Coolent Level Low?

Ok checked this morning in the daylight and the resivour was empty. Filled
it up and looked into the radiator and it also looks empty, at least empty
from what I'm used to even after running the car to operating tempeture.

Questions.

Shouldn't I see coolent in the radiator? I'm used to warming the car up
until the theromstat opens and filling the radiator until you can see
coolent at the top. Is this still true with this truck?

BTW: after driving the truck the same levels were in the resivior and the
heat worked. Except the rear heat. It still blows cold air.
Does the rear heat use the engine coolent to work or does it have its own
system?



--

Rob
"A disturbing new study finds that studies are disturbing"



"BigJim" <woody10277@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:FYCdnTiLJrppTkLYnZ2dnUVZ_rWnnZ2d@comcast.com...[color=blue]
> well I guess you checked the fluid level but with the temp going up I
> would guess the thermostat.
> It could also be a control panel issue but that is not likely.
>
> "Robert R Kircher, Jr." <rrkircher@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:aNOdndosMstFFkLYnZ2dnUVZ_oannZ2d@giganews.com...[color=green]
>> Ok this I think is a weird one but I'll do my best to explain it.
>>
>> I noticed this issue a week or so ago when we had a very cold day and
>> snow. I went out and started the truck and set the temperature to 70
>> degrees. About 15 20 min later I want out and the inside of the care was
>> still ice cold and the air blowing out of the system was cold. The fan
>> was blowing full blast and the lower vents were selected as you'd expect.
>> I pulled out and while drive off I turned off the system and then hit the
>> auto button and heat came out as expected.
>>
>> So I didn't think much of it and it seemed to work fine until today,
>> another cold day. I drove it a few miles and it didn't seem to warm up
>> inside. I tried the turn it off trick again but that didn't work. I
>> then used the mode button to cycle through the vents and when I hit the
>> dash vents the it started out cold but then the heat started coming out.
>> Back down to the floor and cold air again. Then through a series of
>> button pushes it seemed to work better but it never warmed the truck up
>> to the 70 degrees I had it set to.
>>
>> Tonight I went out to fool around with things and it seemed to be even
>> stranger. I turned on the car and let it idle expecting for it to warm
>> up and then heat come out. Well heat never came out. This time I
>> noticed that the temp guage on the dash steadily climbed to just a couple
>> of notched below the red mark. After several minutes I put the truck in
>> gear and started around the block, After a minute or two boom heat came
>> out of the system and the temp gage on the dash dropped. Went around the
>> block and parked and sat for a while and the heat went from hot to luke
>> warm. Certainly wouldn't warm the truck up to the 70 degrees the system
>> was set for.
>>
>> So I'm thoroughly confused. and very worried about the temp gauge. I
>> didn't notice the temp gauge a week ago when the car sat idle and never
>> warmed up inside.
>>
>>
>> To add insult to injury, the real system never blows hot. The fan stays
>> on medium to high and blows cold air.
>>
>>
>> Anyone have any idea what may be going on here? It has me befuddled. No
>> heat but the engine temp is just about in the red. All very strange.
>>
>> Any help would be greatly appreciated.
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Rob
>> "A disturbing new study finds that studies are disturbing"
>>
>>
>>
>>[/color]
>
>[/color]

Sorry forgot to hit the spell check button before the send button. ;-)
--

Rob
"A disturbing new study finds that studies are disturbing"



"Robert R Kircher, Jr." <rrkircher@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:V4mdnftdI-0Fz33YnZ2dnUVZ_hudnZ2d@giganews.com...[color=blue]
> Ok checked this morning in the daylight and the resivour was empty.
> Filled it up and looked into the radiator and it also looks empty, at
> least empty from what I'm used to even after running the car to operating
> tempeture.
>
> Questions.
>
> Shouldn't I see coolent in the radiator? I'm used to warming the car up
> until the theromstat opens and filling the radiator until you can see
> coolent at the top. Is this still true with this truck?
>
> BTW: after driving the truck the same levels were in the resivior and the
> heat worked. Except the rear heat. It still blows cold air.
> Does the rear heat use the engine coolent to work or does it have its own
> system?
>
>
>
> --
>
> Rob
> "A disturbing new study finds that studies are disturbing"
>
>
>
> "BigJim" <woody10277@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:FYCdnTiLJrppTkLYnZ2dnUVZ_rWnnZ2d@comcast.com...[color=green]
>> well I guess you checked the fluid level but with the temp going up I
>> would guess the thermostat.
>> It could also be a control panel issue but that is not likely.
>>
>> "Robert R Kircher, Jr." <rrkircher@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:aNOdndosMstFFkLYnZ2dnUVZ_oannZ2d@giganews.com...[color=darkred]
>>> Ok this I think is a weird one but I'll do my best to explain it.
>>>
>>> I noticed this issue a week or so ago when we had a very cold day and
>>> snow. I went out and started the truck and set the temperature to 70
>>> degrees. About 15 20 min later I want out and the inside of the care was
>>> still ice cold and the air blowing out of the system was cold. The fan
>>> was blowing full blast and the lower vents were selected as you'd
>>> expect. I pulled out and while drive off I turned off the system and
>>> then hit the auto button and heat came out as expected.
>>>
>>> So I didn't think much of it and it seemed to work fine until today,
>>> another cold day. I drove it a few miles and it didn't seem to warm up
>>> inside. I tried the turn it off trick again but that didn't work. I
>>> then used the mode button to cycle through the vents and when I hit the
>>> dash vents the it started out cold but then the heat started coming out.
>>> Back down to the floor and cold air again. Then through a series of
>>> button pushes it seemed to work better but it never warmed the truck up
>>> to the 70 degrees I had it set to.
>>>
>>> Tonight I went out to fool around with things and it seemed to be even
>>> stranger. I turned on the car and let it idle expecting for it to warm
>>> up and then heat come out. Well heat never came out. This time I
>>> noticed that the temp guage on the dash steadily climbed to just a
>>> couple of notched below the red mark. After several minutes I put the
>>> truck in gear and started around the block, After a minute or two boom
>>> heat came out of the system and the temp gage on the dash dropped. Went
>>> around the block and parked and sat for a while and the heat went from
>>> hot to luke warm. Certainly wouldn't warm the truck up to the 70 degrees
>>> the system was set for.
>>>
>>> So I'm thoroughly confused. and very worried about the temp gauge. I
>>> didn't notice the temp gauge a week ago when the car sat idle and never
>>> warmed up inside.
>>>
>>>
>>> To add insult to injury, the real system never blows hot. The fan stays
>>> on medium to high and blows cold air.
>>>
>>>
>>> Anyone have any idea what may be going on here? It has me befuddled.
>>> No heat but the engine temp is just about in the red. All very strange.
>>>
>>> Any help would be greatly appreciated.
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> Rob
>>> "A disturbing new study finds that studies are disturbing"
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>[/color]
>>
>>[/color]
>
>[/color]

"Hachiroku ????" <Trueno@AE86.gts> wrote in message
news:ddZDh.13651$sv6.12791@trndny08...[color=blue]
> On Sat, 24 Feb 2007 09:58:32 -0500, Robert R Kircher, Jr. wrote:
>[color=green]
>> Ok checked this morning in the daylight and the resivour was empty.
>> Filled it up and looked into the radiator and it also looks empty, at
>> least empty from what I'm used to even after running the car to operating
>> tempeture.
>>
>> Questions.
>>
>> Shouldn't I see coolent in the radiator? I'm used to warming the car up
>> until the theromstat opens and filling the radiator until you can see
>> coolent at the top. Is this still true with this truck?
>>
>> BTW: after driving the truck the same levels were in the resivior and the
>> heat worked. Except the rear heat. It still blows cold air. Does the
>> rear heat use the engine coolent to work or does it have its own system?[/color]
>
> I don't know about rear heat, so I won't venture to guess. But, the
> Overflow bottle should be at the lavels marked on the bottle, and collant
> should cover the radiator core. I believe this vehicle uses the pink
> stuff, get it from Toyota. If all they have is the diluted stuff, add it
> to the radiator cold and then start the car and wait. Add more as needed
> to fill the radiator. put some in the bottle to cover the bottom of the
> hose and close the radiator, then watch the bottle. Add until it
> stabilizes and then fill to the HOT mark and close it.
>
> I would look for hoses running to the rear heater. I had a Ply Grand V'Ger
> with rear heat, and one of the hoses burst and lost all the coolant from
> the engine. Luckily, since I watch the temp guage all the time, I stopped
> the engine when it look abnormal and saved myself a lot of grief!
>[/color]


Ok just to make sure I understand. Not only do I need to fill the reservoir
bottle but I should also fill the radiator until I can see fluid at the top
over the radiator core when the system is cold.

As to the kind of coolant, I read the manual and it says Ethylene Glycol.
Yes the coolant in the car is the red stuff but the only think I can get
right now is Peak which is the same Ethylene Glycol but its green. Does
that really mater? I've already filled the reservoir with the Peak stuff.

I believe the rear heater is electric and on a fuse. I've found the fuse
but it seems to be some special block instead of a normal fuse. Figures.
:-/


--

Rob
"A disturbing new study finds that studies are disturbing"