overheating 4 banger - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

bowlofturtle · 05-06-2008, 06:50 AM

96 4 banger LE has about 100k on it. my mother drives this car in the city, 20 min commute in medium city traffic. ( stop lights and stop sign, 35mph limit)

she tells me the temp needle goes all the way up after 10 mins. The car WAS not maintained, all that was done ever to the car is plugs, air filter, oil changes at 4k, radiator was replaced about 4-5 years ago when i first got the car it just busted, coolant temp sensor was replaced about 3 years ago. coolant might of been flushed when the radiator was repalced but i didn't do it and i dont know. I would say just fill.

What i saw today was coolant was orange/brown in the overflow bottle. More brown then anything. It wasn't thick, just more like dirty water. I checked the oil, oil looked like oil. Now there is a oil leak that looks like its from the rear main seal that has been there for about 6-7 months. We just top off the oil and let it leak. its about 1 qt every 2 weeks. a thought that came up with maybe they mixed the toyota red with green stuff.

Let me know if the thought process is right here, first off thought is it might just be dirty coolant/ rusty stuff causing it to rot and maybe a improper mixture. So first do a drain and fill with green to see if it comes back brown, that should tell me maybe if the head gasket is blown or what. the first thought would be check to see if fans run when suppose to, t-stat opens when suppose to. if those things check out then what i fear is water pump, which should be near since i dont think t-belt and t-stat has been done. aside from that i dont know any other path to check out. maybe the sensor again and if the fins on the raditor still good.

With this car we are just trying to do keep it up and running for the least amount of money as possible. Car is going to be a trade in next year for a new car.

Luckynumber5 · 05-06-2008, 06:57 AM

Don't just fill it with good coolant, flush the system with an actual radiator flush product. Usually you just drain the system, put the flush in with water and drive it for a week then drain and fill back up with green.

bowlofturtle · 05-06-2008, 07:21 AM

ok, so i'll have to go out and get a super flush kit.

My thoughts were this, unplug the drain on the bottom, and the water hose spray in where the raditor cap would be and keep going untill i see completely clear water and then refill with my 50/50 mixture of green coolant. and give it a couple of days to see if it goes brown or not.

ghettosled · 05-06-2008, 12:11 PM

^flush out everything with the hose, not just the radiator. heater cores are prone to blocking easily.

sbushnak · 05-06-2008, 12:16 PM

when you flush the coolant, replace the thermostat as well.

Luckynumber5 · 05-06-2008, 12:59 PM

Just take the thermostat out, then flush the system like you are saying. But dont add antifreeze back yet. Add pure water and a bottle of radiator flush. Drive it for about a week like that (but replace the thermostat witha new one before driving) and then after a week flush the system and fill with your typical 50/50 antifreeze water mix.

Kep · 05-06-2008, 02:00 PM

Prestone makes a "cleaner" and a "flush" (as well as others...). Read the directions to see how long to let it stay in the car. Before you add the new coolant run plain water through the system a few times (drive at operating temp for 5 mins or so) to get the flush out. Then add your new coolant.

Up in Chicago I would calculate the amount of straight coolant (not that new pre-mixed stuff) that you need, put it in the radiator, and then add the remaining water needed to make sure that you get a 50/50 mix (otherwise the water remaining in the radiator after the flush will dillute the new coolant to less than 50/50).

Kep

bowlofturtle · 05-06-2008, 03:50 PM

thanks kep, actually i thought about that. i'm going to borrow my friends refractodmeter... w/e it is the measure the mixture like the 2nd day of driving to get as close as i can get.

so given the situiation, would you guys assume a stuck closed t-stat and dirty coolant being my problem? this seems like a good start at it, since most t-stats are say $15 with gasket and its VERY easy to gain access to. coolant runs 10$ a gal. so all in all $35 fix start at most. But i'm wondering what %age of this curing my problem would be.

TMetalMan · 05-06-2008, 04:28 PM

I would say pretty good. For a while I was having a similar issue, except that I have a slight coolant leak. A new thermostat from Toyota (about $20 with tax) fixed my overheating problems. But I still have that coolant leak...

bowlofturtle · 05-06-2008, 09:09 PM

most coolant leaks are at the water pump... from what i seen in all types of cars. if its not the obvious things like leak at hose connection.

t-stat/ gasket is already order at my local toyota dealership, hopefully getting it at 5%+ cost.

bowlofturtle · 05-09-2008, 11:32 PM

replaced t-stat today... found out it was frozen in the smaller stage so i assume thats closed. so stuck closed. Replaced it and ran the coolant flush. mother is going to drive it morrow and i'll reflush the system...

question... is the radaitor drain valve hard to locate? i didn't see it at all? any other ways.

TMetalMan · 05-10-2008, 02:06 AM

The radiator drain valve is easy to locate. On my car it's white, so it's easy to spot. The engine block drain isn't nearly as easy to locate/access, in fact I have yet to actually drain the block.

bowlofturtle · 05-10-2008, 11:59 AM

when looking under the car up wards towards the engine... i noticed 3 open little holes in the splash guard. 1 towards the drivers and 2 towards the pass side. none of which leads me to valve i want. nor was any of them white...

what type of bolt head am i looking for? + / - or socket type..

Bear95 · 05-10-2008, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bowlofturtle

when looking under the car up wards towards the engine... i noticed 3 open little holes in the splash guard. 1 towards the drivers and 2 towards the pass side. none of which leads me to valve i want. nor was any of them white...

what type of bolt head am i looking for? + / - or socket type..

Easy to find. Stand in front of the car, battery side. Lean in towards the engine. Line your eye up with the rad hose and look down to the bottom of the rad. The drain valve is actually a white wing nut that you can loosen with pliers. Open it slightly and it will drain slowly, open it all the way and antifreeze will squirt everywere.
Bear95

bowlofturtle · 05-13-2008, 06:51 PM

thanks bear for the detailed info. i found it, mines was black as i replaced my rad.

everything was flushed out. new t-stat put in and it drove great for 2 days and now back to overheating. It hits H when drive stated by my mother. I ran it in the garage to see if the fans did kick on... the fans kicked one but after it gotten in the hot side. So i'm thinking what ever is used to control the fan. temp sensor? fan relay? or something in that lines