Hey everyone. 2006 GS430. Quick question about the coolant level. When the car is fully warm, the coolant level is between full cold and full hot, maybe a tad closer to full cold. Should the level be closer to or at full hot or is it okay as long as it’s in between? Thank you.

 

Everything is fine. Start worrying when the level is at the low mark when hot.

 

Thank you.

 

OK, I just checked again and when cold it is below the low line. When warm, it is slightly above the low line. It does not appear to be leaking and I don’t know how long it’s been like that. I bought a gallon of Toyota coolant on Friday. I assume I can pour it directly into the reservoir? And I do that when the car is warm and fill it to just below the full line?

 

Add to the reservoir when engine is cold top it off to just above the LOW line. If the system is working properly, on hot engine the level should be at the full line.

 

Thanks so much. When the engine is cold and I look inside the reservoir, I can see the level of the coolant is at the very bottom of the reservoir, like just above the outlet spout at the bottom. When hot, the level is just above the low line. Based on this, if I fill it to just above the low line when cold, I don’t think it will reach the full line when hot. Maybe I shouldn’t do anything like the first person who responded said?

 

Fill it to the low line when cold and see what happens.

 

Here are a few pictures. I believe it’s literally right at the low line or maybe a hair below. I haven’t filled it yet.

 

Reservoir is basically empty. You have a cooling system issue it's being pushed out of the reservoir. Bad radiator cap and/or leaking radiator is common.

 

Okay, thanks. I’ll get it checked out. In the meantime, should I add a bit of the pink coolant to the reservoir?

 

100% yes. Even better remove the rad cap see what's going on. Engine must be COLD.

 

I’d rather not take off the radiator cap if I don’t have to. I don’t even know what I’d be looking for. I’ll add a little pink coolant to the reservoir and watch it for a few days.

 

How many miles? Generally around 200K miles (or could be less) the radiator starts to leak. You either have a leak or the rad cap is bad coolant doesn't disappear by magic.

 

Yep, about to turn 190k. 2006 GS430. I had the coolant flushed and filled at around 100k. Here’s the thing. I never check it. It could have been like this for the last 100k and I wouldn’t have known. I did have an oil change at the Lexus dealership last June at around 188k miles. I have no idea if they would have checked the coolant level at that time.

 

I would replace the radiator (Denso) and new OEM radiator cap. There are other causes of leaks but that's almost always the fix. Even if your rad is not leaking it probably will be soon. Naturally an actual diagnosis is better instead of firing the parts canon.