My First Time Off-Road at AOAA + Radiator Damage |
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I mentioned briefly in a previous post that I would be going to AOAA with MORE (Maryland Off Road Enthusiasts) do to some green trails and get my feet wet in offroading. I packed all of my tools, the spare CV I have, jack, jack stands, and all of my new recovery gear. I met a group of 10ish in Towson and we made a convoy up there. When we got there, I was surprised at the turnout. There were 55 people from MORE and a few more people with 4wds, SXS, atv, bikes, etc. Here I am parked next to the 4runners. I was the only 4th gen with this group, but I did see another 4th gen at the trailhead parking lot
I have a dinosaur age GoPro I purchased when I thought I lived an action packed life, only to realize I don't do anything interesting. So I dug it up for this trip and apologize for the mediocre quality pics from the video
We broke into 3, 20 person groups and I was second in line of group 3. Starting on the trail, we entered down this nice and rocky hill. Its hard to see the terrain with this camera angle, but when driving it felt very adventurous and fun. We also crossed a few water area with some ice on top, and this bit me in the butt later.
I opted out of this one with my stock 4runner haha. This blue jeep was the leader and he got a bit hung up on the ice. Seeing how deep it was, I went arround
I enjoyed going on these high sided turning paths and wiggling through the trees. Also encountered some traffic
more tree wiggling
Around this time, I noticed the temp gauge getting a little bit above halfway. No big deal, we weren't going fast for wind to blow through the radiator and assist the fan like on the highway. I noticed the needle slowly moving some more and it was approaching the edge of the little gray section in the center 1/3 of the gauge. I am completely new to the off-roading and still wasn't completely sure if this was normal. I noticed the needle would go up and down like 1/8" inch depending on how I was oriented on the terrain and figured the temps would change depending on if I was putting more or less demand on the engine. I radio, and they say its normal to get a little warm, but we can slow down at the top of this hill. Fine, I can make it to the top of the hill okay. Nope. At this point I don't notice that the heat is no longer working because I had the window open to watch myself and talk to people. As I'm going up the hill, the needle starts going up really fast and I stop halfway up because the temp is scarring me. I radio again and the guy behind me says to just go ahead. I shouldn't have listened to this, because at the top of the hill the needle went straight to the ketchup and I immediately get over and shut it off.
I now know something is up, but I'm not sure. I limp it along after the needle dropped to halfway and we stop for lunch.
Now I can give it a proper inspection, which I should have done when I pulled off to let it cool of the first time. I look underneath, and sure enough an ice chunk had made its way right through the radiator. Oddly enough, the A/C condenser, which is right in front of the radiator, barely got touched. I know it must have occurred on one of the puddle crossings, just not sure when.
So we we're close to the trailhead now, and I limp it back. No one seemed keen to come along with, but the did give me directions and I followed the signage. From there I got it towed through my insurance which I have coverage for. Unfortunately I had to wait 4 hours in the 20 degree weather, thankfully I brought a bunch of layers. The only shop I could find open on the weekend that could also get the part was 60 miles away. Thankfully the tow truck driver was also a Toyota guy with a 1989 pickup minitruck.
The shop was able to get a radiator on Sunday and replace it the same day. Unfortunately this wasn't something that I could do on my own in this situation. I am very thankful for the work done by Goodyear of Hummelstown, PA. Looking back, there are a lot of learning experiences to take from this.
- Consider all possible failure modes. I didn't think about thick ice being present, but now I know
- If temps are getting high, pull off sooner rather than later, even if its not a great place to stop
- Keep warm clothes with you when its cold. I brought a lot of layers thinking it was overpacking, but it turned out to be what I needed when things went bad
I am frustrated with my past self for letting it overheat fully, especially on the 03-05 v6. I plan to do some tests for exhaust gas in the cooling system and also probably change the oil earlier and send off a sample to ensure everything is good. So far no white smoke out of the exhaust when I started it up after sitting for a few hours when I got home and no misfires. Only time will tell the extent of damage, but what has happened is in the past, and I can only learn from these mistakes
If its really clapped, may be a writeup on how to swap 1GR-FE coming soon lol, but I hope not. I am worried about the heat cycling though since it was really cold out and rapid heating and cooling is of course not good.
Radiator Carnage
I asked to keep the radiator as a souvenir lol. Here are some of the damage pics
While the center area is where it is mostly visibly damaged, I believe the leaks were mostly from where the tubes cracked going into the end caps
I now need to either invest in one of these from RCI or build one myself.
