low coolant problem

[mgcorreia]

Hi, I have a 1997 Toyota 4runner with 217k miles on it, 4 cyl, manual transmission. I've been having some problems with a constantly low coolant level in my car. Its been getting worse over the last 2 weeks. Last weekend I overheated driving around town, pulled over to the nearest gas station and poured almost an entire bottle of 50/50 coolant in there. Haven't had any problems all week driving to work about 25 miles round trip a day... until last night I overheated again and once again poured almost an entire bottle of 50/50 coolant in there. Seems the problem is getting worse now.

I've been trying to fix this problem for a while now and have tried a few things. About 5k miles ago I put in a new radiator and flushed the entire system several times until the water was running clear. There was some serious corrosion going on in there from the prior owner I bought the car off of 17k miles ago. I have also rented a pressure tester from oreilly and didn't find any leaks or experience any loss of pressure. I have no coolant leaks on the ground where I park, no coolant puddles in my engine, and no check engine lights. My car runs a little rumbly when I start it up and today I left it idling for a while and I had a bunch of white sweet smelling smoke coming out the tail pipe. I guess that's the best indication of a blown head gasket. I bought some of that blue devil head gasket sealer. We'll see how that goes , anything else I should do?

 

[02SE]

I would avoid using the "Sealer", and get it fixed properly.

 

[Quadsbc]

The sealer is junk. It will gum up your whole system and in the end it's just a bandaid on something that needs stiches. Time for a head gasket job.

 

[Srabai]

Sounds like a headgasket to me especially if the previous owner didn't take care of it. Have you run a block test yet?

 

[mgcorreia]

Hi, I did the compression test this weekend. Did both a wet and a dry run. I got 60 psi across all cylinders. that's pretty low isn't it? At least its even. ALSO** I take back what I said about the coolant in my oil, I have a stain on my dipstick which was throwing me off. No coolant in the oil.

I have a feeling the water pump might be the cause. I mean I can't have a blown head gasket with even compression in all cylinders right? Can a bad water pump cause the engine to misfire?

 

[SilverRidgeRunner1]

The water pump in these things are known to leak and get worst over time which is why its good to replace when doing the timing belt same applies to the Thermostat. I wouldn't rule everything out but pop the timing cover off and look down in where the water pump is located and check.

 

[mgcorreia]

Thanks, is it possible for a bad water pump to cause a misfire?

 

[e46inperrycounty]

Your water pump won't cause a misfire, your 60psi compression tells me you need to do some serious work to that motor and I'm surprised it even runs with compression that low. I believe it is supposed to be around 170psi and 140 would be minimum with 14psi variance between cylinders for the 22re motor.

 

[e46inperrycounty]

Pull the head, have it magnafluxed to check for cracks, have it machined and put a new head gasket/timing belt/water pump on it and hopefully you'll be good for another 80k+

 

[mgcorreia]

Would you suggest doing that chemical test with the blue liquid to see if it changes color before digging into the head gasket?

 

[SilverRidgeRunner1]

Thanks, is it possible for a bad water pump to cause a misfire?

Hmmm this would be another piece to the puzzle. I recall reading something somewhere in 97 they had a batch of headgasket fail and Toyota Rolled out a upgraded headgasket but Don't want to be spreading any lies because this happened on a few of them... also if there is a misfire this could be the clue to a headgasket failure.

 

[e46inperrycounty]

With the compression test being at 60psi, you need to take it to a reputable shop and have them run a compression test as well (your tester may have been broken). If the exhaust smells sweet, and is white, you have coolant in the combustion chamber. There are only a few ways it can get there, cracked head, cracked block, blown head gasket, pouring coolant into the intake. Regardless of which of the 3 it is, the head will need to come off. If the water pump is leaking it is timing belt driven I believe and therefore the timing belt will need to be removed so you are essentially ~20 bolts from having the head off anhways at that point. Take it somewhere reputable and have them run a few tests first. The blue to yellow block tester is great but it doesn't always work. I've had a few come into my shop and the block tester stayed blue even though every other test led me to pulling the head.

 

[mgcorreia]

Am I supposed to hit the gas peddle when I do a compression test? Maybe that's why its low. I just turned the ignition for 5 revolutions, didn't touch the gas. Do you rev the gas or hold the peddle down?

Also, I noticed something today... after the compression test I put the spark plugs back in another order, reversing the position of plug 1 and 4, and the misfire followed it. Im going to try new spark plugs. I have single tip NGK plugs in there now, they're only a year old but maybe double tips will help with that.

Also, I got a better look at my water pump today. Here is a pic taken from under the car. You can see a white streak of something (coolant?) has been coming out the bottom of the pump. Does that mean its busted??

 

[mgcorreia]

water pump bad? new spark plugs

Pic attached

Am I supposed to hit the gas peddle when I do a compression test? Maybe that's why its low. I just turned the ignition for 5 revolutions, didn't touch the gas. Do you rev the gas or hold the peddle down?

Also, I noticed something today... after the compression test I put the spark plugs back in another order, reversing the position of plug 1 and 4, and the misfire followed it. Im going to try new spark plugs. I have single tip NGK plugs in there now, they're only a year old but maybe double tips will help with that.

Also, I got a better look at my water pump today. Here is a pic taken from under the car. You can see a white streak of something (coolant?) has been coming out the bottom of the pump. Does that mean its busted??

 

[nevada]

the pump is leaking.

but based on your description, it sounds like a classic head gasket to me.

do the HG, and pump.


some of you above have suggested the timing belt. he said 4 cyl, it has a chain.

 

[mgcorreia]

Thanks for the support guys! I put in NGK iridium spark plugs last night, car is running way better now. The old ones were kind of cheap.

I started my water pump replacement last night but hit a road block as I can't for the life of me figure out how the belts come off. On most cars you just put a socket on a tensioner and push or pull and its spring loaded. Never seen anything like this before. Any advice ? I replacing the belts so I'm just going to cut them off, but putting the new ones on is going to be a nightmare.

 

[e46inperrycounty]

There is a tensioner on each belt. I haven't been into a 22re in years, but Toyota likes pulleys that you loosen the front bolt on, then there is a long bolt that is behind the pulley face that goes through a lug that the pulley is bolted to. Loosen the long bolt and after what seems like 1,000,000 turns you'll be able to get the belt off and back on. I misread the original post, though you had the 3.4. You can always Google image search for the tensioners and I'm sure you'll find what you need there. If you can't find it I'll look it up at work tomorrow and tell you exact placement. Should be one above water pump pulley and one to the left of the crank if I recall correctly.

 

[mgcorreia]

Would it have killed them to put in a dummy bolt?! geez.

Here is a tensioner on the alternator. So I understand correct, I loosen bolt 1 and then 2, correct? do these bolts come all the way off? And that's it, I can lift the belt right off there?

There is a tensioner on each belt. I haven't been into a 22re in years, but Toyota likes pulleys that you loosen the front bolt on, then there is a long bolt that is behind the pulley face that goes through a lug that the pulley is bolted to. Loosen the long bolt and after what seems like 1,000,000 turns you'll be able to get the belt off and back on. I misread the original post, though you had the 3.4. You can always Google image search for the tensioners and I'm sure you'll find what you need there. If you can't find it I'll look it up at work tomorrow and tell you exact placement. Should be one above water pump pulley and one to the left of the crank if I recall correctly.

 

[mgcorreia]

Here is a pic of another tensioner on the top with one of those long screws. I was working on taking it out and the screw snapped in half. Am I screwed?! No pun intended. This thing is going to fight me the entire way.

 

[e46inperrycounty]

Yes, loosen #1 and then #2. When they are being stubborn use penetrating oil and let it soak for a while before you start really cranking on it.