1999 LX470 at 291,000 miles.
Thanks for this great data collection thread @suprarx7nut
Apologies for long post. Glad first report came back good.
1. Damage/Neglect:
Overheated, car was smoking and had burnt rubber smell back in 2007 at 177,145 miles with previous (original owner). They Towed in immediately to Lexus per record notes. Cause was thermostat not opening. Thermostat and gasket changed then.
Car since has been driven 114,000 miles in 17 years. 230k miles first 13 years. 60 k miles last 11 years.
2. Motor Oil/Filter: Toyota 5W-30 conventional, Toyota Filter 90915-YZZD3
3. Change interval: 6 months/ 1754 miles (2800km) Up here in cold Canada. Summer can still reach 100F also.
Will do transmission oil and AHC test with Blackstone labs next. Had no idea one could do AHC also. (still on original globes and struts for 25 years). I’ve changed fluid and others have before too several times for both ATF and AHC. I also brought pressures within spec with tech stream.
I changed oil for first time since buying car in September 2023. Didn’t want to do test on previous owners low dirty oil. Was worried car was burning oil but so far on my two oil changes it hasn’t burnt any. Remains at perfect F mark.
Used Toyota/ Lexus conventional 5W-30 for first oil change in September 2023. Sent this Toyota Lexus conventional one in 6 months later to Blackstone labs in March 2024. Also at 4 month mark on this test oil I added in BG 44K fuel cleaner but via fuel tank NOT engine oil route. So that may have been left a bit in engine oil. Not sure.
Changed it out 6 months later to Castrol GTX ULTRACLEAN Conventional 5W-30 this March and that is what is currently now in car instead of the Toyota 5w-30 conventional.
Some history. Apologies for long post:
Bought August 2023. Saw previous owner engine oil was low and dirty. No idea if he used synthetic or conventional. I put in Toyota/ Lexus conventional 5W-30 and for now wanted to stick to 6 month intervals or 3k miles per The Car Care Nut and other Toyota Japan experts. No rust and had 17 years of Lexus records and then some other records for 7 years. Called Lexus and other shops and they couldn’t tell if they used synthetic or conventional per their notes. So to be safe and not wanting leaks as I right away had to deal with an alternator replacement on first drive as cars and bids and owner lied. Died on first drive and brake master was leaking too as it came off transport truck. Also they weren’t truthful
there. Got some money back from auction. So had expensive repairs in first week and wanted to avoid synthetic thinner oil switch with possible leaks.
May switch to synthetic pennzoil ultra platinum or amsoil but not sure. If I’m changing every 6 months conventional will probably be fine too if getting good lab numbers.
Planning on sticking to 6 months interval per The Car Care Nut and Toyota Japan experts advice. I know Blackstone labs wants me to try to do around 6000 miles like the average they get but I’m bit worried about doing that for science or curiosity of what wear levels will be at higher intervals lol.
I also use 91 or 93 octane fuel since getting this. 91 stated in manual and fuel door but I also realized after cleaning MAF, throttle body and fixing AHC pressures in tech stream I’m getting 21 mpg on highway (all stock) on 93 octane shell or 20mpg highway on 91 octane shell. Horse power definitely goes up. Sure bit more expensive but also getting 3-4 mpg more than 87. We don’t have 89 octane where I am. Previous owner used 89 for three years and also towed and through out AHC pressures.
I checked mpg three different ways and same mpg numbers each time. Even via obd scanner and via tech stream. I think this oldie deserves good stuff this late in the game especially since once overheated with previous owner in 2007. Fuel injectors and other areas look clean and good fuel/ high octane can help with that. Want to keep it going.
Don’t mind the cost of doing twice a year as it’s around $40 with filter for me in Canada. If I switch to synthetic it’s around $50 for even ultra platinum pennzoil or similar. Do myself and don’t mind the twice a year even though this could probably go longer. I max would ever do maybe 2-3k miles in 6 months. But usually more like 2k miles max in 6 months. So interval of 6 months will come first usually. Longest interval I’ll go is one year…maybe haha. I have on my newer RX350 but now will start doing 6-8 months on that too.
View attachment 3618632