For a while now I can see on my 2008 ls600hl near the passenger inner Cv joint what seems to be a wet area. If it's a leak I have not seen to far anything dripping on the ground so it must be small. I already posted a similar picture to pic1 in the past and someone suggested it might be oil that fell from the dipstick, but at the time I didn't notice the area on pic2 which is just next to the dipstick area toward the front of the car before the steering rack (passenger side). I'm not sure if it's related but lately I topped of my coolant twice from the "low" bar to the full but I'm not sure it's supposed to be on the full line when the car is cold. So far it's never been below the "low" line and I actually just started to monitor the level so it mean after more than 3 year when I started checking it it was exactly on the "low" bar. Added some coolant to full and a month later it was back on "low". That makes me wondering if the excess coolant get drained somewhere. Thanks for the help anyone might be able to provide.



Pic1 base of the dipstick ? See the steering rack at bottom right to help visualize pic2

Pic2 area before the steering rack (just next to pic1)

 

Check the valley plate.

 

With all of that white staining I am thinking coolant leak. Especially since you note having to refill the reservoir. But, could that all be salt from the roads? I would pressure wash the whole area and really start watching it.

 

Check the valley plate and remove the intakes to really look around the front of the engine as well, water pumps sometimes fail in these.

 

I live in Canada QC so yes lot of salts on the road, a lot

I'm not aware of the water pump ever been changed on that car so that would indeed be a prime suspect. From what I've read replacing the water pump don't seems to be that hard of a job, valley plate seems more involving though. I'll try to remove more stuff in the way in order to take a good look this summer. I also won't top the coolant right away and see if it keep falling below the "low" line. Thanks for the input

Edit: Seems like some people are implying that the pink super long life coolant is causing a breakdown of the valley plate gasket material and recommend switching to red coolant.

 

After more investigation, on the passenger side in front of the engine where the belt and pulley are located I could see some pink foam which seems to indicate a coolant leak. Unless someone says otherwise it seems like Striker223 was right on the money with the water pump as being the likely culprit.

Edit: Is there anything else I should replace while doing this work ? For example would I need to remove similar parts to replace the PCV valve ? I think the belt would make sense as well as the various hoses.


Some pink foam can be seen down that hole, passenger side

A closer look down the hole with some light

From the driver side angle

A close up of the pink foam

 

I would replace the belt, and pulleys along the water pump and the thermostat, at least, that is what I did. PCV valve replacement is a little more involved. There is video showing how you can avoid removing the intake manifold in order to replace the PCV valve, however, I am yet to see it is done on LS460.

 

When I take my intake off I'll be sure to properly document it for everyone

 

Vansibel. Before you do any work, consider this link. https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/th...s-pink.284982/ It starts as a coolant thread, but scroll down to see the diagram of pump and explanation. Water pump seals are lubricated by coolant, a small leak is possible and not necessarily a failed pump. You could go many miles before it "needs" replacement.

 

I guess so, beside the coolant level dropping on low there is no audible symptom (maybe a bit of smell outside after a drive ?). But I'd still need to keep monitoring and add coolant. Probably not urgent matter but I'll probably tackle this when the summer come. Do some people actually only change the seals on these car and put the old pump back ? I'll probably replace the whole pump but I'm just curious.

Thanks for the input.

Edit: Just read the article, pretty interesting about some leakage being normal and possibly temporary

 

Toyota pink coolant coagulates when exposed to air, so it won't drip onto the ground (it will create the coagulated "foam" shown here). The water pump should be changed, and the valley plate checked for leaks while doing the water pump replacement.

 

Small update: in true Toyota fashion, the leak seems to have stopped on it's own. Kept coolant on low and almost 7 months later the coolant level did not drop an inch since then. It seems to have only dropped when I added some fluid to the full line. At some point I'll probably top it off again to full and monitor closely what exactly is happening (or not happening if the leak is gone for good even while coolant is on full).