GX550 Engine failure

[SROak]

I also planned on changing out my oil at 1k and 5k to get it checked. Sounds like you did all the things I planned on doing.

Three oil changes to this point, 5k, 10k and 15k, all good…on miles 16k as we speak.

I changed my oil at 1K. According to bobistheoilguy, the factory supplied oil is extra high in Zinc, to help the breaking in process, so I added extra Zinc after the 1K change to help it along to the 5K change. And I don't recall what the Lexus recommendation is, but I won't go past 5K oil change intervals. TheCarCareNut guy says going past 5K is one way to drastically shorten engine life.

Speaking of TheCarCareNut, does anyone know if the GX550 has a similar OEM shock system to the 4Runner Limited? This "poorly designed" shock absorber system on the 4Runner Limited (only the Limited model) have connected hydraulics on each side, front-rear, so that if one shock starts leaking then both fail. It was because of this "poorly designed" system that he recommends avoiding all used 4Runner Limited for purchase, as repairs can be very expensive.

 

[SROak]

I'm staying in a Baja California condo, so the forum updated my flag to reflect this location. Viva Baja!

 

[MrAce5]

This is one complaint officially posted on the NHTSA.gov website about engine failure on the new GX.

 

[solluna]

i’m at 980 miles and getting my oil changed this week. it’s good to be safe.

 

[Yotaboy84]

Did my first oil change at 4,300 miles, was curious what the filter media held so I used a filter can opener to take a look, was concerned by the mount of metal I found. Interestingly, there is a fair amount of red “glitter”, be curious if anyone knows where that comes from? You have to zoom in on the pleats to see what I see. The glitter alone doesn’t concern me, but the size of some of the metal pieces does.

 

[RickBullotta]

I am a member of a few GX 550 groups on FB. There have been two reports of engine problems that sound like the issues the Tundra has been having. Both vehicles are on the way to Lexus for diagnosis, no follow up posts have been made.

I'd bet that they're 2024's though. Toyota's quality practices tend to be very good regarding inline model changes and fixes.

 

[YellowLab]

I did my first oil change at 1000 miles since in most new cars there is always a chance of particles.

 

[jfalabrino]

I just did my oil change at 3,300 miles. Here is what my filter looked like.

 

[YellowLab]

I just did my oil change at 3,300 miles. Here is what my filter looked like.

At the end of the day - even if we found chunks of steel in there - no other car mfr would make me feel as good as Lexus as proactively dealing with the issue

 

[SROak]

I just did my oil change at 3,300 miles. Here is what my filter looked like.

Now, THAT'S one clean machine!

 

[Yotaboy84]

I just did my oil change at 3,300 miles. Here is what my filter looked like.

Thanks for sharing, looks generally consistent. Anything over 50 microns / .002” isn’t good in my experience. Just surprised the validation process didn’t catch this.

 

[moosemountain62]

Theres bound to be 1-2 units where this happens but not sure I buy it. Those GX550 FB groups are a barren wasteland of trolls & non-GX owners

You are absolutely right…. I can vouch for this…..I was a part of the first GX550 group on FB, (now there’s two ), this very rumor has made multiple rounds on both! I would need to see these vehicles or hear it from Lexus.
I have a good friend who is an engineer at Toyota, the QC at Toyota and Lexus, both are far above and beyond other automakers…..but no vehicle has ever been perfect!

 

[Michael T]

Carcarenut had a video about the new engines. Lexus stopped the rollout right after manufacture begin for “quality control” for the 550’s in jan/feb 2024. Carcarenut pointed out parts were discontinued in their catalogue and updated with the new part #’s. The discontinued parts were the same components theorized to be the point of failure for tundras and lx’s.

550’s def have diff engine component “parts” than the failed tundra and lx’s, because the parts in those were discontinued in April of 2024

Video linked below. He discuss the parts change starting at 14:45

 

[solluna]

this guy is great