Hello all, new to this forum, but not new to working on trucks so bear with me here. I have a 1986 toyota pickup with the 22re engine in it, i recently started to experience steam coming out of the radiator after driving the truck for maybe 30-40 minutes. I've suspected the water pump is cavitating for reasons unknown. Ive tested everything to do with a bad head gasket and came up with negative results on EVERY test. Compression is 155+/- in each cylinder, tested the coolant for exhaust gases and didnt get any, the oil is clean, the coolant is also clear, and the coolant system, when pressurized cold, holds at 14.99 psi, another reason to not suspect the head gasket is that it was just replaced about 4k ago. After starting it and driving, it sits at about 1/4 on the temp gauge for the first 15 minutes, then slowly rises to just below half, and then eventually will slowly, and i mean SLOWly, climb towards the red, but ive never gotten there, ill usually shut it off at the 5/8ths mark, and sure enough the recovery bottle will be bubbling due to steam coming from the rad. I guess my question is where do i go from here? Are my water jackets clogged? is my radiator clogged? I can see flow in the radiator with the cap off at low rpms as i rev it its either harder to notice the flow, or is clogs up somewhere. I'm guessing this isnt a waterpump issue but rather a coolant flow issue, any advice would be appreaciated, THANKS

Derek

 

Got shroud?
Fan clutch following pulley speed closely when hot? https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f199...l#post52229129

 

Failure to purge the air last time coolant was added. These engines can be a real pain to get all the air out.

How soon after the head gasket did this problem start

Not having the correct antifreeze mixture .

Then just how old is the radiator ?? Miles on engine

Like Rad said fan clutch old and tired .
When you were doing the pressure test did you also test the cap??

Radiator cap a failing cap will allow this to happen. Then the quality of after market caps has gone down hill .

I bought my last few Radiator caps from Toyota

A blocked radiator and fan clutch problems will be easier to notice sitting or driving stop and go traffic and cool down with steady driving

 

I'll have to check the fan clutch, pretty sure its good though. 122k miles on this thing. I purged the coolant as best i possibly could to the point where i could squeeze any hose and no bubbles came out. There seems to be no issue when sitting at idle, although the longest ive probably let it sit at idle was 15 minutes in the driveway, and driving around town in stop and go, with traffic lights and such it never seems to get bothered. Antifreeze is 50/50 red. When i was changing the coolant last, i also flushed the system and noticed some rather large white crystal looking stuff come out, and there were a few pebble sized ones lodged around the heater control valve, i could easily crush it with my fingers but i imagine if there are enough in the system somewhere they are big enough to clog up the rad or the water jackets in the head/block.

 

Crystals could be a product of reaction between whatever remain in system and the red coolant. Never know, I never tried.
I also have a 1986 22RE Manual trans. It has green coolant. Green coolant is not broken. Why fix it?

How well did you flush? I did the heavy-duty flush described on Prestone flush solution container:
Drain,
Rinse well. When I rinsed, I introduced the water through the heater bypass hose to flush the system backward.
Fill with water and flushing solution
Drove for over 100 miles over a few days
Drain, rinse well.
Re-fill with green coolant (Do not fix what is not broken).

 

just checked the fan clutch, works as per the video, and the rad cap holds pressure up to 19psi, (could there be a problem with it being too high?). I read somewhere that the red coolant is better for these toyotas due to the dissimilar metals in the block and head, im not doubting that the green wont work as a coolant, but i also dont think the red is the issue. ( the crystals were noticed when i drained the green coolant) and i flushed it every which way through the block the heater hoses, thermostat and radiator, every direction had good flow.

The bubbles usually only show up after high speed driving.

Theres also what sounds like a belt slip upon acceleration, nothing crazy, and even at cruising speed when not hard on the accelerator theres no slip, the belts are properly tensioned and in good condition.

 

Do you have a temperature gun?
Might want to check temperature on different locations of the radiator.
I'm aware you flushed it, but it couldn't hurt as options are getting fewer.

 

Gonna grab a temp gun from work today and check it out.

pretty hopeful that a clog is the issue, considering the white crystals I found were big enough to plug a passage, and if a few came out, who knows how many are in there that didnt...

 

Temp gun is a good idea.

Awesome. Best to be thorough. Time spent being thorough is better than time spent wondering if you you did it right.

If radiator is the issue, consider Toyotapartsdeal.com for OEM, or CSF Radiators - plug and play and they get good reviews.
While you're at it, clean all your temp-senders AND THEIR MOUNTING THREADS to bare, shiny metal. This would help prevent temp-related issues. The CSI timer gets ground through the mounting thread.

 

could still have air pocket in the system, too.


i'll echo what rad4r says, figure out the problem, then replace faulty parts. and, if the radiator is the culprit, csf makes a good one - i have one in my garage awaiting installation in my '87 when i get a chance.

 

I don't see you mention if you have changed the thermostat. It sounds like it could be sticking OPEN. Easy enough to pull it and drop it in some hot water on the stove and observe the operation.

 

Could be stuck shut too. I have a basket of bad thermostats. It usally takes three to four to find a good one.

 

It has a new 195 degree thermostat in it, maybe I should verify that it works on the stove.

 

Do you see more bubbles when you rev the engine?

 

If I rev the engine the coolant seems to flow, after I let off it settles out and maybe 2 seconds later bubbles come, and the sound of bubbles inside the hoses can be heard. I was able to get that in the driveway. But after having it on the highway, pulling off the highway and into a parking lot there was no visible loss of coolant just bubbling after I parked and popped the hood, so I dont think it's bubbling while at speed otherwise the coolant would have been forced out of the recovery bottle well before I made it to the parking lot.

to answer your question, there doesn't seem to be a correlation between amount of bubbles and engine speed. And at idle, whether hot or cold, there are no visible bubbles coming from the radiator with either the cap off, or into the overflow...

 

I know you did a recent head gasket change, but bubbles in the coolant can mean head gasket problems. Have you pressure test the cooling system?

 

Pressure tested the coolant, but haven't done a cylinder leak down test, I tried to test the coolant for exhaust gases, but couldn't successfully duplicate the bubbles with the tester on the rad.
I'm pretty fat into the denial stage of a bad head gasket, knowing thats its most likely the culprit, but figured I'd throw a post up on here incase anyone could offer a quick and easy check for anything else that it could be before I tear the head off.

most likely going to take the advice of getting a new rad while I'm at it.

Also looking at engnbldr (any thoughts) for a new head rather than putting the old one back on, since it's failed twice now.

 

Are you sure the radiator isn't clogged?
Did you put a temp gun on it to see if any temp changes?
I wouldn't throw radiators and heads at it until you have exhausted every option available.

You never mentioned the head has failed two times.
What kind of kit are you using to check for exhaust gases?
It should have fluid that changes color if exhaust gases are present.
What you mean by duplicating bubbles?

 

Have a good machine shop check out your head.

It's a mistake to trade out a genuine Toyota casting that is still good, or that can be repaired.

All aftermarket heads that I have seen are chinese slave labor goods.

 

Just what did you Torque the Head bolts to??