Radiator low on Fluid

[bruinbabe4ever]

Hi All,

I have a 2004 V6 4WD 4Runner with roughly 165K miles on it. Just recently my temperature gauge spiked when I was idling, and saw the fluid in the radiator was about halfway full. My mechanic says I should replace the water pump, but I haven't noticed a large drop in my coolant reservoir level nor have I seen any evidence of leakage on the ground.

I heard that previous Toyota water pumps did weep and might show signs of corrosion (dried pink stuff on water pump), but they didn't need to be necessarily replaced.

I just want to make sure I'm not being taken advantage of. I'm living in a new city, so not quite sure which local mechanics I can trust.

 

[drewm]

Does it also idle funny at times? Have a white-ish exhaust when warm? You may have a blown head gasket.

If your car isn't dumping the coolant on the ground it must be eating it, which points again to a blown head gasket. Also the 2004 V6 is the most common year for blown head gaskets that we see on this forum.

 

[Robs08Runner]

Pressure test the system and cap.

 

[bruinbabe4ever]

No white-ish exhaust, no funny idle

I had a pressure test done about 6 months ago. It took about 2 hours for the to be a 10 psi drop, and nothing dripped from the water pump.

 

[jonesmw10]

I had a pressure test done about 6 months ago. It took about 2 hours for the to be a 10 psi drop, and nothing dripped from the water pump.

I think the PSI drop, even though it's slow, tells you there is a leak somewhere. Probably a headgasket issue as described by others....

 

[bruinbabe4ever]

Update on Radiator

I pulled the trigger and went with a new water pump since it was about that time. Mechanic pulled the old water pump out and saw it was not the original water pump, and a paper gasket was being used instead of the normal metal one. I purchased the car with about 65k miles on it, and I know I didn't replace the water pump. Did the previous owner get some shady work done on it? Wouldn't a water pump have been under Toyota warranty under 100,000 miles?