Planner

What's your budget?

If anyone's out there (....?) wondering if this is an ok replacement radiator? (Ignore the fact that it's a German website, I'm there ATM)

https://www.daparto.de/Teilenummernsuche/Denso/DRM51005?modelId=a9e9a380

To play music and talk on your phone, you mean? Want something Bluetooth?

Ha, definitely not. It's a leak in the plastic housing on the LHS. Pretty common.

Was gonna J-B Weld the 4cm crack in the plastic and find a decent radiator.

Considering replacing it myself. 

Evening all.

I've been through the multiple threads on leaking radiators on the 400h. I'm heavily assuming I need to replace it (see pic).

But two questions: 1: do I need to replace the whole thing. As in, does it come with that broken bit as standard?

2: can I patch it up as a temporary fix?

(Context: noticed the coolant was low, then saw the crack, weeping slightly. No obvious signs of heavily leaking, no pink stuff anywhere, no overheating)

Cheers in advance

Many years after this thread last stopped, people are still having this problem.

I had the same problem this week (sometimes the system wouldn't work, sometimes there were only a few haphazard guide lines) so for anyone else who comes across this thread, I fixed it by disconnecting the 12v Battery and reconnecting it.

Essentially the old "have you tried turning it off and on again" trick.

I suspect it was connected to me getting a new Battery installed a few weeks earlier.

9 hours ago, Greisingel said:

This plastic stuff is ludicrously expensive. Yes it may be a plastic rather than metal stud. Think you're right. I checked a few breakers. Most of the RXs in SE England have been gutted.

Great to hear your RX is dry. I want the same result now.

I thought it would be easy to get parts from breakers for the Rx series, as there's so many around.

I needed a couple of door cards & other interior bits (previous owner had kids).

But I had to do a load of eBay messaging & calling till I got what I needed at a good price.

35 minutes ago, Greisingel said:

https://gbr.grandado.com/products/oem-63493-0e010-roof-rack-side-rail-end-cap-cover-passenger-rear-for-lexus-rx350-rx400h-rx330-2003

Was the best I could find for the 4 caps with the middle slide that hooks to the metal prong

Yeah I saw similar prices. If I could buy one for £12.50 i would.

Metal prong? On mine it's a yellow plastic pop stud. 

If you lived in Russia you could get the full set for £25

https://baza.drom(blocked word)/novosibirsk/sell_spare_parts/kryshka-rejlinga-zadnjaja-lexus-rx330-rx350-rx300-zaglushka-87081643.html

3 hours ago, Greisingel said:

Useful to see the mastic job you did. Will be doing same when stops bloody raining here. Yes, those roof rack caps are very expensive. I am looking for two rear ones. Have to have the slide in the middle that clips to a bolt. 

Glad it's not just me. And they're crazy expensive for some cheap plastic.

And yeah I was stupid, didn't know there was a middle bit. All but one of the clips broke. Guess the plastic gets brittle after a while. There was crap and mud inside, so once that's gone I'm literally gonna use clear bathroom silicone, just to stop it flying off. 

1 hour ago, Planner said:

Quick update.

At the wrong time of year, in the wrong weather I used some random German car filler a few days ago to patch up the most common areas for leaking.

I was not particularly delicate about it as I don't care about the aesthetics.

having had heavy snowfall since then and a fair amount of rain, I can confirm I can't see any leaking at the moment.

I'll do a better job when the weather gets better but at the moment I just wanted to stop water getting in

 

 

As an aside, in my quest to find the leak, I accidentally broke some of the tabs on the luggage rack end (a long black plastic piece). Thought I'd see if I could get one cheap off eBay. No chance. Mega expensive. Stupidly so.

Looks like I'll have to get the clear mastic out for it.

Quick update.

At the wrong time of year, in the wrong weather I used some random German car filler a few days ago to patch up the most common areas for leaking.

I was not particularly delicate about it as I don't care about the aesthetics.

having had heavy snowfall since then and a fair amount of rain, I can confirm I can't see any leaking at the moment.

I'll do a better job when the weather gets better but at the moment I just wanted to stop water getting in

Of course it did. And yours is particularly bad.  Plus when you search for "water leak 400h" & come across page after page of problems it can feel like everyone's having the same issue, but I'm going to guess it's usually pretty rare. It could also be an age thing; they're not getting any newer.

I've liked the 400h enough to look at it's successor when the time comes. There's a lot to be said for Japanese reliability.

Other than the water, is there anything else that ended up being a PITA? I've had it a year, and nothings been a problem yet. 

I can get back at a push, but need to do work stuff here. Brexit is making a total mess of my business. Need it like a hole in the head.

But your leaking sounds pretty terrible, compared to mine.

I didn't mention it before, but when I got the car there were a few tide marks on the wall boot area wall (solved with warm slightly soapy water) so it looks like a previous owner had fixed a few old leaks.

Seems like every car has its own specific problems that only get discovered once *I* buy it. My old 1999 7 series bmw liked to have the bowden cables snap. All of them, at one time or another. And drink oil. Fun times.

But good luck mate and report back on your progress, maybe pics if you can. It might prove handy for others (or likely me!) in the future.

Ha! Didn't know you could get full 400h covers.

Full disclosure, I'm stranded in Germany atm until I can get back to the UK and we had a few dry days so I grabbed the chance.

Ordering Tiger Seal was gonna take too long (and three times the price of Halfords) to deliver, so had to get what I think is the German equivalent called Petec k&d.

The weather has been colder than the recommend application temperature (why do these things always happen in the middle of winter?!), but there was snow and rain coming, so I've filled the most obvious 4 weld joints and will report back with pics.

2 hours ago, Greisingel said:

Can you access the drain plugs from under the car to clean them?

If you're talking to me, I'm not entirely sure. I had all of the compartments out anyway so they were very easy to access that way.

I did peer through them to see where they went and I couldn't directly see the ground.

On 1/25/2021 at 1:51 PM, Greisingel said:

 

I'll definitely give Tiger Seal a look then. Plumbers mate or whatever didn't seem like the right thing. Thanks for the advice.

I've not got anything as bad as squelchy carpets but I'll get this done before I do.

I'll report back here with the results.

On 1/25/2021 at 1:51 PM, Greisingel said:

Ah so you've got access under the battery. Absolutely, those plugs are a design fault cos they gunge up.

Actually it was the black plugs closer to the back of the car (underneath the triangular storage section), where the water was pooling up a little. I've taken out everything except for the rear seats. I never want to see another pop stud again.

But I'm still curious what product people have used to seal up the seams for the best results?

Morning all.

I won't bore with another leak story, as they've been covered before. This one isn't currently major but I'm aware I need it fixed ASAP to keep the Battery safe.

I think I've identified the source as the weld seam close the boot strut, (although maybe the luggage rack ...but one thing at a time) so was wondering what anyone else has used to patch it up? My concern isn't cosmetic.

Plumbers mate, silicone, seam sealer, epoxy fibreglass etc etc? Would like to get the best thing.

(As an aside, I also took out the entire storage area to dry and clean everything (fun) and removed one of the big black rubber plugs in the floor, just to be safe until I do my repair. Was this the right thing to do?

Cheers in advance

On 8/12/2020 at 9:03 PM, royoftherovers said:

OK Simon, thanks and good luck...Let us all know how you get on please

Just a small update. I did what I thought best and got a long thin curved needle and just post the little hole a couple of times. Very fiddly and a very hard angle to try to get to. But it worked.

clearly the blockage wasn't significant and this method saved me having to spend hours and hours on something relatively trivial

many thanks for your efforts. I came across a couple of these threads myself but unfortunately it's issues with the previous generation that obviously has easy access to the nozzle.

I can *just* about see that the nozzle does appear to be clogged so if no one has any idea how to to.get proper access to it, I'm going to have to get some core sort of long curved sailing needle. What failing that spray the area with limescale remover or something.

5 hours ago, royoftherovers said:

https://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/113684-screen-washer-nozzle/

many thanks for the reply but this is referring to the front ones I think. 

My problem is with the rear one. You cannot even see the back one, is it hidden in a crevasse under the the spoiler

4 hours ago, royoftherovers said:

https://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/113684-screen-washer-nozzle/

many thanks for the reply but this is referring to the front ones I think. 

My problem is with the rear one. You cannot even really see the back one without at orch, as is it hidden in a crevasse under the the spoiler. I can just about make out two holes in it though

Afternoon.

I've searched all the forums and I can't find something suitable to help me. 

Only one of the two holes in my rear windscreen nozzle are working so I'm assuming some kind of blockage.

Due to the rear spoiler it's impossible in the conventional sense to access this nozzle.

What do I need to take apart or dismantle to get to it? Do I need to remove the rear spoiler or do I go from the inside of the boot gate somehow? (Second-generation 400h)

15 hours ago, royoftherovers said:

Your Handbook knows the answer Simon.

I'm sure. And if I had the handbook then I might have read it.

But what gliderpilot said actually turned out to be quite useful.

Turns out one of my headlamp washers is broken and just squirting loads of water out every time it's used. Off to the scrap yard for me.

It still amazes me that it's even a feature. I managed to get through my entire driving life without need to clean my headlamps every time I clean my windscreen at night, but now apparently I do it permanently.