New to me 3rd Gen 4Runner, I have not seen this

[lukepilon]

Quick History:
> I recently bought a used 2000 4runner SR5 Sport from a dealer in WI (this is my 3rd, 3rd gen)

> Prior to buying it I took it to an offsite mechanic and had them do pretty thorough look. They found a few things, nothing I wouldn't do for a new used car anyway. It just looked like the car had not been driven a lot in the past year.

> Being that it's also my 3rd, I dug through the list of anything else I've had to do to the others. 4wd transfers well. Clear carfax, 1-owner, body seals are straight, 126,700 miles, some rust, so I do the deal.

I drive the car some ~500 miles in -5 below to 30 degree weather and no issue. Its been the kind of cold here lately. I am driving today and notice there is some steam/smoke coming from the front. I open it up to find this.

toyota-1.jpg - this is the top rear section of the engine compartment

toyota-3.jpg - this top hose is capped. this is dripping clear green fluid (radiator fluid?) out of the end of it at a pretty steady clip. this is running down onto the engine block and creating lots of steam. this bottom section of hose is hanging free. this doesn't look like it was just slapped on here recently.

toyota-5.jpg - the green beast that still sounds like she's running like a champ

I know I've got a trip to a mechanic in my immediate future.

Can anybody tell me what the person what trying to do / circumvent / or by capping this off?

 

[johnbyebye]

If I had to guess I would say that disconnected hose goes to a heater core which may have been leaking.

 

[pluton]

If I had to guess I would say that disconnected hose goes to a heater core which may have been leaking.

I'm gonna add that this looks like they capped(with one of those cheapo vacuum line caps that sell for 89 cents for five) one of the lines to the rear heater.
If you examine the FSM [EDIT: also look at the parts catalog drawings] you can make a determination about whether or not they did a good job and you can simply replace their cap, or if there might be a better way to handle the issue of the presumed kaput rear heater. The metal rear heater lines are known to rust out in the rust belt.

 

[lukepilon]

Thank you both johnbyebye and pluton for info. I know the rear defrost also does not work. It would be a bonus if addressing that issue and this one were one in the same thing.

Outside that, recapping this and keeping it as-is sounds like the best news I could possibly hope. As long as it isn't hurting the car in anyway, I'm happy to drive it like this until it warms up.

 

[nissanh]

Get rid of those cheap caps. They can fail and you'll notice you got a head gasket failure.

This is what I would do. Get 1 hose from the removed line and attach both ends to the tubes which are capped. Then bend the hose in the middle with a cable tie to prevent by-pass.

Rear heater does nothing to defrost the rear door window. Also the rear heater is useless. I have a fully functional rear heater (now, disconnected) but it takes about 30 minutes to pass hot air out from its vents.

 

[I_bRAD]

I have a fully functional rear heater (now, disconnected) but it takes about 30 minutes to pass hot air out from its vents.

Doesn't sound fully functional to me. Mine blows hot as soon as the front does.

 

[StreetCreeper]

Doesn't sound fully functional to me. Mine blows hot as soon as the front does.

As does mine.

 

[lukepilon]

[MENTION=85046]nissanh[/MENTION], thank you for that

I was able to replace the leaking rubber cap with a fresh one. No more leaking - no more smoke spilling off the engine. Progress.

While replacing the cap I also noticed that there was a second hose that had been capped in the same manner. I attached another picture the post to show this.

A friend put it up on a lift for me and we traced where the empty lines ran. They both drop down under the body and then back into the cabin at the start of the rear. These are most definitely rear heater lines. There is a non-zero chance this is a rust problem.

We're going to take the metal inserts that provide the spouts for these lines out of the equation entirely once it warms up.

Thank you for your help!

 

[gamefreakgc]

If you ever want to take out the rear heater core and replace it, the rear heat is a very nice feature. Especially if you live in a cold climate, it helps your passengers heat up quite nicely.

 

[acr_ted]

Doesn't sound fully functional to me. Mine blows hot as soon as the front does.

I've never used mine...I assume it is still there

 

[pluton]

I live in a warm climate, and I plan to remove the rear heater and re-plumb the heater hoses with normal hoses...they need to changed anyway after 20 years! The extra space under the rear seat is more valuable to me than a rear heater.

 

[HammerHead]

Lift the rear hatch and in the upper left corner there is a wire loom. Some of your wires are broken and just need to soldered back together. Happens all the time and should fix your rear defrost.

 

[jkeith.w]

I live in a warm climate, and I plan to remove the rear heater and re-plumb the heater hoses with normal hoses...they need to changed anyway after 20 years! The extra space under the rear seat is more valuable to me than a rear heater.

Same here. Any idea what the part numbers are for the alternate hoses?

 

[TheDurk]

If you ever want to take out the rear heater core and replace it, the rear heat is a very nice feature. Especially if you live in a cold climate, it helps your passengers heat up quite nicely.

Odds are the rear core is still good if coolant maintenance has been good. The fail is usually on the steel lines under the body going to and from the core. These can be replaced relatively easily with flexible parts store hose while saving the core. That will be the first place I look if I ever start losing coolant.

My rear heat still works great, and I'm glad I have it.

As to the rear defroster, the fail described above happens, but any liftgate issue may also be due to a wiring fail in the short harness between the liftgate and the body up by the left hinge. The wires flex and the conductors break and the insulation flakes off causing shorts. So check that before you dive into the liftgate.

 

[seabun]

I don't personally get any benefit from my rear heater, but it became essential during a road trip to California. Driving through the desert at night it would get so cold, and the front heaters did nothing for my buddies in the back. They were grateful we took my 4runner which had rear heat instead of one of cars which didn't!

 

[SaulG]

I don't personally get any benefit from my rear heater, but it became essential during a road trip to California. Driving through the desert at night it would get so cold, and the front heaters did nothing for my buddies in the back. They were grateful we took my 4runner which had rear heat instead of one of cars which didn't!

Lot of cabin area to heat up at -10. Like the rear heat , animals love it!

 

[TheDurk]

Lot of cabin area to heat up at -10. Like the rear heat , animals love it!

Just don't leave it on in the summer. On low fan you won't hear it, but you will wonder why your AC doesn't work. Ask me how I know.