limit. I'll attach a photo below for reference.
Having only purchased this car, I was instantly concerned when i spotted this, and rushed down to my local dealer who checked the dipstick after i had just arrived there who said its normal - however the level at that time, was exactly where its supposed to be which is at the top dot marker on the stick. He advised that the correct way to check the oil level on this car was to warm it to operating temperature, switch it off then check it.
My question is, how you all check the oil levels in your IS250? Does your oil level look as absurd as mine does on the dipstick on a cold morning before startup? or was i right to panic when i spotted this?
Last edited by IS25000; 04-16-18 at 11:46 PM.
Reason: Spelling mistakes
Not to offend by stating the obvious, but did you remove and wipe down the dipstick with a rag, and then re-insert to take your reading? While my reading may be a tad higher in the morning before startup as compared to when warm, it is still between the high and low marks on the dipstick. I change my own oil, putting in 6.7 quarts.
I'm just going to pull this out of my a$$ but if your oil level is really that high and it's not just the stick picking up fluid in the tube, etc then I am curious whether there is excessive pressure built up in the pan or if that is even possible? If you are sure that the correct amount of oil is in there I would change the filter (incase it malfunctioned) and the PCV Valve. I might even dump a can of Seafoam into the crankcase (drain a little oil first) and run it in park for 20 minutes or so before draining it.
What a weird problem if it's not due to an overfill.
Had a similar problem w/ is250 recently. Lady friend says it's been using 1 qt per tank of gas, and I questioned that (no smoke, reasonably clean tail pipes). I checked the oil following morning, and got a very high reading. Spent a couple of hours draining off about 3 qts, then lectured her on her dipstick technique. She demonstrated that she did know how to check it, and I chalked it up to "who knows?" Today, I have custody of the car, trying to chase down a F/A (o2) sensor problem, and I find that the oil level fell from full to Add 1 in less than 100 miles. Clearly there's something I don't understand.. Anybody know what it is?
Had a similar problem w/ is250 recently. Lady friend says it's been using 1 qt per tank of gas, and I questioned that (no smoke, reasonably clean tail pipes). I checked the oil following morning, and got a very high reading. Spent a couple of hours draining off about 3 qts, then lectured her on her dipstick technique. She demonstrated that she did know how to check it, and I chalked it up to "who knows?" Today, I have custody of the car, trying to chase down a F/A (o2) sensor problem, and I find that the oil level fell from full to Add 1 in less than 100 miles. Clearly there's something I don't understand.. Anybody know what it is?
Wondering if a really funky pcv valve might set off a chain of mischief that produced 1-excessive oil consumption, 2- alternating DTCs too rich/too lean on both bank 1 and bank 2. ??? Think I'll pull it tomorrow and investigate.
04-16-18, 11:45 PM
Oil level on dipstick WAY over normal level when cold
Pcv valve rather than $600 worth of sensors ?
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