Help!!!

[93_3vzfe]

hello TN...i own a 93 V6 Camry and i have noticed that lastnight after arriving home, steam was coming out of the radiator reservoir. i checked the temp gauge and it read normal and the radiator fan works fine too. i let the engine cool and checked the coolant fluids and they were low, so i refilled. the next morning i bought more coolant and when i got back home, steam was coming out again.

what could be the problem? help me ToyotaNation!!!

[csaxon]

Start with a newToyota radiator cap. It may not be holding pressure.

[Zembonez]

^^^ What he said. If the car is not actually overheating, the cap may just be bad.

[LynchburgCSI]

An OEM TOYOTA radiator cap. That's VERY VERY important. Don't go aftermarket here.

[camry6]

+1^ Check out the above suggestions for sure, I just hope that it didn't blow a head gasket. That happened to three of my 3VZ-FE's (2 '92s and my '93). If combustion gasses leak into the cooling system, it will over pressurize the system beyond the rad cap holding pressure. This will cause the coolant to be pushed out of the system until it looses enough coolant to actually run hot and boil over. The way to do a quick simple check (unless there is only a small leak in the head gasket, then a carbon-in-the-coolant test or cooling system leak down test may be needed to detect smaller leaks) Remove the upper rad cap (highest point in system), set heater temperature (not the fan) to high. Top off the coolant completely and start the engine. If the coolant level drops in the filler neck on the engine, just keep topping it off until the coolant level stays up where you can see it. Watch closely for bubbles consistently rising up through the filler neck. Watch for a while to see if there is a steady stream of bubbles rising up (a few intermittent bubbles at first may just be from air trapped in the system, if this is the case then those bubbles should stop after a couple of minutes). If there is a steady stream of bubbles, then it probably has a leaking head gasket. Another thing to check is with the cooling system full and the rad caps on. Warm the engine up completely by driving around for 15-20 minutes. Stop the car and lift the hood while the engine is running. Watch the coolant overflow reservoir for bubbling, if there is bubbling, then there is a compression leak.

[93_3vzfe]

Thanks for the tips guys. Will do everything suggested and post an update. Thanks again.

[fenixus]

also make sure the radiator fans are kicking in when car is warm already and idles in parking lot. but if the temp gauge on dash shows normal then most likely it's a rad cap issue as suggested above.

[93_3vzfe]

turns out to be the waterpump...thanks for all the suggestions. without TN, i would be lost.

thanks to csaxon, Zembonez, LynchburgCSI, camry6 and fenixus for their wisdom