LS430LX470

HELLO ALL...

I WAS UNDER MY 04 RX330 THE OTHER DAY TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO INSTALL MY NEW BULL BAR AND TOOK THE WHOLE PLASTIC COVER OFF THE BOTTOM OF THE CAR.... RITE NEXT TO THE OIL FILTER WAS A SMALL LEAK HAD SOME COROSION AROUND IT... FLUID COLOR WAS RED.. I THOUGHT IT WAS EITHER COOLANT OR TRANS FLUID.... THE AREA IT WAS LEAKING FROM LOOKED LIKE A CAP WITH TWO NUTS THAT FASTENED IT ON... DOES ANYONE WHO WHAT THIS IS? ITS A SMALL LEAK BUT I'D LIKE TO GET IT CORRECTED BEFORE IT BECOMES A BIG LEAK...

kickin8

iTrader: (1)

post a pic will help.....

LS430LX470

I have to get under there again. Hopefully I get a chance tomorrow will post pictures

thomas1

If it is a dried red residue, than it is probably antifreeze...On my RX300 it was leaking from the intake manifold and going down the backside of the engine to the bottom just between the engine and transmission. When dried it looks like a crust... transmission fluid would still be a wet film...

draco

LS430LX470, remove the caps lock button, it's like your shouting or something.

kiwi

the cover you speak of is the cover for the block heater. there have been many posts regarding this, from what i can tell its fairly common, unless its wet and your coolant level is down i wouldnt worry about it. only fix would be to remove the cover and reseal and then refill with more coolant.

mandyfig

Still want to see the pic though...

LS430LX470

Thanks for the help. I still didn't have time to get back under there to get it fixed. I'll certainly post pictures.

rcy

As someone already posted, that's the cover to where a block heater normally would be installed. You can either replace it, or if you're in a cold climate, why not just put a block heater in? It's easy enough to do - the only problem I had when I did it was that I stripped one of the bolts holding in the cover and ended up using vice grips to remove it. The key is to have the proper sized socket (it's an odd shape head on the bolt IIRC).

Do a Google search. Either here or at www.lexusownersclub.com or maybe some hybrid site, I can't remember, someone had a really good write up on putting in the block heater and it showed pics of the leaking cover you're talking about.

lexus114

I have that same residue on mine as well. But it`s not wet, just dried so I don`t worry about it.

LS430LX470

HERE IS A PICTURE OF THE LEAK/ CRUD I FOUND NEAR THE OIL FILTER....

LS430LX470

I posted the picture... Is that where the engine block heater is added... Is it worth taking the two bolts off and re-sealing it?>

lexus114

Did you try just tightening them a little?

rcy

Yes, that is the cover where the block heater would be installed.

rcy

Here is the write up someone did for a block heater install on a Highlander Hybrid. The location of the block heater is the same, hybrid or not.

This is an excellent write up, with fantastic photos, and I give credit to the person that did it.