Coolant Leak Help

[JSparky]

I was wondering if anyone can help diagnose this coolant leak. This is my dad's 2013 4Runner, he's retired down in Baja and is trying to collect information before he takes it in for service. These are the labeled photos he sent. He said he saw coolant dripping from what looks like the the throttle body which doesn't make sense to me. I asked him to try running it with the hood up to see if he can find another source for the leak.

Does that hose clamp at the bottom of the first photo look OEM? I can't easily get to my truck right now to compare.

This isn't his first coolant leak. He had packrats a year ago and the Toyota dealer in La Paz replaced a wiring harness. He had a hose clamp fail shortly afterwards. I'll have to check which harness they replaced but I suspected they may have had to undo some hoses to access it and perhaps didn't replace the clamp properly. That or it's just Baja beating the truck up.

Thanks for the help, I've never worked on the coolant system of these trucks before.

 

[gm350reratliff]

My guess is that the water pump is leaking and the pulley is flinging it all over. Doesn't make sense that the TB motor is leaking it.

 

[TOYO74]

That clamp you asked about IS NOT an OEM clamp. Toyota uses clamps like the one that can be seen in your second photo on the large coolant hose below your alt. (hose has yellow stripe by OEM clamp)

Not sure from the photo but the end of the hose that aftermarket clamp is on looks a little ragged. My guess is: Cheap clamp plus damaged hose = equals leak when cooling system is at operating temp and is under pressure.

Try running engine until at operating temp and watch for coolant spraying from the hose end . Good luck.

 

[wfo9]

There are coolant hoses that run into the throttle body... for cold climate freezing up scenarios.

Those are probably leaking. you can put in a simply bypass... or just check the clamps. I'll look to see if I have a picture that shows where they are..

 

[JSparky]

My guess is that the water pump is leaking and the pulley is flinging it all over. Doesn't make sense that the TB motor is leaking it.

Hopefully not, let's put that in worst-case scenario. You're right though it would be an explanation.

That clamp you asked about IS NOT an OEM clamp. Toyota uses clamps like the one that can be seen in your second photo on the large coolant hose below your alt. (hose has yellow stripe by OEM clamp)

Not sure from the photo but the end of the hose that aftermarket clamp is on looks a little ragged. My guess is: Cheap clamp plus damaged hose = equals leak when cooling system is at operating temp and is under pressure.

Try running engine until at operating temp and watch for coolant spraying from the hose end . Good luck.

Thought so, thanks for confirming that. I'll have him see if he can check his work order to review what was done last year. I'm not sure how dealers operate down there so I don't know if I should be surprised by that hose clamp or not.

There are coolant hoses that run into the throttle body... for cold climate freezing up scenarios.

Those are probably leaking. you can put in a simply bypass... or just check the clamps. I'll look to see if I have a picture that shows where they are..

Thanks, I had no idea. If they had to take the intake off to get to the wiring harness they could have inadvertently compromised some of the fittings. Hopefully it's an easy fix.

Thanks again, anything helps for them down there as resources are limited.

 

[JSparky]

I figure I'll try and document this as best I can because I haven't seen this come up, at least not in the immediate past.

My old man sent me an update this morning, they idled the truck and noted coolant leaking from the throttle body. The local mechanics performed the bypass, thanks @wfo9. He also said the "whole assembly" would need to be replaced, I asked for clarification on why. It's headed to the Toyota dealership in La Paz right now.

 

[JSparky]

Short video of the leak:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y89fis9eHfk&feature=youtu.be

 

[TOYO74]

Thanks for follow up. So many threads dead end and you never hear what happened. Good info. Hope your dad gets it fixed right.

 

[JSparky]

Follow-up:

My old man had this inspected by the dealership in La Paz and they determined one of the coolant hoses feeding into the back of the throttle body had come loose. They said they had never seen it happen before. I remain suspicious that it wasn't properly reinstalled after they had removed it the first time to replace a wiring harness chewed by packrats, but who knows. Good thing is that it was an easy fix.

Thanks for the assistance everyone.

 

[nglayton]

That clamp you asked about IS NOT an OEM clamp.

Ditto this, I have never seen Toyota use that type of clamp.