matts6887

Since ive already found out sadly my rx has a rod knock per the lexus specialist; How long could this motor possibly last before it finally ends up as a paperweight?

DennisMik

Sorry to hear that the engine is fubar. To answer your question - there is no accurate answer. It all depends on how bad the wear & tear is and how hard you drive the car.

Since the knock is still relatively light (I couldn't hear it in your videos), my suggestion is to get a can of STP or Motor Honey or equivalent and put it in the oil. I've used them in the past and these things do help to significantly slow down further wear. A rod knock can get pretty loud and you can still drive the car, but I would stay away from high rpms like over 4K and stop running the car on the drag strip.

blackydog

Hahaha, I'm sorry but it just reminded me of somthing by brother-in-law said.... "It could be raining ******* but if I look up, I would get hit squar in the face with a ****"

matts6887

Stop running the car on the dragstrip you say? lol very funny dennis! But I dont know if im gonna bother with the stp etc because hopefully me and my dad will figure out what route we are going to go as far as a replacement vehicle. But yea i can hear the rod knocking especially at first start of the day and upon cold acceleration. It is a shame that it is fubared; as its only got 138,500 miles approx on it which under normal circumstances should be nothing for a lexus.

matts6887

Im starting to wonder if the engine that is currently in my second gen rx350 of which has the rod knock in it; is possibly not the original engine that came from the factory with this rx. Is there any set way of telling whether or not its a replacement engine?

Nad1370

There are VIN tags on every motor to id.

http://engineserialnumber.blogspot.c...ation.html?m=1

Margate330

And you can Carfax the vin for anyone thinking about putting in a donor engine to see if they're honest about the mileage!
Been there done that!

Felix

Wow, thats a bummer, These motors are pretty stout, I'd say it was PO neglected. If that is the case, I'd be looking for another motor vs throwing a few rod bearings to it as the right way to do it is turn the crank depending how bad it is, I even do the mains as well. Then you'll want to get the rods resized. At that point, why not hone the cylinders & throw rings at it. So as you know, either a wrecking yard motor, or a reman short block or long block or redo yours. I've done all three in varies cars....IDK how far up the yrs you'd look for a engine, possibly up to '14. Fairly common motor thou in varies vehicles......

matts6887

Well even with all that I’m still not totally giving up on Lexus yet; hopefully I can snag this deal we are working on for a 3rd gen I’m looking at on a car max lot. And if I do get it and something happens again At that point I’m done with Lexus and I will turn to Acura of which I had a Acura once already and loved it. But for now I’m still trusting this 3rd gen which hopefully I will be able to get. Between the rod knocks and the seeping transfer case and high pressure power steering line that blew up on me I guess this one wasn’t as well taken care off as i had thought. My guess on the rod knock is that one of the previous owners possibly ran it low on oil and because of that there was not enough oil getting to the rods or there is possibly a issue with the oil pump not pumping enough pressure even though there I’ve never had a oil light come on. I’m not expert tech but that’s my guess

evident

No doubt the MDX will be more fun to drive then the RX but the MDX has issues of its own too. One of my biggest concerns with buying a used MDX is whether or not the previous owner neglected to replace the timing belt, which can total the engine if it breaks. Also, there are oil burning issues with the 2nd gen MDX

matts6887

and that’s one of the reasons I’m sticking with what I hope to be a 3rd gen rx. Because I don’t want to deal with that timing belt mess or oil burning issues