Help with a LX450 oil leaking buy

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Take some photos of the general area of the leak in the middle of the vehicle
and post them up. What color is the fluid? Is it an oil or is it coolant/water?

Sounds good! Tomorrow the owner will bring the rig for the inspection and i'll take some pics of the area.

On the 4th pic that I posted showing the undercarriage, there is a fresh drip of oil on the right area of the axle and the puddle forming under it but unfortunately, cannot say what color the oil/fluid/water is from the picture. Hopefully, tomorrow.

Thanks!
 
All the seals can be done without even removing the radiator if you are careful. I can strip everything out of the front of the truck to do the oil pump cover and main seal in about 15-20 minutes, but I have done a couple and know every tool I will need before I start. The upper pan arch and rear main would be more work than any of the others.
 
All the seals can be done without even removing the radiator if you are careful. I can strip everything out of the front of the truck to do the oil pump cover and main seal in about 15-20 minutes, but I have done a couple and know every tool I will need before I start. The upper pan arch and rear main would be more work than any of the others.

Yes, I have seen people doing the seals without removing anything on the front. I personally think that using a little hammer to insert the little screw drive bit in the screws is a good way to go but also have seen people using regular tools and nothing else. I think that in case of the engine showed in the pics an given its state maybe it would be easier to disassemble the front and have more space to work on it.

In your case, which tools you use? 10, 8 mostly
 
Those wheels are not "old-lady aftermarket" and that cup holder looks like someone here on Mud must have owned it.
 
Those wheels are not "old-lady aftermarket" and that cup holder looks like someone here on Mud must have owned it.

Yes, agree. I asked the owner about those 2 things and it looks like the PO put that set of wheel when she was buying new tires to look more “stylish”. Cup holder is the latest owner that put it there cause they found a cheap one.
 
Ok, the rig is been inspected and I got a new pic from the mid undercarriage. I see another dry spray on the mid area which is marked on the 1st pic below.

On the 2nd pic, that is definitely oil dripping. The rig was parked there for 5mins and already started dripping. Wonder why the “MN anti-rust” package is still going strong.

I also noticed that water is dripping from the mid portion and not oil. It hasn’t rained here for weeks... guesses anyone?

And thanks everybody for all the thoughts shared here. Very nice stuff!

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Top photo with oil dripping off the bellhousing is more likely the rear arch area of the upper oil pan, not the rear crank seal (but using a mechanics mirror there's a method to get a better idea of the source).

If the leak is from the upper pan both oil pans need to be dropped
to reseal them. Mechanic might charge you ? $500-1000 (dealer pricing) for that.

The grunge and fresh leaks on the front axle housing are a few things going on
at the same time: When the oil filter is removed half of the oil inside drips
down onto the axle housing. The older build-up of oily grime is likely
from the oil pump cover, about 10+ years worth. The leakage from
the oil pump cover is easier to see if you remove the splash pan under
the radiator then wash the front (not the top) of the engine off IME.

if you look at the swivel balls at the ends of the axle housing, where the steering knuckles are located, there is a pretty good build-up of grease and the one ball in the photo looks dry. So I would ask if the CV joints, axle seals, etc have ever been pulled out and serviced. If not, it is past due. Cost to pay someone to do that, around $1500 +/- depending on who does it and if any hard parts are needed. You could do it yourself for a third of that, depending some on what tools you need to buy. In the meantime you could clean the knuckles off (by hand) then pump a tube of Valvoline Palladium (NAPA) or similar grease into each knuckle and run it.

Overall, appears typical for an 80 that hasn't had the usual preventive maintenance, otherwise looks good, no rust. As soon as (if) you clean off all the free "rust-proofing", the rusting will start.

(Tip: don't blast the swivel balls/knuckles with high pressure soap/water at the car wash; the old wiper seals might allow water to get into the knuckles. Only do that the night before you start the complete front axle service, IMHO.)
 
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If the AC is engaged water will drip from the passenger side of the firewall, in the engine compartment. You'll see it on the ground just inside and behind the front passenger side tire. Your LX has the "auto" hvac controls and is probably like my CE in that when you hit the Auto button AC is always engaged so it's not unlikely that the water dripping is just from your AC running.

Another source of water that can show with a delay after a rain, if the truck was sitting, is the little slit drains in the rocker panels, below the doors. The front sunroof drains into the rockers on these and if those drains are clogged water will be retained. A zip tie and digging around in the drains will go a long way to clearing them. This seems unlikely but opens up another area for you to be familiar with so I thought I'd mention it.
 
I doubt your rear main seal is leaking. It's usually the valve cover, then the rear oil pan arch seal.

You do NOT need to pull the engine to do what we're talking about here.

Hello there, @BILT4ME. I got the truck and have been working on it for 3 months now. After passing by your post here I wonder, how can I service the rear pan arch seal without pulling the engine? Any thoughts or recommendations about it? Thank you.
 
The way I see it, if someone let their truck go that bad they must not do any maintenance or care about it.

I move on to the next one.


oh and its missing a belt.
 
4 months after I got the rig, here is the update
The way I see it, if someone let their truck go that bad they must not do any maintenance or care about it.

I move on to the next one.


oh and its missing a belt.

Thanks for the comment. I end up buying it sometime ago and it has been a pleasure to work on the truck. It has also been running better and better after doing the valve cover gasket, new spark plugs, new pcv valve and hoses, new tires, new lug nuts, alignment and dizzy o-ring replaced. Much more to fix though, the missing belt was noticed and a new one is on its way.

In this case, the rig had no rust, no blown head gasket, never crashed, owned by one family and low mileage... As some say, "probably not a good idea to judge a book by its cover." This would be the case with this one. Great rig so far.
 
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Very nice, glad you doing the work yourself...you will save a lot in labor costs

A leaky cruiser is a rust free cruiser..;)
 
For those who have contributed sharing the info in this thread, thank you! I couldn’t be happier with such a solid rig. Special thanks to @BILT4ME and @Kernal for the info shared. Definitely helped organizing the fix and the leaking now went from a coffee mug plate size to a quarter size, thanks to the new valve cover gasket, new distributor o-ring and other minor things.
 
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This is how it looks after some initial work. Maybe someone will find this encouraging, coming from a regular dude...

(The radiator looks like S*#=, I understand). Got a new one to replace already.

Thanks again for all the help!!

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This is how it looks after some initial work. Maybe someone will find this encouraging, coming from a regular dude...

(The radiator looks like S*#=, I understand). Got a new one to replace already.

Thanks again for all the help!!

View attachment 2310141
View attachment 2310142

For the record, there is still time to set it on fire before it falls apart in 1000 rusty pieces 600 miles from a road. Glad you ignored the naysayers on this one.
 
For the record, there is still time to set it on fire before it falls apart in 1000 rusty pieces 600 miles from a road. Glad you ignored the naysayers on this one.

Definitely! Thanks for sharing the wisdom. :beer: :beer:
 
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Hello there, @BILT4ME. I got the truck and have been working on it for 3 months now. After passing by your post here I wonder, how can I service the rear pan arch seal without pulling the engine? Any thoughts or recommendations about it? Thank you.
There are many threads here about the upper pan arch seal and in can be done in frame. The engine does need to be lifted though.

Do you have an FSM? It goes through the procedure as far as the engine part.
 
Looking good.
 
Nice looking LX.

Good call on replacing that radiator. That is what mine looked like right before the top of it split (very brown and brittle). But I have to say...mine was very courteous...as it waited until I was a 1/4 mile from home.
 
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