Dreaded coolant leak

Hey guys. So my truck is currently at the dealer after I noticed dried pink coolant on my garage floor as well as my coolant tank was right below LOW. Used a creeper and a flashlight under the truck and low and behold I found the source. Way up at the back of the block behind the throttle body it seems to be crusting up real bad and starting to drip. From digging into the posts here I see it’s probably from the weld failing on the plastic coolant pipe. Took it into Toyota and they call me back 45min later telling me the tech can’t see anything and they don’t feel like the coolant level is out of their standards. I told them to check again, and that I have pictures of the leak. They call me back in 10min. letting me know that they have to take apart the throttle body to diagnose the issue properly because they still can’t see the leak and that I’ll most likely be on the hook for a bunch of labor. So I drove back to the dealer, got the manager, had them put the truck back up on the lift and located the leak within 5 seconds. The manager got a good look at it as well.

So, after that long story, the truck is still there and the manager is figuring out what to do. He seemed like an understanding guy but it’s a dealership. They’re in the game to make money, not lose it. My question to you guys is 1.) has anyone ever had this happen and had it successfully replaced under warranty? I bought the Platinum Extended Warranty (I know I know) and am hoping that will cover my ass.
2.) If they don’t cover it, I’d probably do it myself. So has anyone here ever replaced that part themselves? Can a guy do it in his garage with basic tools? I haven’t been able to find a write up anywhere regarding this.
Thanks for reading and thanks for any help.

 

I’d definitely be trying like hell to get them to replace it, especially if u paid for an extended warranty. I’ve seen dealers try to get out of it tho.


@Jowett has some experience diggin around back there, maybe he can shed some light.

from what I’ve gathered you can get to it from under / behind the plenum.

 

My experience with this issue is posted here:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/check-your-3-5l-coolant-pipe.531758/page-9#post-24934283
- - Go to post #173 for the conclusion - -

In a nutshell (no pun intended) I had to open a case with Toyota. After a lot of time and hassle they did pay for part of the repair. As I stated in the post...Better than nothing...

 

Thanks for the response man. Just a total bummer especially seeing as this is becoming a more common problem. I’ll skim through that thread now.

 

that warranty should cover it, let us know the $ amount it would have cost.

 

Hopefully they'll cover it.

You should be able to get to it by removing the intake manifold. No special tools required, except maybe a topside creeper to make accessing that part of the engine easier.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/check-your-3-5l-coolant-pipe.531758/#post-17038973

 

Update - Service manager went to run my Platinum Warranty and it came back saying it does NOT cover this repair/ part. He said he was baffled that even a Platinum Warranty didn’t cover it. Suggested I open a case with Toyota directly and fight the fight. Awesome.

 

This is common on 2017 correct ?

 

It’s definitely starting to look like that the more I google/ search on this issue.

 

Hope they do a recall to fix these. MY 19 looks ok for now @ 51K miles

 

How many miles on your 17'?

 

OP, how many miles on your truck?

 

can you post the pics?

 

A whopping 67,000 miles

 

They’re pretty bad but I’ll post here in a bit. Going to pick up my truck from the dealer now. I also opened up a case with Toyota about an hour ago. They have to do “research” into the matter then will get back to me.

 

Might be a good time to sell it to them. I doubt if the sales group will talk to service before making you an offer. Then they can fix it at their expense.

 

While it may sound common, it's not. Toyota makes 250K Tacomas a year. Even 2400 a year is less than 1%.

 

Condolences OP. I've been smelling coolant occasionally so I picked up an inspection camera to take a peak back there, been to scared to look lol.
I've got a bad track record of pretty much experiencing 100% of the common problems on each vehicle I've owned. My last truck was a 2nd gen Frontier, that thing was a nightmare.

 

Great… I’m 10k away

 

I'm at 90k and haven't seen this. Don't get too worked up about it. Might not happen.