so the oil sludge doesn't come out during regular oil changes and just sits in that space all the time? that's really nasty stuff.

the oil the comes out of my car is always free-flowing. I keep them in big plastic bottles before taking them to the county recycing place. even after sitting in my garage for a couple of weeks, the old Mobil 1 oil seemed pretty clean, when I pour it out at the recycing center.

 

yep, turns into big areas of peanut butter thick stuff. some even harder....like burnt grease

 

replaced both valve cover gaskets recently and my engine looks like this
105K on the odo with Mobil1 full syntec!!!

 

where is the other valve cover?

 

It's underneath the intake manifold at the back of the engine. Don't worry about that one. If there's sludge, it's going to affect both of them and likewise if there's no sludge then both of them are going to be clean. It would have to be something really odd for there to be one and not the other other.

 

Do a seach here on,
Ticking time bomb. I had the same worries.I have a 2001 and used dino oil for about 75,000 miles every 3,000 miles. Castrol 5w 30w. I just switched to mobil 1 0w 30 syn. The dealer said only if you went the 5,000 miles per oil change, which they first recommended, then you may have an issue. i would be more worried than you. But this thing runs great. Plus it will have to break before they can fix it.

 

My RX300 is running fine, as far as I can tell. Nothing unusua. But just for my peace of mind, I'd like to have the dealer open the valve cover and take a look. How much will the dealer charge to do this?

 

It should at the max take about 15 minutes after they take off the engine cover to get the bolts off of the cover. A mechanic could do it. However, I think they're likely to charge an hour's labor (I can't remember them charging for fractions thereof). I don't know, $80???

 

Thanks! I'll ask the dealer in the next couple of days.

I just thought of something else. When I opened the engine oil filler cap and looked down there, it was had this dry, dark-brown color... that's not dried up oil sludge, right? I asssume that's only because the engine oil in that area doesn't get hot enough to be circulated, and then dried up?

 

Don't worry about what you find there, wait until you see what is under the valve cover.

 

under my oil cover looked dark with stuff like sludge but when i changed the gaskets was relieved to see that it was nothing. It was costly to change the both valve cover gaskets. The rear cover is PITA to change. Labour was expensive but i had to get it done because my rear cover was leaking. Not a big leak but any spot of oil in my show room floor garage is a big deal for me

 

Lexmex,

I went to the dealer this morning... first one at 7AM. The tech removed the valve cover and I was really happy about it. With 135,000 miles on my RX300, the inside looked much, much cleaner than picture of your engine below.... I guess using Mobil 1 5W-30 synthetic since the odometer was only at 1000 miles really paid off? Also, my dealer did not charge me anything to inspect this, which was nice of them.(very rare)

 

sarah,you have been using synthetic oil since new.dont even waste your time fooling around with this.i am 100% sure you have no sludge.
ryan

 

I only did it for peace of mind. It's like I know I don't have a couple million dollars of unmarked $100 bills in my bank safety deposit box, but I just wanted to make sure they're not there.

 

aaaaallllllll-ritey then!!