saleenssc

When the temps drop i have noticed a tiny amount of fluid leaking out from the drain tube connected to the petcock at the bottom of the radiator. Anyone else experience this? Anytime the temps drop below about 35 degrees it tends to leak. I have noticed no change in the coolant level. I had my entire system drained and refilled about 12 months ago. A replacement petcock is a pretty inexpensive part. However is it as simple as taking off the old one and replacing it with a new one ? How much fluid will drain out? or does the radiator need to be drained and refilled again? I would hate to have to drain and refill again since it was just recently replaced.

Would love to hear your thoughts. thanks

also if i do need to drain and refill with new coolant. ANyone have any experience with this brand of coolant. It is what is recommended on rockauto.com for my 98 Ls400

Pentosin 8115203 Engine Coolant / Antifreeze

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pentosin-811...xX5nWT&vxp=mtr

jaaa

You just need a new O'ring for your petcock. Pull the old one out(perfect time to change out a gallon of fluid) and replace the O'ring. Check to see what color coolant you have. If green, just go with that. If it's red, buy the Toyota stuff.

saleenssc

So if i understand correctly. I just need to replace the O-ring on the petcock. When i remove the petcock i will lose about a gallon of fluid. Once the petcock is screwed back on i just need to refill the system to the correct level ?

when i remove the petcock will the fluid continue to drain until it has emptied itself. Or will only about a gallon come out and then it stops flowing. I guess the reason im asking is because will i need to deal with draining fluid while i try to screw the petcock back onto the radiator ??

thanks for your help

jaaa

Yes, you will need to put down a drain pan to catch the coolant. I use a small funnel and direct it into an old milk jug. Fits about perfect underneath the car. Once you release all the coolant(almost exactly 1 gallon) from the petcock, remove the petcock and replace the seal. Very easy to do and you don't even have to jack up the car. Fluid will flow faster if you remove the cap while draining.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

This has happened to me that I had a spare petcock on hand. If you are fast you'll drain off a minimal amount like 6-8 oz. If the petcock has seen over 100K miles, change it. They become brittle and those little ears may snap off which has happened to me. The O-rings are readily available at your favorite home center. The last pet **** was about $8, Lexus charges more as expected.

How many miles has the thermostat seen?

dicer

That anti freeze link, very funny that stuff you asked about is 24.34 if I remember right and just below it is Toyota stuff for 25. something its a no brainer, why even ask about the goofy brand name one? Oh and since you said the coolant was coming out of the hose did you try to tighten the petcock ?

saleenssc

thanks for the info. i bought the car about 2 years ago with 150k miles. i do not know when the last time the thermostat was changed. should the thermostat be changed at a specific interval ?

saleenssc

i have every intention to use genuine toyota coolant. i was only curious about the one in the link because it was the only one listed on rockauto.com.

yes i did try to tighten the petcock. it didnt feel loose or move at all when i turned it clockwise.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

As an unknown I would suggest changing it. The Toyota coolant is long life so even at minimal the average should be good for 50K in that regard. Varying thoughts-discussions on "long life" I error on a more conservative side since the cost is not high to have a slightly shorter interval. My personal preference on the red not pre-mixed has been 3 years/30K miles at which time I'll swap out the thermostat. The shop used pink for the TB service so I'll go 40-50K before doing the drill. $28 thermostat and Amazon sells the pink for $25. https://www.amazon.com/Toyota-Genuin.../dp/B004SL8568

saleenssc

thank you for the link to the genuine toyota fluid. I called my local toyota dealer and they have it for $23. So i will pick up some today.

thanks to all who replied

oldskewel

iTrader: (1)

Just another thing to consider ...

If you can drain the coolant directly into a clean pan, and it is pretty new, there is nothing wrong with refilling with that. That saves you from needing to recycle the old coolant as well.

You can attach a clean vinyl hose to the petcock, through the engine under-cover, emptying into your clean drain pan.

Especially useful if you recently changed the fluid and are not 100% sure your solution will solve the leaking problem.

saleenssc

UPDATE:

I drained the coolant yesterday by opening up the petcock. When i removed the petcock i noticed the O-ring looked very flat compared to the new O-ring. So as others have mentioned this was most likely the source of my coolant drip when outside temps got very cold. I caught all of the fluid in a clean container to reuse. Waitied about 30 minutes to let as much coolant drain out as possible. then re-installed the same petcock with a new O-ring. I then proceeded to refill the coolant via the coolant reservoir ( not the coolant filler at the front of the engine). I filled it up to the top of the reservoir but i realized i still had about 1/2 gallon still left in the bottle. I then started the car and let it idle for a few mins to try and get the fluid level in the reservoir to drop. It slowly started to drop and i proceeded to start filling up the reservoir again. this time when it filled up to the top i still had about a little less than 1/4 gallon left in my bottle. At this point i removed the front engine filler bolt and slowly started to fill until all of the previously removed coolant was gone. Then re-tightned the front engine filler. I have driven the car approx 20+ miles since doing this work and the temp needle is exactly where it always is, I no longer see any leaks from the petcock valve. However i checked the coolant level in the reservoir this morning while the car sat overnight and the reading shows about an inch below the low coolant line. Im assuming i need to add a bit more coolant to the system to get it to somewhere between the full/low lines ?

thanks

jaaa

Yes, just add coolant till it gets to the full line. Once it stabilizes, you can use that line as a baseline to check periodically(as you check your oil) to check for other coolant leaks as they occur(head gasket, water pump gasket, radiator, etc). Just a good practice to get into to get ahead of potential problems before they become meaningful.

saleenssc

Thanks. I will top it off to the full line

Sherl

Do you have the O Ring part number?