Hi, my name is XXXX and I have a problem I hope you can help me with. On March 7, 2011 I took my 2003 Lexus 300 RX to Toyota for an oil change and inspection. I passed inspection and my oil change was okay. The next morning my car was smoking when I turned the ignition. It never smoked like that before. I called Toyota and told them what happened and they told me to bring it in. I took my car back to them they had someone test drive it and he said he did not see any problem with it. I drive it and I am not only getting smoke from my tailpipe my car was stalling whenever I stop at a stop sign or for a light and when I step on the gas that's when it's stalling and choking and smoke is coming out of the rear from the tailpipe. I took it back a few weeks later because they said they had to do an engine breakdown they had go into my engine and find out what was happening. They did that and told me I had a oil sludge problem from poor maintainence. I just picked up my car, they said cleaned the engine with a chemical -Super Long Life C, and they did a motor flush, strained the gasket, removed the valve covers and cleaned them, replaced the oil pan strainer, cleaned pan and ran chemical treament thru the engine. I have just picked up my vehicle and went 10 blocks away from them to get gas because I was on E, turned it off to get gas and when I turned it back on smoke was coming out of the tailpipe. And it was still hesitating and choking at the light and smoking when I turned the corner. I am telling you all this to find out if Auto Rx can still work for my car? What can I expect after I put the three containers in the crankcase? Waiting to hear from you. XXXXX
My recommendation for this customer would be to run two basic applications that clean phase then rinse, clean phase then rinse. I am reluctant to have this individual run a double dose Fast Track application. And I say this because of all the solvent flush type products that have been added to this motor recently. This can cause quick release of oil contamination deposits, which is undesirable. Only if this car motor is consuming a lot of oil would I recommend the Fast Track method. By consuming a great deal of oil, I mean burning a quart every 750 miles or less.
The customer should have the oil changed before starting the first Auto-Rx cleaning phase. The customer should use conventional oil for all phases of the treatment. I am quite confident that Auto-Rx can help this motor a great deal, provided that oil can circulate through the whole oil system. Auto-Rx can not clean areas where oil can not flow. We can not help a motor that has had physical damage to working parts such as valves and valve guides. Cracked or broken piston rings and the like. And we can not help this motor if the drain holes in the head, under the valve cover are plugged so that oil can not drain back to the sump. It is possible that the solvent flush type products used have harmed the valve stem seals. Hopefully this is not the case.
It is quite possible that the rings could be fowled up and merely just need to be cleaned and freed up to operate through ARX cleansing. It is quite possible that ARX can help this motor. At least the key working parts would get cleaned up during two applications. I would highly suggest that the consumer change his oil filter after the first 1500 miles in the first cleaning phase with ARX installed. It is certainly worth a shot, when considering the cost of replacing the motor or a full rebuild. Richone
-- Edited by Frank Miller on Friday 6th of May 2011 09:32:17 AM
Its possible that your symptoms are ignition related. Things that can cause this on an rx300:
bad idle air control valve dirty air filter clogged air intake dirty throttle body bad spark plugs dirty mass airflow sensor bad ignition coil bad engine temperature sensor (if symptoms happen only when engine is cold)
The dealer diganosed the problem as sludge ( per posters statement) sure if this dealer could have come up with any other reasons for engine performance besides cleaning out the engine with a strong solvent chemistry he would have done so. Solvents can leave particulates ( some can be the size necessary to to stop up a piston port and or also an oil screen, causing complete engine failure) this customer wants to keep his Lexus and Auto-Rx was his choice as an alternative to keep cleaning out the engine of any contaminants. This problem has not been fixed yet. Customer starting Auto-Rx Sludge treatment next week.
He will keep us informed of any improvements in his engine performance.
