Hey guys,
I've had my LS430 for about 4 years now. It's been truly the best car I have ever owned. It is a '01 model, midnight pine pearl, 338,000km.
I recently had a bad oil leak from the drivers side rocker cover gasket. I just spent $1600 with Revzone in Ringwood getting both gaskets replaced with a OEM kit. I also had the alternator replaced, as the oil leak had covered the alternator and it was in pretty bad shape.
4 days after picking it up, I was driving home from work, and noticed the temp gauge started going up. I pulled over, but at the point in which I pulled over, the gauge had returned to normal. I sat at the servo for about 20 mins watching the temp gauge, then timidly drove it home and checked my coolant, which was very low. I topped up my coolant (both through the resevoir and radiator, then bled the air out). I then called Revzone to enquire whether they had to disconnect the radiator and hoses to do the rocker cover gaskets and alternator. They were insistent they did not. This of course had me worried, as I don't have an evident coolant leak.
Since then, I have conciously checked my coolant levels, and I've noticed that every morning, I check my coolant reservoir and it's completely empty.
I popped the radiator cap late last week, and noticed some very light white sludge, just a little bit. Of course, this had me panic'd. I checked the oil and the oil filler cap, there's no milk or white chunks.
At this point, I have put about 5 litres back into the cooling systems. Again, I have checked thoroughly for leaks, both around the radiator, hoses, underneath and around the heater hoses. Nothing.
The white sludge suggests I might have a head gasket on the way out. However, being that the rocker cover gaskets have just been replaced, and I've just started experiencing these issues immediately after, could this have anything to do with the rocker cover gaskets?
Do you guys have a recommended LS mechanic, ideally in the eastern suburbs of Vic?
- Shaun