2008 Lexus RX350 catastrophic oil cooler line failure

[TiGeo]

Picked up my folks' old 2008 RX350 about a month ago as a fourth vehicle for our soon-to-be driving 15 yo son. Great condition, there were the second owner and got it with ~30K miles on it back in 2011(?). It's got 125K on the clock and has been dealer serviced for the last ~9 years. My boys were out in it with my oldest driving and he called reporting white smoke pouring out from under the vehicle. No CELs, noise, etc. so I told him to just drive home and I'd sort it out. He pulls on the street and stops in front of the house and there is oil pouring out from under it. Turned it off, checked under the hood, dipstick is dry. It's oil and I can't figure where it's coming from, there was oil film on the back hatch! Simple Google search nails it quickly - oil cooler lines running from the filter housing to the cooler have rubber portions - they fail. Replacement part has been revised to eliminate this issue. I figured he cooked the oil pan hitting something there was so much. Had it towed to "my guy" - confirmed failed oil cooler lines, replaced. Total was ~$400 for the cooler line replacement. and I had the brakes all taken car of with parts I had ordered for a DIY-brake-fest while it was there as well. The engine sounds fine so taking that there was no damage - it's a Toyota...they will run on sand I think....ahahahahah. I'll keep an eye on the oil for a few weeks to makes sure we aren't chewing through it indicating internal damage but it sounds completely fine. It's a 12 year old/125K car worth 8 grand for a high school kid so honestly, I don't give a flip anyway, it will get him around regardless.

Holy cow, never seen something like that in my life. If you have an older RX, for the love of God, get that replaced with the updated part if it hasn't already, easy to tell by just looking at it. $400 repair that could have been a total loss.

 

[supton]

I thought there was a recall on that part? Was it the recalled part that failed, or was the recall never done? Maybe this wasn't covered under recall, dunno.

 

[TiGeo]

I thought there was a recall on that part? Was it the recalled part that failed, or was the recall never done? Maybe this wasn't covered under recall, dunno.

There was never a recall that I can find in my dad's file for the car - I am going to check. The part that failed was the original/non-updated part. I will look into but TBH, it's 12 years old....at this point Lexus is out..hahahaah

 

[supton]

Yeah, they would be out by now. I would be curious if it was recalled, and if so, how did that not get fixed, if this was "always" dealer serviced. I know they aren't always looking out for the best interests of their customers (!) but something like this you'd think would be just taken care of.

 

[brages]

That is a failure, but not a "catastrophic failure"...

 

[Trav]

It seems the part the used to replace the original also has the same problem. This is info on the service bulletin.
If this were any German car the postings about what a POS it is would flood the forum but its a Toyota so it gets a pass. LOL

Toyota offering to fix oil lines on nearly 1M six-cylinder models - Autoblog

"This is not a safety recall."

www.autoblog.com

 

[blingo]

They're already doing their best, we were just recently told: https://www.autobild.de/artikel/werkstatt-test-ergebnis-toyota-16838111.html
This brand continues to make so many people so sad.

 

[JimPghPA]

That is a failure, but not a "catastrophic failure"...

"Catastrophic failure" failure would have been something like:

1) Oil from ruptured line sprays on hot exhaust and vehicle goes up in flames.
2) Engine died because of lack of oil, and because engine died power steering did not work and driver could not turn wheel when it was required and had a severe accident.
3 Engine died because of lack of oil, and because engine died power brake did not work good enough and because of that vehicle had a severe accident.

 

[Trav]

So what does that have to with the price of air at gas stations? I never said and don't recall anyone else saying Toyota were poorly built or unreliable.

 

[TiGeo]

Yeah, they would be out by now. I would be curious if it was recalled, and if so, how did that not get fixed, if this was "always" dealer serviced. I know they aren't always looking out for the best interests of their customers (!) but something like this you'd think would be just taken care of.

It was a TSB, not a recall. So unless there is an issue, they aren't looking for or fixing it.

 

[TiGeo]

That is a failure, but not a "catastrophic failure"...

Ok chief, you win...should have said "failure that almost led to catastrophic engine failure!".

 

[TiGeo]

It seems the part the used to replace the original also has the same problem. This is info on the service bulletin.
If this were any German car the postings about what a POS it is would flood the forum but its a Toyota so it gets a pass. LOL

Toyota offering to fix oil lines on nearly 1M six-cylinder models - Autoblog

"This is not a safety recall."

www.autoblog.com

AHAHAHAHAH - how true how true. I laughed when it happened...here it is...the quintessential "runs forever" vehicle...a Lexus...and here I am, 2 VWs and a Ford...which one has the biggest issue out of any car I've ever had? AHAHAHAHAHHAH All cars have failures, it's fine but funny.

 

[TiGeo]

"Catastrophic failure" failure would have been something like:

1) Oil from ruptured line sprays on hot exhaust and vehicle goes up in flames.
2) Engine died because of lack of oil, and because engine died power steering did not work and driver could not turn wheel when it was required and had a severe accident.
3 Engine died because of lack of oil, and because engine died power brake did not work good enough and because of that vehicle had a severe accident.

I think you get where I was going - the last of the oil ran out as he pulled up, it was close I suppose but yes, you are right, not catastrophic. But now I'm glad I have your very detailed list to know next time so I categorize things correctly.

 

[TiGeo]

So what does that have to with the price of air at gas stations? I never said and don't recall anyone else saying Toyota were poorly built or unreliable.

This is a v. serious group we have here.

 

[BlastChamber]

This same thing happened to my wife's 2011 Sienna last Friday. I was standing outside when she pulled into our driveway and I saw a long line of motor oil sprayed on the pavement behind her. I checked the dipstick and it was bone dry. She claimed the oil pressure warning light never came on, and the engine sounded normal as she drove it.

Towed it to the local Toyota dealer and they covered the cost of replacing the rubber lines with steel. The TSB says the repair is covered for vehicles with under 10 years in service and less than 150k miles, and our van has 101k. The engine sounds and runs normal, but I have no idea how long it had been leaking or how much oil was left in the pan, so I'm hopeful that no lasting damage was done. I was using 0w-20 full synthetic with Lubegard Bio/Tech Oil Protectant in the 2GR-FE at the time of the leak.

Needless to say it was a horrible mess to clean off our driveway. The dealer cleaned up the worst of the oil coating the undercarriage and back hatch.

She had picked our daughter up at the airport earlier in the morning so I'm very thankful that it didn't happen on the interstate.

 

[Pablo]

No one says a thing about his kids driving maniacs and the car splodes. You guys are slipping.

 

[Slick3914]

There was definitely a recall that was misses.

 

[TiGeo]

No one says a thing about his kids driving maniacs and the car splodes. You guys are slipping.

Dude, my first comment was "what the @#$#@ did you do....what did you hit?". I figured he ran over something and broke the oil pan.

 

[TiGeo]

There was definitely a recall that was misses.

I don't see any recall, only a TSB for this issue and a revised part.

 

[TiGeo]

This same thing happened to my wife's 2011 Sienna last Friday. I was standing outside when she pulled into our driveway and I saw a long line of motor oil sprayed on the pavement behind her. I checked the dipstick and it was bone dry. She claimed the oil pressure warning light never came on, and the engine sounded normal as she drove it.

Towed it to the local Toyota dealer and they covered the cost of replacing the rubber lines with steel. The TSB says the repair is covered for vehicles with under 10 years in service and less than 150k miles, and our van has 101k. The engine sounds and runs normal, but I have no idea how long it had been leaking or how much oil was left in the pan, so I'm hopeful that no lasting damage was done. I was using 0w-20 full synthetic with Lubegard Bio/Tech Oil Protectant in the 2GR-FE at the time of the leak.

Needless to say it was a horrible mess to clean off our driveway. The dealer cleaned up the worst of the oil coating the undercarriage and back hatch.

She had picked our daughter up at the airport earlier in the morning so I'm very thankful that it didn't happen on the interstate.

I bet that Toyota V6 will run dry for a long time before it implodes..ahhahahaahah. It sounds completely fine now and I know it was about empty when he got home.