First off, I'm a noob still learning my way around autos in general and T4Rs in particular. I spent a couple hours reading different threads and possible options of what I could do and I'm at the point I'd like to just get current opinions specific to my own rig.
Couple weeks ago my coolant was low and the reservoir was empty, so I filled and topped off, rig seemed fine when I checked over the next couple of days.
Last week inspected several things, and discovered my oil levels were under the "low" on the dipstick. Buddy said with a '97 T4R over 240k miles, it's probably at the point it burns off oil and to just get a quart to add and keep a quart in my truck and keep my eye on the levels regularly.
I went yesterday to get more oil and was ready to add in more but thought I'd check all my fluid levels first just to get in the habit of doing that more often. I noticed my coolant was again very low and the reservoir was almost empty again. Now here's the bizarre part: I checked the oil as well and suddenly the oil level was indicating it was at close to the "full" part of the dipstick.
Alarm bells are ringing. I don't know how old the radiator is; I bought the truck in late February this year and several inspections never indicated any radiator issues (including specifically asking for any signs of the milkshake issue). I did put 11k miles on the truck already, mostly over one cross-country-and-back trip since I got it.
Basically, if my coolant level is dropping (I added about 1/3rd of a gallon of coolant each of the two times I added more) and suddenly my oil level seems to have risen, has coolant gotten into my engine? There is zero external leaking that I can detect. At the same time, the first coolant refill was before noticing the oil level was low and it obviously didn't affect the oil level that time. So if there is an coolant-in-oil issue, it seems to have happened this past week.
Best I can tell, I don't have a milkshake issue, since my coolant doesn't seem cloudy nor is my reservoir filling up with fluid. I'm not getting any indication of overheating or smoking.
I did read that bad head gaskets could lead to coolant getting into the engine, which is my main worry.
I would like help and feedback about my planned diagnostics steps:
1. Drain the oil to try to detect any signs of coolant in it. Is there a good way to know if coolant is in the oil? The oil on my dipstick seems a lighter color than I'd expect, but I might just be imagining things and I'm not sure if there are any telltale clear indicators that coolant is in the oil or the engine. I recall reading something about pulling out spark plugs to see if there is clear fluid in the engine?
2. Attempt a compression test. I have seen most writeups suggest a manual test, but that an electronic test is also available. I know I'll need a gauge of some sort for the manual test and diagnostic equipment for the electronic test. If there are any suggestions about one test over the other (former is loooong, latter is easy but not as accurate, apparently) and the costs in time and money for both, that'd be appreciated.
Should I do the "leak-down" test I've read about if I'm a noob? Reading up on it, it also seems to rely on hearing to detect location of airflows; I'm deaf.
The mech I like said his test for bad gaskets would go for $58; sound fair? Might just have his place do the test if it's easy to screw up.
3. Flush the radiator. I was advised by multiple people to do this only after trying to test if the gaskets are bad. I've seen about 4-6 different ways to do a flush so I guess it's one of those "more than one way to skin a cat" type of deals, but if anyone has pointers for how to also try to detect if the radiator is bad while doing a flush, that'd be appreciated.
4. Manually inspect the head gaskets. Been told this is a royal PITA, but I've got the time and the willingness and there seem to be some writeups out there to help me figure things out.
Is there a way to inspect the transmission fluid to see if it's contaminated and avoid a flush of the tranny system? I've been told by multiple people that I really don't want to go around flushing the tranny on a vehicle with 240k miles unless I ABSOLUTELY have to. I can't seem to find a way to inspect the tranny fluid itself without taking all of it out of the vehicle.
Don't know if this is a noob thing to do or not, but I do plan to try to keep some of the drained oil and drained coolant to see if I can get them tested. I've read about chemical testing that can be done to confirm if the oil/coolant is contaminated, just not how or where or if it's worth it. If these tests can be done cheap, should I go to a Toyota dealership to have them test it?
Finally, should I consider getting a new radiator to put in now, or wait until I absolutely know what's up with my repeatedly dropping coolant levels before going that route? It's only happened the past month or so, and only twice (so far).
Couple weeks ago my coolant was low and the reservoir was empty, so I filled and topped off, rig seemed fine when I checked over the next couple of days.
Last week inspected several things, and discovered my oil levels were under the "low" on the dipstick. Buddy said with a '97 T4R over 240k miles, it's probably at the point it burns off oil and to just get a quart to add and keep a quart in my truck and keep my eye on the levels regularly.
I went yesterday to get more oil and was ready to add in more but thought I'd check all my fluid levels first just to get in the habit of doing that more often. I noticed my coolant was again very low and the reservoir was almost empty again. Now here's the bizarre part: I checked the oil as well and suddenly the oil level was indicating it was at close to the "full" part of the dipstick.
Alarm bells are ringing. I don't know how old the radiator is; I bought the truck in late February this year and several inspections never indicated any radiator issues (including specifically asking for any signs of the milkshake issue). I did put 11k miles on the truck already, mostly over one cross-country-and-back trip since I got it.
Basically, if my coolant level is dropping (I added about 1/3rd of a gallon of coolant each of the two times I added more) and suddenly my oil level seems to have risen, has coolant gotten into my engine? There is zero external leaking that I can detect. At the same time, the first coolant refill was before noticing the oil level was low and it obviously didn't affect the oil level that time. So if there is an coolant-in-oil issue, it seems to have happened this past week.
Best I can tell, I don't have a milkshake issue, since my coolant doesn't seem cloudy nor is my reservoir filling up with fluid. I'm not getting any indication of overheating or smoking.
I did read that bad head gaskets could lead to coolant getting into the engine, which is my main worry.
I would like help and feedback about my planned diagnostics steps:
1. Drain the oil to try to detect any signs of coolant in it. Is there a good way to know if coolant is in the oil? The oil on my dipstick seems a lighter color than I'd expect, but I might just be imagining things and I'm not sure if there are any telltale clear indicators that coolant is in the oil or the engine. I recall reading something about pulling out spark plugs to see if there is clear fluid in the engine?
2. Attempt a compression test. I have seen most writeups suggest a manual test, but that an electronic test is also available. I know I'll need a gauge of some sort for the manual test and diagnostic equipment for the electronic test. If there are any suggestions about one test over the other (former is loooong, latter is easy but not as accurate, apparently) and the costs in time and money for both, that'd be appreciated.
Should I do the "leak-down" test I've read about if I'm a noob? Reading up on it, it also seems to rely on hearing to detect location of airflows; I'm deaf.
The mech I like said his test for bad gaskets would go for $58; sound fair? Might just have his place do the test if it's easy to screw up.
3. Flush the radiator. I was advised by multiple people to do this only after trying to test if the gaskets are bad. I've seen about 4-6 different ways to do a flush so I guess it's one of those "more than one way to skin a cat" type of deals, but if anyone has pointers for how to also try to detect if the radiator is bad while doing a flush, that'd be appreciated.
4. Manually inspect the head gaskets. Been told this is a royal PITA, but I've got the time and the willingness and there seem to be some writeups out there to help me figure things out.
Is there a way to inspect the transmission fluid to see if it's contaminated and avoid a flush of the tranny system? I've been told by multiple people that I really don't want to go around flushing the tranny on a vehicle with 240k miles unless I ABSOLUTELY have to. I can't seem to find a way to inspect the tranny fluid itself without taking all of it out of the vehicle.
Don't know if this is a noob thing to do or not, but I do plan to try to keep some of the drained oil and drained coolant to see if I can get them tested. I've read about chemical testing that can be done to confirm if the oil/coolant is contaminated, just not how or where or if it's worth it. If these tests can be done cheap, should I go to a Toyota dealership to have them test it?
Finally, should I consider getting a new radiator to put in now, or wait until I absolutely know what's up with my repeatedly dropping coolant levels before going that route? It's only happened the past month or so, and only twice (so far).
