KENTUCKYGA

My 07 ES350 has a head gasket coolant leak. Car has 84,000 miles, very well maintained, coolant and oil levels never low, engine never over heated or repaired and only serviced. Car always garaged and never exposed to temps below 15 degrees. My Lexus dealer says the repair is $3,152 ! This is incredible, head gaskets should last for many, many more miles. Any thoughts as to cause or a less expensive solution?

UPDATE A very bad story with a good ending. I did take the car to Lexus, it does have 84,000 miles, it is out of warranty, and Lexus did quote $3,152. I went to Lexus headquarters USA (california), they said that they would get back to me in 3 days at the latest and they did. They decided to cover 100% of the repair, plus I han an almost new ES350 waiting for me as a loaner. So I guess there is a payback for having most of my service done at Lexus. I know not all of you agree but it sure paid off for me. Thank you Lexus. P>S> Of course this never should have happened in the first place!

twistedman

Very strange! Something is defiantly causing your engine to run hot, which in turn will cause your cylinder head to swell so much, that over a long period of time it will literally crush the head gasket, resulting in a leak!! I'm surprised to hear this happening to your 07.. Could be your thermostat not opening when it should?!?!? Or fans not kicking in...

jcat_350

yes, one cheaper solution, do NOT have the dealer do the repair.

Find the parts yourself online. They usually come in gasket kits, with headgaskets, valve cover gaskets, etc.

Also do the waterpump and thermostat while you're in there, with a brand new water pump gasket.

You should be able to get the parts yourself for ~$300. Then find a good independent mechanic to do the work. Labor should be somewhere between 4-6 hrs @ about $100 per hour, resulting in a total cost of appx $1k.

As to the cause, out of curiosity did you ever have a coolant 'flush' done, with the machine? Had you ever had the coolant replaced and it was a different color?

Reason being different coolants are recommended for different engines with different components. Ie, red coolant can only be used with red coolant, green with green, but you can use yellow in either.

LexBob2

As mentioned find a good independent shop - Or get a estimate from a Toyota dealer. It's the same engine as in about 6 Toyota models. It still might be fairly expensive but no doubt less than at the Lexus shop.

jcat_350

Lots of toyota dealers lately are resisting even selling parts to Lexus owners, and they charge more for service, at least in my area.

I'd definitely find a reputable indy shop, and wouldn't be surprised to see the total around $1k even getting parts yourself, here's Sewell's prices for just about everything you'll need (or what I'd do for the job):

-16100 1610009441
PUMP ASSEMBLY, ENGINE WATER $173.65 (that's with gasket)

-12151 1215131010
GASKET, OIL PAN $11.34

-04112 0411236091
GASKET KIT, ENGINE VALVE GRIND $284.77 (keep in mind this is literally EVERY gasket in the engine)

OR

-11115 1111531080
GASKET, CYLINDER HEAD $69.17

-11116 1111631060
GASKET, CYLINDER HEAD, NO.2 $69.17

-11213 1121336020
GASKET, CYLINDER HEAD COVER $15.80

-11214 1121431020
GASKET, CYLINDER HEAD COVER, NO.2 $13.96

Total parts cost: $353.09 for only what you need, or $469.76 with a bunch of extra gaskets. I'd also recommend at least inspecting if not replacing the timing chain's tensioner, slipper and damper while they're in there if needed.

As for labor, I'd estimate it to be roughly 8 hours. Typical indy shop would be ~100 per hour, for a total of $800 plus tax. Include coolant and oil for another $100, and $353.09 for parts and you're at a total cost of $1253.09 for the whole shebang, and will have an engine that runs like new, with a cost savings of $1898.91. I'll take my consulting percentage in check or USPS Money order

ThumperPup

i wouldn't have a dealer do this job
if my Head gaskets where to go on the ES i would do the same i would do with my old cadillac and that i had done with it a few years ago

due to the fact that im comming over to Lexus from being a Northstar Cadillac Owner
i know a thing or to about Head Gaskets and how to find a shop that knows what they are truly doing
i wouldn't go just anywhere to had your HG's done first i would find a shop by asking if they have done succesfull work on Cadillac Northstar headgaskets

Then i would ask what they do them with
if they say Northstar Performance Sure grip headstud then yes i would be 100000% positive that is the shop i want doing my car
because they would know how to do it properly
if they say they where not going to reuse the same old holes and jsut get new head bolt i would run away from them real fast

if they say time sirts or Norm sirts atleast they have a good idea of what they are doing
ask them to use Studs with the Sirts also

not sure if its a aluminum block in our ES350s if it is witch id think it is
then make sure the shop is going to actually re thread the bolt holes


one question in our ES350 does the engine have to come out to do the Heads or can it be done inside the car also to remove the engine
can it be lifted out the top or does the cradle have to be dropped
the big issue was the 27 plus hours in labor to do a Head gasket job on a northstar powered cadillac is because you have remove the cradle and drop the engine out to do the job properly
if this is the case on the ES350 and the dealer gave you a price of 3000 i know if it was me id do it
if it can be taken out the top or doesn't have to be removed at all then for 3000 id find a a independent shop to do the work

also me i know one of the best Mechanics for Engine Rebuilding in the country i feel
his shop is up in Cleveland Ohio he did my Northstar engine and there isn't anything that fazes him

but then agian some of us cadillac owners form another forum have been known to have our cars transported Hundreds even 1000s of miles to have our car worked on properly for major jobs like this

jcat_350

the 6cyl in the es350 does not have anything to do with the Cadillac northstar V8. When head gaskets go you don't need to pull head studs and redo them as you do with the Northstar.

The engine probably does not to come out as there should be sufficient room to pull the rear head in the bay.

ThumperPup

So headbolts don't have to be removed to get the heads off to do a HG job in the Lexus toyota 3.5 6cyl your saying ?

ok never saw that one coming

jcat_350

The nuts do have to be removed, but the studs stay in the engine block. the head is lifted off the studs when removing it. There should be enough room behind the engine once everything is removed to lift the head off. If not, the studs can be backed out and the head removed that way, but only if necessary.

The Northstars needed sleeves done on the stud holes in the block due to the cast iron studs backing out of the aluminum block. Thus, the studs had to come out, holes drilled, sleeves installed, then threaded, and reinstalled.

ThumperPup

ah ok i understand now i didn't know that they used studs from the factory i thought they used head bolts witch would have to be removed from the block
now i understand better

thank you for explaining this

jcat_350

No problem. Lexus is a much different animal engineering-wise than Cadillac. Each have their strengths and weaknesses. My intent was to caution you against assuming truths from Cadillacs carry over to Lexus, as Caddy did many things that really just don't make sense.

ThumperPup

yeah i loved my cadillac guys over on the Caddy owners forum couldn't belive i finally dropped that cadillac
they seem to be happy that i got rid of it and got something more new

jbalian

What are the signs of a head gasket leak? Will the engine over heat? White smoke? rough idle?

I noticed a bit of white smoke coming out of my es350 but im hoping it's just due to the cold montreal weather...

ThumperPup

not sure if it would or not but if the HG is bad there is a chance that your oil will look milky with coolant mixing in with the engine oil on some cars so not sure if this would be the case also on the lexus
usualy never happens on cadillac but every now and then we would see this
so not sure about the lexus but could check that

jcat_350

Jbalian,

Yes, you'll see white exhaust output during very cold weather. This can be ignored, and should go away once the car warms up.

Usually you'll see either oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil. Rough idle will be present as will overheating problems. If the car is smoking bluish white when it's already warmed up, and volume of smoke increases with RPM, this could indicate a problem with the headgasket.