quick urgent question on coolant

[finest1]

hi all,

i just found out my coolant reservoir has no, very little coolant in there.  google search advises to use the Toyota pink coolant.  is there any alternatives i can use?

i can source the Toyota pink, but it won't arrive until the weekend or later. i need the car for Friday. Halfords came up with a match "suitable" for my car but not sure if its a definite match

 

any suggestions

 

thanks

 

Lexus IS250 petrol SE-L 2006

[Malc]

maybe just top it up with distilled water and run it until the correct stuff arrives

It isn't going to freeze is it !

Malc

[finest1]

thanks for your swift replay Malc. thing is, i will have to drain the distilled water once the coolant arrives. i read that can be tricky

[Malc]

a pre event might be to discover WHY the level is too low ..  do you have a leak somewhere ?

Malc

[finest1]

no leaks, not that i can see anyway. was looking an hour ago with a LED torch. mind you, if there was does coolant evaporate quickly?

i ordered the lexus/toyota pink coolant. says due to be delivered friday.  i'll top it up and then i can check if any leaks. good thing i'm working from home tomorrow! i'll make alternative arrangement on friday

[Malc]

if whatever is in there evaporates it will be just the H2O that would, not the additives methinks

Malc

[finest1]

good point. i'll get some distilled water just in case. thanks

 

would be good to know if others use the "pink" coolant or alternatives

[ColinBarber]

20 minutes ago, finest1 said:

no leaks, not that i can see anyway. was looking an hour ago with a LED torch.

The cooling system is sealed. The coolant cannot disappear unless there is a leak or the pressure within the system gets too high and it is forced out. Fill it back up with distilled water and take it for a good drive to see if the level drops.

[finest1]

hi colin. when i inspected the coolant cap, it was loose/ajar. could pressure have built up and popped the cap? cap its self is fine, no breaks, its clips back on ok

[m4rkw]

I recently had unexplained coolant loss on my RX, garage couldn't find any leaks but it had lost a fair bit. I replaced the radiator cap and it hasn't leaked since.

I would definitely get it checked because as others have said the coolant has to be going somewhere.

[steve2006]

1 hour ago, finest1 said:

hi colin. when i inspected the coolant cap, it was loose/ajar. could pressure have built up and popped the cap? cap its self is fine, no breaks, its clips back on ok

If the pressure cap was loose that would probably explain the loss, top it back up, refit the cap correctly then keep an eye on the temperature gauge and the coolant level.

[finest1]

thanks Mark and  Steve, will do. 

i ordered OEM coolant, which should be arriving friday afternoon/evening. i managed to arrange alternative transport for work tomorrow, so car won't be used until i add coolant to it

[Malc]

12 hours ago, finest1 said:

cap its self is fine, no breaks, its clips back on ok

many years ago I had a cap that seemed fine on my old Ls400 BUT it wasn't and it's effectiveness had diminished and i was losing coolant thru that

A replacement cap then from a factor was about a fiver ......  the caps were often for multi marque use too

Malc

[m4rkw]

Yeah my apparently defective cap also looked absolutely fine to the eye. New OEM cap was £27.70 from Toyota.

[finest1]

thanks mark, i will look i was wondering whether i should change it...i'll inspect it properly tomorrow

[m4rkw]

Just now, finest1 said:

thanks mark, i will look i was wondering whether i should change it...i'll inspect it properly tomorrow

I would first have the car inspected to check for potential leaks or the coolant going somewhere else (eg head gasket, although if that were the case you'd likely have other symptoms). My local garage didn't charge me when they couldn't find anything wrong. It would be silly to spend £28 on a radiator cap when the issue might be elsewhere, in my case I did that as a last resort after a suggestion from a mechanic I know. Apparently when they pressure test cooling systems they often remove the cap in order to conduct the test and then neglect to test the cap itself. I don't know if this is what actually happened with mine, all I know is that the garage couldn't find any issue at all, I replaced the radiator cap and have driven over 1500 miles since without losing any coolant.

[m4rkw]

Also there are a couple of places where it can leak and immediately evaporate off so you'd never see a puddle on the ground. A garage should be able to check for these.

[Mincey]

Daft question - could your water pump be on the way out?

[m4rkw]

3 minutes ago, Mincey said:

Daft question - could your water pump be on the way out?

Not daft, possible.

[Mincey]

23 minutes ago, m4rkw said:

Not daft, possible.

Phew - I only mentioned it because when the water pump in my '07 IS250 went, the coolant level went down. Not being too mechanically savvy, I didn't realise that the pump might be on the way out but luckily my local Indie is a wise chap.

[finest1]

update:  

this morning i removed the plastic coolant tank and inspected it. there was no coolant in the tank and there are no signs of damage or wear on it either.

i topped up the tank with coolant and i'll leave it now to see if there are any leaks. 

what i wanted to ask you was this. should i be filling coolant via the radiator cap too?

 

 

[ColinBarber]

4 hours ago, finest1 said:

what i wanted to ask you was this. should i be filling coolant via the radiator cap too?

yes, if it isn't already full then you should add more via that.

[finest1]

thanks all. i topped up coolant etc. no leaks from what i can see. will continue to monitor