quantfutur

Hi,
Am new to the forum. RX330 '05 and had oil change 1/25/11 by local garage that I have been going to for years without incident). This evening I saw oil light come on when braking, never seen before so unfortunately did not react immediately but drove 70 miles returning home, read manual and checked oil gauge. Empty! Drove to local service station, said oil filter was loose -- fault at last oil change - and put in 4 quarts. Could see leaking on ground which stopped after tightened the filter. Service man said engine sounds fine (he is mechanic) but that I may experience engine problems down the road. Suggested I go back to garage with note he wrote about the loose oil filter and # quarts replaced, and request that if any problems occur in future with engine, that they will repair/replace at their expense. Does this sound reasonable? Anyone have experience with this.. in particular, what signs should I look for with regard to engine damage, and what time frame is reasonable within which to ask for engine damage coverage repair/replacement (e.g., one week, month, year, etc.)? Car has 100k miles. And what is likelihood that I will experience engine damage?
Any suggestions/guidance would be most appreciated.

arnieosp

iTrader: (1)

I would follow his advice, just to cover myself if anything happens in the future. As far as anything actually happening in the future.... I think you'll be fine. The dry engine problems usually occur right away. If you don't hear any abnormal knocks or sounds or anything like that, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

DTrapani

I agree. If you ran and rattled for a long time with low/no oil, your engine would have seized. If all you had was a light on for a few highway miles you "should" be fine.

Sounds like you didn't hear any banging sounds, that would have been really bad!

Now, go back and strangle the idiot who didn't tighten the filter.

Dominic Trapani

quantfutur

Thank you so much for your comments and advice; I feel alot better. I have always been careful with my cars, service on time etc. so this has had me very upset! I will take it in tomorrow to have it all checked over.

By the way, does anyone know capacity of quarts oil for the RX330?

mandyfig

5 quarts even.

quantfutur

Thank you all. Just returned from the shop, and they checked out the engine. The filter they used is the Toyota that Lexus uses, and mine had a 'rare' hairline crack in the gasket which caused a slow leak for several weeks - which eventually ran out the 4 quarts, and loosened the filter. Indeed, the filter was still leaking despite the tightening done last nite. Engine checked out fine. They said the Toyota filters have a 'reserve' of 1.5 quarters that is sealed from the top of the filter and thus protects the engine if there are leaks to the filter or other causes of oil loss. This feature apparently saved my engine. They also corroborated members' statements here about dryness/damage to engine evidencing as noise immediately, and not later. Am grateful that I can still trust my repair shop to do quality work, but I am saving my note from the mechanic and receipt for the 4 quarts, just in case !!

salimshah

Good that everything checked out fine. Dont forget that some one needs to clean the engine.
Now some questions for you:
How come you did not smell oil?
How come you did not spot oil puddle(s) on the floor?

Salim

offroad200

For future reference, if the oil light comes on STOP! Don't drive it for another 70 miles. And when you check it, and it's almost empty, don't drive it to a service station! Glad it worked out for you though.

quantfutur

I am leaving the car tomorrow to check the brakes, so I will ask them to clean the engine. Thanks very much for the advice...

I had never seen the check engine oil light before and because it only appeared when I braked, and I had had a recent oil change, I thought it was an electrical thing and not a real message (: . Also, I never smelled oil and I guess I wasn't looking at the ground for the leaks, but believe me I will be checking regularly in future !!