It's called the MIL or check engine light. Whenever it goes off you stop and see what the problem is before proceeding. It will trigger before you blow the car up.

 

I urge everyone to read the Owner's Manual info found under "Warning Lights" and "Warning Messages" (listed in the Alphabetical Index). There is NO red light, or MIL (at least until it's too late) for an engine coolant overtemp condition. The coolant temp gauge indication (needle in the red) can easily be missed by the driver. There is also no low coolant level warning light either, which as I've mentioned before, possibly could have saved a good number of these engines. Low coolant level warning lights have pretty much gone the way of the dodo, and Toyota is not the only manufacturer to have eliminated it. Also, as mentioned previously, the coolant temp gauge may not indicate the coolant temp correctly when the coolant level gets really low. One or more persons on this forum did get an AC error message on the NAV screen (I suspect that was because there was no warm/hot coolant reaching the heater core) just before the engine quit. Plus, the "Master Warning" system and the associated warning light (the yellow triangular light in the gauge cluster) does not give the driver any warning related to the coolant temp on these cars. So, I'm repeating myself but it really important to periodically check and monitor the coolant level in the coolant expansion tank, and if you smell coolant, investigate it right away. Also, if the temp gauge reading does not make sense......like it's reading low all the time, or the needle does not get up into the center area after about ten minutes of driving, then investigate.

 

I can make a hardware that can illuminate one of the lights on instrument cluster, lets say PCS, when there's no coolant, but I think everybody know that those water pumps tend to fail too early, so if you have factory WP replace it with the updated version.
When I bought my car first thing I did was the WP and the VVT-i line.

 

I have my doubts about the no-coolant=cold-reading-on-temp-gauge also. I've tried locating credible sources but have only found references in forums. Some readers have claimed hearing it mention by a NASCAR announcer but I strongly suspect the reference was to a low coolant sensor. I had one experience with this... the pressed-in cover in the radiator neck on our ES350 blew out and coolant flowed out. Wife was driving and noticed the temp gauge going up. Gauge never went down until well after she turned off the car. Granted, she noticed the needle into the red and it never peaked. BTW, that was about 120K...replaced radiator and engine still running strong at 195K.

 

^^^^
I never had a water pump issue with my 07ES, but I do remember reading multiple threads with people claiming their car gave them no warnings until it was too late. It did and still does sound strange that it could happen that way. I wonder if the placement of the coolant temp sensor has moved on the 3.5 at any point in its production? It would seem to add believability if Toyota moved it at some point to a different location on the block???????

 

I think most people that drive Lexus and other luxury type cars do not regularly check their engine components for wear and tear. So, when something breaks, it's a total shock/surprise to them - no warning!

 

The Coolant Temperature Sensor is a unit that changes resistance as it is heated. The heat source can either be LIQUID or AIR . It varies with heat and feeds a voltage to the ECU to adjust various values in the engine as well as the gauge. If it fails you get NO gauge reading and the ECU will turn on the MIL.

 

Back when Toyota and Lexus vehicles manufactured before May of 2008 with the 3.5L V6 engines were blowing engines left and right when their faulty oil lines broke,Toyota was replacing engines post warranty.

https://sites.google.com/site/toyotav6oillinescandal/

One person who had their Lexus engine blow had a Toyota dealer install a used engine and it only cost $3,500 installed. Later, Lexus reimbursed her for the full amount.

Also, no way a new engine could cost $20,000 ....... you can buy a new Camry for about that (which of course includes an engine.).

 

 

https://www.mylparts.com/oem-parts/l...MtNWwtdjYtZ2Fz

MyLParts its like just under 14000 for their discounted price suggested retail its showing is over 16,000

 

These 2GR-FE engines are a dime a dozen. It's the standard Toyota V6 Engine used from 2007-now. You can find a super low mileage one on Ebay for around 3 grand. Get one from an 2016 Avalon/Sienna/Highlander/Camry.

Personally, I believe that these engines were lemons for the first several years: camshaft, VVTI, Lifter, piston rings, water pumps, coils, valve seals, not to mention VVTI oil Lines etc were all problematic. Toyota/Lexus screwed up the engine and did not want to fix them properly to save money.

 

FWIW I had a water pump failure on a 2GR-FE, on my Camry. The seal let loose and was slowly leaking coolant. The light never turned on, the only indication I got was that the coolant temp needle was not in its usual location. It would move from being slightly elevated, to really high. I knew something was wrong at that point and then looked at the resevoir and it was bone dry. I topped it off with coolant as soon as I got to an auto parts store and this bought me time so I could get it to a dealer who confirmed the pump seal was shot.

I can easily see how someone not paying (close) attention to the gauge would miss this, and the idiot light would never come on despite a potentially disastrous condition being ahead. Hell the only reason I even caught it was I was stuck in dense Boston traffic and happened to glance down at the dash and I noticed the needle was creeping up on the high side, and I never saw it there before.

-Mike

 

I think eventually they did though, or they implemented some engineering changes, because mine is bulletproof. Mine even survived having a hole punched in the oil pan (bad roads, construction, bottomed out on a rock!) and I lost about half my oil before I stopped and got a tow. I'm up at 254K on mine (2010) with no issues other than the aforementioned water pump.

-Mike

 

This post just solidified my approach of NEVER buying extended warranties for cars. Never.

 

In my case the factory extended warranty paid for the water pump, labor, a couple squeaky idler pullies, and a new belt. Course whether it's going to work for you or not depends on how much the warranty cost. In my case it was only $1,200 and I basically got every bit back out of that no problem. I think I may have felt differently about it if I didn't aggressively put mileage on my car. With Toyota/Lexus the up front cost of the extended warranty seems to be all over the map.