Boiling noise from coolant reservoir - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

azcat90 · 03-08-2011, 01:46 PM

On my 93 Camry XLE V6 (3VZ-FE) every time I turn off the engine after driving a while I hear a boiling noise coming from the coolant reservoir even though the temperature guage is normal the whole time I'm driving. I've only had it since December so I don't know what it will do once the Pennsylvania winter is over... I have not heard the radiator fan come on since I bought it - that might be because its cold...
Any ideas?

rusty9 · 03-08-2011, 02:11 PM

something is causing the coolant to boil. there are several things that will cause this:

thermostat stuck
cooling fan not working
radiator caps not holding pressure
blown head gasket letting exhaust gas into the coolant

first and easiest thing to replace is the caps. for some reason this system is very sensitive to worn out radiator caps. i recommend getting both from the dealer, as aftermarket ones arent the best for this application in my experience.

you can check the cooling fan and find a lot of info about in this post Hydraulic Fan Diagnostic Checklist (3vz-fe) you can do a quick test by jumping terminals E1 and OP1 in the diagnostic plug to see if the fan spins up to full speed.

azcat90 · 03-08-2011, 02:19 PM

Thanks - I'll check it out - I hope its not the gasket(s)...

azcat90 · 03-08-2011, 02:23 PM

When you say caps you mean the fill cap at the top of the engine and the one on top of the radiator?

rusty9 · 03-08-2011, 02:27 PM

yes. i had the same problem last year. mine was a faulty head gasket, but other people here have had it be just the caps. or even the solenoid connector on the PS pump was disconnected.

azcat90 · 03-08-2011, 03:08 PM

Yeah -I just read the repair manual instrcutions for replacing head gaskets. Ouch. That is a ton of labor. There is no way I'm going to start messing with valves and cam shafts. This is one advantage of the 2.2 L engine - my V6 doubles the work.

DarkSideMoon · 03-08-2011, 08:00 PM

I've had issues with the cooling system, turned out to be a combination of the water pump going bad, the fan not working properly, and having literally around a liter of sludge in the radiator. You said the fan doesn't come on at all. Do you mean literally not at all? If so there is definitely something wrong there. Easiest way is to jump the terminals and you should see a significant increase in speed. If it doesn't you have an issue somewhere in the fan system.

rhymz · 03-08-2011, 08:41 PM

had this problem and it turned out to be the cap, aftermarket ones are complete crap IMO, if the fan isnt coming on it could also be the fan relay in the under hood fuse box (had this problem as well)

azcat90 · 03-10-2011, 11:39 AM

I haven't sent it to the shop yet but the outside of the engine is wet around the front head gasket on the drivers side... I'm wondering if its better to buy a used engine and do a swap. Isn't a blown head gasket an indicator of more damage inside? I know at one point the radiator exploded and was replaced.

Chris Crash · 03-10-2011, 11:42 AM

This happened to me once and turned out to be a wrong mixture of water and coolant. Too much water not enough coolant, so the water started to boil.

azcat90 · 03-10-2011, 12:24 PM

The temp guage is always in the good range but it is still winter here... and the engine block is wet. Does anyone have an opinion about Thermagasket? Will it work on a 3VZFE (cast iron block)?

DarkSideMoon · 03-10-2011, 05:32 PM

I'm kind of leery of putting any additives in to stop something like that. I tried putting bar's leak in once and all it ended up doing was gumming up my coolant system. A head gasket repair would probably be significantly cheaper than a new engine if you do it yourself.

pmesfun · 03-10-2011, 05:43 PM

No Bar's Leak, tried that in my Voyager, and lets just say I don't have the car anymore.

csharp100 · 03-11-2011, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by azcat90

I haven't sent it to the shop yet but the outside of the engine is wet around the front head gasket on the drivers side... I'm wondering if its better to buy a used engine and do a swap. Isn't a blown head gasket an indicator of more damage inside? I know at one point the radiator exploded and was replaced.

Not necessarily. A blown head gasket could be caused by a warped cylinder head. The cylinder head could have warped because of overheating. This does not mean you have problems with pistons, rings, etc. If your seeing dampness there, something is not right. Run a compression check and see what you get. A compression tester can give good info on the internal condition of the engine including rings, valves and gaskets. Is your CEL on? What codes have been pulled?

Oh! For god's sake, do not use any of the stop leak or any of that other crap. Suck it up and fix it right the first time. You'll be happy you did.

rhymz · 03-11-2011, 06:57 PM

truth...i have learnt from experience that those quick fix products just make u spend more in the end...

hey i tried this once with a similar problem, try to retorque ur head bolts...actually did that and my blown HG symptoms went away...strange i know