Its drinking coolant.

shootmymime

shootmymime

New member
2000 limited.
so ever other fuel fill up, my 4runner will drink a tank of coolant from the overflow. where is it going?

tranny looks fine.
no codes.
no smoke
no spots on the ground.
i havnt pulled my spark plugs to see if any look cleaner than others.

i have to fill up my coolant tank about every 500 miles.

give me some ideas to check because im stumped.
its never been hot in the 3 years ive owned it. idk if it even been flushed. everything runs fine but it just sipps coolant.
 
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Cracked hose only leaks when engine is hot and running? Had something like that happen before where my coolant would seep out of my upper radiator hose when running..
 
Could be a head gasket. I know you checked your tranny, but try checking your engine oil. If you have a bad head gasket, antifreeze can leak into your engine oil. Check your dip-stick...if you have a white-ish/gray looking milkshake...you found your leak.
 
Cracked hose only leaks when engine is hot and running? Had something like that happen before where my coolant would seep out of my upper radiator hose when running..
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ill look there. i just went mudding and jst washed everything so maybe i will see a leak.
Could be a head gasket. I know you checked your tranny, but try checking your engine oil. If you have a bad head gasket, antifreeze can leak into your engine oil. Check your dip-stick...if you have a white-ish/gray looking milkshake...you found your leak.
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sorry forgot to mention its not that ether.
 
I finally found it when I got to work one day and popped the hood to show a coworker my new headers left the motor running and it was like a vapor spray I didn't see anything on the hose
 
ok ill do some heavy searching. and ill let you know tomorrow. i haven't really looked at it. this is the first time of me seriously thinking about it.
just wanted to get some ideas of where to maybe look.
 
My son's 97 was using coolant and it was the head gasket. The only symptom was at WOT it had a small miss.
 
try to find crusty white ****. Small leaks will leave a flim of coolant on parts. It will harden into a white crust then try to figure out how it got there. try changing your hose clamps if they are old and worn, as it gets hot the pressure builds and it pushs out slowly
 
of course its raining outside so i wont be doing any searching...
i also have a coolant leak down tester but its 1300 miles at home. i only brought limited tools with me to school.

try to find crusty white ****. Small leaks will leave a flim of coolant on parts. It will harden into a white crust then try to figure out how it got there. try changing your hose clamps if they are old and worn, as it gets hot the pressure builds and it pushs out slowly
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ill take a look.
Pulling your skids might help the coolant have an easier path to the ground... For your diagnosing pleasure.
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good tip. ill do that also.
Check your rear heater lines too. I'd be willing to bet they're you're culprit.
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good idea. thanks for the tip ill check those too.
Age of the water pump?
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its got 170k miles on it. bought it around 130k. so 80k i assume on this new pump.
 
Is there any kind of sweet smell of coolant coming through the vents, especially with the heater on? I had an old car that blew the heater core and started leaking all over the passenger side foot well under the seat, you couldn't see it until you really explored down there, then there was a nasty wet spot hidden from view.
 
If you have no documentation proving that the pump was ever changed, I'd put changing it as a priority on my to-do list regardless if it is the root cause for the coolant loss or not.
 
when the engine is cool, open the radiator cap. Then start the truck. check for smoke from the radiator fill port.

When my car had a bad head gasket, I saw smoke coming out from the radiator. I also placed my palm to cover the radiator fill port and check for air bubbles in the coolant reserve tank (you must have coolant in the tank to see this)

The oil gets milky only if the oil line is open to a coolant line.
 
one other thing to check is the throttle body coolant lines, mine was leaking and i didnt notice it because all the coolant would just collect in the fuel rails section and make no spots on the ground.
 
T4r4life, what would you be checking in regard to the throttle body lines. What went wrong with yours?
Edit. Wasn't very clear. I get that the coolant line was leaking but where exactly was it leaking? How did you find it?
 
zgensler31 said:
T4r4life, what would you be checking in regard to the throttle body lines. What went wrong with yours?
Edit. Wasn't very clear. I get that the coolant line was leaking but where exactly was it leaking? How did you find it?
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it was leaking where the hose stretch over the housing it had a huge crack. i found out when i was cleaning the battery after the truck was running and i smelt coolant, and there was a big patch of dry coolant crust under the throttle body.
 
I suggest you get a compression test done and check the plugs as you mentioned ASAP.

The coolant -IS- going somewhere.

The results of those tests will go a long way towards helping limit the outcome.
 
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