Oil sludge 1997 LX450

[Andrewsreef]

Hi, I decided to start anohter thread as my topic has expanded. My truck is the one that is pinging on high test and I just changed out the VSV (already changed out the EGR and the modulator). The CEL is out how so so that is good. My pinging has improved about 90% but is not totally gone.

During the change out of the VSV, I also changed the PCV valve. When I did this I was shocked by slude on the valve and around the hole in the valve cover. I stuck my finder in the whole and pulled out some of this black glop. Is this a common problem and should I be concerned? My mechanic replaced the valve cover gasket a few months ago due to a leak and he did not mention anything about the sludge. Could this be from my EGR problem that is the system not working properly?

My truck is in very good condition and has 77k on it. The body is flawless and the interior is great also. I have only had the truck about 9 months and have spend a small fortune on repairs. Is this a real serious problem?

Thanks

Andrew

 

[cruiserdan]

In my opinion what you have observed is indicative of ignored oil changes. Sludge usually forms as a result of running the oil way past it's usable lifespan. EGR has nothing to do with oil condition. In addition, 1FZ valve cover gaskets rarely leak at that mileage. The leak may have resulted from a positive pressure in the crankcase as a result of a plugged up PCV valve (from sludge)

 

[Junk]

As Cbizkit mentions, that has nothing to do with the EGR.

1 week after buying my beater, the engine took a crap going through a toll booth. Was traced back to the p.o. apparently never doing an oil change. just fyi.

 

[Andrewsreef]

Well, at this point I am very frustrated with this truck. This is a list of what has gone wrong in the 8 months of ownership. Please understand I paid top $ for this truck and waited 5 months for the dealer/mechanic to find it. They "specialize" and sell a lot of cruiser in my area and I had no idea how clueless they were/are.

1. bad spot in wire harness near EGR- no one could figure this one out and cost me big $
2. Complete tune up and throttle body cleaning to fix above
3. Oil leak front timing cover
4. Oil leak valve cover gasket.
5. trans and differential service to fix #1 but necessary anyway
6. Tires
7. Complete EGR system
8. 2 batteries as no one could find the problem turned out to be the starter
9. Starter

I think this is everything but there may be something I am missing.

And the reputable dealer changed the radiator out supposively because the little hose on the top was leaking a very small amount. I bet it was full of sludge and they did not want me to know.


I realize alot of this is just standard maintance, however, the first problem took forever to correct and I ended up being the one to find the wireharness problem (with help from LCOOL). Still to go I think I am a candidate for a head gasket as I have some very very slight seepage of radiator fluid coming from the back of the motor that no one can find. I think it is the block/head union in the very back of the motor. I have checked all the hoses including the pesky radiator hose. This is a very slight seep that does not result in noticable loss of fluid yet.

And the reputable dealer changed the radiator out supposively because the little hose on the top was leaking a very small amount. I bet it was full of sludge and they did not want me to know.

My question at this point is the truck worth keeping?????? I know this is an individual decision and one that would be differnt for everyone (depending on their expertise and likeing for working on things all the time).

I must say my wife totally hates this truck and all the $ we have put into it. I am torn as I really like it but am tired of the constant problems and feel they may never stop.

Thanks

Andrew

 

[landtank]

The issue isn't with the truck so much as the people working on it. Time and time again it's knowledge of the wrencher that makes the difference in a vehicles performance and cost of ownership. For one a starter brush kit probably would have been just as good a what you paid for at a considerable savings. This really isn't a vehicle for someone who relies solely on others to fix their problems. This is because the dealers and such aren't aware of how different these vehicles are and their tendencies and needs. You haven't mentioned the front axle service. Not done and waiting for signs of needing service you could easily escalate that to the $2500.00 mark. BTW you're over due for that service.

If you can't/won't work on your own truck at all I'd get rid of it.

 

[Sandman]

I am sorrry to hear of the troubles with your truck. It may be worth the time to try to find out who the previous owner was and contact them (carfax). Maybe find out what dealer sold the truck originally and follow up on any service/recall history. I would then go to a Lexus Dealer directly and point out your troubles especially the potential headgasket problem. 77k is what I would consider low miles for a 7 year old truck. Toyota has been known to "help" with some major repairs if there is a service history. I have a Sienna that had the "sludge" problem and @ 65K they repaired it for free and even gave me a loaner (Camry) for 3 days. Get a quote on fixing everything. Write-call Lexus customer service with your case. If nothing else maybe a good chat with the service manager will help you make up your mind on keeping the vehicle. Then if your going to get rid of it I would go back to your "reputable" dealer and see what he will give you for your "cream puff". I thought a used vehicle would have at least a 30 day warrenty. Did no problems surface within that timeframe? If you can get some sort of assistance with the headgasket I would keep the truck. Do the birfields yourself and get to know your vehicle inside and out. You will have loyal "friend" that will give back a lot more than it will cost you in the long run. Besides, what else ya ganna buy?

 

[Andrewsreef]

Good advise. Unfortunatly, we only have one Lexus dealer near by and they are unhelpful to say the least.

If I keep it I will have to find someone who can help me with the Birfields and get that done soon. Do you normally repack and replace the seals? I will do a search on this. What would that normally cost if I do not do it myself and can find someone qualified?
My cousin owns a very good transmission company and did the service on my tranny and diffs. He is not familuar with these trucks though so may not want to do the Birfields.

If I get rid of it I may go back to a truck like a Tacoma. I had an F250 that I purchased new and sold to by the LX450. It was a great truck but way to big. To be honest, new trucks/suvs just do not excite me at all. The new stuff is trendy and carlike which I do not like.

Thanks

Andrew

 

[landtank]

Where are you located Andrew? Not that I'm some great wizard with these trucks but I'm willing to give some bad advice to locals willing to listen.

 

[Andrewsreef]

Thanks, that might work and I need to buy a FSM and quit prolonging that. Anyone know a good place to get them at a reasonable price? I am in Jacksonville Florida and to be honest, my mechanic means well and is very honest but does not follow the FSM. He is the best and most honest I can find in Jax. Others were pure crap and dishonest which is sad.

I will call my cousin and see what he says tomorrow about the Birfields. My mechanic does not want to "take my money" and wants me to wait on the head gasket. He feels the truck may go a long time without need of repair. My concern is the sludge may be building up in the NEW RADIATOR and then I will have to replace it also. I will call them tomorrow also and see if he will do the headgasket.

THanks

 

[landtank]

I replaced my HG as a PM item, however I'm probably the only one. My reasoning was that it was inevitable and waiting for a full blown failure at a bad time would escalate the price substantually as I could be states away when it happened. If you suspect the HG watch it closely as you won't want to warp the head if possible.

 

[cary]

FYI, the headgasket does not cause sludge in the radiator. Failing to change the coolant regularly does.

Write a letter to lexus and tell them how the dealer doesn't want to help you and sold you a truck that had not had the maintence performed. Tell them how there is sludge in the engine and the headgasked is now seeping. Lexis is very concerned about their reputation.

Finally, next time you drop money on a used vehicle, spend $150 to have a good independent mechanic check everything over before you buy it. The sludge in the top end should have been caught.

 

[Clutchee]

I think we are all giving good advise as far as preventing problems but the one thing I have not heard is where he purchased the vehicle from.

ANDREWSREEF-Did you purchase the 450 from a Lexus dealer??

Everyone keeps pointing him to Lexus to "help" with this situation but being a former Lexus Service Consultant I have seen first hand the vehicles will last if properly maintained but if they are not alot of folks come to the dealer looking for a fix when the vehicle has never come thru there doors & cust. is acting as if they should repair it for free. (sorry venting & informing on things Ihave seen)
Much of the time people purchase the vehicles because they can afford the payment but not the service.

-My 2 cents-

 

[Andrewsreef]

My truck did not come from Lexus. I am the second owner and I purchased the car from a dealer that came highly recomended to me. This dealer is also a mechanic and has a shop that does alot of service work. Unfortunately, this dealer did not look the truck over like he should have. He took 5 months to find one clean and he focused on the interior and exterior of the car (being reck free) and not the mechanical like he should also have done. When I first started having these problems I was taking it back to him. He still charged me for the repairs and I found out he does not know the truck very well (He spent all day trying to change the fuel filter). We had it out one day and I have not been back since. I got some legal council and I really have nothing to get him for as he sold the car to me "as is". Unfortunatley, this dealer provides no warranty with the veichle. He did want to sell me an extended warranty for $1,200 but I refused it. My bad.

At this point, I am not really trying to point fingers. I think Lexus should pay for the intake manifold as this seems to be a defect and is only 7k out of warranty. I do not think (but am not sure) that the intake has been tampered with. I really like the truck and want it fixed (or I will sell it and purchase another). It is not the situation that I can't afford the maintance. I have 23K cash into it now. What I do not want to do is spend even more on the truck and still have more wierd problems. Is this truck worth fixing based on how hard it would be to find another in the same overall condition (I am picky about the exterior and interior)????? I want the truck to be reilable like these things are supposed to be. I will either spend the $ for the maintance or do it myself.

I have to admit I am angry about this as I trusted someone when I should have done it myself from the beginning.

One more question as it was mentioned that the head gasket will not cause sludge in the radiator. If oil is getting into the radiator would this cause sludge? I have clean oil at the dipstick and do not have bubbles in the overflow box yet, just evidence of coolant seeping from the back of the block/head area and this has stopped for now.

Thanks

Andrew

 

[Rookie2]

Hey Andrew.

Have you looked at your knuckles to see if there is significant birf. goo seeping out at the ball and knuckle? Also when draining the front differentials, the color and consistency of the fluid can tell you whether you've got a failed axle seal, which if so makes the axle/birf job more pressing. If everything looks okay, I would squirt some grease in the knuckles for now and maybe take your time to read up and learn how to do the knuckle job. It is a PM item that "ideally" is done every 60 k or so, but many have gone 150 or 200k without even knowing to do it, and haven't been worse for wear. Not saying to put it off forever, but if there are no problem signs, I wouldn't spaz over it.

In regards to the pinging: since you kind of sequenced your EGR, VSV, PCV repairs, do you know which one impacted reducing the pinging?


Rookie2

 

[MoJ]

Andrew -

As Rookie said above - don't stress out over the knuckle job at this point. Do it at some point down the road when things are staightened out on the rest of your truck.

 

[Andrewsreef]

That is good to know as I was stressing on the knuckles. My cousin who owns a tranny shop did the service on the diffs and tranny and wanted me to bring it back after 10k (about now) to do it again. They were dirty but nothing out of the ordinary. I do not have anyting that looks wet coming out of the knuckles. Just some dried looking greast on the "Ball looking" part.


As far as the pinging goes, it was always worse while the light was on (PO401) and is much better now but not gone completely. The VSV seems to have helped it.

Thanks

Andrew

 

[mabrodis]

Wow, what a mess!

If you want to keep the rig (or even if you don't, since anyone who buys it from you might have a mechanic check it), I would start working on one thing at a time...little things. The oil slude for example, get the oil changed and have them put in Mobil 1 full synthetic, you can have the shops put in whatever, even the Walmart Lube Center will put in whatever you want, it'll cost more for Mobil 1 ofcourse but worth it. Drive it for a few hundred miles then check the oil, see if it's still clear, if it's black instantly then that's good, that means it's cleaning out the inside of your engine. Change the oil do it again...this makes the most sense if you can do it yourself, but you certainly could have someone else do it.

I know exactly what you mean about the dealership making sure the vehicle looks nice but that's all...well sadly that is on par these days. Most people do not know or care about any mechanical stuff on a vehicle, they want it clean and nice...if something breaks or dies they consider the vehicle a lemon and find another...when really it just needed some maintenance.

I wouldn't worry about your knuckle joints, if you have the time and willingness maybe squirt some grease in them (square plug at the knuckle), that could help and you'll feel better.

It sounds like you just need someone who knows something about a Cruiser and will help you (there has got to be some Cruiser dudes around there!!)...it's all about knowing the vehicle, if you know what you're doing you can do something in 10 minutes that takes a uneducated person 3 hours, and you will have done it better also, not just faster.

I would doubt Lexus would touch this situation...infact what I would expect to get from them is a letter saying they are regretful for the problems, which is why they recommend only buying their Lexus Certified Used Vehicles...maybe I'm wrong, but that's what I would expect.

As far as working on the vehicle yourself, to give you some motivation just think of how much you want to get it working right. Nobody else cares like that about it, it's not their vehicle...if you're working on say the brakes, you'll take your time, make sure it's all clean, works right, etc...you're not in a hurry you're getting it right. At any shop that is not the case, they will hopefully try to make it right, but they make money buy doing it fast, it's not their vehicle, they don't care...they will never care about it as much as you do.

In the event even a local shop (someone you know or have gone to before) messes something up they may claim that's a known problem with these models, which may or may not be true, it may just be covering their own speedy/shotty work...

If you need any pointers about what to do on specific tasks, post some questions, pictures, etc...

Good Luck,
Mark Brodis

 

[Beowulf]

Andrew,
Keeping or selling the truck has to be your decision but I can tell you that your list of items in the first 8 months is much shorter than mine.

The things that trouble me about your truck at 77k miles is the two engine oil leaks, the cracked intake, the pinging, and the potential HG leak at the rear junction of the head and block. Something doesn't add up on this vehicle and it has the potential of being costly to repair.

My decision to keep or sell would probably hinge on the results of a compression check with a cylinder leak-down test done by a trusted mechanic.

Good Luck!
-B-

 

[MoJ]

Andrew,
Keeping or selling the truck has to be your decision but I can tell you that your list of items in the first 8 months is much shorter than mine.

The things that trouble me about your truck at 77k miles is the two engine oil leaks, the cracked intake, the pinging, and the potential HG leak at the rear junction of the head and block. Something doesn't add up on this vehicle and it has the potential of being costly to repair.

My decision to keep or sell would probably hinge on the results of a compression check with a cylinder leak-down test done by a trusted mechanic.

Good Luck!
-B-

You should sell it......fast and cheap! I'll give you $5k.

 

[Andrewsreef]

How much oil consumption is normal? My truck uses about 1/2 quart every 1000 miles. I may try the Synthetic Rotella 15W40 and see if that helps. I am not sure where it goes as I do not have anymore major leaks (I think as I do not get any puddles).

Thanks

Andrew