Hey guys,

I just picked up my 1st LS430, 2001, from my brother-in-law, though I will always be a die-hard LS400 fan, I had no choice but to buy this at an unheard of price, one owner, totally dealer serviced since new. However, I'm detecting a very noticeable oil burning smell or some other fluid that must be leaking intermittently on the exhaust. Without investigating yet, I'm assuming its the engine oil seals (hopefully not the rear crank seal), and as you already know it's a pain changing the cam seals on a vvti eng, although I'm not seeing it with my naked eye. It currently has 165k miles so maybe its about that time, the dealer just changed the timing belt 6 months ago, I wonder why they didn't renew the seals, they certainly had no problem charging tons of $$ for everything else over the past 22 yrs., most of it was not necessary, but as you know, that's (dealers/stealers) what they do! Has anyone else dealt with this issue? Thanks in advance, I'm now a new member to the 430 forum:-)

Cheers,

LS400 and now LS430 FAN also.

 

Well I've read all of the posts on this thread and I can see that the issues talked about here does not address my issue for the following reasons: The burned oil smell(or some other fluid) is not coming out of my tail pipe, it's most likely seeping out of an oil seal dripping on the exhaust pipe which is why the smell is coming into the cabin, and is extremely strong from the eng bay area after a long drive. Since this car 2001 LS430 is new to me, i'm thinking the problem is similar to one of my LS400's, since I just got it I haven't had a chance to investigate, just checking to see if anyone here experienced the same issue. It has 165k miles, so I'm leaning heavily towards the oil seals, maybe even ps fluid which is quite common on the 400's anyway. What's your take? Tia.

Cheers,

LS400 and now LS430 Fan.

 

Welcome to the forum. Since this is the IS 500 subforum, I think not many folks here would have knowledge on your car. You might want to check out the Lexus LS forum for your generation of vehicle. Best of luck!

 

Thanks, I get your point so this was the thread that came up after I did a search. However, I would think the issue would be the same on similar Lexus engines, would it not? Thanks just the same.

Cheers.

 

Most common issue causing oil smell are valve cover gaskets leaking onto exhaust manifold. Check it out.

 

+1 on the leaky valve cover gaskets. My 2002 does the same thing. It's on my to do list.

 

Me too on the valve cover gaskets. In fact, you described exactly what I had experienced in my 03 (165K miles).
The oil burning smell, using oil...
I DIY the valve cover gaskets (My 03 is UL has air suspension which made the job a bit difficult due to the air outlet facing the engine bay).
If you don't have air suspension, it will be easier (assuming you have the right tools)

 

Hey guys thanks a bunch, the valve cover gaskets came first to my mind, I'll check it out once I remove the eng covers. Btw, I personally don't prefer to keep the main eng cover on the car for the simple reason, imo, it serves no valid purpose other than making it "look" nice and clean under the hood. The downfall is that it traps in excessive heat from the eng which again imo, significantly accelerates the deterioration of the wiring and electrical connectors underneath. I'll keep you guys posted on what I find about the oil burning smell. Fingers crossed its just the valve cover gaskets:-)

Cheers.

 

Thanks for the air-susp tip, looking at the original invoice it indicates it has "gas pressurized" shocks with front rebound springs, and the owner's manual indicates the car can be lowered for max performance (maybe as an option?), so I'm assuming it has air susp right? This is all new to me, I'm still learning about all of the gazillion features this thing has. Thanks.
Cheers.

 

Happy to help!

If you have the height control and the Sport /Normal switches to the left of the "PWR/NORM" button under the radio, you have the air suspension (or at least DID from the factory)

 

Hey thanks Yoshi, nope I don't have it which is a good thing for me, one less thing to worry about:-) However, I know its not the UL model, but I would think they would've included it anyway since its the Silver Anniversary Model. Getting back to the oil burning issue I've just confirmed the problem is leaking valve cover gaskets, couldn't see it but ran my fingers along the bottom edge of the right side valve cover and sure enough came up with oily fingers. I can understand why my brother-in-law didn't want to pay the dealer to do the job, I guess he figured he could live with the smell:-) One thing is for sure its a lot more labor intensive than my good ole LS 400's, I'm just happy its not coming from the cam or crank seals. It looks like I have to remove a lot of "stuff" to get at them incl. the battery on the right side and lifting up the wiring harness on the left hand side, is there anything else I should look out for when I get into the job? It still looks pretty much the same as the 400, just more labor intensive, at least I don't have to worry about the air suspension issue. Thanks.

Cheers.

 

a good link if you plan to DIY
Valve engine cover leak + DIY fix question - Page 2 - ClubLexus - Lexus Forum Discussion