Ultimate LX 570 mod for longevity
- Thread starter NeilC
- Start date
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Why?
- Thread starter
- #3
Too many people are running their cars and truck low on coolant. You can see the coolant level but have to take the covers off to add coolant. It should have been done like this from the factory. The brake fluid, washer fluid and engine oil are fillable without removing the covers, why not the coolant?
- Thread starter
- #5
Yep I figure it cut my 1/4 mile time by a couple of hundreds of a second. This thread title is being sarcastic by the way. I just got back from a long road trip and I check my coolant and oil level at gas stops. I figured that it would simplify adding coolant on the road. I have no leaks but as this truck gets older, things can happen.
Just a quick heads up: When adding coolant, I add it to the reservoir. No need to remove anything. Just fill to the hot line or cold line depending on if the engine is hot or cold.
Also, if you are losing coolant, it's worth tracking down the source of the leak.
Also, if you are losing coolant, it's worth tracking down the source of the leak.
just pull all those covers and leave them off.was this post a joke?
- Thread starter
- #9
You are correct that under normal circumstances you should add coolant to the overflow but it doesn't go straight into the radiator untill it cools and contracts. If you have a leak, it causes air to come in through the leak and never sucks it into the radiator. This mod is for an emergency, side of the road situation where you wait a while until it cools enough are adding coolant to get you where you are going without overheating the engine. It will get you home or shop to repair it.
Man, I've gotta get down to Louisiana and buy you a beer. I suspect I'd learn a thing or two.
I hope you understand that you should never be opening the cap directly over the radiator, especially in an emergency on the side of the road, when the engine is hot. You stand a very high chance of a severe scaling injury.
Assessing coolant level and adding fluid is done through the overflow reservoir just as @CanadianRockyCruiser said.
If you do have to open the radiator lid, taking off the panels is the least amount of your worries and time, as you'll be giving the engine ample time to cool off.
Maybe not a terrible mod, but if I'm servicing anything under the panel, it all comes off easy enough.
Thread name doesn't check out. Needs (at least) another hole to monitor crack propagation at the most common leak source.. the ID plate on top of the 08-early18 radiator.
Or better yet, just cut down all the plastic to match the cruiser.
PSA: removing all of the core support plastic lets hot after-radiator air recycle back to the front of it.
Also this.
Or better yet, just cut down all the plastic to match the cruiser.
PSA: removing all of the core support plastic lets hot after-radiator air recycle back to the front of it.
Also this.
- Thread starter
- #13
I am aware of the pressure and the risks associated with the radiator but I also have seen situations where people have been filling up only through the overflow. The radiator would be low needing a gallon or more even though the overflow is full. Sometimes the air void will not even allow the thermostat to open.
These trucks are getting older and if we are going to run these trucks for as long as we run 80s and 100s, we need to start thinking about this stuff. I wish I could get a transmission pan with a dip stick.
These trucks are getting older and if we are going to run these trucks for as long as we run 80s and 100s, we need to start thinking about this stuff. I wish I could get a transmission pan with a dip stick.
I just cut a hole in my valley plate and fill coolant into the heart of the system.
I thought this was gonna be another AHC delete thread 
I’ll show myself out
I’ll show myself out
Another solution for a problem that doesn't exist.
If you're adding a gallon of coolant on the side of the road, you've got bigger problems than a plastic cover over the rad cap.
If you're adding a gallon of coolant on the side of the road, you've got bigger problems than a plastic cover over the rad cap.
To the OP - you do you. It sounds like you like this mod and understand its limitations. Carry on.
- Thread starter
- #19
What I dont understand is that somehow I am wrong for wanting access to the radiator cap without taking the covers off. The LX has a completely different hood and grill so the Land Cruiser front cover wont fit. The covers need to be in place or the hot under hood air will be sucked through the radiator when idling in traffic. Most cars have access to the radiator cap or the pressurized overflow cap if the radiator doesn't have a cap.
There are problems with a coolant system that require you to check the radiator to see it it is full as opposed to simply looking at the overflow. The 2 big ones are leaks and faulty radiator caps. Air bubbles/voids can exist in the radiator or engine that will not show up as low overflow level. I have seen numerous cars/trucks in the last year where the owners knew they had a leak and thought they were ok simply adding coolant to the overflow when it was low. I open the radiator cap and they were low. One Wrangler, I worked on was over a gallon low.
The title was a joke, obviously or superlative to be more accurate. When I noticed my valley plate leak a couple of years ago, the radiator was low with coolant at the correct level in the overflow because I was adding coolant daily until I had time to do the job. As part of a side of the road situation, being able to grab a couple of rags and open the cap to add water to get safe is what this is for. I would rather not have to go through and get all of those pins loose to pull the cover hence the "mod".
There are problems with a coolant system that require you to check the radiator to see it it is full as opposed to simply looking at the overflow. The 2 big ones are leaks and faulty radiator caps. Air bubbles/voids can exist in the radiator or engine that will not show up as low overflow level. I have seen numerous cars/trucks in the last year where the owners knew they had a leak and thought they were ok simply adding coolant to the overflow when it was low. I open the radiator cap and they were low. One Wrangler, I worked on was over a gallon low.
The title was a joke, obviously or superlative to be more accurate. When I noticed my valley plate leak a couple of years ago, the radiator was low with coolant at the correct level in the overflow because I was adding coolant daily until I had time to do the job. As part of a side of the road situation, being able to grab a couple of rags and open the cap to add water to get safe is what this is for. I would rather not have to go through and get all of those pins loose to pull the cover hence the "mod".
There was one time when I was 19 years old, and I was driving my '98 4runner, and my heater core started leaking. I was driving from Calgary to Vancouver, and realized that things were getting hot in Merritt, BC. I had to tow a loaded uhaul trailer from Vancouver back to Calgary, and I added coolant every 250 km into the rad, after stopping to cool down. Sure enough the strategy worked, although I wouldn't do it again and definitely wouldn't recommend it as anything other than a stop gap. I think I added 3 gallons over about 1,500km before having the heater core replaced. The v6 engine worked without a hiccup for the rest of the time I owned it...over 100,000 km.
Today, I would pull over, have it towed to the first reliable repair shop and get a rental. Then, I didn't have two bits to my name, and I wasn't capable of a roadside heater core swap at 19. Knowing what I know now, I probably would have just isolated the heater core from the cooling system with a pipe and a few clamps as a stop-gap, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Today, I would pull over, have it towed to the first reliable repair shop and get a rental. Then, I didn't have two bits to my name, and I wasn't capable of a roadside heater core swap at 19. Knowing what I know now, I probably would have just isolated the heater core from the cooling system with a pipe and a few clamps as a stop-gap, but desperate times called for desperate measures.