roadfrog

Yes they do, so you probably had an air bubble in the system that purged itself and lowered the coolant level. You just need to top up the reservoir and your heat will return.

greg3852

That's what I thought. Thanks for the confirmation!

jmcraney

I am surprised that no one has jumped on this.

greg3852 and roadfrog have made a very important point. The instructions for the Fuel Sensor Gasket Recall call for the coolant hoses to be disconnected, as roadfrog pointed out. But the parts list does not list any coolant to replace lost coolant. There is no step to top up the coolant level and testing does not call for testing the climate control system.

This recall will be accomplished after the "heating season" for many of the vehicles. Like greg3852, many owners will have heating system problems next year and will likely have to pay for a solution for a problem that was induced by the recall.

If you want to read the recall instructions, check here: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs...4V647-9581.pdf

CRowe14

So-forgive my lack of comprehension here, but I understand you to say that although many of us have had the recall done during this current heating season, as has Greg, there is the possibility that even we (the ones who have had the recall performed this current winter) will possibly have heat issues next heat season?? I guess I'm curious as to why it would possibly take nearly a full year for this anomaly to possibly occur.
Or are you more so addressing the individuals who will be having the recall done in the warmer months and won't have a need to use their heating systems immediately and will possibly be negatively effected next winter?

roadfrog

If you're checking your coolant reservoir regularly (as you should be), you'll just be topping it up with coolant (Toyota Brand pf course), if it's low. It's not a big deal.

wbrian63

I had my recall work done last week at Lexus of Clear Lake here in Houston.

My past experience with dealership technicians (few can be called mechanics any more, in my opinion) has led me to be very nervous about allowing major service to be performed.

When I read the 43 pages of instructions for this recall, I was even more nervous, knowing that the intake manifold has to be removed, and that same intake manifold is buried beneath a huge wiring harness.

I started the process by removing the engine cover, the two long side covers and the front cover and storing them in my garage. At least this way I know that all of the clips and related hardware won't go missing at the dealership.

When I had the Nav upgraded and the Transmission ECU software upgraded last year, I had the salesman with whom I have a long successful relationship send me to his favorite service advisor. That has worked well thus far. He takes good care of me, and whem my mother's RX350 needs service, he's the guy she goes to exclusively.

When I dropped the car off, I spoke kindly but directly to him. I told of my previous experiences and that (in my opinion) it is possible to perform this service without tearing stuff up. I also told him that I took pictures of all of the areas of the motor that were going to be affected by this work and that "if your tech breaks anything, I will know and Lexus will be replacing the broken item."

I understand and respect the plight of service techs everywhere - recall work is the pits and frequently the hours allotted and paid by the manufacturer fall short of what it actually takes to perform the campaign.

Still - it is my car and I don't want it messed up.

I am very happy to report that I got the car back in better condition than when I dropped it off. Whomever did the cylinder head work on this car before I bought it broke some of the wire chase covers on the engine. The tech that did this recall took the time to wrap tape around those broken sections to attempt to repair that damage.

Score one for the service department at Lexus of Clear Lake!

In a related topic, my loaner car was a 2015 ES. Nice car, but still not as nice my LS460, even at 8 years and nearly 100k miles old.

CRowe14

Gotcha!
Appreciate that clarification.
I wasn't so much worried about a possible issue resulting from this performed recall, for me it was more so about trying to correctly comprehend what he was trying to say, and if there was something I could be doing/looking our for to alleviate any possible issues.

jmcraney

Most of us don't routinely check our coolant reservoir - we just check when there is liquid on the floor or we smell coolant. And neither do most keep a jug of coolant handy.

The expense associated with this is a trip to the dealership, for some, next heating season - time is money and for some the trip is a long distance. We do understand, from reports in this forum, that the heating system in these cars is very sensitive to low coolant level.The symptoms of low coolant as it impacts the heating system are subtle and not always recognized right away. Sometimes the low heater output is only evident when the engine RPMs are very low and sometimes only evident in extremely cold weather. I haven't had this problem but several owners have posted in this forum seeking advice about low or no heat from their heater and most have followed up to tell us that the problem was solved by purging air from the cooling system.

A large number of cars are getting the Fuel Pressure Sensor Recall so it seems to me that a significant number will have a problem.

If you read this forum routinely and your memory is good, the low heater output should not be much of a problem if you are a DIYer. For others it might be a problem.

BigWalt

Just had the recall service completed at WestSide Lexus out here in Houston, Hope all goes well. I'm picking up my LS today after work.

Car wash & my gas tank was topped off on the house as well.

My loaner was a ES350 as well and I couldnt agree more. The 2014 ES was nice but I missed my LS lol.

Doublebase

When you posted the service procedures for the fuel rail recall I want to say I wrote that they would have to be tapping into the cooling system and openly wondered if they would be changing/adding much coolant. The reason it caught my attention is because I was planning on flushing my coolant in the spring and didn't want to bother if it was just going to be replaced anyway.

I did a coolant change in the fall and it is difficult to get the air out of the system, but that's pretty common with a lot of V8's that I've run into. I was planning on changing it again in the spring because I know I only got about half of the coolant out of the system.

DJWLDW

I had the Fuel Pressure Sensor Recall and my 40,000 miles service done yesterday at Lexus of Omaha. I posed the question about coolant loss to the head of service. His statement was that they have some special type of hose clamp that they clamp off the end of the hose with so little or no coolant is lost. The car came out of service looking great and they did let me use my monthly service discount coupon, but they did not top off the gas tank.

Dennis

Doublebase

Ok, so they pinch the hose and try their best not to lose much coolant. To me that sounds like they aren't doing much more than maybe a simple little top off when they are finished. I imagine that, due to the nature of the procedure, the only coolant loss should come from the throttle body (unless I'm wrong and they run coolant through the plastic upper manifold plenum...which I doubt).

Either way I think I'll wait until I have the procedure done before I go and do another coolant flush/change. I'm not sure I should do the change anyway, I'm at 92k miles and I imagine the water pump will need replacement soon...most water pumps don't last much more than 100k miles.

DJWLDW

Doublebase

I just sold my 1998 Toyota RAV4 in HI with 191,xxx miles on it with the original water pump. I bought the RAV4 new in January 1998 and over the 17 years we owned it, we never had one major component go bad. Toyota makes some good stuff. I replaced the back license plate light bulb and one tail light bulb. Other than regular stuff, brakes, oil and air filters, timing, ac belts and spark plugs at 100,000 nothing ever broke. So you could be waiting awhile to replace the water pump. The RAV4 experience was one of the reasons I bought the LS. If it treats me half as well as the RAV4 did I will be very happy.

Dennis

roadfrog

I would.do the same. Especially since there may be some contaminants, etc after the service which would be nice to flush out after driving a few hundred miles.

Don't hold your breath. Many here at CL (including me), have already had to replace their water pumps. Mine went at 60k miles and others sooner...some a little later, either way, it'll happen. They always leak from the weep-hole at the top first. It'll show as a big, pink clump of dried up coolant. You really can't see it until you remove a few covers and move a few things. Good news is, it's easy to replace and cheap. I did a DIY on it with pics and you can find it in the FAQ's section. I got my WP on Ebay for 55 bucks.

DJWLDW

Chris

Good info, thanks

Dennis