water in radiator

morgan2242 · July 11, 2020

hi had my lexus about 5 weeks it is is220d year 2009 put about half a pint in when i got home and another half a pint water in radiator 4 weeks later

is this normal, it has 52000 well serviced , wot should i check

Shahpor · July 12, 2020

Hello there,

First, you should really be using the pink long life coolant rather than water in your radiator, but if is disappearing then I suppose water is good enough until you find out where it is going.

Half a pint certainly isn't much, but in my experience you shouldn't be losing any coolant, so any top up is probably a problem.

Are you sure it isn't leaking anywhere? It might be difficult to spot as it could be quite a slow leak. Another benefit of the pink coolant is that it is rather easy to see when it escapes!

Other than that, I am afraid the usual suspect would be the head gasket. You might notice some white smoke coming out the back if this is the case. Failing that, you would need to take the car to a garage for them to perform a 'sniff test'. This would determine if there are any hydrocarbons in the coolant, and if there are then the head gasket has definitely failed.

Should the worse be confirmed, then my suggestion would be a good used replacement engine.

Fingers crossed it is something much simpler though.

Oh, and feel free to ignore those that might come on this thread to tell you you have bought the wrong car

morgan2242 · July 12, 2020

thank you your the first that gave me sound advice , the others that just said i had post in wrong section

chr15gb · July 12, 2020

You can buy fairly cheap testers for use at home. They range from about £7 on eBay (search for Head Gasket Tester).
I think anyone with an IS220 should have one inthe garage just in case.

Principle of operation can be seen on this Youtube clip

morgan2242 · July 12, 2020

going to take it to garage for a pressure test on cooling radiator

Shahpor · July 12, 2020

2 hours ago, morgan2242 said:

thank you your the first that gave me sound advice , the others that just said i had post in wrong section

Well, to be fair you would get a better response in the right section I happen to browse Latest Posts rather than by section.

46 minutes ago, morgan2242 said:

going to take it to garage for a pressure test on cooling radiator

Let us know how you get on. Fingers crossed it isn't bad news.

morgan2242 · July 12, 2020

will do

ColinBarber · July 12, 2020

1 hour ago, morgan2242 said:

going to take it to garage for a pressure test on cooling radiator

ask them to have a good look around too - could be a leaking water pump.

markeyszoo · July 13, 2020

On 7/12/2020 at 1:47 AM, Shahpor said:

Hello there,

First, you should really be using the pink long life coolant rather than water in your radiator, but if is disappearing then I suppose water is good enough until you find out where it is going.

Half a pint certainly isn't much, but in my experience you shouldn't be losing any coolant, so any top up is probably a problem.

Are you sure it isn't leaking anywhere? It might be difficult to spot as it could be quite a slow leak. Another benefit of the pink coolant is that it is rather easy to see when it escapes!

Other than that, I am afraid the usual suspect would be the head gasket. You might notice some white smoke coming out the back if this is the case. Failing that, you would need to take the car to a garage for them to perform a 'sniff test'. This would determine if there are any hydrocarbons in the coolant, and if there are then the head gasket has definitely failed.

Should the worse be confirmed, then my suggestion would be a good used replacement engine.

Fingers crossed it is something much simpler though.

Oh, and feel free to ignore those that might come on this thread to tell you you have bought the wrong car

What is the pink long life coolant?

Britprius · July 13, 2020

1 hour ago, markeyszoo said:

What is the pink long life coolant?

It is the Toyota brand of antifreeze, and corrosion inhibitor. It is called Toyota SLLC "supper long life coolant", and has an in car life of ten years. It can be bought ready mixed or as a concentrate.

John.

Texas · July 13, 2020

see here....

http://carspecmn.com/toyota-and-lexus-coolant-replacement-and-maintenance/

morgan2242 · July 14, 2020

had it checked and need new radiator cap

markeyszoo · July 14, 2020

15 minutes ago, morgan2242 said:

had it checked and need new radiator cap

Bet that's a relief.

morgan2242 · July 14, 2020

too right

Shahpor · July 14, 2020

6 hours ago, morgan2242 said:

had it checked and need new radiator cap

Excellent news :thumbs_up:

Texas · July 15, 2020

If that was the root cause then prob the cheapest/easiest fix I‘be heard of for a 220 coolant problem! Still got my fingers crossed for you though....

really need to ensure that your coolant is at the right concentration now if you have been topping up with just plain water in the past otherwise that may cause you problems later!

ColinBarber · July 15, 2020

On 7/13/2020 at 2:27 PM, Britprius said:

It is the Toyota brand of antifreeze, and corrosion inhibitor. It is called Toyota SLLC "supper long life coolant", and has an in car life of ten years. It can be bought ready mixed or as a concentrate.

John.

I didn't think SLLC was available as a concentrate, only pre-mixed?

Britprius · July 15, 2020

1 hour ago, ColinBarber said:

I didn't think SLLC was available as a concentrate, only pre-mixed?

It may be that concentrated is not available in small quantities "I'm not sure on that" but I bought a 25Ltr drum of concentrated SLLC. It worked out cheaper than ready mixed for the quantity I needed for 4 Toyota/Lexus hybrid vehicles even though I have probably still got 1/2 a drum.

John.