I have not done any scientific study, but every time I drain the engine oil or the transfluid, the drained stuff was less easy flowing out. It very well could be a perception as the fluid out was always darker.

Correct me if I am wrong, the shear is after reaching the breakdown and the intent is not to get to that point by cooling {temp} and replacement {time based drain/fill}


I think we can disagree on trying to reach perfection. My approach has always been never be too agressive in reaching a fix. I would live with a small buildup (as long as it does not interfere) than scarping it off to discover a possible leak.

Salim

 

Salim,
You are right, sometimes used oil tend to get thicker. I have seen engine oil left too long and they are like condensed milk. Just that RX300's engine has a proven history to shear oil, especially dino oil, as early as 200 miles after a fresh oil change. So I generalizes...
The term shear can be caused by several ways, one is being sqeezed by piston rings, a perfectly normal operation. This link can describes it better than I can.
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/oilshear.htm
It is tough to know when scrub that block leaks will leave and find a new "home". None of us want scrub to block critical passages in either the transmissin or engine. If there are better ways to solve leak problem, I am sure we will take that option (if repair/solution is relatively cheap).

 

My experience is that I feel it shears more in the RX300. I know with other vehicles that my uncle and I work on, it can clump, especially if the car is driven for short periods of time as occurs in the neighborhood where he lives and thus the vehicles don't get up to full operating temperature (add in the fact that most use regular dino oil here) and sludge or accumulation can develop.

My uncle actually bottles my old synthetic fluid and will put it back in friend's vehicles who want it, unless like on Saturday it was so dirty (the Oil Extreme additive did its job , ask me if you want to know). I am now using two bottles of the Liqui Moly anti friction additive as a test along with a split 5W30 Mobil 1 extended drain/Mobil 1 0W40 and 4 cylinder volume version of Restore additive. Track times were very nice on Saturday night after we changed out the ATF and oil. We will take a look in my next post, and then I plan to do a DIY coolant change some of you have wanted to see today.

 

I sometimes hate reading these forums as it gets me paranoid about potential (expensive) problems with owning a higher mileage used car (about 117K miles).

The wife is really looking into a new Sienna since we have a second child on the way. I, too have put a couple grand into mostly preventative maintenance on the car and a tranny blowout would be devastating right now.

Threads like these really make me lean more towards the new car, and I would just dump money into my M3 when it needs it.

 

Hey Audioman,

have no fear,

the bulk of my concern stemmed from my being too picky and not wanting the car to "clunk" when I put it in park from drive or viceversa, etc...

Therefore I had the trani overhauled, which was the only way to diagnose the internal problem...

I would not have been able to sell the car without the prospective owner noticing this and discounted my asking price by the cost of a new trani, hence my decision for the repair...

The rear main seal came ( I am almost certain) from undue stress the seal suffered during the trani removal and install process... I have no doubt in my mind that if the trani had not been touched or at least had been handled properly, the rear main would not have leaked.

The other leak was from a driveshaft seal which was not replaced when the trani was overhauled, and they offered to do it for free and even delivered the car to my house after the work was complete

As upset as I was, believe it or not, I still feel strongly about the brand, albeit that Lexus canada has one more letter coming from me for the rear main seal leak and damage to my garage floor and driveway which posses an extra contractual obligation beyond the "out of warranty contract I had with Lexus."

The members of the forum should be proud to be part of such a high quality brand, and not fear the odd post of problematic trani or other things which are isolated and do not represent the rest as a general potential for failure.

The problems with forums are that they ALL focus on disgruntled owners taking a magnifying glass to their personal issues while trying to obtain input from other members, but ultimately hightening the brand in a negative tone, unecessarily.

Hope it makes sence,

Cheers,
Fern

 

Fern:

It was indeed a pleasure to read your post. Not becuase you are defending Lexus as a brand, but for not letting the set backs taint your objectivity.

Audioman:

Just be aware that any repair is going to be expensive. Less than German luxury cars but still up there. When I purchased the GS and RX, my mind and friends advised me against purchasing the extended warranty. The reason I bought the extended warranty was that IFF there was a breakdown, I would have been unable to pay for repairs [cash flow issue].

Just look at the number of RXs sold. If a good share of them had problems, the net would have been indundated with complaints. Even the popularity would have faded affecting sales.

Salim

 

Salim,
I have the same issue. What is the name of the part that is supposed to"keep dust out?"
If my issue is indeed rear main seal, I will just go ahead with repair.

Thanks
Ben

 

Welcome to CL.

I do appreciate you taking the trouble to revive an old thread instead of creating a new one, but please give some details. It is very hard to remember the chain of thoughts about almost 10 yr old thread.

Salim

 

The main seal does not keep dust out - it keeps the engine oil in! That's the $1000+ repair, as you have to remove the transmission to get to it.