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Coolant leakage, how serious it's?

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Old Feb 13, 2020 | 07:57 PM
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zeroxx
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Default Coolant leakage, how serious it's?

My first post. Has just had RX350 2008 for a month. I'm from Australia.
I found the pinky mark on the front grille after getting the car back from serving. Open the bonnet and I found as below image
Does it mean the radiator have to be replaced?
Have not had time to get this back to the shop yet.



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Old Feb 13, 2020 | 08:22 PM
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Originally Posted by zeroxx
My first post. Has just had RX350 2008 for a month. I'm from Australia.
I found the pinky mark on the front grille after getting the car back from serving. Open the bonnet and I found as below image
Does it mean the radiator have to be replaced?
Have not had time to get this back to the shop yet.
Yep.
Need a new radiator.
I’d replace the t-stat as well.
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Old Feb 14, 2020 | 06:48 AM
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id also check the water pump as well make sure thats still in good shape and is not leaking while yer in there.
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Old Feb 14, 2020 | 01:38 PM
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How many miles (or kilometers) on your RX?
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Old Feb 14, 2020 | 04:42 PM
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Yep, same thing happened to my old Camry. Crack got so bad when idling it you'd see steam come from the hood. You can lose a lot of coolant from this, get it fixed as soon as you can.

As others mentioned, great time to change the T-stat and hoses if they're in bad shape.
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Old Feb 14, 2020 | 05:00 PM
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do not muck around with radiators. You risk overheating/blowing the engine. Radiators on ebay are ~$200
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Old Feb 14, 2020 | 06:10 PM
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Thanks guys, I will send her to a mechanic to get a quote this Monday. If it's expensive than probably a DYI.
Fyi, it's 180,000 km and according to the service logbook the water pump was replaced in 2016 by Lexus. Hope it's still in a good shape.
You guys mentioned about the t-stat, not sure what is it Car is a completely new area to me.
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Old Feb 15, 2020 | 07:04 AM
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Hi zerox,
since you mentioned it- this is definately a DIY job for most people with only simple tools required.
There is a big price difference between Lexus OEM radiator and a genuine Denso on Rock Auto for only $150.00.

If your mechanic wants to sell you a junky aftermarket radiator for $300 that is NOT a Denso I would order the Denso from Rock Auto and have it Next Day Air shipped in.
PS- There are 2 radiators available depending if you have tow package or not. They both appear to mount using same bracket unlike the RX330 model.
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