'98 LX470 Oil Everywhere! (1 Viewer)

[bcngator00]

I took the skid plates off of my LX470 last night to get a better leak at all of the oil I was seeing running on everything. Wow, what a mess. There is oil all over the engine, front differential, front axle housing, A-arm - everywhere. It mostly is concentrated on the drivers side of the engine. I did some research last night and am hoping that it is the PCV valve being bad combined with a valve cover gasket that has failed, but I am not so sure. I get really high oil pressure when I start the engine and it stays like this until it warms up which makes me think the PCV may be bad. I have read on the forum, though, that 100 series have horrible oil sending units that give a lot of false readings. Could this be from the front differential and the CV's are just throwing fluid everywhere? I am going to try and hit everything with some Purple Power tomorrow AM and sneak off to one of the do it yourself carwashes and see what I can get off. Have any of you experienced an issue like this? I'd appreciate your input. Thank you.

 

[flintknapper]

A good cleaning is indeed the route to go, then watch to see where the source(s) of the leak(s) are.

The oil sending unit on the 100 series is not known to give 'false' readings, its just that a 'normal' needle position (on your dash gauge) is lower than on other vehicles. So what? No cause for alarm.

IF your PCV is clogged/inoperable then it will cause increased crankcase pressure which can result in oil leaks that would not otherwise be there. So do check that.

 

[Dwight S]

As @flintknapper said, a good cleaning is in order. Get your favorite degreaser and a pressure washer and clean it up good then watch it to see where the leaks are coming from.

The grime on the lower A-arm and rubber boots looks like it is possibly power steering fluid. A check of the power steering should be on your list and possibly a couple of ounces of AT-205 Stop Leak in the fluid reservoir.

 

[abuck99]

Takes 30 seconds to check your PCV for function: remove, make sure the check ball is moving freely. Or better, just replace it if you dont know when it was last replaced- no biggie.

Looks to me with the amount of oil concentrated below and around the oil filter that either the oil filter is leaking, or the oil cooler O-ring is leaking. How long ago was your last oil change? What is the level on your dipstick showing?? Has the oil cooler ever been off? As others suggested; thoroughly clean, observe, then repair.

 

[bcngator00]

@Dwight S - took the vehicle to the car wash this evening. Couldn't wait until morning. Pressure washed quite a bit of the grime and oil off. Still have more to get off once I figure out how to get in some of the nooks and crannies. Drove it home and let it sit to dry out. It is dark now, bot I gave it the once over and found a red colored drip coming off of the driver's side boot of the power steering assembly. The fluid in the PS reservoir is nice and red, but it is next to impossible to see the level because the plastic of the reservoir is so grimy and black. May need to drain the system and pull this off to clean it. Before that, though, I will probably get some AT-205 and see if I can staunch the leak. Based on what I am seeing in the FSM that was delivered yesterday by the Burnt Umber Truck of Joy (i.e. UPS truck) rebuilding the PS gear assembly is way out of my skill set. You might have nailed at least one of the issues. There is still a lot of oil up on the engine block that I doubt came from the PS. Hopefully I can get some time this weekend to take my pressure washer to it down by the street and get back into the engine to get it clean.

@abuck99 - I just purchased the vehicle this past Monday. The previous owner told me he had just had the oil changed. The oil is really clean on the dipstick and is at the correct level. I am inclined to believe him because the filter looked like it had just come off the shelf as well. I was able to blast the area around the oil filter at the car wash today and it is really clean now. I'll try to look up the oil cooler o ring you speak of and keep an eye on it for leaking. Everything I read says to swap the PCV when you remove the valve cover to keep from dropping pieces of the rubber grommet into the valve cover. If it looks like one of the leak locations is the valve cover then I might kill two birds with one stone and swap the PCV and re-do the valve covers.

Thank you both for the input. I really appreciate it.

 

[planomateo]

I'm sure the car wash people are happy they have your oil in their system now

 

[97 AZ LC]

I'm sure the car wash people are happy they have your oil in their system now

Why would they care? Surely it happens every day.

 

[bcngator00]

Why would they care? Surely it happens every day.

The car wash I used has an oil/water separator in their sanitary sewer system. That’s why I went to that specific car wash. Everything should be good from that standpoint.

 

[flintknapper]

I'm sure the car wash people are happy they have your oil in their system now

I'd wager the 'car wash people' are fully aware that every single day....mud, chemicals, oil, antifreeze, etc.... are being washed into their system. It's a car wash after all!

It's not like the OP took his drained oil and poured into the drain there.

 

[slacker24-7]

Check your oil filter and make sure it’s snugged up , mine was a turn loose a while back and it made a mess

 

[bcngator00]

I believe I have found the culprit. I decided to try and pressure wash some more of the engine Sunday afternoon. When I removed the plastic engine cover and started looking at the oil I put my hand on the PCV valve and it just rocked back in forth with little effort. It looks like the grommet has dried out and possibly cracked allowing oil to get by it. I took a video of the PCV wiggling in place, but I'll have to figure out how to post videos some other time. The photo below will have to suffice. I have ordered the parts and will try to swap that out next weekend without having to pull the head cover. No evidence of a leak was detectable around the oil filter. However, I did find some evidence of a leak where the engine meets the transmission. Looks like it might be a rear main seal leak. How does the saying go? "I'm not leaking I'm just marking my territory."

 

[RootMeanSqr]

The fluid in the PS reservoir is nice and red

If the fluid is bright red, that tells me it hasn't been in there for long at all. I would wager a guess that PS fluid was a bit low, likely due to a leak, and the seller just topped it off. I'm guessing they didn't do a complete flush just before selling.