Bennay

so my girlfriends LS400 has decided to boil all the oil in the engine it managed to lose 2L of synth in less than an hour, but its not leaking. im **** out of ideas guys, i just replaced the oilpan gasket and the underside of the engine is bone dry. when i lift the hood the engine bay is hot like a volcano, and the coolant is slightly bubbled over. i wasnt around the car when it happend but my buddies refilled the coolant with some generic yellow crap.
the car will turnover but wont hold onto its power and will just die. rararh

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

did they properly fill it in the first place?

damn thing does use nearly 6L of oil...

trukn1

1. Are you sure that they even re-filled the oil properly to begin with? As PD said, car uses almost 6 quarts of oil to fill.
2. Get that yellow crap out of the radiator and re-fill with the toyota red coolant imediately. Pretty sure the yellow stuff is the pre-mixed Prestone antifreeze. Won't do IMMEDIATE damage to your radiator, but over time will corrode it death. Sounds like you have a blockage, somewhere in the cooling system, which is backing up and causing the antifreeze to back up and bubble out. Drain the system, have it flushed out and refill with the toyota red antifreeze.

damon

So you have 2 problems? Disappearing synthetic oil & low coolant which got mixed with Yellow/Green anti-freeze?

tromly

Great advice ! Can't believe how many Lexus I've seen without the red anti-freeze !

python

iTrader: (4)

boiling point for synthetic is over 450 deg f. at sea level, that means ur crankcase is almost 500 deg? then u say ur coolant is bubbling over a little? something isnt adding up here, if ur oil is boiled then it isnt even lubricating anymore, i would thing u would have spun a bearing at the very least and blown a head gasket

Bennay

Alright so I got the car towed back to the shop where it was fixed. round 7Pm on sunday and took it straight to the mechanics. not 100% sure whats wrong, but im going to assume that since that was the first time the car had driven over 50Km's since its last major service(see my post in the "recent pictures of your LS400" thread) that the replacement of the **** poor coolant plus, the scorching heat of downtown toronto on friday afternoon caused it to overheat and damaged something fun in the engine. Its running....but...burning oil....and doesnt have the greatest exhaust note......
( Intense e-sarcasm).

Any ideas guys? should the same mechanics look after fixing it or should we seek damages or something and have it repaired by lexus? (id trust they read the manual)
We're going to be contacting our lawyer and insurance company tomorrow.

poor sexy lexy....possibly cut down in her prime

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

run a compression (or better yet a leak-down) test on the motor to make sure its not fried piston rings or a blown head gasket (both of which are RIDICULOUSLY RARE problems with these cars).

check the PCV system to make sure oil is going where its supposed to, also, pull the spark plugs to check them for fouling/oil in the valley.

Schnitz

iTrader: (5)

If you're in the west end I have 2 good mechanics I can recommend. 1 in Mississauga and 1 in Oakville. Good luck!

DoktorYes

I too was having a hot engine problem, after changing thermo, and refill with oem red coolant still was running hot. So I removed the radiator and the space between the air conditioner evaporator and the radiator was filled with debri,dirt dead bugs leaves and the radiator fins were filled with dirt,if you try this be sure to remove the engine under cover I didn't and it filled with the trash that fell out.I power washed the out side of the radiator and cleaned the fins.It was well worth the trouble my engine runs much "cooler" the inside of the car even feels much better now.If you try this check your temperature gauge before and after, I saw mine actually go down a bit.This worked on a 94LS400.

Bennay

shes back to normal now. i think i was drunk and may have overreacted.
twas gremlins in the system.

Thermactor

iTrader: (1)

I take it that there is no test of intelligence required to buy an LS400.

denverdog

Judging by the spelling in this forum, including mine, there apparently isn't.

Bennay

It's not my car, as stated in the first post.

nthach

What synthetic are you running? I'm using Valvoline SynPower 5W-30 with no issues. Some synthetics react differently in some engines - my engines I work on like Mobil 1 while a friend's Honda drank it. There are 3 different types of synthetics: ones that use Group III isodewaxed and severely hydrotreated petroleum oil like Pennzoil Platinum and Castrol Syntec that isn't made in Europe, polyalklene olefin-based or containing oils like Mobil 1 and polyol ester based ones like Red Line. Each have their own unique qualities but esters can attack seals.

Also, GET THE NON-TOYOTA COOLANT OUT and do a multiple water flush and and a refill with any of the Japanese coolants such as Toyota Red/Pink, Honda Blue or Zerex Asian Vehicle Formula. Universal coolants are re-dyed Dex-Cool and have been linked to gasket failure on GM engines. Ford and Chrysler testing has also shown that Dex-Cool has detrimental effects on gaskets and seals - and that both Toyota and Honda aren't too happy with Dex-Cool being used as aftermarket fill in the Pontiac Vibe and Saturn Vue Red Line which use both companies powertrains respectively.