Coolant Low

[petayV8]

Just went to the garage to give my IS200 a good checking over before winter hits and because i havent had it up on the ramp since i bought it, anyway my mechanic said the radiator has no coolant whats so ever! How could this be tho, the car temp gauge has always sat just under the half mark as should. have just bought 5L of red toyota stuff ill put a little in and see what happens as im guessing i could have a leak. Are coolant leaks common on the IS? would the car still run good if it had no or low coolant? if the car had any coolant would you see water in the radiator if you took the cap off?

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

If you look at the back of the radiator then you'll see the coolant reservoir. It has a gauge on it showing min and max levels. Mine sits at just under full when cold and bang on the full mark when warm.

Mine also looses coolant, about a centimeter on the gauge every couple of weeks. I know where the leak on mine is tho as it leaves a pink residue where the leak is in the top corner. I'm just topping up until it gets bad enough to need a new radiator.

When I first got the car the coolant was well below min but still ran perfect and the temp gauge sat just under half.

When you take the metal radiator cap you should be able to see the coolant at the surface.

There's another plastic cap to the left, on top of the radiator to fill the coolant, it's marked coolant :)

[petayV8]

Thanks for reply. I think the reason why im struggling to see level on gauge is because its very low! and i dont want to just put water in to see if the level moves...going to use the proper stuff... did see a slight whitish residue at bottom of engine bay, but very slight, couldnt see anything obvious. if yours is leaking how do you know it needs a whole new radiator? could you just fix the leak?

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Mines fine at the mo. the leak is so small it's not worth bothering with. I'll decide what to do if it gets worse but I normally replace parts rather than repair as I figure I'll just have to replace it eventually :)

Def don't put water in but you should get some coolant in there straight away. Top it to about a centimeter under the full marker. When the engine is hot this will go up to full. Monitor it for a couple of days to see how much you are losing.

[petayV8]

Thanks for great advice!

[petayV8]

If you look at the back of the radiator then you'll see the coolant reservoir. It has a gauge on it showing min and max levels. Mine sits at just under full when cold and bang on the full mark when warm.

Mine also looses coolant, about a centimeter on the gauge every couple of weeks. I know where the leak on mine is tho as it leaves a pink residue where the leak is in the top corner. I'm just topping up until it gets bad enough to need a new radiator.

When I first got the car the coolant was well below min but still ran perfect and the temp gauge sat just under half.

When you take the metal radiator cap you should be able to see the coolant at the surface.

There's another plastic cap to the left, on top of the radiator to fill the coolant, it's marked coolant :)

i just topped it up but I used the radiator cap by accident does it matter? I only managed to fit 1 litre in as well and gauge hasnt moved from what I can see

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

If you fill up using the metal cap ( as I also did 1st time) then you may need to squeeze the radiator pipes a little to feed it through. That's prob why your gauge hadn't moved as what you put in is trapped at the top of the pipes. You also risk trapping air in the system by doing it this way. If you fill Using the plastic cap it's much better and the gauge will move as you pour it in :)

[petayV8]

I was thinking it was something along those lines, just waitibg for someone to confirm! Right round two tomorrow! Lol thanks again

[petayV8]

Well I successfully topped it up on Monday and today ive already lost a coupe of centimeters in two days! so give it a week or two and it'll be empty again :( I cannot see a leak either i had a good look around.

so can anyone now advice me on a new radiator, which im guessing is what i need? ive seen them for sale for around 60-80 pounds with two years warranty so that sound right? and do i need one specific for my automatic trans? cheers

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Don't be drastic. Could be you need a new radiator and most likely but you need to get it looked at. There are other reasons you will lose coolant so it needs a proper look at by a professional if you can't see any obvious leaks. Do you have a puddle on your driveway when the car has been sat?

[petayV8]

Its been wet the last few days so havent noticed a puddle. Ill put some cardboard under the car over night and if its dripping can get a better idea of where from. Already called my garage and will get it looked at again. Ide rather it be the simple issue of a new radiator than something more complicated, but we'll see.

Update. found the dripping on off side at very front.

[sjrainsford]

Mine was really low when I first had it. So topped it up, but then it dropped again. Had to do this a few times before it stayed at the correct level. Mine just had a couple of air pockets that needed shifting, so when it shifted the coolant dropped and filled the space.

[matt-c]

I was gonna say it's very likely it's air pockets / locks that need to work themselves out, since it's been very low at one point. Give it a month or two to sort itself out before going too indepth with investigations

[petayV8]

Yeah could be. But like I said deff got a puddle, but water is clear not red and is directly under washer fluid tank. Also I started another thread not long ago about a motor grinding noise coming from throttle body area/glove box but now am wondering if its water pump which would also exain leak. Had a look at throttle body and look fine clean inside etc. car just hit 99k and cant see any invoices of new water pump. Timing belt was done at lexus with intermediate service but no mention of new water pump.

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Could well be your water pump. Should be changed with the timing belt really. Although I'm a fine one to talk, I didn't change the water pump when I changed the timing belt! I'm just waiting for mine to go! :(

[petayV8]

Ok a bit of a update. The coolant is not leaking it seems, its staying at the same level. Still got water dripping like i said so could be headlight washer or something, but am not too worried about it. Im going to run the washer fluid out and see if it stops. Will keep an eye on the coolant level tho, because seems strange the car had no coolant when i bought it. Still going to replace the water pump for piece of mind and hoping it will fix the noise i can hear. I feel a bit stupid after this! but im no mechanic, and my mechanic was the one who suggested the leak! thanks for all your time, especially thanks to Chris!

[rigga955]

My expansion tank was empty but the actual Rad was full up to the cap, so just filled the tank up to the line, no leaks that I can see I just suspect at somepoint someone without knowledge of the built in expension rank on the Rad just filled it in the conventional manner.

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Ok a bit of a update. The coolant is not leaking it seems, its staying at the same level. Still got water dripping like i said so could be headlight washer or something, but am not too worried about it. Im going to run the washer fluid out and see if it stops. Will keep an eye on the coolant level tho, because seems strange the car had no coolant when i bought it. Still going to replace the water pump for piece of mind and hoping it will fix the noise i can hear. I feel a bit stupid after this! but im no mechanic, and my mechanic was the one who suggested the leak! thanks for all your time, especially thanks to Chris!

Hey no worries mate. Just a quick thought, do you drive with the A/C on a lot? Cos that will cause water to drip from underneath which is perfectly normal :)

[lewe_d_is200]

Hi everyone,

just checked mine as I also couldn't find my gauge until this post and was horrified to find nothing in there... Absolutely bone dry. So I'm just about to order some, sould I get Toyota red as petayV8 did? Or is there anything better? Also sould I get 5l or will 1l do?

Thanks for any replys.

Lewis

[rigga955]

I purchased some pink longlife stuff from Halfords £11 odd for 5 liters, used less than half to fill the expension tank so have some spare in the boot

Good shout regarding the poss water leak via the AC, that's a possible source of the water under the car esp as its clear and not pink or red in colour as per antifreeze

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

The Toyota stuff is about £15 for 5litres and is red so will leave a pink residue where there is a leak. I used Halfords pink stuff tho for £11 as Rigga955 did, this also leaves a pink residue where there is a leak and I asked Lexus when I had a service to flush it out and put the proper Toyota stuff in. They said there's no point, the Halfords stuff is just as good so I use that all the time now :)

[lewe_d_is200]

Wicked, cheers for the replys. I'll go to Halfords now and get some :)

[matt-c]

They said there's no point, the halfords stuff is just as good so I use that all the time now :)

Good to know, specially since I've got a Halfords trade card ;)

[rigga955]

They said there's no point, the halfords stuff is just as good so I use that all the time now :)

Good to know, specially since I've got a Halfords trade card ;)

Me too .

[petayV8]

Toyota red is longlife 40k miles. Pink is super long life 80k. I bought 5L wholesale for £22 red toyota on eBay but direct from toyota so have invoice for logbook. Pink was a bit pricy and not planning on keeping the car because emigrating. I read all over the LOC and other forums to use toyoya stuff, so did.