Sw02LS430

Hello i am new to this forum and this site honestly . I've been reading diff posts on here for last 2 days straight , thought I had to know everything what I needed but far from it . So I signed up and I really hope I can fix this problem on my small budget with the help of all you very knowledgable clublexus members . until now havnt had any real problems with my 2002 ls430. I'm at little over 130k and timing belt was replaced at 90k whn I bought it used since then I've tried to keep up the maintence schedual and it came in great condition from single owner who from what I could tell treated the car well. I had car oil changed and over all inspected at dealership bout 5 months ago and all was fine . Just last week I noticed hot air not coming out of heater but didn't think much more then maybe car wasn't warmed up yet since I turned heater on right after starting car in the morning or that I havnt used it in awhile as summers in sac ca are very hot. Other then that car ran normal. Then few days later check engine and vcs light came on. Wasn't over heating or anything according to dash. Was almost home drove the last mile or two and as I was pulling onto my street I felt loss of power and then light smoke/steam coming from under the hood as I parked in driveway . Turned car off opened hood and heard gargling/bubbling sound from what seemed to be radiator . Didn't smoke much and don't see any more whn opened hood or comin from tail pipe . After letting cool down I went to check and found the radiator and overflow bone dry . After reading 100s of posts here I know I have a leak obv and really hope it's not a head gasket. Checked oil and it looked normal not milky and due to funds and that I've always wanted to start doing work my self but never did due lack of car knowledge, feelings of being overwhelmed just thinking about it and lack of overall confidence always thinking I'm just going to make any prob worse . But after taking the time to read other posts and many hours of internet searches and utube video marathons I've decided to try and fix this my self . I went and bought the lexus coolant 50/50 along with jack stands, jack, drain pans, eveything I should have already had pretty much except the socket set I already had . I got the car up on stands and poored distilled water in radiator hoping to see an obv leak . Took off skid plate and after looking from top, bottom didn't see anything obv . I hVe yet to start car cause I'm afraid the block is bone dry to and know until the thermostat opens whn warm, coolant won't be getting in and like I said making this worse is the last thing I want to do . From what I've read I'm changing rad cap and prob thermostat but havnt yet . Knowing 5 month ago the level was fine and rad dry now along with all other symptems from check engine and vcs lights and lose of power to light engine smoke and gargling sound please help me with what to do and my concerns with starting car. Do I need to put coolant directly into engine block? Of so how and then really what to do next to find leak .This is my only car so I'm very worried and kind of excited at the same time to dive into this thing my self for once but really don't know where to go from here. I gotta get to work to feed my family and keep this unexpected issue that's prob my fault to a cost in the $100s and not $1000s I'm sure the dealership would end up charging . Thanks in advance for anyone who can post I really will appreciate anyone who can take the time to get my ls430 back on the road.

lorenr

iTrader: (1)

Do these things:

1. Use distilled water and fill the radiator FULL of pure water. There is no reason to put antifreeze in when you can use cheap distilled water. Save the expensive antifreeze until you have found the leak.
2. The motor will fill with water through the bottom radiator hose. Keep filling until you can't add more. Even let it sit over night. Add water to the overflow tank.
3. Be sure the overflow tank is not leaking and is connected to the radiator neck. The small overflow hose should run from the neck to the overflow tank.
4. Start the car and let it idle for a few minutes. Stop the car and refill the radiator.
5. If you were careful and only used distilled water the ground under the car should be dry. Now run the car and look for leaks. A good place to look at that milage is the area where the plastic radiator tanks are bonded to the aluminum radiator cores.
6. Probably the radiator, since they should have installed a new water pump when they did the timing belt. When they do the timing belt the radiator must be removed and they probably damaged it.
7. Radiators are cheap on the internet. Takes about an hour to install a new one.
8. Check your engine oil, radiator coolant and transmission fluid (at least those who have dipsticks) on a regular basis and you will not have these issues.