Preppyboy1

I actually joined this forum so I can get the word out so anyone with the first generation RX300 can save their cars/suvs.

For a while now, everytime I would start the RX300 on a "cold start" (yes even in the summer) seconds after the engine was started a loud buzzing noise would come from the passenger side of the engine where the belts are located. I had the car looked at by several mechanics where I was told everything from the alternator was going bad, to the trans was about to go. Strange thing was that once the car was put into reverse or drive the buzzing would rapidly dissapate. Nobody could figure this out. Well, finally after this was going on for a period of about a year, on one of those hot Chicago summer days last week the oil light started flickering then went steady (yes the red oil light on the bottom of the display panel) I was lucky enough to be on one of Chicago's busy surface streets lined with businesses of which had parking lots, so I immediately pulled into a pizza joint's parking lot and shut the car off. I grabbed one of my trusty Mickey D's napkins and checked the oil dip stick to find the oil was still clean (only been 1500 miles since the last change and that's with Mobil 1 synthetic) and the oil level was right where it was 3 days ago when I got gas... FULL. Well I turned the car back on thinking it was a faulty sensor and the engine ran fine... No light. Whew I thought... Well folks the fun was not over. After driving further about 1 mile the light came back on and went steady. Now I had about 3 miles to go before I was home, so again after thinking it was the oil sending unit going bad, I drove the car home. Upon pulling into the garage I heard the engine knocking moderately and the top of the engine sounded like an old sewing machine. I got the car in the garage popped the hood and looked under the oil cap while the engine was running to see that the top of the engine was not getting any oil. I shut the car off. After starting to wonder if it was the sludge issue I have seen posted all over the internet, I decided to let the vehicle sit for an hour or so to cool down then went over to the local oil change place. I was able to get the vehicle to the oil change place where they told me the same thing, "oh it's just a bad sending unit, you should be fine". Truth was there was a hidden issue going on that nobody expected. After the oil change, I left and the car ran fine for about 5 miles then the oil light came back on again. I'm thinking WTF! I got the car home and shut it back off, disconnected the battery to reset the computer and when hooked back up an hour later, wa-la no oil light! Ok I'm good to go I thought. I drove the car later that night, it ran fine, no light until the following morning when driving to work the light came back on again. WTF! Now I'm P!SSED. I called a local mechanic who is nearby where I work and he said, "Ya drop the car off and I'll look at it". I was lucky enough to drive the car over to his shop with it on its last legs so to say. Parked it and left it with him. I explained the situation to him saying that I was wondering if the oil has sludged in the engine and to drop the pan and check it. He told me that with how well I have taken care of the car it was highly unlikely. I said, "Please just do it anyway for peace of mind" He agreed. Hours later I get the call, "Ya this is the mechanic (yes he calls his place the mechanic) and I did what you told me, dropped the pan, and your engine looks fine, but your oil pick up screen is 100% clogged and there are particles floating around in your oil now but are rubbery not metal (here it was one of the gaskets that was falling apart and going down into the crankcase) so that's not as bad as if they were metal.. I'm gonna have to order you a new oil pick up tube, screen, and gasket and the car should be ready tommorrow sometime" Well the next day came around and after he got the old pick up off and put the new one on, the engine once again is running like brand new and he was right, the old screen was 100% clogged with what almost looked like blacktop. Anyhow the moral of that story is, do yourselves a favor, go to a shop like I did (private shop, not a "Stealorship") and for peace of mind, have the pan dropped and cleaned as well as the screen cleaned or replaced. That job cost me $300 to have done, but had I drove the car around thinking it was just a bad sensor or no big deal I would have blown the engine as it was being starved of oil and the buzzing sound was the gears on the oil pump grinding from it trying as hard as it could to suck oil when all it was doing was creating a vacuum much the way a vacuum cleaner hose would do if you were to put the hose hole down onto a hard surface, which this situation would locked the engine and have basically rendered the car scrap at that point.

thomas1

That is exactly what we encountered on my neighbors highlander. The pickup was clogged. However I wonder about the area under your valve covers....We found sludge there, even though the engine oil looked great. I Use Castrol Oil 0-30 European Blend and found that it is actually cleaning the engine of baked on stuff. This is the full synthetic that has made in Germany on the bottle....Good luck....

carguy07

So what gasket was it that was chewed up and in the pan?

lexus114

I would have replaced the oil pump too after all of that.

Preppyboy1

The mechanic said it was the gasketing material used to seal the pan itself that was actually flaking off on the inside of the pan and dropping into the oil as well as some of the valve gasket from the top of the engine which was starting to break apart. He replaced all with I forget what he called it, but Lexus I guess told him to use something called RTZ? Sound familiar? The mechanic explained it's like a caulk almost. Anyhow, everything is running as smooth as can be now. The buzzing noise is gone now, light is off, engine runs smooth, computer reads a higher instant fuel economy than before it seems, etc.

salimshah

FIPG <form in place gasket>



Salim

thomas1

the bottom pan uses the FIPG, but the valve covers use a rubber gasket....That is too weird....I too would have replaced the oil pump....however maybe it is ok, as long as the gears are ok.