Coolant Loss! Really Anoying Me Now!

[Yates-Is200S]

RIGHT! MY CAR IS REALLY STARTING TO ANNOY ME NOW! :tsktsk: :tsktsk: :tsktsk: :tsktsk: :tsktsk:

Just checked my coolant level again this morning and my header tank has dropped its level yet again by about a quater of an inch.!?

the car has been gas tested as clear so no sign off head gasket?. however pressure test is loosing pressure slightly?

Every other morning its dropped slightly, i cant see any leaks what so ever but my rad is flaky slightly right near the bottom. (top and middle of rad is fine,looks brand new) which is confusing me? just seems to be rotting at the bottom.

so where the hell can it be going??????

Ive just odered a new water pump, and radiator in some hope that it may resolve the issue?

can someone please help? where else could it be going? what other possibilities. because if i cant get to the problem she will have to go!

[Steve ( West Mids )]

You have so many problems, you should not be starting that car with that cam-belt. You should take it to somebody who knows about cars and get them to fix it for you. If you try and do it yourself with little knowledge you will just throw good money after bad.

You are not going to be able to sell this car with these faults, so that is not an option.

[swfcdan]

I had a similar problem with coolant loss when i had my IS. It turned out that it was a leaking waterpump. All was sorted one this one done.

Like you there were no obvious signs of leaking, i'd hazzard a strong guess that its the waterpump. May be worth having the cam belt done whilst your having the waterpump done, if you've not had it done and its soon due to be done

[Yates-Is200S]

could you see where it was leaking mate? was there any stains in the engine pan? or did it have to be well inspected to find the leak?

[Yates-Is200S]

And steve, i have booked it in with a lexus mechanic mate. i dont do anything like cambelts etc.. only oil changes and coolant, little things like that.

the belt, pump, and rad are getting done next thursday, but still loss off coolant. so hopefully when he gets everything stripped down to do the belt he will find the leak. if not then theres something wrong internally obviously, which is sods law but thats cars i guess.

[swfcdan]

I couldn't see anything at first, but i'm not mechanically minded, so i didn't even know where the water pump was until the mechanic showed me.

After he had shown me you could see where the leak had occurred around the seal of the water pump and it left like a pinky-white residue, looked almost crystallised (if that makes sense) :D

[wegiel]

The same problem with my IS '00. I'm going to change the cambelt and the two rolls. The coolant is leaking and I could clearly see the pink liquid on the front bottom shield under the radiator. It looks like it is a water pump which has never been changed though it's a bit strange to me that it is leaking after 130k kms.

My experience with other Japanese cars is that one changes the water pump usually every second cambelt change. It looks like this time it is totally different - a bit dissapointed.

However the most annoying thing is that Lexus' price of the water pump is almost the same as a cambelt + two rolls. So much money for this sh.. ? Never in my life.

Going to buy a different one, which is a few times cheaper, crazy stuff.

[Chris.S]

check the small bypass pipe between the weater pump and block, the seals are prone to leaking

[Yates-Is200S]

Hi, Checked it again today and still loss of coolant from the header tank! i havnt driven her or turned her over for a week now since i discovered my shredded cambelt. however i will be getting that done this thursday but hopefully i will find out where that blasted coolant is going when the mechanic gets the rad & belt stripped down. still no visual signs of leakidge from the rad or water pump, so my other thought was that maybe there is a hairline crack in the header tank, as there is no loss of rad coolant?. ... i havnt managed to check the pipe feeding to the head from the water pump but i will hopefully get round to that tonight, looking through the heat shield though that pipe looks rather new and rust free, so i wouldnt of thought it was seeping from there, although i could be wrong. my mechanic told me that maybe there is a slight leak but it may only become big enough for the coolant to pass out when the engine is at runnin tempreture and when the pipe heats up and expands. maybe hes right?

[dazz32]

Hi, Checked it again today and still loss of coolant from the header tank! i havnt driven her or turned her over for a week now since i discovered my shredded cambelt. however i will be getting that done this thursday but hopefully i will find out where that blasted coolant is going when the mechanic gets the rad & belt stripped down. still no visual signs of leakidge from the rad or water pump, so my other thought was that maybe there is a hairline crack in the header tank, as there is no loss of rad coolant?. ... i havnt managed to check the pipe feeding to the head from the water pump but i will hopefully get round to that tonight, looking through the heat shield though that pipe looks rather new and rust free, so i wouldnt of thought it was seeping from there, although i could be wrong. my mechanic told me that maybe there is a slight leak but it may only become big enough for the coolant to pass out when the engine is at runnin tempreture and when the pipe heats up and expands. maybe hes right?

If it was leaking anywhere you would still see the pink/white residue from where the coolant has leaked...unless its internal ..?

[Rob]

uuummm did nt you just buy this car??? was it private or dealer?? if dealer i would be straight back and dump it on thier forecourt!

[Yates-Is200S]

lol id love to rob but unfortunatly its private.

However to be honest the car drives like a dream, but just the coolant issue.

I think the best thing to do is get a compression test on each individual cylinder and get another gas test done. and then that must tell me weather the gasket is going?

If it is the gasket, i will probably get it stripped down and go to town with her and change a few things etc.. :winky: i can see a charger coming along by christmas lol

[Rob]

a pity it was private.... didnt you get a UV dye put in though?? should be easy to spot if its an external leak. you can buy it yourself also, many many online shops sell it.

[Yates-Is200S]

a pity it was private.... didnt you get a UV dye put in though?? should be easy to spot if its an external leak. you can buy it yourself also, many many online shops sell it.

There are loads on eBay but im not sure which one to get?

can it do any harm to the engine?

[Rob]

have a look for mastercool uv coolant dye, i found if for about £3

i had a look on eBay but most are for computer water cooling systems

[dazz32]

lol id love to rob but unfortunatly its private.

However to be honest the car drives like a dream, but just the coolant issue.

I think the best thing to do is get a compression test on each individual cylinder and get another gas test done. and then that must tell me weather the gasket is going?

If it is the gasket, i will probably get it stripped down and go to town with her and change a few things etc.. :winky: i can see a charger coming along by christmas lol

If you had a head gasket problem you would see brown/white mayonaise type stuff on your oil filler cap and maybe on your rad cap.

[Yates-Is200S]

lol id love to rob but unfortunatly its private.

However to be honest the car drives like a dream, but just the coolant issue.

I think the best thing to do is get a compression test on each individual cylinder and get another gas test done. and then that must tell me weather the gasket is going?

If it is the gasket, i will probably get it stripped down and go to town with her and change a few things etc.. :winky: i can see a charger coming along by christmas lol

If you had a head gasket problem you would see brown/white mayonaise type stuff on your oil filler cap and maybe on your rad cap.

hi mate, yeah ino loads of people are asking me about mayo, but no problems with that. thank god!

i probably just worry too much, but i would rather prevent it rather than letting it get worse.

however i did look at my header tank today and it had gone back up very slightly, so i was like... what the hell??

maybe it just fluctuates? but surely it should stay at the full mark and not half empty?

[Chris.S]

if you can drive to Stoke i can get it checked one night in my mates workshop

[Yates-Is200S]

if you can drive to Stoke i can get it checked one night in my mates workshop

Hi mate, it would deffinatly get there. that would be a good idea pal. what sort of tests would you be doing?

would it be thurough ?

[Yates-Is200S]

if you can drive to Stoke i can get it checked one night in my mates workshop

Im only in leicestershire mate, 5 minuites off the M1 so im not far away from you at all, i would be guessing 40 mins.

[Chris.S]

takes me 40-45 mines to get to Leicester, if you want come over one night let me know and i'll sort out

[Yates-Is200S]

takes me 40-45 mines to get to Leicester, if you want come over one night let me know and i'll sort out

hi chris, Yeah it would be really helpfull to drop over one night mate.

What sort of checks would you be doing, just out of intrest?

and also how much would you charge ?

[dazz32]

lol id love to rob but unfortunatly its private.

However to be honest the car drives like a dream, but just the coolant issue.

I think the best thing to do is get a compression test on each individual cylinder and get another gas test done. and then that must tell me weather the gasket is going?

If it is the gasket, i will probably get it stripped down and go to town with her and change a few things etc.. :winky: i can see a charger coming along by christmas lol

If you had a head gasket problem you would see brown/white mayonaise type stuff on your oil filler cap and maybe on your rad cap.

hi mate, yeah ino loads of people are asking me about mayo, but no problems with that. thank god!

i probably just worry too much, but i would rather prevent it rather than letting it get worse.

however i did look at my header tank today and it had gone back up very slightly, so i was like... what the hell??

maybe it just fluctuates? but surely it should stay at the full mark and not half empty?

Your best bet is to park on a flat spot at nite and just get a felt tip pen and mark on the expansion tank where the level is ( when cold )and check it before you start the car up the following day just to give you and idea how much coolant loss is happening....

I would be very surprised if its your headgasket gone as there would be more signs ( like the mayo )

get a small mirror from your mum/girlfriend/wife etc and just hold it under your water pump and see if there is any signs of leaks there...

p.s dont forget...your expansion tank level WIll go up and down when the car is hot or cold.....

[Chris.S]

takes me 40-45 mines to get to Leicester, if you want come over one night let me know and i'll sort out

hi chris, Yeah it would be really helpfull to drop over one night mate.

What sort of checks would you be doing, just out of intrest?

and also how much would you charge ?

dont know what checks myself as it will be looked at by my mate who is a Lexus technician, depends on what lengths he goes into checking. Usually it would be a free check but wouldnt be no more than £20

[Yates-Is200S]

takes me 40-45 mines to get to Leicester, if you want come over one night let me know and i'll sort out

hi chris, Yeah it would be really helpfull to drop over one night mate.

What sort of checks would you be doing, just out of intrest?

and also how much would you charge ?

dont know what checks myself as it will be looked at by my mate who is a Lexus technician, depends on what lengths he goes into checking. Usually it would be a free check but wouldnt be no more than £20

Oh right ok, Yeah that would be good mate, as i could spend forever and a day worrying about the gasket and i would rather no for deffinate yes or no lol, just for piece of mind really.

its just really annoying as you can probably understand. if i did come over what sort of nights are you free?