ISF Cracked Radiator...
 

2008 Lexus ISF with 152,xxx miles... daily driven and commuted in M-F 50 miles round trip.

I've been compiling parts (PPE headers, new rotors and project mu pads, spark plugs, fluids, etc) to do some maintenance on my car and as of this morning, I have to add a new radiator to the list. I just brought my car to the dealer 2 weeks ago for the airbag recall and I just replaced my air filter the other night when I was bored at home. There were no signs of coolant leaking anywhere... until this morning when my kids asked, "whats the small red puddle under your car?" Opened my hood immediately and was greeted with this mess :/

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...e02e9e0c51.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...2ee9e3b6f7.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...5b7f8dbd51.jpg

It looks to be cracked somewhere along the top since it looks to be spraying out on the left and right hand sides of the radiator.

Anybody have experience with the TYC replacement radiator? Anybody ever have to replace the radiator in their F? I did a search and only found issues with the cooling fan recall that a lot of people got fixed/replaced because they were under warranty. I'm way beyond any type of warranty at this point.

Your car is about 10 years old, radiators will fail due to wear and tear..:

http://www.rr-racing.com/v/mobile/pr...tid=ISFRADPCK1

Mine failed at 88k and was 7 years old.. Its pretty easy to fix and cost about $3-400

Think I saw that RR is selling a new radiator setup.

Does anybody have the manual on hand or know how much coolant I need to buy? 2 jugs of the Toyota coolant?

ur best to pm Lance aka Lobuxracer moderator

I had mines replace 2 months ago...I wish I would of gotten the all aluminum one from RR-Racing but oh well maybe the next 9 years I'll switch if the radiator goes bad again.

Had a little bit of time to fix my radiator over the weekend with the help of my brother in-law (he's a mechanic). Replacing the radiator took probably 2.5 hours (draining, unhooking all of the tubes, unbolting, etc), but I started inspecting the engine bay and noticed I had the dried up pink coolant around my water pump. What's irks me is that over the past few years of bringing my car into the dealership, I've asked them to look for leaks around the water pump and valley plate and every time, they've said there were no signs of leaks. Ontop of that, I think my water pump was starting to go since there was a little bit of play in it. So, called a parts store for a water pump... the place I went to quoted me $112 for an Aisin water pump, called the dealer and they wanted $246 for an oem one. Come to find out, the OEM Toyota water pump is made by Aisin, but they just grinded off the Toyota stamp. Replaced my belt while we were at it.... Glad thats taken care of now.

Are you on the original water pump at 152k miles? Or is this your second time replacing it

I bought the car used at 67k miles... ever since joining these forums, I've always been concerned about the water pump since it doesn't show it was replaced in the service history. Every time I did bring it into the dealer, I always asked them to look for coolant leaks, especially around the water pump since I was loosing a half a cup of coolant every three months. I'm pretty sure my car was due for a water pump replacement, but I'm wishing the dealer would've caught the leak way ahead of time.

Did you not have the fan screws replaced under warranty? They would have replaced your radiator when they did that (I got a new one for sure) even if you were out of warranty coverage.

everyone mentions parts fail this/that...also know cheap azz cars like nissan sentras or whatnot can go 1 million miles...or at least lexus is peeps a guy did 280k miles with no replacements of parts other than oil/filter/brakes/plugs....a radiator or water pump or most parts shouldnt fail. only the internet says they do

Appropriate punctuation would really help your message here. I honestly can't understand what your point is.

Just keep in mind that just because it is the same manufacturer, this does not mean it meets the same specification. After replacing water pumps in the UZ motors, the Toyota pump finish and bearings were much better than the Aftermarket packages from the same manufacturer. Toyota stuff typically has fly-cut flanges vs purely machined and better gaskets. Just because it shares the same brand, there are plenty of different ways to make things.
Mike

Also, for anyone looking, We carry both Koyo Radiators for the IS-F. The all-aluminum Racing version is just recently released as an import of the motorsports version from Japan. It removes the trans preheater chamber on the bottom which should only impact colder climate cars. We have a customer that was one of the first to run this radiator in CA and has had no issues the last 5 months.
http://shopfigs.com/v3/ISF-OE-RAD?search=radiator

Aluminum race version is special order right now.

Mike

lol, my point was maybe its not a radiator problem and just a hose/gasket problem. that was horrible post earlier, sorry.