My Camry feels JUST like my supra. BHG Woes?

[Jeeves]

Yep, you heard me right. It felt JUST like the Supra.

I walked outside this morning. Put the key in the Camry, start it up. Turned on the Rear Defroster and the heater, and chose the window defroster setting. Got out, shut the door, locked it. Went inside.

Fast forward 15 Minutes.

I come out, ready for work. Something seems odd. Doesn't smell or seem quite right. I open the car door to get in. My eye catches it:
[not my gauge cluster, but you get the idea]

FUCK! I throw the key off and pop the hood. No coolant in the reserve tank. Being a Supra guy, I keep essential car items (i.e. coolant, oil, spare head gasket, etc.) in the trunk. I add fluid to the reserve tank, and close my eyes and start the car. Starts up, and the temp gauge starts dropping. I sigh and decide to test my luck by going down the block. Temp gauge continues to drop as I drive, but the moment I stop, it starts creeping up. FUCK.

I start heading towards autozone. Trying only to stay on streets where I won't stop. I finally get there and pop the hood. All the coolant is still chillin' in the overflow tank, doesn't look like it's touched it. Hmm... I purchase a thermostat and a rad. cap w/the pressure venting feature (actually cheaper than the factory one). I carefully open the radiator cap and add some fluid directly to the radiator. Being that this radiator doesn't just have a cap on the radiator, I'm not sure how much to put in but I add some, put the new radiator cap on, and close it up.

1MZ-FE Engine bay (not mine) - You'll note the coolant cap to the immediate top, left corner of the plastic cover on the engine.

Well, the temp stayed steady until I got to work. Now comes the troubleshooting phase, WTF is going on.

The system seemed to have drained the reserve tank and who knows how much coolant was in the radiator itself. I'm not fogging the streets so I assume I'm not burning it. I don't seem to be dripping anything when I park and there aren't any overflow stains on the side of the overflow container. Are there any typical hoses/connections that leak coolant in the Mk3 Camry? I guess I'll be doing a compression test this weekend. Aluminum heads on iron blocks don't take too well to being overheated.

Any other thoughts, ideas, test, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

Background:
· 3rd owner, I know the 2nd owner personally, surprised if it ever saw WOT.
· 118k miles
· 1MZ-FE V6 Engine
· No dripping coolant
· "clutch" fan seems to be working fine, speeds up and slows down as it should.

[BLUEMEANIE]

the coolant in my 95 always seemed to disappear too but there were no leaks. Toyota told me it was normal and just to keep the tank topped off.

a friend of mines 300z had a pin hole in one of the hoses that when under pressure pissed into the fan but was small enough that when not under pressure didn't leak a drop. He never figured out why he was loosing coolant and over heating until we poped the hood and started the motor and saw it actually happen because the fan dispersed and dryed it so quickly.

[Jeeves]

Well, at least I'm not alone.

Sidenote: Is the thermostat as much of a pain in the ass to replace as it looks like?

[Toysrme]

100500m 1993.
All the hoses on the car (vacuum, brake, gas, coolant) were in "operational" condition. As in they still flex, but are now hard rubber / silicone and should be replaced.

I replaced the majority of them. First signs of hairline splitting and cracking, but obviously no leaks. 12 years on a set of OEM hoses is good for a car that is driven. Replace coolant and vacuum lines with high temp silicone. Replace everything else with rubber. (Petroleum owns silicone)

I would doubt you have leaks from the hoses themselves, but it is getting to be about time to think about replacing them. Think of it as a great time to dress the engine bay up with pretty hoses/wires with some cleaning! PERFECT time to flush the coolant, power steering, brake, and transmission systems out. (Don't forget the differential and motor oil!)


The thermostat can be a real pain in the ass because of it's location, but it isn't an all-day job by any means. If the lower radiator hose isn't warm, it's probably stuck closed (or near so).

Grab a Haynes manual for $15-20.
Short paraphrase:

drain coolant system
unbolt the water inlet pipe and remove O-ring
remove fasteners and electrical connectors from the thermostat housing and detach housing from the engine. Be prepared for coolant loss as the seal is broken. (Access on 1mz-fe engines is easier with the air cleaner cap and hose removed.)

remove thermostat, noting the direction it was installed in the housing and clean sealing surface.
Fit a new gasket on the housing.
Install thermostat and housing; positioning the jiggle pin at the highest point.
tighten housing fasteners to (69 in-lbs) and reinstall remaining components in the reverse order. on v6 models, use a new o-ring on the water inlet pipe and lubricate it with soapy water.
refill cooling system and on v6 models, bleed air from the system.

run engine and check for leaks and proper operation.


Not hard, just a pain with the location.

[Jeeves]

Well,
Fast forward to today.

Checked the coolant levels, topped it off. Drove over to my brothers house. Park, but don't turn off the car. I come back outside a few minutes later, there's a puddle under my car and it's actively dripping. I pop the hood and check the overflow tank. It's not coming from there. I look down near the water pump. There it is, dripping. Looks like it's a water pump failure. When I turn the car off it didn't drip. So, I never saw it at home, always turned the car off immediately. Looks like I've been losing coolant for sometime, and the heating issue was the straw that got me to notice.

Anyone have any tips on water pump replacement on the 1mz?

[img]http://www.**********s.com/rsw/coolantdrip.jpg[/img]

[Toysrme]

Time to buy a Haynes.

Yeah, easier if you jsut take the motor out to change the water pump. For that amount of work change all belts, and everything else you can think of too.

[Jeeves]

Heh. There will be no removing of the motor. This is a sub-6hour deal.

[88 LE]

Originally Posted by Jeeves

Anyone have any tips on water pump replacement on the 1mz?

http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBr...3d8013e465.jsp

[Jeeves]

Originally Posted by 88 LE

http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBr...3d8013e465.jsp

Yeah, I found that when I went looking in Google too. Thanks.

Though, I'm sure God hates me. I got about 3 steps from pulling the Water pump, and we couldn't get the crank pulley off. Snapped several bolts that were used to brace it just as it shows in the manual, but it wouldn't budge. I personally don't have air tools, so.. yeah. Gotta try again this weekend, just keep up on my coolant and make sure it stays working between here and there.

[zoni]

its not that bad... you can do it in a day... 1mz isnt as bad as some others.

[Jeeves]

No, it's just that we couldn't get the crank pulley off. We braced it every way possible. Snapped bolts we used to brace it, etc.

In the end, we had to re-assemble everything. The next day, I took it to a shop, had them break it loose with air tools, then re-tighten it to 80ft-lbs. That way, it will hold til this weekend, and I shouldn't have a problem loosening it.

:crosses fingers:

I hope all goes well.