mywong23

drove the car, trying to duplicate conditions causing leak.
no spraying, but discovered a 4" wet spot in front of the a/c condensor.
touched it and it had coolant feel and smell.
also noticed some dripping from the undertray.

also had to refill the reservoir and radiator, too.

so at this point, evidence points towards radiator replacement.....

someone mentioned to me that only coolant to use is obtained at Toyota dealership.
looking to confirm that. will try a search on this forum.

Bocatrip

Use only the Red Toyota Coolant.

Jabberwock

Agree use the Toyota coolant specified for your year LS. It just not worth going cheap on coolant for this very expensive motor. You can likely get it less expensive at a Toyota dealer instead of lexus - call around and ask for a discount. I always call first when getting parts and ask for a discount, almost always get 10-20% off customer retail just by calling first and asking them for their best price.

mywong23

my local Lexus dealer : $39
local Toyota dealer: $29
another toyota dealer quoted $27, but they were 10 miles further away...

I ordered a radiator from RadiatorBarn.com
$92 shipped.

rael

I had to change my radiator out 3 weeks ago because of a slight leak on the top plastic tank, where it connects to the aluminum core. The problem with some of the aftermarket radiators is the lack of foam seal. My great indy mechanic made his own seal out of some weatherstripping and it seems to be working as OEM. It seems the factory radiator was like 3x the cost of the after market radiator.

Happy to spend a few hundred to get that replaced. I feel a little bad for my indy mechanic as very few things go wrong with the car. Reminds me of the Maytag repair man--I'm sure he gets lonely.

Boomer01

I just noticed the white spray and red/pink coolant leaking out from the top of my radiator. Does this look like the seals or radiator has gone bad and needs replaced? The car does not run hot and the reservoir wasn't too low although I did add a little bit of coolant. (01 with 196K miles)

jayclapp

[QUOTE=Boomer01;8797167]I just noticed the white spray and red/pink coolant leaking out from the top of my radiator. Does this look like the seals or radiator has gone bad and needs replaced? The car does not run hot and the reservoir wasn't too low although I did add a little bit of coolant. (01 with 196K miles)

Looks like you're ready for a radiator replacement.

radohanno

Měl jsem podobný problém .chladící kapalina mě tekla a já nevěděl kudy.
Až jsem náhodou zjistil že stářím praskl plast na horní části chladiče

Boomer01

Anyone understand that or can translate it?

writes123

I had a similar problem .chladící liquid flowed me and I did not know which way. Until I accidentally discovered that old age cracked plastic on top of the radiator.

430SLOwner

Had somewhat similar symptoms as Dirtyd210. And, it appeared expansion tank was leaking at the bottom as per Bocatrip's 2/10/11 post.

As coolant expands (maybe 6% when hot, per search), the overflow of expanded coolant flows into the expansion tank (perhaps when sitting in traffic and etc.) and is then drawn back from the expansion tank back into the system as the coolant cools. (So it seems expansion tank is both not under pressure, and is empty most of the time.)

Did notice the coolant crystals over 2 years ago, and was planning to take the Shroud Assembly [Lexus (16711-50110)] out and try fixing the expansion tank by plastic welding or maybe using something like J-B Weld 2120 Radiator and Plastic Repair Kit. Was thinking would have to be able to clean it thoroughly in order to fix as the Toyota coolant's "slime" (coolant is slimy on a surface) at the leak site may likely cause glue and/or etc. to fail unless all foreign materials and slime around the leak site were completely removed before attempting to apply a repair. But, as it looked like a pain in the axe to remove and replace the shroud assembly anyway just to clean and prepare the leak site for repair, may just as well buy the genuine Lexus part (list $210, but discounted to $145 or so from various sources) since it involved a bit of labor (maybe 2 hours) which would have to be duplicated if the "leak fix" failed.

Never experienced overheating or added coolant during the over 2 year period. But, did not like the idea of fans/wind and etc. blowing coolant over the engine and elsewhere.

As was going drain and add coolant to refresh it to help avoid corrosion in the cooling system anyway, decided to remove and replace the expansion tank (which part of the shroud assembly, so have to replace it). As was not finding time to do this, and was instead using time to do other things for past few months, decided to bite the bullet and had a trusted independent mechanic do it so it would be done.

So, to answer a 10 year old question, price of part, price of coolant, taxes, and maybe two hours of your labor. Or, have someone else do it and pay full mark up for part, couple hours of shop's labor rate, shop charges (still trying to understand how the same rag used over and over costs each and every customer an extra $25), and higher taxes (due to higher markups, some jurisdictions charging tax on labor, and etc.).

(made this post because when searched the forum over two years ago, saw conflicting advice and opinions about LS430 coolant expansion tank, so decided to add my experience, which hopefully may be of help to some LS430 owner and hopefully not add to the confusion....)

TominPT

^ "still trying to understand how the same rag used over and over costs each and every customer an extra $25". I laugh and cringe at the same time. . . .

bradland

You’ve quoted 3 of BOCAs posts but missed the most important #15 where he reveals the actual root of the problem. The tiny hose between the rad cap inlet and the bottom of the reservoir tank often becomes clogged as coolant crystallizes when it hits ambient air. The coolant system is obviously pressurized but the external reservoir is not. That small hose bridges the gap between those 2 worlds. When the hose is clogged, even just a little, and the wire clamps are weak, coolant passing between rad and res has nowhere else to go but out. This is what you’re seeing externally. It’s not a leak in the reservoir but simply a weak link allowing coolant to escape, during heat cycles, either up top by the rad cap or down below where the small hose connects to the res tank. Water (coolant) always wins. A new hose would have cost you less than $10 from Toyota.

430SLOwner

Am now quite convinced Bocatrip's post #15 was the actual situation.

First noticed the coolant crystals when when took the car to be inspected before purchase over two years ago when the indy pointed them out after he inspected the car and said the expansion tank should be replaced. Then after reading several posts from different threads on LS430 expansion tanks, and apparently missing the most important reveal post #15 on this thread, thought the indy's assessment, that coolant is leaking from expansion tank and tank should be replaced, may be correct as many posts in Club Lexus threads read that LS430 coolant expansion tanks leaking is a quite common issue.

Thinking now may be a good time to replace the expansion tank (after not replacing it for over the past two years, but always paying attention to the temperature gauge when driving because of the concern) since it may be good to replace the coolant to help maintain the cooling system, but still not getting to it myself, decided to get the coolant drained and refilled by the indy for $40.

So when the car was dropped off at the indy for the coolant exchange, asked the indy to look over the car for any apparent issues. Indy later called and said coolant expansion tank was leaking from the bottom of the tank. After asking if it may ok to be left alone based on my over two year experience of no overheating issue, and no coolant needing to be added, indy said may have had no issue due to my driving habits, which indy's perception was mostly shorter trips around town, since that is what indy said his perception of my driving was. So, told indy had made numerous trips over 100 miles with no issue. Then Indy said if got struck in traffic may result in problems of loss of coolant resulting in possible overheating. Furthermore indy said would not be confident in car going on more longer trips and that coolant from the leak may blow over the engine and elsewhere. Asked indy if "leak" could be simply repaired (as also read in threads that it could) and indy said no as glue and/or etc would not work due to coolant contamination of the "leak" site.

So had tank replaced by indy as was already predisposed to resolve what I now think was most likely a non-issue as did not want any exposure to potential problems indy indicated could occur.

So, apparently paid many many times more money than necessary because of my poor judgment to trust indy's apparently incorrect opinion of what was wrong while indy missed the real issue. (When indy showed me the removed expansion tank when I came to get the car, I couldn't see any crack and/or etc. Indy also said, as I recall, that lower front control arm bushings show some cracks, but also said they should still be ok for quite some time, and that I would notice if/when they got worse and needed attention.)

It seems one pays a "trusted" mechanic for the "trusted" mechanic's "expert" advice when it may be correct, but also pays for the "trusted" mechanic's incorrect "expert" advice. It appears it was my mistake to approve what was apparently unnecessary work to be done and my poor judgment trust the "expert opinion" of the mechanic who gets paid well even for unnecessary work approved by the customer when the "trusted" mechanic says work should be done based on the mechanic's "expert knowledge" of "the way things are" when in actual reality "those things are just not so". (And, who knows what else in a car gets fudged up by a mechanic if/when a mechanic causes damage to other things in a car getting to the site of the expensive unnecessary work, causing the car's owner more headaches and expensive repairs from those fudge-ups by the mechanic if/when they are eventually discovered later.)

So, looks like screwed myself again and could have avoided screwing myself with approving this unnecessary expensive repair if had not missed #15 post on this thread a couple of years back when looking at various Club Lexus threads for guidance, but instead missed the many "expert" posts that read LS430 expansion tank leaks are a very common issue.

Hopefully my misfortune, poor judgment, financial loss, and tale of woe may save some LS430 owner(s), who may either read or be told about the $10 hose issue fix, from unnecessary worry as well as save those LS430 owners hard-earned money and valuable time....

And, if by any chance my aggravation and significant loss of hard-earned money (as a result of what now appears to be my exercise of poor judgment, for which I have no one to blame but myself of course) is even a very small source of glee for anyone; oh, how very nice it may be for whomever.)

TominPT

I'm going to make inspection and clearing of that hose part of my annual oil change maintenance list -- an ounce of prevention here. Thank you to Boca, bradland and 430SLOwner!.