2006 V8 Coolant Leak

[ben550]

I recently bought a 2006 V8 4Runner. When I bought it i noticed the coolant was low. I added SLLC coolant and thought I was good to go. The previous owner had the timing belt done at 126k miles. It currently has 159k miles. I was under the truck this evening changing the serpentine belt when I noticed a wet spot. I looked above the spot and saw that there is a leak. It was not oil. looked like water and sure enough it is the pink coolant. So, I took a picture of the spot under the truck. It looks like its the water pump leaking. I know its in the vicinity of the timing belt/water pump. A picture is attached. My question is can I continue to drive the truck with this leak for a few weeks or is it something that needs to be fixed now. I could possibly do the timing belt/water pump job myself but that would be a huge undertaking. I could also see what the dealer charges for the job... not yet ready to be robbed.

How urgent do you think this issue is? The Serpentine belt had a slight squeak to it... I am guessing that when the previous owner had the timing belt changed (independent mechanic) he did not use OEM parts but aftermarket cheaper parts to cut down cost. Should I just bite the bullet and do the timing belt job early and have peace of mind and no leaks with OEM parts? Let me know what you think.

 

[hkollie1]

I would pm blackworks the Toyota tech....I seem to recall him mentioning water pump leaking and timing belt threats from the leak.

Please post up what you find out, as usual, lurkers will benefit!

In my case, wife's 4runner has only 55000 miles and dealer reported a water pump leak. I decided to wait till 90k interval for timing belt to address that.

Now that I have seen you picture, I am reminded to go look for the leak, have never seen anything while I'm under there changing oil or shocks.

Thanks for photo... The leak looks old... Which is probably not good.

 

[ben550]

My local Toyota dealer quoted me $875 for the timing belt, water pump, gaskets, coolant, and drive belt to be replaced. I'm thinking of just having them do it. I don't feel like spending my whole weekend figuring it out... I was going to tell them to change the tensioner and other pulleys in there while they are at it so it will probably be just under $1000 for the whole job.

If I do that now it will take me to 250k miles.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Could be the water pump, that engine looks like the vehicle is in a salt state. Normally you'd be able to tell from looking underneath the vehicle looking up at the crankshaft pulley (there's a small rectangular hole in the plastic timing belt cover that will have pink crusties if its been leaking badly) and a spot on the driver's side of the engine that you can peek into the timing cover area and spot coolant crusties as well (also from the bottom of the vehicle looking up.) Its not uncommon for the factory water pumps on these 2UZ-FEs to be leaking before or near their first timing belt service, they seem to last far longer after you replace them the first time (not entirely sure why to be honest.)

[MENTION=76134]hkollie1[/MENTION] if you add a " @ " infront of a member's name you "Mention" them and it sends a notification of who mentioned who and in what thread.

 

[hearno]

$1k seems like a decent deal to me for a full t belt package. I'd ask for 10% off and see what it gets you. what's local to 42° 4'20.15"N, 109° 6'18.02"W? Looks like literally the middle of nowhere Wyoming. What are those grain silo things?

 

[BlackWorksInc]

$1k seems like a decent deal to me for a full t belt package. I'd ask for 10% off and see what it gets you. what's local to 42° 4'20.15"N, 109° 6'18.02"W? Looks like literally the middle of nowhere Wyoming. What are those grain silo things?

Those "Grain Silos" are nothing special... not at all covert launch bays for orbital launch vehicles carrying multiple warheads armed with high yield mass driver projectiles developed to level an entire city in a chaotic man made earthquake while producing no radioactive fallout... and that barn? Not at all a covert hangar bay door for covert near-silent VTOL aircraft capable of circumventing the globe with SCRAM Jet engines while not exuding a sonic signature (sonic boom) in less time than the now defunct Concord could.

Nope... nothing fancy about them "Grain Silos..." :hiding:

 

[DC runner]

My belt was replaced at 88k, as well as the timing pump and other incidentals. I am at 155k and have the small weep hole leak from water pump. Always have. I bought her when she had 111,000 on the clock and could see it was already occuring.

If this is all you have, don't worry about it. I am about 20k way from second belt and water pump change. I have no issues.

 

[ben550]

The grain silos are fuel tanks. Two are for heating oil and the other two are for gasoline. I have a truck deliver fuel and oil once a year in the summer. It works out great. No neighbors is a good thing.

The barn is actually my garage/shop and the house is underground. Helps with insulation.

 

[praz328i]

I recently bought a 2006 V8 4Runner. When I bought it i noticed the coolant was low. I added SLLC coolant and thought I was good to go. The previous owner had the timing belt done at 126k miles. It currently has 159k miles. I was under the truck this evening changing the serpentine belt when I noticed a wet spot. I looked above the spot and saw that there is a leak. It was not oil. looked like water and sure enough it is the pink coolant. So, I took a picture of the spot under the truck. It looks like its the water pump leaking. I know its in the vicinity of the timing belt/water pump. A picture is attached. My question is can I continue to drive the truck with this leak for a few weeks or is it something that needs to be fixed now. I could possibly do the timing belt/water pump job myself but that would be a huge undertaking. I could also see what the dealer charges for the job... not yet ready to be robbed.

How urgent do you think this issue is? The Serpentine belt had a slight squeak to it... I am guessing that when the previous owner had the timing belt changed (independent mechanic) he did not use OEM parts but aftermarket cheaper parts to cut down cost. Should I just bite the bullet and do the timing belt job early and have peace of mind and no leaks with OEM parts? Let me know what you think.

Did you ever find out what it was? My wife's 07 4runner v8 (95k miles )has a leak as well but looks like its coming from above the oil filter housing. Just noticed it after changing oil today. any theories?

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Did you ever find out what it was? My wife's 07 4runner v8 (95k miles )has a leak as well but looks like its coming from above the oil filter housing. Just noticed it after changing oil today. any theories?

If it is pink like your coolant it is most likely the water pump underneath the timing cover.

 

[ben550]

Did you ever find out what it was? My wife's 07 4runner v8 (95k miles )has a leak as well but looks like its coming from above the oil filter housing. Just noticed it after changing oil today. any theories?

Yes. It was the water pump. Specifically the gasket. It had been replaced 30k miles ago but with an aftermarket kit. The gasket sold by Toyota has a small lip on it to keep it sealed. The one pulled off did not have that and had started to leak. Its all fixed now.