My Lexus has apparently sprung a leak. It was noticed when I took it to Valvoline for an oil change over the weekend. The guys told me that both valve covers appear to be leaking. It's no gusher; just a steady leak.
I figured I would give Auto-RX a try before shelling out over a grand to replace $20 worth of gaskets.
I ordered four bottles over the weekend. I just have a couple of questions. Do you guys think Auto-RX might solve my particular problem? How long does it usually take to receive the shipment (I didn't even receive an order confirmation e-mail).
Also, I thought I might go ahead ans swap out the oil to conventional now (before I even receive the Auto-RX shipment). What do you think, good, bad, pointless...?
Well this may or may not be helpful but this is what I think. For starters I would also consider replacing your PCV valve unless you know that it has been recently changed. I would wait to change the oil until you get the Auto-RX. It shouldn't take much longer than a week to get I would think. The leaking valve covers may be corrected by Auto-RX. As they say though, it won't repair a defective part. The PCV valve might be plugged causing pressure to build in the engine and causing the oil leak. Or it could be as simple as loose bolts holding it down. Might not be a bad idea to take it where ever you get Lexus repaired at to see it that would be a possibility. How many miles on it? Not sure but Toyota has had sludging problems with the V6 from about 1997-2002 I think. Not sure if Toyota and Lexus uses the same engines or not. You may want to consider doing the sludged engine application.
I have a 1995 Camry Wagon and a 2004 Corolla and have used Auto-RX in both of them. The wagon was just getting not the greatest gas mileage and since using it I can tell that it's doing much better and the performance has improved. It has the 4 banger in it and it needs all the help it can get.
Thanks for the reply. The car has ~130K miles on it.
Hmmm? I'm not even sure where the PCV valve is on this thing. I took it to a shop this morning for an estimate on replacing the gaskets. They quoted me $400; which I really don't think is half bad.
I haven't noticed any dicrease in performance. The car runs great! Just leaking a bit of oil. I do have a V-6 and I know that the Lexus RX300 and Toyota Highlander share an engine.
Thank you for purchasing Auto-Rx. You asked about valve cover gaskets ARX works on oil seals if they are not damaged but not on valve cover gaskets some members have reported that ARX stopped them from leaking hope this helps you.
How often has the oil been changed and what type of oil was used? I have some personal experience with this engine's issues, including the problems and repairs associated with sludge buildup. The best advice I have for you is to use Auto-Rx, following whichever application applies best to your engine's condition, probably the one for seal leaks.
Let me tell you one (good) experience we had with a Toyota V6 that had been well-maintained and had no symptoms or real leaks: This car is a 2002 V6 Camry, and we ran Auto-Rx with some regular Pennzoil for about 3000 miles, then followed that with a 3000 mile rinse on the same type of oil. The car became smoother and more powerful as a result of the Auto-Rx treatment, as was commented on by the owner, the sister of a friend (and fellow technician). She is definitely not a "car person", but yet she commented on these improvements without us asking her. One other thing that she said is that she has a hard time telling that the car is actually running at idle sometimes because it is so quiet. I can verify that is true. I have had to look at the tach to see it is really running. She had new tires put on at some point and the guy who drove the car into the shop remarked at how quiet the engine was while running, even standing beside it.
One thing we did notice after the full Auto-Rx treatment was that the slight seepage (not leaks) at all of the valve cover gaskets was still there, so next oil change we went with Maxlife 5W-30, a good high mileage oil that is effective in slowing or stopping leaks or seepage as gaskets and seals age. Her car has about the same mileage as yours, and last weekend when we were all helping their brother with his move to Atlanta, (she lives there too) we opened the hood and checked the oil in the Camry. While under there we noticed that with only 2000 miles on the Maxlife oil, the seepage had dried up at all visible areas of the valve cover gaskets.
High mileage oils have an additive that gently reconditions the seals and gaskets. The full Auto-Rx treatment first helps by cleaning the seal faces as it cleans the rest of the engine. If that alone does not stop the leak or seepage, then the high mileage oil should be able to accomplish this rather quickly. Sometimes a leak or seepage will stop with subsequent oil changes using regular, non-synthetic oil. I'm not that patient, and neither are my customers, so I use HM oil since it really works fast to accomplish this goal. I hope this helps.
-- Edited by bmwtechguy on Thursday 17th of September 2009 08:53:01 PM
