Messy Coolant Reservoir

[Yuko]

I love to keep my engine bay clear from dirt and grease, but I have this small problem for a while. Ever since I got the Camry, I notice the coolant reservoir always leave coolant stain or so outside of the bottle and on the engine bay. I have clean it, replaced the cap, even going as far as remove it to smooth out the plastic mold lines; yet it's still leaks. Other than to RTV the cap, have everyone else had this problem? My coolant system is in perfect working order (with Toyota's red coolant) but is this normal?

[pmesfun]

I get spills too, not as bad though. Did you replace the cap with a new one? I think thats my problem, just forgot about it.

[bdy0003]

Yes he did.

Originally Posted by pmesfun

I get spills too, not as bad though. Did you replace the cap with a new one? I think thats my problem, just forgot about it.

Edit: Oops...I thought rad cap, but its not specified.

[bdy0003]

Do you fill it when the engine is warm or when its cold? Coolant will leak out if you fill it to the line when its cold.

[cf99]

When you say you replaced the cap, do you mean the reservoir cap, or the radiator cap?

If you did replace the radiator cap, are you sure it was the correct part with the right psi rating? Most people here seem to recommend only an OEM radiator cap.

BTW, it could just be the lighting in the photo, but your coolant looks dark, on the brownish side. It should be vibrant red and crystal clear. If you've ever thawed frozen strawberries and they oozed juice, that juice is the bright red color it should be.

[Yuko]

Originally Posted by cf99

When you say you replaced the cap, do you mean the reservoir cap, or the radiator cap?

If you did replace the radiator cap, are you sure it was the correct part with the right psi rating? Most people here seem to recommend only an OEM radiator cap.

BTW, it could just be the lighting in the photo, but your coolant looks dark, on the brownish side. It should be vibrant red and crystal clear. If you've ever thawed frozen strawberries and they oozed juice, that juice is the bright red color it should be.

The radiator cap is OEM and and I replaced the reservoir cap. The coolant is a nice clear red color and only topped off with distilled water. Never overheated.

I think during a long drive, the coolant in the reservoir slosh around and leaks pass the cap.

[pmesfun]

Did you replace the reservoir cap with a new one or from the junkyard? I think the spills happen coolant moves around too much and spills out the overflow port.

[71Corolla]

I would try replacing the entire tank and cap, and also the overflow hoses. I was having a similar leak but not near as bad on my '93, replaced the cap but still saw some coolant on the outside of the bottle. I replaced the tank and hoses (new ones), problem went away. BTW, check to make sure there is a rubber gasket in the cap and it is lined up correctly.

[Yuko]

Originally Posted by pmesfun

Did you replace the reservoir cap with a new one or from the junkyard? I think the spills happen coolant moves around too much and spills out the overflow port.

I replaced the cap with two different junkyard caps, even from a Gen 3. They all snap on tightly.

Originally Posted by 71Corolla

I would try replacing the entire tank and cap, and also the overflow hoses. I was having a similar leak but not near as bad on my '93, replaced the cap but still saw some coolant on the outside of the bottle. I replaced the tank and hoses (new ones), problem went away. BTW, check to make sure there is a rubber gasket in the cap and it is lined up correctly.

I haven't replaced the tank yet. I believe it's a faulty cap but I don't recall any of the caps having a rubber gasket. Maybe that is the problem.

[pmesfun]

I would get a new one from the dealer. They are about $3-4.

[ajkalian]

This has annoyed me forever and I finally decided to do something about it.

The problem is the cap itself. It's a crummy, cheap design, and when the coolant sloshes around it leaks out of the top. Then there's the drain tube to vent pressure. It just pukes coolant on the top of the tank, and it drains down and makes a mess in the engine compartment. What were they thinking?

I looked around to see if I could come up with a fix. I found some rubber stoppers that I had used for feet on another project, and much to my surprise they fit perfectly.

Plugging the hole is one thing, keeping the plug in place was another thing all together. I tried various things, all came up short and looked real ugly. I needed some way to remove the plug, so I thought of attaching a knob of some sort, and then I got the idea to use an eye bolt. This would give me something to grab onto, and I could fasten it securely by drilling the rubber stopper, and fastening it with a nut. Here's what I came up with.





Now I had to figure out a way to keep the plug in place. I thought about zip ties, bungie cords, all were lame. Then noticed that the plug with the bolt in it, stuck out farther in the hole that without the bolt. Hmmm, seems that the plug expanded when I inserted the bolt in the rubber. Taking advantage of this, I removed the washer that I had on the bottom of the plug and let the nut bind into the rubber. Then I could insert the plug into the hole with no threads engaged on the bolt. After it was in the hole, I just had to turn the eye bolt clockwise and the plug would expand and lock it in place in the tank. And as an added bonus, by tightening up the bolt, it would also secure the nut tightly so it wouldn't come loose, and drop in the tank.

Here's the before and after picture.




And finally to address the pressure vent. This was pretty simple I just used some plastic tubing that I had left over from the PowerBleeder and jammed it inside the hole of the vent. It's not a straight shot, and has a little bend so by jamming the plastic tubing into the hole in the tank as far as I could, it seemed to be pretty secure. Then I routed the plastic tubing through the ABS tubes, under the wiring loom, and then through the hole where the Windshield Washer fluid goes. And finally, I had to check the clearances between the top of the eye bolt and the hood. Fortunately there is a recess in the hood lining for the stock tank, and there were no clearance problems between the top of the eye bolt and the hood. I'm pretty sure that this will solve the leaking problem.

Here's what it all looks like when it's finished.




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[Yuko]

^I wound have not thought about that and will get it a try. I got to stop by Home Depot later to get some Drano Max and I'll see what I can find as a rubber stopper.

[71Corolla]

I don't think you can create a sealed system like that, unless I'm not understanding exactly what you did. But good innovation.

The system normally has a pressure valve, it opens to allow air to be drawn into the tank as coolant is drawn from the tank and back into the engine/radiator during the cooling cycle. When the engine warms up, the opposite happens, the valve opens to allow air to escape as coolant expands and is pushed into the tank.

[pmesfun]

Here's mine, not as bad but still. I will probably try ajkalian's solution next week. Or maybe a new cap should fix it?



Off topic, how can I clean those black stains above the full line? I think I tried before, but it didn't work.

[ajkalian]

Originally Posted by 71Corolla

I don't think you can create a sealed system like that, unless I'm not understanding exactly what you did. But good innovation.

The system normally has a pressure valve, it opens to allow air to be drawn into the tank as coolant is drawn from the tank and back into the engine/radiator during the cooling cycle. When the engine warms up, the opposite happens, the valve opens to allow air to escape as coolant expands and is pushed into the tank.

It's not sealed any more than the original system was. The "Puke Port" as I like to call it, is vented to the atmosphere. Adding the plastic tubing to the Puke Port doesn't change anything. It's still vented to the atmosphere, but when the tank decides to puke, the mess drains away under the car, not in the engine compartment.


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