banyan

looking for a DIY to replace valve stem seals on a 2005 RX330. My RX is burning oil a quart in 5K miles.

alchemist

iTrader: (1)

How many miles on your car?
What symptoms make u think its bad seals?
A quart in 5k is not too bad. I know Lexus will say this is not abnormal consumption

NVAKeith

iTrader: (1)

That consumption is within normal tolerance for most vehicles, personally I'd live with it (and did years ago with an Audi that burned ~1qt between oil changes starting around 80k miles).

I always thought you'd have to take the heads to a machine shop to replace the valve seals, however this website about Lexus V8s just schooled me:

http://lextreme.com/valve_seals.html

LSBen

What viscosity oil where you using when you lost that quart? Wife's 08 scion with 111k miles loses 1 quart using 5-30 but loses 1/2 quart with 10-30 after 5k miles. Suggest you try a thicker oil.

fastnoypi

id start with the small less invasive stuff first like checking the pcv system and including cleaning out the baffles in the rear valve cover before considering valve stem seal replacement. Both can be the cause of oil consumption.

While the rear valve cover on the rx330 is a considerably better design than that on the rx300, it can still be prone to clogging with sludge with short trips and infrequent oil changes.

banyan

thank you all for the responses. My rx330 has 190,000 miles on it. I use 5W30 every 5K miles. Will check the rear valve cover as well. As I am not really sure what the rear valve cover does, can someone point me to the right direction?

fastnoypi

take a look at posts #11 and #14 in this post. It may shed some light on how the pcv system works.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...in-intake.html