aomdedude1

Hello, I Just bought this car two months ago and have been working on the car on my free time ever since. I purchased the car for 1000$ due to a coolant leak. I checked everything out including the oil and everything, I even pulled a wheel to check things out, and took it for a test drive. Everything was just fine and ran great other than a massive coolant leak from the rear water bypass pipe also a power steering leak. (the vacuum idle up valve..which I replaced.)

So I went all in 100%. I went to Sewell Lexus online and purchases 1300$ of new OEM parts for the car. I bought a new rear water bypass pipe to fix the coolant leak, since I had to take the intake off to get to it, I decide to just go ahead and replace the timing belt too at the same time. bought all new gaskets, belts, drive belt, tensioner, water pump, pulleys, camshaft and crank shaft seals, spark plugs, wires, got the injectors professionally bench cleaned (all the injectors were flowing perfect after cleaning [done by VAC motorsports]), fuel filter, EGR pipe (old one was cracked) ext ext ext.,,,

I put the last bolt on yesterday around 11pm and I started the car. It started right up amazingly and ran just a tiny bit rough at first but smoothed out and ran absolutely perfect as far I could tell. I noticed a good bit of steam coming from out the back but I just figured that it was some condensation because it was a warm day and got cold quick at night so I figured it was normal.

I didn't want to run the car long because It was late and I was tired so this afternoon I went out and checked all the fluids and looked for leaks. No leaks! but the coolant was low. I filled it up and let it run ... Well I let it run for around 15 - 20 minutes but the entire time It was steaming from the exhaust. When you sniff it, you get a faint smell of coolant.

,...(let me explain, I drained the coolant from the engine with the two drains on either side of the engine, and refilled with distilled water. The faint smell of coolant (if it is a blown head gasket, I would assume is any remnant coolant in the heater core since I turned the heat on full blast as the car was idling) ......

So after the around 20min idle time, the car was still steaming from the exhaust. My heart kind of sank, and I got pretty worried. So I turned the car off and checked the oil.

..(let me explain again, I also changed the oil when I put the t belt and water-bypass stuff on. When I changed it the old oil seemed like completely fine dirty old oil. No milk shake and NO signs of coolant whatsoever) ...


When I checked the oil after the 20min idle, I was again disheartened... it looks and feels like the oil has water on it. The oil looks waaaay to light colored and its lubricity (its slipperiness) is not nearly as good as fresh oil. Its sort of makes your fingers stick and not glide like fresh mobile one synthetic should! I am extremely worried, concerned, and VERY disheartened.

I start back at university next Monday for my senior year in Elect engineering and I KNOW I wont have time to work on this car anymore. This upcoming weekend is my last chance to do work before the school semester begins for me.

So the reason I am confused is, HOW could the head gasket blow? I DIDN'T EVEN DRIVE IT YET!! I just cant understand how something like this could happen. My only thought is that maybe the previous owner overheated it a few times (or even just once real bad) and got the head gasket to start failing. (is it true head-gaskets fail due to overheating?) Then it just finally deiced to crap out just after spending a dump-truck load (for me anyway) of money on the car.

How can I test that the head gasket for sure is 100% leaking?? How do I know it isn't a cracked block?? IS THERE ANY other way coolant could be getting into the engine other than from a head gasket or cracked block!?? WHAT tests can I perform??



It just seams unreasonable to have a perfectly fine engine with no head gasket issues to suddenly a blown head gasket after just a t-belt and intake manifold job.??? This makes NO sense to me and is unbelievably frustrating.

Even more baffling is that the engine seems to run pretty smooth and quiet...

Tomorrow I will drain some oil to be 100% sure that I am not hallucinating and that there really is distilled water mixed with my oil. I will also post pictures. ... It also frustrating that I followed every letter of every sentence of the factory service manual (with the exception of using an old belt for my crank holder tool! lol... and fyi guys, for those who saw that post, it was NOT wrapped around just the oil cooler lines..that is insane... it was wrapped around the sway bar/ cross member thing which was SOLID. There was NO pressure on those oil lines!!)

I will try my best to provide photos and video for you tomorrow. I really really need your advice and help on this. I cant afford much more repair work time and money.

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

It definitely sounds like a blown head gasket... What may have happened is that the coolant followed the path of least resistance - when you fixed the leak, it found the next possible escape...

Could be blown head gasket, could be a cracked head - both caused by excessive overheating...

correct course of action if you are a diy'er and not scared to do the work (you weren't too far off from this anyways) would be to source some head gaskets and head bolts and pull it all back apart... take the heads to a machine shop for a valve job and pressure test, perhaps even have them decked if they require it...

aomdedude1

Wow, interesting thought about the path of least resistance. That does make a lot of sense to me because this was a HUGE coolant leak from the bypass pipe.

.. but this is unfortunately, NOT the answer I exactly wanted to hear.

Is there any way to distinguish between a head gasket and a cracked block? Because honestly, if the block is cracked, its time to eat my losses, face the music and get rid of this beautiful and awesome car.

(......unlesssss..... I can find a cheap and not messed up junkyard block>> hmmmmm)


...but anyway, its looking like this is going to turn out to be a HUGE project or a MASSIVE financial loss on my part and either way a hel* of a learning experience.

I feel pretty swinndled by the Craigslist guy I bought this from.


So does anyone know how to distinguish between a cracked block and a blown head gasket???

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

Highly unlikely the block is cracked... However it is unfortunately possible... No way to tell until its taken apart...

aomdedude1

Okay, well I guess my next steps are to 100% confirm that there is coolant in the oil/ vice versa .. MAYBE get a "block tester" to check and see if there is exhaust gas in the cooling system... and maybe say a few prayers..
One more interesting fact is that I looked under the oil fill cap and saw steam/whitish oil. I know I cleaned that oil cap inside and out with simple green before I put it on so that stuff was NOT there before. :/

More advice from others is welcome, thank you for your help mitsuguy.

Also, how much BALL PARK would a valve job cost? What about a bare basics head-gasket replacement? I know those gaskets are killer expensive.

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

head gaskets aren't expensive, valve job on both heads including decking them, probably $200-$250

Napa has the entire head gasket kit for $287... includes all gaskets needed to do this job...

steve2006

Surely a compression test or cylinder leak down test would confirm a failed CHG before stripping it down?

LScowboyLS

yes! - that is the No.1 cause!


yes! - the Idle Air Control Valve (IACV), for example, leaking coolant right into the intake! - you need to get hold of an exhaust gas sniffer and stick it into the coolant overflow tank, this (along with a pressure test of each cylinder using compressed air) are the definitive tests for a blown head gasket., and you have performed neither, so you are a long way from reason to worry yet!

change oil again before making any snap judgements about coolant being in the oil, this car is used and you don't know the history, could just be sludged up, but that is not common on a 1UZ, unless it had really poor maintenance.

Hopefully, it's just a bad IAC valve, ($50-$75 or so on ebay) - I would not keep dumping money into this beast if it ends up having serious engine issues such a blown head gasket, these kind of problems are very rare on the LS400, I think you have the right car model, but possibly the wrong example, so if it turn out to have big issues, stop spending money and dump this one for what you paid for it, take your loss on the parts, and find a creampuff LS400 that has never been in accident, which can be verified by autocheck.com (a more reliable version of CarFax) and one that has been babied and has complete service records - and you can find them cheap these days, believe it or not.

You need to perform these tests yourself, to make sure a crooked shop doesn't tell you that the head gasket is blown when it is in fact not - Blown head gaskets are extremely rare on the 1UZ engine, almost unheard of!

please read all sections in your factory service manual concerning IACV to understand its location and function.

The reason I advise dumping it, even in the case of "just" a blown head gasket, is not because that particular repair is that major in and of itself, but if this car has been abused bad enough to blow a head gasket on an engine that never blows head gaskets, then it has been mistreated and this is your warning to get out now before you have other engine issues, transmission issues, A/C issues, etc.

aomdedude1

Okay, so I did some homework today after work. First thing I did was to recheck check the dipstick. When I looked at the oil, from the dip stick in broad daylight, to be honest, it didn't look and feel all that bad. The next thing I did was to check the coolant. I drained about a cup of coolant from the stop **** at the bottom of the radiator. The coolant (pure distilled water) was a little gray but I again, I just assume this is a mix of the old coolant and the maybe some dirt from the heater core. So the coolant seems acceptable too.

So this was pretty good news, so I filled up all the fluids again and ran the car. It was fine for the first few minutes, but after it warmed up the smoke/steam once again returned!!

I turned the engine off and proceeded to check the plugs. Well the plugs looked okay to me except maybe a little on the clean side. I pulled every single plug and they ALL looked pretty much the same. So if all 8 plugs look pretty much the same that to me means that the head gasket/head/block are probably all okay...

BUT they really did look a little on the very clean side, which is somewhat concerning.
(because coolant in the cylinder bore usually "steam cleans" the plugs)

At the moment I am starting to think one of three things is happening:

1.) I am being way too picky and am looking for problems that probably do not exist and I should just let the engine run for a good half hour to full hour and give it a drive around the block(s)

2.) there is a small coolant leak from something attached to the intake that uses coolant, such as maybe the IAC or the EGR OR I have a vacuum line inexplicably exchanged with a coolant hose?!

3.) I am just crazy: refer to number one.


Here are pictures of the spark plugs:

Driver side bank:


Passenger side bank:



I didn't picture every plug, because they all look pretty much the same.

The engine seems to run okay, and fairly smooth although it did seem to get a little rougher the longer it ran.. (once again this could be my imagination) Plus, I don't really know how well it ran before any of this. All I know is that it ran.

I did not perform a compression test because I don't have the tool. Plus I figured I would do these basic tests first to see just how bad the problem really is first.

I also took a video of the exhaust which I will upload to youtube and post here shortly.

LScowboyLS

just make sure the oil, transmission fluid, coolant, PS fluid and brake fluid are at their correct levels and then go out in the warm part of a dry day and run the car at 75mph on the Interstate for 1/2 hour, that should straighten out and clarify some things! - It is hard to damage a car on an interstate drive that has all of its fluids at their correct levels! - check the tire pressures and make sure they are all about 30 psi before your drive for safety.

this run will also get the transmission good and hot, which is the only time you can accurately check its level.

any residual moisture in the exhaust or engine will get dried out - and any moisture in the oil with evaporate if your PCV valve is working.

then come back and I think things will become more clear

PS - what year model is this beast again?

aomdedude1

PCV valve works because I replaced that too! lmao.... It is a 1994 LS400 :



Pic of the engine as I was putting things back together (I cleaned every part inside and out)


I'm having trouble with the video but the bottom line is that it is not somoking crazy bad (NOT like this!)

Plus, there are no check engine lights on either.

aomdedude1

Video finally worked... I don't think it helps much because YouTube compression means you cant see the smoke all that much and also my camera was WAY over exposed and I ran out of SD card memory...

but for what its worth:



I know I know, it looks like there is pretty much no white smoke and you're all thinking, "what smoke" but its there. I think I am going to take the advice of just driving it around after a good warm up idle. It is possible that it was all just condensation. Its just annoying that it gets worse when the car warms up and I think I may also have a small exhaust leak because the car runs a little loud. (I think, I have never owned a v8 before!) None the less, I will let it warm up tomorrow as soon as I get home and run it down the 202 bypass that runs right behind my house and see what happens. The worst that could happen is that the engine blows up... but to be honest I doubt it. Lets see what happens tomorrow. Stay tuned!

I have to say, I feel a lot better about the whole situation now that I am 89.999% sure there is no coolant/oil mixing going on.

icypool

So, I thought the same thing before I learned about the power steering leak. Take a look... My video is a lot like yours.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...-up-video.html

nthach

Our cars have water passages in the EGR/IAC valves and the throttle body and it's highly unlikely those will dump coolant into the engine unless the cooling system has been neglected or the wrong coolant was used and neglected.

Do a compression test, leakdown test and it wouldn't hurt to send off an oil sample to a test lab for analysis - if there's glycol and sodium/potassium in the oil it'll be indicative of a leak.

aomdedude1

Thank you for the replys. I am afraid to say that after checking all the fluids, a half hour idle, a few revs below 4k and a 15min drive, I am still having issues including a puddle of water under the exhaust and diminishing coolant level in the reservoir:



On top of the steaming exhaust, I got a CEL code towards the end of the drive.

I will be doing a compression check by the end of the week to confirm, and I will also try and do a cylinder leak down test to see where the issue is coming from.

I also want to remove the EGR cooler and IAC valve to check for coolant leaks and I will check the throttle body coolant lines. I guess its always possible that one of those items is leaking into the intake, which would explain why ALL the plugs looked the same.

As far as the CEL is concerned, I just got out there with a jumper wire and checked the codes.

The code was # 25 - "Air fuel ratio lean malfunction"

That COULD be due to the fact that I replaced the old and cracked EGR pipe (a real PITA) and had to disconnect the catalytic converter and ultimately the passenger side exhaust manifold due to the fact that I striped the lower front nut on the EGR pipe to manifold stud.

I was able to remove the stripped nut and replace with a new one, replaced all exhaust gaskets, and torqued to spec... but it could still be leaking and hence throwing the lean code OR it could be somehow related to this possible head gasket / coolant issue.

The plot is thickening and I'm not sure what to expect, but I cant wait to see what the compression and leak-down test say.

we'll see...