Coolant leak

[Wizzle]

This morning I noticed a puddle about the size of a baseball under my 4runner after moving it from the road next to my house into the driveway. I looked under there and it is coolant that is dripping out. It is not coming from the radiator, but from somewhere near where the oil filter. I checked the coolant levels and they were low in the reserve tank, so I put a little more in just to be safe.

You can see in the pictures that it is wet just to the left of my oil filter.

Please let me know what this means and how big of an issue it is. I will most likeley be leaving the 4runner parked for a bit until I know what the deal is and get it fixed. Thanks guys.

 

[Nashvegas34]

How old is your water pump? Its seal may have sprung a leak. There is also a hose that connects to an outlet on the right side of the water pump, right of the thermostat. That would be in about the right spot as what you're seeing. If it's just the hose it's not a huge deal. Even if the water pump has gone it's definitely fixable, it just requires some time and labor because you'll want to do the timing belt, too, while you're in there if it hasn't been changed in a while.

 

[LittleCaesar]

Weep hole of the water pump leaking out. Get yourself a timing belt kit and change all the goodies.

I think NV just changed his so he could give you some pointers I would believe.

 

[Wizzle]

Excellent. Have you guys done the water pump/timing belt replacement? Just curious about how long she will be out of commission.

 

[LittleCaesar]

It depends on many variables but the biggest is whether you want to tackle it yourself. If you feel up to it, here is a good thread for such:
Timing Belt and Water-Pump Replacement

If you end up taking it to a mechanic, $600-$1000 seems to be on par for the price these days.

 

[Wizzle]

I think I am just going to take it in and let a shop do it for me. I think I could handle it myself, but it would take me more time than I have right now to get the job done right. I will do it myself in 90,000 when the belt needs replacing again.

 

[Nashvegas34]

I did just do mine myself last week. The best part about it was being done. But I took my time and did it right, and my truck is happier now.

If you want to do it yourself, I can point you to a couple of write-ups I used, tell you what specific tools you'll need that you might not have (10" wobble socket extension, anyone?), and what I ran into that was unexpected.

If you have a shop do it, make sure they are familiar with Toyotas, specifically the 3.4L engine, and read this: http://www.motor.com/MAGAZINE/Articles/012007_04.html. Make sure they know to torque the crank bolt to 217ft/lbs and the right way to hold the crank pulley while doing it. If the bolt comes loose because it wasn't torqued properly, it could be bad.

 

[Wizzle]

Thanks for the heads up about the crank bolt. I will mention it to them when I talk to the guy in the morning. I was quoted at $575 for the water pump, timing belt, and all the other goodies that go along with the job, which doesn't seem to be too bad. The guy told me that if I drop the runner off tonight I will have it back Thursday evening. Looks like I will be spending some quality time with my Frontier for the next two days.