Severe Coolant Leak

[Americas High Five]

Here's the scoop:

I had my timing belt, water pump, radiator and lower radiator hose replaced about 4 weeks ago (approx 400 miles). On the way home from work I noticed a small amount of white smoke and the smell of radiator fluid. As I pulled into my driveway the leak appeared much worse and when I stopped what appeared to be a gallon of coolant was pouring onto my driveway. I opened up the hood and nothing immediately caught my eye. It appeared the radiator fan was spraying the coolant in the engine bay causing the smoke.

The 4runner currently runs and idles smoothly with no dashboard lights on. The leak appears to have stopped or have been significantly reduced.

My question is what might be the root cause of a leak of this magnitude?

07 V8 Sport with 197,000miles




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Trumpet]

How's the fluid level in the overflow tank?

Maybe they didn't properly burp the system, so it did it on the highway and you have a temporary mess.

 

[lbhsbz]

Find yourself a funnel that fits nicely in the LOWER hole of the radiator...give it few twists and get it good and stuck in there. Fire it up, turn the heater on, defrost off...keep the funnel about 1/2 way full until it comes up to operating temp. Then pull the funnel out, put the cap on, and take it for a hot lap. Then shut it off. Coolant temp will rise at it heat soaks after shut off, and so will pressure...any leaks should be visible at this point.

Poor man's pressure tester.

 

[jfry008]

Here's the scoop:

I had my timing belt, water pump, radiator and lower radiator hose replaced about 4 weeks ago (approx 400 miles). On the way home from work I noticed a small amount of white smoke and the smell of radiator fluid. As I pulled into my driveway the leak appeared much worse and when I stopped what appeared to be a gallon of coolant was pouring onto my driveway. I opened up the hood and nothing immediately caught my eye. It appeared the radiator fan was spraying the coolant in the engine bay causing the smoke.

The 4runner currently runs and idles smoothly with no dashboard lights on. The leak appears to have stopped or have been significantly reduced.

My question is what might be the root cause of a leak of this magnitude?

07 V8 Sport with 197,000miles




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A gallon of coolant leaking out is a major problem. If you had your radiator and water pump recently replaced, the leak could be coming from a lot of places (ex:upper radiator hose, lower radiator hose, block drains, water pump casing, thermostat housing, etc..).
Running the car with low coolant, you risk the chance of damaging the engine.
I don't believe not burping the system would cause this.

 

[DMV4runner]

Did u remember to secure the engine drain valves if you drained the block?

 

[blackoutt]

the last time I did my waterpump it took a couple days (on a road trip so almost 1500 miles) for the cooling system to properly bleed air out. Sounds like something is loose or not sealed properly in yours and when it finally bled the air out now you're losing coolant. Take it back to whoever did the timing belt job and tell them to fix it.

 

[Americas High Five]

Thanks for all the replies.

I have a tow truck coming to pick up the truck and take it back to the shop who did the work.

I am assuming it has to do with the work they performed but wanted to rule out any other possible causes.

I will update once i hear back from my mechanic.

 

[Americas High Five]

A gallon of coolant leaking out is a major problem. If you had your radiator and water pump recently replaced, the leak could be coming from a lot of places (ex:upper radiator hose, lower radiator hose, block drains, water pump casing, thermostat housing, etc..).
Running the car with low coolant, you risk the chance of damaging the engine.
I don't believe not burping the system would cause this.

it happened all of a sudden, driving fine then (thankfully) about 5min from home i noticed the smoke and smell then by the time i was parked in my driveway coolant was pouring out.

to me it seems like a hose or seal ruptured causing the massive coolant leak.

 

[Americas High Five]

As i am waiting for the tow truck i popped the hood and started digging around. How i missed this last night i dont know..but it appears the upper? radiator hose has become dislodged.

I am still going to send it back to the shop and have them do a once over and correct the issue.

Should i be concerned with the fact that radiator fluid has been sprayed in the engine compartment? Should i attempt to clean any particular engine components off that may be impacted by the fluid on them?

 

[fdbyrne]

it happened all of a sudden, driving fine then (thankfully) about 5min from home i noticed the smoke and smell then by the time i was parked in my driveway coolant was pouring out.

to me it seems like a hose or seal ruptured causing the massive coolant leak.

If the leak is as bad as you describe, it doesn't sound like a bad seal. I'd be more likely to suspect a hose clamp popped off or something like that.

Pulling the skid plate and looking at everything from below while the system is running might let you track down the culprit.

Edit - Nevermind. You found the problem as I was writing my post apparently.

 

[blackoutt]

Looks like someone forgot to slide the clamp back up. Quick fix, some wasted coolant and a dirty engine bay but you should be fine with a quick rinse and check over for any other missed clamps or not torqued bolts. It happens.

 

[Slowgoat]

As i am waiting for the tow truck i popped the hood and started digging around. How i missed this last night i dont know..but it appears the upper? Rryradiator hose has become dislodged.

I am still going to send it back to the shop and have them do a once over and correct the issue.

Should i be concerned with the fact that radiator fluid has been sprayed in the engine compartment? Should i attempt to clean any particular engine components off that may be impacted by the fluid on them?

That hose clamp is not put back where it should be, so the hose worked its way loose. (Being Captain Obvious here!)

Small detail that could have caused major headaches. It already has cased this one.

Hope you get it all sorted!

 

[jfry008]

:wow2:

Good thing the hose did come off on the highway!

 

[Americas High Five]

Got everything squared away and back on the road. the shop took full responsibility; they offered to pay for the tow however USAA roadside assistance covered it for free so they offered $100 off my next service instead.

All in all no harm was done and nothing was lost except for time and alittle bit of coolant.

thanks for everyone's input!

 

[AuSeeker]

Got everything squared away and back on the road. the shop took full responsibility; they offered to pay for the tow however USAA roadside assistance covered it for free so they offered $100 off my next service instead.

All in all no harm was done and nothing was lost except for time and alittle bit of coolant.

thanks for everyone's input!

Glad you came out of this without your engine being ruined!!

This should be a lesson for everyone, always look at the work done, I know there are some who aren't mechanically inclined, but these people should at least look under the hood to try and familiarise themselves what things look like in the engine compartment when everything is working perfectly so that after they have any work done they can look and possibly spot something that isn't quite right, that clamp not being where it should of been would of jumped up and smacked me in the face, so learn what to look for, even the best mechanics can have an oversight/bad day and forget a little thing that can destory major components!!