4runner overheated...

[the great him]

sense you have an auto trans, look up threads on pink milkshake... im NOT saying this is what your problem is, but be weary of this, especially now that you have got that radiator good and HOT. your radiator cap sounds to be bad, but i dont think thats your issue, if you exhaust smells like coolant like you said then you might have a head gasket issue... -it can happen to any motor. and you definitely are losing coolant somewhere if its not the head gasket, check all your hoses, including heater hoses and lines(even for rear heat), they can become old and corroded and crack or split. just my .02

 

[Atreyus]

Here's the aftermath of the cap.

 

[brian2sun]

I'll bet your loss of coolant was because that cap failed and it just boiled right out of your reservoir and onto the ground. I doubt it's a HG personally (and hopefully). Like the kid said, it can happen to any motor, but it's really not very common on the 3.4 like it is on some other engines.. cough, cough.. 3.0.

 

[Atreyus]

I'll bet your loss of coolant was because that cap failed and it just boiled right out of your reservoir and onto the ground. I doubt it's a HG personally (and hopefully). Like the kid said, it can happen to any motor, but it's really not very common on the 3.4 like it is on some other engines.. cough, cough.. 3.0.

That's exactly what happened, thank you all for the help saved me a trip to the shop.

 

[the great him]

I'll bet your loss of coolant was because that cap failed and it just boiled right out of your reservoir and onto the ground. I doubt it's a HG personally (and hopefully). Like the kid said, it can happen to any motor, but it's really not very common on the 3.4 like it is on some other engines.. cough, cough.. 3.0.

early 3.4 gaskets where made at the same plant with the same materials(yes though even a different design) as the 3.0 and are/were quite prone to the head gasket issue. Toyota realized this and quickly scrapped all the renaming materials in stock and switched to a different material compound for their head gaskets... but yes the 3.4 motor is a much better motor(arguably the best motor Toyota has ever made).

 

[brian2sun]

That's exactly what happened, thank you all for the help saved me a trip to the shop.

Awesome, glad it was easy!

early 3.4 gaskets where made at the same plant with the same materials(yes though even a different design) as the 3.0 and are/were quite prone to the head gasket issue. Toyota realized this and quickly scrapped all the renaming materials in stock and switched to a different material compound for their head gaskets... but yes the 3.4 motor is a much better motor(arguably the best motor Toyota has ever made).

That is true. In fact Toyota even did a recall on my '97's (made 7/96) HGs and changed them for free back in '01. I believe the campaign is over now, but hopefully most of the older 3.4s got changed out under the recall by the previous owners.