Yeah, I got lucky I caught mine when I was doing routine inspections of my engine bay. For the longest time the fluid was like half an inch below the low line, but all of a sudden after an afternoon's drive, I couldn't even see anymore coolant in the reservoir. Glad I caught my leak before my PT warranty lapsed.

 

Here are the photos as promised. Looks like it was cooking nicely in there...Glad it's been taken care of.

 

My mistake, I was going off what my advisor was telling me....it was actually a small leak at the coolant reservoir hose connected to the heat transfer leaking down to my valley plate..

 

thats quite some build up

 

here is what mine looked like at 52k on a 2010 ISF

 

^^^^^Everytime I see a pic of this is burns me up that Lexus hasn't issued a recall!

But....... there was a local F owner that had this recall performed on her 2008/09 F and she forked out $1600 for the repair!! The service advisor told her to hold on to her receipt because they heard that a recall was in the pipeline for this repair and she would get a full refund if it was issued???!!

Take that with a grain of salt but at least it's something to hold out hope for? I will try and find out more details if possible and update this thread. I know I have the leak too, it's just a small leak at this point going off of how much coolant I've had to add this last 3-4 months....

 

I think the most frustrating part that's working against a recall is that not everyone is having this leak.. I don't think every member who has had the elf has had this issue either.

My sa and tech actually said this is the first F they've seen in Vancouver with it; granted we don't have as many as socal

 

Lexus is slipping. I have been hearing this BS since I had my 07 LS460 ( and it was at one time one of the most reliable cars sold int he US). They dont make these cars like they did 20 years ago. They are still the best but anyone who has had a few Lexus vehicles over the last 10-20 years knows things have changed a little

 

Tammer,

Did the valley plate leak just happen to you recently??!

 

Is there a way to beef up this repair to prevent it from happening ever again with different parts, methods, or material?

 

Only time will tell from someone who keeps their car long enough and knows exactly what FIPG they used on the repair to see if it occurs again.

Lobux said the 1282B was made specifically for Toyota when they moved to the pink SLLC. (https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...l#post10455405)
So my best advice would be to use the 1282B that is specifically mentioned in the repair manual to use on that specific part, prep your surfaces extremely well, and get the FIPG applied and the part installed within the allotted time frame.

Most of what I see here on the forum is that
a. "they used the wrong FIPG" or
b. "they didnt apply it properly at the factory"

Regarding A, when I pulled mine apart the application of FIPG looked adequate and it was black like the 1282B FIPG lexus recommends in the manual. (pics of my valley plate: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...l#post10534123 ) However, toyota also has FIPG 1207B that is also black and specified can be used for engine oil, LLC, and SLLC. So it would take someone like a chemist to determine which formula was used at the factory.

Regarding B, Its certainly possible there could have been application errors. Maybe they didn't prep the surfaces well enough. The application time is also VERY short for the 1282B; from the instructions it reads "tack free time will be about 3 minutes (upon the condition). After apply, assemble parts within 3 minutes" so its also possible they didn't get the part installed in the allotted time.

With as many failures as we've seen between the IS-F's and the LS460's I believe either the FIPG is the issue or toyota had some serious training issues with how to apply the FIPG in the appropriate time frame. IE, it wasn't just a couple people doing a lazy job prepping surfaces.