Hi folks,

I've just completed a coolant change on my 2007 LS460. I don't have a full DIY to post, but here are some notes.

1. I took off the main engine cover, the intake cover and the V shaped air intake tube to get full access to the coolant expansion tank and radiator pipes. You need a 10mm socket for the intake tube assembly and a screwdriver to pop the trim clips.
2. I had to take off the plastic engine undertray and both metal trays as far back as the transmission. You will need a 10mm socket for the under tray screws and most of the metal tray screws and a 14mm socket for the 4 rear bolts of the second metal tray.
3. The LH drain **** is accessible from underneath using a 10mm spanner. It is just forward and above the first exhaust catalyst. I drained without a plastic tube, but if you want to do a clean job you will need approx. 6mm bore tubing to go over the drain **** outlet tube.
4. The RH drain **** is not accessible at all as far as I could see, at least not without removing the alternator or perhaps the steering rack. It is located directly behind and above the alternator, it can only be seen from underneath and only from a specific angle. I didn't drain the RH cylinder bank for this reason.
5. The radiator drain is easily accessible at the bottom of the radiator, it is a hand turnable drain ****.
6. I followed the workshop manual fill procedure (a brief version of which can be seen on the sticker on the expansion tank). I found that after the 10 mins idle and 5 mins at 1500 - 2000 RPM I still had a fair amount of air and the engine was running towards the upper quarter of the temp scale (on the dash gauge). I took it for a short drive (5 mins) and after returning I could see the coolant level had dropped further. I topped up (be very careful releasing the hot expansion tank cap - use a cloth to protect your hand! Some coolant will escape out of the overflow tube) and went for another 5 min drive making sure I accelerated hard to red line. Again, on my return the level had dropped in the expansion tank. At the present time I'm waiting for it to cool before I top up again, but I expect this will be the last time.

So far I have used 9l of Toyota Super Long Life coolant, which means there is approx. 1-2l in the RH cylinder bank (given I have about 0.5l still to go in the expansion tank) going by the workshop manual fill guide of 11litres.

These notes are for a RHD, UK market car. Hope someone finds it useful

 

I find that if you remove the air plug on the top radiator hose near the right hand side of the radiator and add coolant in there while it's running, it makes the bleeding process a lot easier/quicker. I never even tried to drain it from the block, I couldn't even see them when I looked under there. I just did a simple drain and fill...then another one a year later. I'll probably be replacing most of the coolant again when my water pump eventually fails (128,000 miles and counting). Did you change yours at 100,000 miles?

 

I did remove the vent plug, that's part of the standard procedure, but the workshop manual says it should be replaced before starting the engine and completing the fill process... What I thought was the last top up yesterday actually wasn't, I've had to top up again this morning but engine temp is stable in the middle of the gauge.

The car has just done 30,000 miles, but it is 10 years old this year and I'm not sure the coolant has even been changed. So I thought it was a worthwhile change. I've also changed the brake fluid and bled the brakes (using Techstream, what a pain in the neck that process is), replaced all bushes on all 8 front suspension arms, changed oil and filter with Mobil 1 and Mahle parts, K&N washable air filters and both cabin filters. New front brake pads (EBC Red Stuff) and wear sensors front and rear.

This is the first car I've ever done DIY work on, I'm not a mechanic at all, but I've found the whole process pretty straightforward with the right tools.

 

This is the first car you've worked on and you did the control arms and bled the brakes using tech stream? I'm impressed.

 

Ha, thanks. Yes it really is. All work done on the driveway in front of my garage My knees don't like me anymore! I got the car quite cheap given the mileage, but I knew the bushes needed doing (clunking was pretty obvious on the test drive) and I'm sure the seller knew also. I'd done a lot of reading and knew this was common, although the car had only done 26k miles when I bought it, it had lived a pretty hard life in central London, with potholes and curbs, etc to contend with. It also had the symptoms from L-SB-0069-09 Squawk-Bark Type Noise from Brake Actuator. That's why I did the brake fluid and bleed, plus the pedal was pretty soft. Since then the pedal has improved and while the squawk is still there it's very, very much quieter.

After I did the work my wife and I did approx. 2,000 miles round trip to the Nurburgring and back over 4 days for the 24 hour race... The LS didn't miss a beat, including 155MPH on the autobahn

 

very impressive, wonder if you could also post some tips on replacing the CA bushings, thanks

 

Nice job on the dyi

 

This is an excellent post, OP dots all the I's and crosses all T's, this post is as good a description as you can probably write without images... notably where he relates he let the engine cool before dumping a bunch of coolant at ambient temperature in.

And this reminded me there's a caution I wanted to add just for people out there who don't know this yet. There's an extremely important detail to remember when refilling/adding coolant (especially during and after a coolant change that requires topping up the tank several times):

Never add coolant to a hot engine, unless the engine is running!

Did you ever see somebody take a hot drinking glass out of a dishwasher and immediately pour water into it? The hot drinking glass probably cracked (from the sudden temperature change). And if coolant water ever meets hot engine - and that engine isn't running at the time - the same thing can happen inside your engine block! So take care never to add water to a hot engine, or let anybody else do it, unless the engine is running.

 

A solution I had for bleeding coolant and a question about no-spill kits:

A little history: I lent my mom my LS for almost a year while she worked through insurance issues and the rebuild of her car after an accident where the fault had to go through some litigation. It only cost me two tires as she is magnetically pulled to every pothole in a 100 mile radius. Lucky for me no other damage. However I found the coolant low once I got my car back so I proceeded to fill it again. I noticed I couldn't get hot air from the dash so I went to start bleeding the system.

I tried to bleed the coolant using the normal method listed on the coolant tank and air stayed trapped until I realized it was trapped in the heater core. I tried the bleed valve a few times but no joy. What I wound up doing was disconnecting the heater core hose at the back of the engine. The one closer to the driver's side is the one I picked. I then slowly poured coolant into the expansion tank after turning the little vent hose 180 degrees upward. It kind of worked but at the end i wound up putting a small funnel into the metal pipe the core hose went to. I filled that up very slowly until it overflowed then reattached the hose. I sealed everything back up and topped off the reservoir, turned the vent hose down again and put the cap back on. I started the engine, warmed it up for 2 minutes then I rev'd the motor to 2K for 5 minutes then let it idle for 1 and shut the engine off. During the rev cycle I suddenly had hot air coming out of the dash so the air bubble was gone.

Having said all that I tried using my OEMTOOLS no-spill kit but my LS's reservoir had a thread that it didn't fit. I wound up using a piece of old radiator hose that fit around the opening with a hose clamp with 8" of hose going up so it was always higher than the engine. Have any of you used that kit that I have? Have any of you used the "better" one?

Kit I used: OEMTOOLS 87009
"Better" kit OEMTOOLS 87043

Thanks and take care.

 

This is the easiest and most efficient way to fill if you don't have a vacuum refilling system, you are just creating a vent at the highest point in the system for the air to escape through. My ez- fill funnel fits perfect in the reservoir. The arrow points to the hoses, either one would work.

 

@Protholl I'm not sure if you can get these anymore but they are very good quality, had to do a title search to find the brand "Lisle" made in the USA patented in 1997...I knew I had it for quite awhile.
https://patents.google.com/patent/US5626174A/en

 

Lil bubba curb machines for sale are top-notch when it comes to quality and durability. I’ve been using mine for a few years now and it has never let me down. If you see one for sale, it’s definitely worth considering for anyone serious about concrete curbing.