Cooling system

[asushi]

Going off that overheating thread - I recently also had this problem. I drove for two hours when my temp gauge started jumping up. Pulled into a gas station and my coolant was super low + boiling off. I must've filled back at least 5L that day. Also, there are lots of rust rust particles in the res. tank + a dark coolant color.

I went about to parts stores and consulting mitchell on demand, couldn't find the procedure for a flush and fill. All I found was capacity of 8.3L of coolant for auto transmission.

That being said, can somebody give me a quick rundown of what the procedure is, should i replace t stat, rad cap etc. What coolant is recommended?

'93 camry, 3VZ

[msrdude]

I havent done a flush n refill on a camry; only on a corolla but i am sure they are and should be the same procedure. A dark coolant color means that your coolant is overdue and will not cool the engine when it needs to and I believe will start evaporating. Mine evaporated every 2 wks. I recommend or it requires a 50/50 coolant ethleyne glycol. I would not replace anything until after you flush, refill and check on the car. Cheap and easy way. There should be a drain plug on the bottom of the radiator (I think you know what that is) Make sure to have a drain pan to catch the coolant. I would then either buy the flush kit or use a garden hose that can shoot out a strong stream of water to clean the interior of the radiator with engine running. Do for about 3 to 5 minutes. I would also clean the coolant reservior tank too and i am sure it is removable. Put the drain plug in and fill appropriate amount of coolant into radiator and reservior. Do not put the radiator cap on yet. Turn on the car and rev the engine for about 3 to 5 minutes to remove any air in the radiator and you will see the coolant level in the radiator will drop and add more in when that happens. Keep doing it until the level does not drop anymore. BTW, is there any leakage or anything?

[ekopel]

hey bud, it sounds like you have sprung a leak.

Give it a good draining and filling like these guys were saying, and then do a fill with just water.

start the car and see if you can find any leaks.

if you determine there is no leaks, drain and put in coolant.

if you determine there is a leak, fix it, put in coolant.

how many miles on motor? if no leak, but still burns water/coolant and still overheats, it is most likely a head gasket.

keep us posted. im interested.

[whip_cracker]

^^ Agreed...

Buy an OEM thermostat and get replacement rad cap and filler cap. Pressure is 1.0 for rad and 1.1 for filler I think? I just replaced them both with 1.8s... no price difference, just better pressure handling.

Always use Toyota's Long Life Coolant (The red stuff). Use a 50/50 mix with distilled water for use.

- Clean overflow bottle.
- Take filler and rad caps off.
- Drain out rest of coolant from small tap at bottom of radiator... use bucket or something to capture all coolant (or what's left of it).
- Replace rad cap
- Refill with straight water
- Start the car and let run
- Once car reaches operating temps, the coolant should start moving around the system. Fill up with water at filler neck until sitting on the brim.
- Replace cap
- Take car for a spin around the block, park car and turn car off.
- When cool enough, empty out water/coolant through tap at bottom of radiator.

Do this like... 3-4 times at least, or until water is clear. (To get to radiator tap, you'll need to undo a few screws to get around plastic guard)

Mix up the coolant in a 1L or 2L bottle (500ml distilled water, 500ml coolant or whatever).

- Put tap back on radiator
- Take filler cap off
- Fill up car with the new coolant/distilled water mix via filler cap.
- Start the car
- If the coolant starts dropping, keep filling up. You could use up to 1L of coolant here.
- There will be bubbles... big ones and small ones... wait til ALL of them disappear. Yes, ALL of them. This can take anywhere up to 1/2 an hour (did with mine anyway). You basically have to "burp" the car and make sure there's no bubbles or air caught in the cooling system otherwise the pressure isn't going to come. I normally squeeze the hose from the rad to the filler cap to get some air there too.

Basically - as long as you've cleaned all the shit outta the cooling system, replaced with NEW TOYOTA COOLANT and an OEM thermostat (some aftermarket ones don't even work out of the box) and burp the system properly, you should be sweet. The burping is a priority.

See how ya go with that mate!

[asushi]

i'm unsure of the leak, i figured i'd do a flush and fill at the very least. how do these motors take to those flush in a can kits? you guys have any tips on determining leak?

as for motor, it has 90,000 miles on it. i hope it isn't headgasket; i didn't see any signs of this when i last did oil change + there is no oil in coolant.

thanks for the tips guys, wish me luck. i won't get around to it until thursday when i have time

[djb2]

A few corrections for the posts above.

Dark or old coolant has the same cooling ability as fresh coolant. The reason to replace the coolant is to refresh the additive package. The corrosion inhibitors and Ph buffering are depleted over time.

If there is obvious corrosion particles or oil scum in the coolant, a off-the-shelf radiator flush is a good idea. These are usually a mild buffered acid, such as a citric acid compound, with a detergent. They are too mild to do much -- they won't eat through a clog in a radiator tube -- but will give a better starting point for the corrosion inhibitors in the fresh coolant. A really good flush is called for after using, both to rinse out the flush solution and remove the scale that it loosens.

I agree with doing a water-only fill to locate the leak. Think of it as an extra flush cycle.

Never replace the stock radiator cap with a higher pressure one. It won't improve the cooling. But it could cause something expensive to burst, rather than safely vent into the overflow tank.

If you have an 5sfe, I suggest removing the elbow hoses behind the exhaust manifold to inspect the inside of the hose. The hoses there are subject to high heat, and the tight bend results in widely spaced reinforcement fibers. I recently had one burst just a few months after a careful external inspection. The hose outside looked in very good condition, but the interior was deeply cracked.

[asushi]

very informative, thank you.

is there a device or tool to check if my cooling system is pressurized during running? it is my understanding that they are meant to operate above 1 bar.

[whip_cracker]

Never heard of a device that can measure the pressure... maybe a radiator shop might be able to use their flushing machine?

I've never had a problem with higher pressure caps on my car... Mind you I'm not expecting anything expensive to burst either. I just double checked my rad cap... it's 1.1 and the filler cap is 1.8, unlikely to come across any issues

[muminiasty]

When I flush system with distilled water run the car. Won't it be too hot to open it and then run the cleaning again?? Manual says not to open the system when hot.

[muminiasty]

I have 97 v6 Do I flush radiator and engine block? Are draining bolts in the same places? Under radiator left and under engine block? Do they look the same?

[asushi]

Hey update: so I noticed a small puddle right start forming a few days before I did a flush. I hooked up my flush kit to the garden hose, didn't run any products and just flushed out the system. Now I'm pretty depressed to find out that I in fact, do have a leak. I let it be for a few days, and finally today the leak has got to the point that my engine is completely devoid of any coolant.

This being my first Toyota, I was pretty confused when tracing the cooling lines and looking at the block. I removed the expansion tank, the washer fluid bottle, engine cover, and a bunch of lines on the pass. side of the engine. I noticed that the engine was pretty damp on this side. Is it possible that my water pump is on it's way out? Or is it merely a gasket? The hoses and rad are bone dry.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...oling%2BSystem

^ using above list for component check reference.
Any tips are HIGHLY appreciated.

[JohnGD]

Have a radiator shop do an exhaust gas test in the cooling system. If they detect any exhaust gas then the head gasket is blown. If not, you should be in good shape and can probably just replace the timing/pump related components.

Is the leak coming from the near or under the black plastic timing belt cover? That's where the water pump sits. Sounds like corrosion started a while back, and that along with particles probably worn the pump seal down.

If the do the pump you might as well do the timing belt and all the rubber seals there (cam, crank, oil pump seals). Plus water pump housing o-rings/gasket. With an overheat I'd change out as much rubber parts as I can.

Originally Posted by asushi

This being my first Toyota, I was pretty confused when tracing the cooling lines and looking at the block. I removed the expansion tank, the washer fluid bottle, engine cover, and a bunch of lines on the pass. side of the engine. I noticed that the engine was pretty damp on this side. Is it possible that my water pump is on it's way out? Or is it merely a gasket? The hoses and rad are bone dry.

[asushi]

good advice. I think I'm almost resigned to the fact that I'd have to do this now.

However, is there a DIY at home test to determine if it's head gasket?? I really would rather not drive this car at the moment.

[JohnGD]

You can order a combustion gas test kit. Not sure how difficult to use. About $50 at your local NAPA, according to the following:

http://www.arrowheadradiator.com/hea..._leak_test.htm

I don't know anything about this kit, but maybe it does not require engine running to test for dissolved gas in the coolant???

Originally Posted by asushi

good advice. I think I'm almost resigned to the fact that I'd have to do this now.

However, is there a DIY at home test to determine if it's head gasket?? I really would rather not drive this car at the moment.

[asushi]

So I've been dreaming (or having nightmares) about the car. I'm no mechanic, but I love tinkering with things: would a compression test (pull plug, fuel relay, crank with gauge in place) indicate a blown headgasket as well?

other thing is i'm not down on power. the thing was pretty good the last time i drove it.