95 Camry coolant loss - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

markdunn99 · 01-15-2011, 09:25 AM

Hi folks,

My son's 95 LE 2.2 4cyl is losing coolant fairly rapidly. I checked it after filling it and within one week the overflow tank as well as most of the radiator itself were empty. I fear the worst (head gasket) but....otherwise the car runs perfectly fine....don't notice really any smoking to speak of....engine is not running rough at all... I haven't had a chance to have a really close look for leaks since we've been buried in snow up here but will do so as soon as I can...but at first glance no obvious signs of leaking anywhere. Soooo..I guess my question is...if the head gasket were breached enough to be losing that much coolant...wouldn't the car be running crappy? Low compression? I do have a compression gauge and will take a measurement when I have a chance...I'm hoping it's a leak somewhere that just isn't obvious...I could tackle a head gasket - done it before....but don't have the time now as he needs the car daily...plus...don't have a garage to work on it in the winter here in Boston area. Thanks for any thoughts....

***Mister_Perkins*** · 01-15-2011, 09:38 AM

Go to your parts store and get a Radiator Pressure Tester. (You will also need an air compressor to do this).. hook the adapter onto the radiator and Adjust the pressure tool to 15PSI. Insert the needle side into the adapter and hook an air compressor up to the tool. Let the pressure test run for 15 minutes. While it pressurized, use a shop light and look around the radiator, connections, Head, water pump, hoses, etc.. for bubbling, leaking. Also look underneath the car for dripping (indicating a coolant leak. Confirm by smelling it)

If you dont see any leaks or bubbling, pull every spark plug and look at the condition of the spark plug. If you have any spark plugs that are very very clean (washed off looking) Thats a high indication that you have a bad head gasket. Also look at the oil, if it looks separated (water/oil) thats a good indication as well. Pull the oil cap, inspect for a milky residue.

The smoke out the exhaust will smell sweet (Antifreeze) if bad.

I would pressurize the system first since you said that you didn't notice excessive smoke, and its not running poor.

curry.style · 01-15-2011, 12:10 PM

I had the oil cooler line seeping on my wagon in addition to the lower heater hose and had very similar symptoms. I would check all the hoses before I went through all the trouble of a pressure test.

***Mister_Perkins*** · 01-15-2011, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by curry.style

I had the oil cooler line seeping on my wagon in addition to the lower heater hose and had very similar symptoms. I would check all the hoses before I went through all the trouble of a pressure test.

The pressure test will just give you a 100% confirmation where a leak is coming from. Whenever a vehicle with a coolant problem comes in those steps are exactly what I do to diagnose the problem. If you can visually see a leak without testing it though, by all means do so

markdunn99 · 01-16-2011, 08:44 AM

Thanks for the tips. I had a few minutes with the car yesterday....took the rad cap off and started it up and let it run for a bit..unfortunately there are bubbles coming up in the radiator so....I guess that confirms a head gasket breach huh? Any experience with those head gasket sealers? Bars? I was thinking of throwing some of that in at least to tide him over until the good weather gets here...I can't do a lot of work on the car here in the winter outside. Any suggestions on any certain type of head gasket to get? I suppose I would do the water pump and timing belt while I have it apart. The car has 150K miles on it....is very solid otherwise..and as I stated earlier it is running just fine..no problems at all....if it weren't for the obvious coolant loss you wouldn't know there's a problem. Not much rust on the body at all...and I've done a lot of suspension work on it so I suspect it's certainly worth replacing the head gasket. My only problem is the timing....it will take me a while to do that job and he needs the car every day so we'll have to figure something out. Thanks again....

***eyeball96*** · 01-16-2011, 09:01 AM

My previous 96 began loosing coolant...it was a hair line crack at the top of the radiator.

Here's a link to one of my first post in 04

radiator hairline fracture!

markdunn99 · 01-16-2011, 09:31 AM

Thanks.....it's a brand new radiator though....I already replaced it a few months ago...along with the hoses...It didn't make any difference to the problem...he's still losing coolant as much as he was before the new radiator.

markdunn99 · 01-23-2011, 11:15 AM

An update....had some time with the car yesterday....turns out it was a leak....I was able to see it dripping out from where the alternator adjustment bracket bolts to the water pump area.....unfortunately when I went to tighten that bolt it sheared right off inside the hole. So....I packed in and around that area with rtv sealant and looks like that stopped the coolant leak, but now that alternator bracket is not attached at the bottom there so there's no way to adjust the belt tension with the adjusting bolt. I suppose so long as the pivot bolt for the alternator is really tight it won't go anywhere right? Not looking forward to trying to get that sheared off bolt out....there's no room to drill...would have to use a right angle drill and try to jam a bolt extractor in there and hopefully that would get it out. I suppose I could have someone tack weld that bracket to the block down in that area but of course if I ever had to remove it then I'd be out of luck. Oh well...at least his leak seems to be fixed....I'll worry about the bolt when the weather gets warmer.

***Mister_Perkins*** · 01-23-2011, 11:26 AM

Glad ya found the problem! Too bad your bolt sheared off

If I were you, I would grab a paint marker, and pull the timing belt off making sure to mark exactly where it came off. Also remove the water pump. I think if you remove the waterpump you might have a stub that you can grab a hold of. After you get the bolt removed, run a tap into it to clean the threads up and put a new bolt in. Use the RTV, or get some make-a-gasket paper and make your own gasket.

The biggest problem you may run into if you dont fix it is that if your alternator belt stretches at all, or is over tensioned and it breaks your bracket is going to let loose and drop the alternator and bracket, possibly damaging something else

markdunn99 · 01-23-2011, 12:51 PM

Thanks for the reply. I don't think the bracket would "let loose" would it, since it's still attached to the alternator on the top side. But yes you make a good point with the timing belt...actually I wonder if I just take the cover off maybe there might be enough to get hold of the bolt? At any rate.....I've been thinking about doing his timing belt anyways...not sure if it's ever been replaced (150K miles) - I know it hasn't since he's had it (since 125K miles)....so of course if I'm in there I'll throw a new water pump in as well and seal it all up good. But again....I gotta wait for warmer weather for that job..... :-) Thanks

***Mister_Perkins*** · 01-23-2011, 12:58 PM

Well even though its attached at the top side, the alternator is made to swing up and down on that bolt that holds it in place so when you adjust it, it either swings up or down. The bottom bolt is purely for support. No bottom bolt and it will just swing down. I'm guessing its jammed onto the threads at the bottom, which may hold up for a while but theres not telling once the alternator belt stretches a little any vibration will allow it to slide off the side

markdunn99 · 01-23-2011, 04:17 PM

I understand the alternator is made to swing up and down but as long as the pivot bolt is tight it shouldn't move right? You still have to loosen the pivot bolt before being able to adjust it up or down to tighten/loosen the belt.

LVLT FIXIT · 01-26-2011, 12:44 AM

Broken bolts are a pain! Here are the some ways you can fix it.
1. Forget welding it – steel bracket to aluminum pump housing want work. If you try to weld it to some point on the block, then you are asking for more trouble in the future. Besides there is a risk to your electronics getting fried.
2. Never drill from the broken side unless you have to. Bolts break in a twisting shear that leaves an angle break. Your hand held drill will walk right off to the side of the hardened bolt and make a messed up oblong hole in the soft aluminium. If you must drill from the front. Then use a bushing as a drill guide as noted below.
3. The bolt that the adjustment arm swivels on passes thru the water pump and water housing and threads into the engine block in a thru hole. If you have to drill it, the best way is to drill it from the backside. Your drill bit will be trying to unscrew it as you drill. Looking at my car, there is about 1/8 of unused thread in the rear. In other words the bolt does not come out the other side if it is the original bolt length. Use that small amount to insert a ¼” OD bushing into the hole so it can be used as a drill guide bushing so you get the hole drilled in the center. You will be drilling a case harden bolt that is very hard and your drill will want to walk off to the side and then you have a mess. On center is important! Use a drill bit no larger than a # 25 and buy a split point cobalt drill bit. Drill the hole thru the bolt – use Crisco as a lube and drill at low rpm with high pressure. After you drill the center hole thru the bolt then tap it with a 10-24 tap - #25 is the correct drill for this size bolt. Do not tap to full depth all the way thru. You may want to then use a bottom tap if you are short on threads – 4 full threads deep is kind of a minimum. Then take a 10-24 bolt a thread it into where you just tapped –from the rear. It should bottom out in the hole and then thread out the broken liner left in the hole. When it gets tight give it a little torque – but don’t break it – then back off repeat a few times and it should come out. Before you start any of this, soak the broken bolt with PB Blaster or Kroil (the best) for several days if you can. Use your RTV to build a pocket around the backside and fill it with PB Blaster or Kroil so it can soak in. When you reassemble it use a longer bolt snug it up and then put a fiber lock nut on the back. You do that because you may have some thread damage inside the hole and you don’t want a repeat. If you totally screw it up, then drill it out to size and use a bolt and nut arrangement.
4.

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5. Kroil is by far the best penetrating oil of there. It was the only thing that would loosen jet engine exhaust parts.

markdunn99 · 01-26-2011, 07:45 AM

Thanks very much for the info....I appreciate it. I thought about drilling from the backside but not sure I have any more room that way? Maybe there is more room coming in from that side....I'll check it. As luck would have it..I just got home with my son and his car - had to tow it back here to my house...it died on him this morning. I'm guessing his timing belt broke....he said everything was fine...driving along and then it just died suddenly when he pulled into a driveway and now it won't start...sounds like a timing belt to me...gotta pull the valve cover and see if cams are turning or not. If my diagnosis is correct I'm in for a long cold day. I was planning to replace his timing belt as soon as the weather got better here but I guess I may have been too late. Anyway..150K on the car and I don't know if it's ever been replaced so certainly would make sense if that's what happened. I'll do the water pump while I'm there....hope I can get that bolt drilled out....that's not gonna be fun. Thanks again

LVLT FIXIT · 01-26-2011, 10:00 AM

Removing the dist. Cap will tell you if the cams are turning. Make yourself a hook to pull the tension spring up. Get a piece of 3/8 to ½” tubing; drill a 1/8” hole thru at the center; use a piece of 1/8 stiff wire thru the hole; wire goes thru the hole and bend it around the tube and make a hook on the other end; comes in handy for a lot of things; wire from a tomato ring is what I used.– or - I use a bushing that is 2” long x .250 OD x .1875 ID – slide it thru the spring hook; put it on the pin and lift up sliding the spring off onto the pin. A piece of rigid tubing will work too. --- To drill - set the AC aside and you may need to remove the oil filter and cooler. Don’t forget to soak it good and use Crisco shorting as a lube on the drill – it melts as you drill. Good luck and Don’t forget to chip off the ice icicles first.