Head Gasket failure?

[Nazrul95]

Hi all,

I’m worried that my head gasket might be on its way out. My Lexus CT200 is a 2011 plate on 86k which I only purchased in June on 82K.

I’ve noticed this past couple of weeks I’ve been experiencing frequent rough idles in traffic and when driving at low speeds. Additionally, I have seen white smoke come out when this has occurred. My coolant seems to be on the low side too which is starting to make feel this is a HGS issue.

Is it worth paying someone to clean my EGR and intake manifold and see how it goes? 86k is slightly on the lower side for HGS so I’m a bit upset that its likely given way in 5 months of ownership.

Lastly, has anyone had theirs replaced in around London, and how much was the cost?

[scudney]

Probably not a  head gasket issue,however I would top up the coolant as soon as possible and keep an eye on it, white smoke is probably just condensation which you will get more of this time of year. When was the car last serviced?

[Nazrul95]

Hi,

it was last serviced at 80k. The frequent rough idles is very worrying as it’s happening regularly .  There’s someone online who can clean the EGR and intake manifold as well do a diagnostic for £180. Was thinking of doing this before a full service.

[scudney]

I suppose it's worth a gamble and hopefully will reveal any issues 

[Notamech]

Can you elaborate a bit more on what you mean exactly when you say rough idle? Hybrids when cold can run lean deliberately in order to get up to temperature fast. It might feel like the engine is going to stall but doesnt. If it does this always i.e even when the engine is warm then id check to see if the spark plugs were replaced at 60k as they should be. If not it could be that the plugs need replacing. 

Also top up your coolant and see if it drops again over the next few days.

[Nazrul95]

19 minutes ago, Notamech said:

Can you elaborate a bit more on what you mean exactly when you say rough idle? Hybrids when cold can run lean deliberately in order to get up to temperature fast. It might feel like the engine is going to stall but doesnt. If it does this always i.e even when the engine is warm then id check to see if the spark plugs were replaced at 60k as they should be. If not it could be that the plugs need replacing. 

Also top up your coolant and see if it drops again over the next few days.

Hi mate,

so in terms of rough idling, what happens is the engine will turn on whilst I’m not moving. The engine will then kind of rumble a bit whilst it does this with some white smoke coming out of the exhaust. 
 

I had a health check done on my vehicle by Lexus in July and they did advise on fuel injection but I’m not sure if this would contribute. I will top up my coolant today and see if there’s any drop in the next coming days.

[Notamech]

12 minutes ago, Nazrul95 said:

Hi mate,

so in terms of rough idling, what happens is the engine will turn on whilst I’m not moving. The engine will then kind of rumble a bit whilst it does this with some white smoke coming out of the exhaust. 
 

I had a health check done on my vehicle by Lexus in July and they did advise on fuel injection but I’m not sure if this would contribute. I will top up my coolant today and see if there’s any drop in the next coming days.

What did they advise of fuel injection? Was it to use a cleaner? If so i personally think its good practice every once in a while to do it. Lexus do sell something for around £10 or something maybe give it a go. Also consider switching fuel stations or using premium fuel for the next couple of fills to see if it makes a difference.  Check to see that the air filter is also clean. These are basic things that sometimes the previous owner may have neglegted to do or they didn't maintain the car properly.

 

 

[ColinBarber]

If you google this issue you will find references to head gasket failures, but most of these are in the US. It's rare to have this issue in the UK - most people here that have had rough or noise running find a blocked EGR - that's where I would start.

[Nazrul95]

It was a fuel cleaner and they did recommend cleaning the cabin filter.
 

Also, not sure if this is linked to the coolant and rough idling but the main air vent heater does not work. Only the passenger and drivers side as well as the mirrors work. This has stopped working for the pas 2-3months. I don’t smell any coolant in the car but was wondering whether this would have any impact on the idling/random smoke.

[Nazrul95]

20 hours ago, Notamech said:

What did they advise of fuel injection? Was it to use a cleaner? If so i personally think its good practice every once in a while to do it. Lexus do sell something for around £10 or something maybe give it a go. Also consider switching fuel stations or using premium fuel for the next couple of fills to see if it makes a difference.  Check to see that the air filter is also clean. These are basic things that sometimes the previous owner may have neglegted to do or they didn't maintain the car properly.

 

 

It was a fuel cleaner and they did recommend cleaning the cabin filter.
 

Also, not sure if this is linked to the coolant and rough idling but the main air vent heater does not work. Only the passenger and drivers side as well as the mirrors work. This has stopped working for the pas 2-3months. I don’t smell any coolant in the car but was wondering whether this would have any impact on the idling/random smoke.

[Notamech]

1 hour ago, Nazrul95 said:

 

It was a fuel cleaner and they did recommend cleaning the cabin filter.
 

Also, not sure if this is linked to the coolant and rough idling but the main air vent heater does not work. Only the passenger and drivers side as well as the mirrors work. This has stopped working for the pas 2-3months. I don’t smell any coolant in the car but was wondering whether this would have any impact on the idling/random smoke.

Ok it just sounds like your car was not maintained very well. While headgaskets are a problem on these engines they dont fail very commonly in the UK more in the US. Try getting the intake + egr + injector cleaner + plugs replaced and see if that helps. Top up your coolant and observe if its going low frequently first before investing in other solutions. If so then you probably have a head gasket problem. Also check for brown mayo under the oil filler cap this is the most common symptom of a bad headgasket.

As far as your heating not working it sounds like your servo motors have failed its the motors that control the flaps inside the ac ducting that directs air to the different vents. Sounds like it is stuck closed for the main vents. But as you are getting heat on the passenger side i think the heater matrix still works and no smell of coolant indicates that you dont have leaks.

[diabolik]

Looks like a spark plug issue as it happens when the engine is warm. I would check the gaps on the Spark Plugs. Also, if they had never been changed, I'd change them right away.

Another thing could be the ignition coil packs which sit on top of the spark plugs. If I remember correctly, you need to check the resistance with a multimeter OR perhaps there's a way to read all of that in Techstream? I'd check the Lexus CT Service Manual (you can find it somewhere on this forum) it should give you some indication on how to check both ignition packs and spark plug gaps.

HG rattles only on cold starts. 

[Nazrul95]

Thanks for the recommendations and advise!

[Duggie B]

You could get a head gasket tester kit yourself (Halfords, eBay etc) it has a blue liquid and a sniffer type thing that holds the blue liquid which you hold over the expansion tank, the liquid turns blue if it detects exhaust gases in the cooling system.

[Nazrul95]

20 hours ago, diabolik said:

Looks like a spark plug issue as it happens when the engine is warm. I would check the gaps on the Spark Plugs. Also, if they had never been changed, I'd change them right away.

Another thing could be the ignition coil packs which sit on top of the spark plugs. If I remember correctly, you need to check the resistance with a multimeter OR perhaps there's a way to read all of that in Techstream? I'd check the Lexus CT Service Manual (you can find it somewhere on this forum) it should give you some indication on how to check both ignition packs and spark plug gaps.

HG rattles only on cold starts. 

I’ve topped up my coolant and will keep an eye. This is the smoke from my engine from the morning start up. Does this look like normal smoke to you? Plus this is my engine under the hood.

 

 

 

[ColinBarber]

1 hour ago, Nazrul95 said:

Does this look like normal smoke to you?

Does it clear once the engine has warmed up?

[Lexusjim]

10 hours ago, Nazrul95 said:

Does this look like normal smoke to you?

Looks like a cold engine on a cold day.....I would expect it to disappear once the car has got up to temperature unless the weather is below freezing....

[Nazrul95]

On 11/23/2024 at 10:53 AM, ColinBarber said:

Does it clear once the engine has warmed up?

Eventually it does, will see some smoke again if my car rough idles at low speeds.

I drove my car from London to Northampton yesterday without any issues, coolant has not dropped much at all, but will keep an eye on the coolant over the next coming weeks or so.