It has been a long time since my last post primarily because my 2011 LS has been reliable. I was expecting it to go to 100k without any issues but that is not the case.
I have been losing coolant over the last month maybe longer as I had the symptoms of heat issues and low coolant. I read the various threads on this issue with the valley plate so I know what I might be dealing with and decided that I will not be doing the repair because I fear the DI injector clips. I think someone experienced with the repair would be the best way to go.
I wanted to confirm to make sure it's not a head gasket, water pump or some loose hose to put myself at ease from the unknown. I tried to use a cheap borescope from the front of the engine but it proved to be impossible because there is insulation foam that is squashed between the manifold and valley and trying to maneuver the cheap scope is very difficult.
However I tried it from the rear of the engine after looking at pictures of the engines on Ebay and think I found a way to peak into the valley. It was still very hard to position the scope but I got lucky after bending the scope before dropping and fishing around. I think I could do better but the battery on the scope was running out of power.

I got lucky once with the fishing attempts and have taken these three pics right behind the engine where it meets the transmission. I think this is the most rear of the valley plate and I did find what looks like the dried up pink white chalky residue but I am not entirely sure because I did find debris elsewhere that I thought was coolant but it wasn't, it was a small red leaf.
I thought maybe the community would know. In the meantime I plan to make another attempt for better images from this cheap scope. Thanks for the help.

 

Oh yeah. That's the plate leak

 

Yep, you have a serious valley plate leak.

 

Thanks for the confirming. It puts my mind at ease it's not the head gasket. Based on what I have been reading it is a common issue with the UR series engines and given enough time and millage this will have to be dealt with. I do not fault the engine on the whole as its been very good to me unlike a previous BMW.
It also makes me want to upgrade the cheap borescope as I think the blueish light makes color differentiation terrible.

 

I taken the image and enhanced it by correcting the color temp and bumping up the resolution using an AI program. The blue light from the borescope was dulling the coolant residue.

Now it looks better defined.

 

If you want to verify you don't have a cracked head/blown gasket - use a tool like this:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/COMBUSTIO...IESEL/16550935

 

 

I seen that video when I was investigating the issue a few weeks back and it was very helpful. From my research I have noticed that there is an epidemic of UR engines with this issue and from what I gathered it seems like it's more or less time related not necessarily millage related . I have only 67k miles on the motor but the car is over 10 years old.
It seems like an epidemic of cars and trucks with the UR engine is having this issue in the last few years so I believe the sealer is degrading over time so it's just a matter of when which means many more cars will need this fix which is not a good look for Toyota.
I also seen what looked like two tiny black spots on the coolant reservoir wall. I suspect that it's the black sealant being eaten away.
Anyway thanks again to everyone and I will now need to get some quotes. I am going to make sure I find someone that has done this before.

 

Food for thought - Lexus told me I had this issue several years ago because they could see coolant in my engine like what you pictured. I asked how they diagnosed this and they told me it was just based off of the picture from the scope. Told them that wasn't acceptable so went to my trusted indy. Long story short - I had a faulty coolant cap that wasn't keeping appropriate pressure. Apparently every time I'd get my car serviced and my coolant level would get topped off, upon the next start of my car, the coolant would spill out of my cap and run into the engine and collect there. Lexus saw that and thought I had the valley plate leak.

I posted a pretty long thread about this roughly 2 years ago as I was going through it. I am not a DIY type but I knew something was off in the Lexus diagnosis. I'd fill my coolant up myself with the car off and cold, look at the level of it, and then start the car and it would be way down. For me if I trusted Lexus I would've spent a couple thousand bucks when in reality I needed a $25 coolant cap.

So my recommendation is make sure that's what's going on. My indy did a pressure test of the car and didn't find anything indicating a leak which is what made him think I had a bad cap. I verified that with the manual filling and seeing what would happen upon starting the car right after I filled it.

 

If you see coolant rocks - it's valley plate

 

Thanks, I read your post on the matter when I was doing my research. Based on that I was planing on trying a new cap but it is quiet obvious from the rear of the engine at around the rear most part of the heat exchanger there is dried up coolant and a almost near impossibility of the coolant finding its way there if it was leaking from the cap. I would have to show you an eBay picture of a pulled engine so you can see how difficult it would be for coolant to pool at that spot and even if it did it would leave a trail of pink residue.
The front of the engine including the coolant reservoir tank was checked and it is dry as a bone with no residue to indicate overflow.

 

Uh the cap can't leak into the valley area since it's on the tank that's attached to the radiator a good 5-6 inches away from the engine.

 

Look under the car toward the front of the transmission housing and around the transmission oil pan. When my valley plate leak was not too bad yet, it would leave dried pink crusty coolant trails down from the back of the engine.

 

When you start work on the valley, it’s smart to replace the pcv valve. It’s in the valley. I’m sure others can make some other recommendations for additional maintenance items. Borescopes have improved, treat yourself to a color correct one.

 

Good to see you Dev! Sorry it’s for such an unfortunate issue…