blew the top radiator hose

[rocky_ride]

Today on the way home from work the upper radiator hose came off on my 93 4Runner 3.0 V6 . Wtf?
I was cruising at about 65 mph with the windows down and all of a sudden I smelled coolant. At first I thought it was the car in front of me but before I could even complete that thought i saw a huge amount of water and steam coming from under the hood. Instantly I shut the truck off and coasted down the closest exit and into a gas station parking lot. Upon popping the hood I noticed the upper radiator hose had completely come loose and mangled the clamp. At first I dismissed it as a defective clamp, filled it with water, reattached the hose and went on my way and I made it home with no problem.
Whats bothers me is that was a brand new hose, brand new clamp and I had noticed that the upper hose is solid as a rock after driving. Iv been told this is normal but I just cant see that as so. I replaced that hose in the first place because the original formed a bulge. Any ideas as to what could cause this?

 

[wshiverick]

This is just a shot in the dark, but that happened to my old subaru when the head gasket blew...

 

[rocky_ride]

Thats my biggest fear. Might have a bit of exhaust getting in the coolant lines.
Im hoping it's a clogged radiator. From what I can see the previous owner put a large amount of radiator stop leak in it. The radiator and the recovery bottle are both packed with that gold flaky crap, not to mention a good amount of rust. Also iv had a couple lines from the heater core bust already due to blockage from that damn stop leak stuff. I just ordered a radiator from rock auto so here is to hoping it works.
Cross your fingers for me.

 

[giro]

Any chance that the clamp wasn't tight enough or in the right place (beyond the lip where the hose attaches)?

Normally at 65 there's plenty of airflow to keep things cool, and the radiator cap should release pressure if there were combustion gasses leaking through a head gasket into the cooling system. But replacing the clamp, putting on a new radiator cap, and even replacing the thermostat are all pretty easy and cheap things you could do.....while hoping it's not a thermostat.

Your coolant was a decent mix too, right. You haven't been topping it off with water for ages or anything?

 

[rocky_ride]

Thats quite a good possibility but I rather doubt it. The cap on the other hand im not sure about as iv never replaced it. How do I check that? Replacing it sounds like a plan either way.
The thermostat is only a few months old but I wont rule that out.
I havent needed to top it off for a pretty long while but in most cases ill use 50/50 and or water. Iv normally got a bit of 50/50 in the truck with me just in case.

 

[fourwd1]

That happened to me in my Trooper once, after re-attaching the hose and filling up the coolant I got home, and next day pressure tested the coolant system, checked compression, etc.
Everything seemed OK, so I chalked it up to a mysterious hose clamp failure.

 

[rocky_ride]

I hope its that easy. Lol
I went and bought a new radiator cap last night and noticed something very interesting. Do you see it? The old one has a huge rubber gasket on the bottom and the new one doesn't, its very small. The old one must be pushed down into the radiator and the new one sits in evenly. The one on the left if brand new and the right came with the truck. Could this make a difference?

 

[2ndGen4runner4x4]

Is it actually running hot? Where does your temp gauge run at? Your thermostat is good right?
My gauge runs just a hair under halfway when up to normal temperature.
I would grab a HG test kit from your local auto parts store and see what it indicates.

 

[nevada]

I hope its that easy. Lol
I went and bought a new radiator cap last night and noticed something very interesting. Do you see it? The old one has a huge rubber gasket on the bottom and the new one doesn't, its very small. The old one must be pushed down into the radiator and the new one sits in evenly. The one on the left if brand new and the right came with the truck. Could this make a difference?

does new one seal?

I cant remember the details now, but I think there are 2 different types of caps for Toyota rads. im thinking you got the wrong one.

 

[rocky_ride]

Is it actually running hot? Where does your temp gauge run at? Your thermostat is good right?
My gauge runs just a hair under halfway when up to normal temperature.
I would grab a HG test kit from your local auto parts store and see what it indicates.

No it's not running hot at all. It runs just under half way mark.

does new one seal?

I cant remember the details now, but I think there are 2 different types of caps for Toyota rads. im thinking you got the wrong one.

Yeah it seals good and everything, I drove the hell out of it last night. That upper hose is still hard but not as much as it was before.