I dont do alot of car repairs and have never even changed oil, but I am very interested in saving money these days. My truck has a working thermostat and working water pump. Yet the heater will not blow hot air and she overheats in under a 1/2 hr while idling. Whats even more puzzling is that when she begins to run hot, the hose that goes from the radiator cap down into the coolant reservoir blows steam or hot air down into the reservoir making it bubble steadily until the motor cools down a bit. No water in the oil or white smoke in the exhaust. I doubt I can fix her on my own, but I'd like to try. She's had a rough life but I love her and try to take care of her.
1990 3.0 overheating questions
- Thread starter LaWa
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turboSR5
New member
How do you know the thermostat is working?
Things to check out include:
Fan shroud, is it in place? Upper and lower shroud are mandatory.
Coolant level, sounds like it could be low (classic overheat and no heat from climate control).
Air in the cooling system. Not usually a cause of overheating, but will influence how much heat your heater produces.
Fan clutch. Common wear item in an older Toyota. Google search how to check if yours is working correctly.
Radiator. Could be plugged or otherwise not efficient enough to keep temps down.
Flush and fill. When was the last time this was done?
Hope this helps, good luck.
Things to check out include:
Fan shroud, is it in place? Upper and lower shroud are mandatory.
Coolant level, sounds like it could be low (classic overheat and no heat from climate control).
Air in the cooling system. Not usually a cause of overheating, but will influence how much heat your heater produces.
Fan clutch. Common wear item in an older Toyota. Google search how to check if yours is working correctly.
Radiator. Could be plugged or otherwise not efficient enough to keep temps down.
Flush and fill. When was the last time this was done?
Hope this helps, good luck.
Hyde802
New member
Oh boy. DO NOT LET THIS MOTOR OVER HEAT! The 3.0s are notorious for blown headgasket, and overheating the motor is just asking for the HG to pop.
Has this been doing this for a while? Replace anything recent? My 92 was doing the exact same thing (it was summer, so not sure what the heater was doing, I havent needed it yet) right after I swapped the new motor, bleeding the cooling system solved my over heating issue.
But run through the list that turbosr5 posted. Those are all good things to do.
Also, I would suggest picking up Haynes manual, then can be had at most parts stores for about $20 and will tell you most anything you need to know about your truck. You can also download a Factory Service Manual (mostly refereed to as a FSM). Here Toyota FSM downloads
Has this been doing this for a while? Replace anything recent? My 92 was doing the exact same thing (it was summer, so not sure what the heater was doing, I havent needed it yet) right after I swapped the new motor, bleeding the cooling system solved my over heating issue.
But run through the list that turbosr5 posted. Those are all good things to do.
Also, I would suggest picking up Haynes manual, then can be had at most parts stores for about $20 and will tell you most anything you need to know about your truck. You can also download a Factory Service Manual (mostly refereed to as a FSM). Here Toyota FSM downloads
Last edited:
SUBTEGRAL
Banned
If the belts are too tight, this can also cause the temperature to rise.
Hey, this isn't working:
1988 Toyota 4-Runner & pickup Factory Service Manual:
http://granolaboy.net/temp/toyota_tr...4runner_88.pdf
Where can I download the FSM for my 1988 T4R 3.0L V6 3VZ-E SR5 4x4 ?
Hey, this isn't working:
1988 Toyota 4-Runner & pickup Factory Service Manual:
http://granolaboy.net/temp/toyota_tr...4runner_88.pdf
Where can I download the FSM for my 1988 T4R 3.0L V6 3VZ-E SR5 4x4 ?
thanks for some ideas...
I ended up opening up the large hose coming off the top left of the radiator and opening up the large hose at the bottom of the radiator where the thermostat is housed. Then I put a Clog Buster from the hardware store on the end of the garden hose and first put it into the top hose going back into the engine block and ran a large quantity of water through that way, with the Clog Buster preventing backflow. Then, to flush the radiator, I ran the Buster the other way into the tube I had unhooked the larger hose from. Then I closed her up and filled the system up with a water/CLR solution and ran the truck for 1/2hr and everything started working properly. Shut it down and cooled her off and repeated the flush process. Done.
I ended up opening up the large hose coming off the top left of the radiator and opening up the large hose at the bottom of the radiator where the thermostat is housed. Then I put a Clog Buster from the hardware store on the end of the garden hose and first put it into the top hose going back into the engine block and ran a large quantity of water through that way, with the Clog Buster preventing backflow. Then, to flush the radiator, I ran the Buster the other way into the tube I had unhooked the larger hose from. Then I closed her up and filled the system up with a water/CLR solution and ran the truck for 1/2hr and everything started working properly. Shut it down and cooled her off and repeated the flush process. Done.
