HeyMikey

Hello, about a week about I noticed the coolant reservoir was pretty much black, I then checked the dipstick and could see that there was also a green tint/coolant on the dipstick. So I immediately went to get the coolant flushed and oil changed.

Before I left the shop I checked the coolant and oil, the coolant was green and the oil looked fine and at an appropriate level. After I arrived home I checked it again and the coolant reservoir was back to looking black.. and the oil was back to a slight green tint.

So I've looked around these forums and google, and it appears people are suggesting a leaking/blowin head gasket. Wondering if anyone has any different (less expensive) suggestions, Thanks.

Also, I don't see any white smoke, and the care has never overheated on me, I've owned it for four years and I haven't been using the A/C since this has happened. I'll try to post some pics up tomorrow

1996 ES300 - 70k miles

cyco

My subaru Forester also has coolant leaking into the engine. all the shops we went too said most likely it is a BHG. It is drive able but I would reccomend getting it fixed as soon as possible.

And nice... such low miles for a 1996.

chevre

I'm new here and new to Lexus, but I can tell you that any vehicle that has oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil has a bad head gasket. It won't get better, only worse. If you value your car I'd drive it as little as possible and get it taken care of as soon as possible.
I learned this lesson the hard way.

GEORGE_JET

When the shop changed the coolant and oil, they didn't say anything about what was drained out. That sounds rather odd. Are you loosing coolant? How much?

mjes300

usually its the coolant in the oil or the oil in the coolant but you have both. if its not the headgasket i'm pretty sure you probably have a warpage on the head or block. have someone do a leakdown test, it will tell you if you have a bad headgasket. like mentioned, try not to drive it too much until you fix the problem.

dallison

head gasket

enterconne

On my Land Cruiser I had oil in my coolant but no coolant in my oil. It was my oil cooler gasket that was bad. Not too sure if the ES has an oil cooler.

MikeLex

So they flushed your coolant and changed your oil when the coolant was black and the oil was green... Well, either they didn't know what they were doing or they knew it very well... I pick the latter...

MyEs300Yea

You need a new head gasket plain and simple

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

Now the question is - which one?

Answer - compression/leak down test each cylinder

jskwik

no testing needed.....HEAD GASKET...if you keep driving you could lock up your engine..water cannot be compressed

EEngineer

the labour required to change headgasket is not even worth the trouble.
unless you can do it yourself.

with the low cost of used motors nowadays, u'll be better off swapping out the motor.
it's just plain simple.

hypervish

Head Gasket for sure... Get it done right away, as coolant in the oil will not lubricant the rod bearings, or anything for that matter. It will cause unnecessary wear.