95.5-2004 Tacomas & 96-2002 4Runners 4th gen pickups and 3rd gen 4Runners

leaky coolant

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Old 01-14-2006 | 11:27 AM
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leaky coolant



Ok guys, i have been going through about 1/2 bottle of toyota red coolant every 2 weeks

I started up the truck today for the first time in about 5 days and crawled underneath to see where it was coming from.

The coolant steadly drips on to the exhaaust...sorry i dont have any pics. Its definately underneath the engine b/c i cant see anything while looking ontop of it. Anyone have any ideas as to where it may be coming from? hopefully its not the headgasket either bc i dont see smoke at all

also, anyone in the area know how to change out a valve cover gasket?

thanks in advance

EDIT: i just found a posting on gapguys thread about the water control vavle...that is leaky too! LOL i didnt really find where the heater core is...my heater is working fine so maybe its not that.

it seems to drip a lot when i run the heater.

EDITx2...maybe its the freeze plugs?

Last edited by Localmotion; 01-14-2006 at 11:53 AM.
Old 01-15-2006 | 08:53 AM
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anyone? :pat:
Old 01-15-2006 | 10:24 AM
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Mine was leaking from the heater hoses at the firewall, down the firewall, and onto the exhuast. Lots of lost coolant. I just fixed that with new hose clamps, and my SECOND heater core blew...2 weeks old.

Good luck man.
Old 01-15-2006 | 10:45 AM
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yea, im going to replace the heater hose closest to the firewall when i get back into town....

Im taking my junk up to firestone to have it pressure tested...i figure $20 is worth finding out where the real/major leak is
Old 01-15-2006 | 10:53 AM
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Originally Posted by Localmotion
yea, im going to replace the heater hose closest to the firewall when i get back into town....

Im taking my junk up to firestone to have it pressure tested...i figure $20 is worth finding out where the real/major leak is
Thats what I would do....saves time and aggravation
Old 01-15-2006 | 10:56 AM
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Originally Posted by callmej75
Thats what I would do....saves time and aggravation
yea your right.

I just hope that its not the freeze plugs.

i have a lot of maint i gotta do
- change valve cover gasket
- fix coolant leak
- change spark plug wires
- coolant flush
- change tranny/diff/t-case

man..who would of ever thought that a car could require so much money...LOL
Old 01-15-2006 | 11:00 AM
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I'll trade ya all of that for my knock
Old 01-16-2006 | 12:09 AM
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LOL..no thanks!

you guys think the stealer will still honor thier HG recall even though they arleady checked mine out a long time ago and said it was fine?

Old 01-16-2006 | 12:13 PM
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I don't think they will because the campaign technically ended, or so I hear. Besides, the dealer should have checked your rig by VIN, not by sight. The flaw was an external one, so if you do have it, it wouldn't necessary be getting into the combustion chamber anyway. What you might see however, is coolant leaking down the passenger side of the block. So be sure to check that out. Also, there is a coolant connection on the back of the engine under the intake manifold that the techs at Toyota found missing a clamp when they did my HG recall. So, they said someone did the recall on my motor and forgot to attach the clamp, which made a little leak.
Old 01-18-2006 | 01:43 PM
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Originally Posted by <96 Runner>
I don't think they will because the campaign technically ended, or so I hear. Besides, the dealer should have checked your rig by VIN, not by sight. The flaw was an external one, so if you do have it, it wouldn't necessary be getting into the combustion chamber anyway. What you might see however, is coolant leaking down the passenger side of the block. So be sure to check that out. Also, there is a coolant connection on the back of the engine under the intake manifold that the techs at Toyota found missing a clamp when they did my HG recall. So, they said someone did the recall on my motor and forgot to attach the clamp, which made a little leak.
great info...im gonna try to swing by firestone to have it pressure tested...this is the most inopportune time for me with school and my new job just starting On top of that, the vehicle i was using for my DD, i no longer can use b/c my cousion needs it again

Last edited by Localmotion; 01-18-2006 at 01:57 PM.
Old 01-18-2006 | 01:46 PM
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Originally Posted by Localmotion
great info...im gonna try to swing by firestone to have it pressure tested...this is the most unopportune time for me with school and my new job just starting On top of that, the vehicle i was using for my DD, i no longer can use b/c my cousion needs it again
yeh i've been here before.... good luck
Old 01-20-2006 | 05:45 AM
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ok guys..did the pressure test and tehy called me back saying it was going to be around 800 to fix

They said a gasket under the intake was leaking???? does anyone know what that is

they also wanted 100 to change my sparkplug wires?!?!?!?! wow tahts insane

they wanted 9 to fix my license plate bulbs...hahahaha

anyways, does anyone know waht they are talking about so i can get a qutoe somewhere else

Thanks
Old 01-20-2006 | 05:52 AM
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Originally Posted by Localmotion
ok guys..did the pressure test and tehy called me back saying it was going to be around 800 to fix

They said a gasket under the intake was leaking???? does anyone know what that is

they also wanted 100 to change my sparkplug wires?!?!?!?! wow tahts insane

they wanted 9 to fix my license plate bulbs...hahahaha

anyways, does anyone know waht they are talking about so i can get a qutoe somewhere else

Thanks

I'd assume they mean the gaskets way at the bottom in this pic:

Old 01-20-2006 | 07:24 AM
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wow thats an awesome diagram....im gonna go by there tonight and ill let you guys know whats up.

thanks!


anyone else have any suggestions? how hard could this be to do myself? i dont have 600 to drop on labor
Old 01-20-2006 | 08:41 AM
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Don't know if you are Richmond or Fairfax, but if in Richmond, give Va. Imports on Horsepen a call. They always been pretty good in the past. Don't know if I would trust Firestone. I few years back they changed my oil and forgot to tighhten the fill plug. I haven't been back since. Good luck and let us know what you find out.
Old 01-20-2006 | 09:04 AM
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Originally Posted by kato
Don't know if you are Richmond or Fairfax, but if in Richmond, give Va. Imports on Horsepen a call. They always been pretty good in the past. Don't know if I would trust Firestone. I few years back they changed my oil and forgot to tighhten the fill plug. I haven't been back since. Good luck and let us know what you find out.
Ditto.
Just call Whiteny and tell him what is up.
They can do the major work, but Iknow they have no problem with you changing your own wires and such.

You have a great truck. Fix it and you will be happy with it again






















or buy mine.
Let us know how it goes.
Old 01-20-2006 | 09:37 AM
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Originally Posted by Localmotion
wow thats an awesome diagram....im gonna go by there tonight and ill let you guys know whats up.

thanks!


anyone else have any suggestions? how hard could this be to do myself? i dont have 600 to drop on labor
No problem.

You can see how hard it is by the diagram....I don't know your mechanical abilities so I can't make the call for you as to if you could do it yourself or not......but saving alot of money is usually a good motivator.
Old 01-20-2006 | 11:24 AM
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How do they know the lower gasket is leaking unless they removed all that crap themselves?
Old 01-20-2006 | 12:15 PM
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Originally Posted by <96 Runner>
How do they know the lower gasket is leaking unless they removed all that crap themselves?
they did a pressure test and said it was that?!? good point...hmm probably should of taken it to somewhere more trustworthy

im gonna try to figure out where its leaking from. good think i put the price limit on the drop off envelop being 20.00..LOL the price of the pressure test was 19.99.
Old 01-20-2006 | 12:19 PM
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yeh i was beginning to wonder how they would ever see under the intake...maybe hear some gurgling and assume it was the intake gasket? beats the crap outta me...go get it tested somewhere else Matt. Sounds like these dudes wanna dig deep and then say its something else too...then once they get all the way into the motor and find the real problem then you are in debt up to your nads. I just had to pay out $25 for a locksmith to come and break into the 4runner because the g/f lost my keys and left her spare keys in her pocketbook...in the passenger seat and the truck was locked. I just found them in the kitchen window sill....



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