LexusLoyal

My 2004 RX330, with 86k miles, had a coolant leak when left outside a store running for about 10 min, with my wife in it. When I was walking out of the store I saw a big puddle below it of red coolant, I filled it with water and drove it home, on the way home there were a couple instances where it almost overheated, so would turn it off and coast. Once I got home I located the leak, which was a loose clamp on the radiator hose, and refilled the coolant. But car will still overheat when driving, but cools down when parked. Both fans are working, there are no CEL's on, and there is no more leak. I don't know what to trouble shoot next.

Carver

Possible air in the system, how much coolant did you put in? What type of coolant?

LexusLoyal

I placed about half gallon of toyota coolant with half gallon of distilled water. As per reservoir it appears that there is enough coolant.

Carver

Read the thread on this page about flushing and refilling the coolant. There's some excellent information about air in the system and the refilling process.

salimshah

You may have air trapped in the coolant loop.

Instructions for RX300
With engine cold, remove radiator cap. Fill with coolant mix. Start the engine, turn heat on and fan to slowest setting. Let the vehicle warm up and watch the temp gauge come up to normal. Keep adding coolant mix as the level falls. If the outside temp is warm, wait for electric fan to come on. If not with about 10min of engine running, all air would have been removed. Keep an eye on the overflow reservoir for the next week and keep it above min (to prevent air getting back). Follow monthly inspection of coolant level.

Salim

LexusLoyal

Thanks, I'll see if this works and post updates.

LiCelsior

iTrader: (32)

here u go, http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/cooling/coolant.html

LexusLoyal

So I ran the car for 20 minutes with radiator cap and reservoir cap off. Then took it for a spin, and sure enough it did not overheat, temp was stable. Glad it was a simple fix, I was about to take it to the shop tomorrow.

ac921ol

iTrader: (1)

thanks for coming back, and letting us know what it was