Dreaded coolant leak

Lots of info here.... https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/check-your-3-5l-coolant-pipe.531758/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...for-plastic-rear-coolant-bypass-joint.701890/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3-5l-rear-water-bypass-joint-leak.651341/

Apparently an issue with the 2016 & 17's according to the Car care Nut, (Certified Toyota Mater Technician). He thinks they changed the possible faulty part in 2018 but can't confirm.

 

If so they changed the part, was it fixed sometime on the 17s . I'm pretty hard on my truck . It's my dd. My race car . My go do everything in truck. I'm over 153k mi . I do religious maintenance to my truck. People experiencing these crossover pipes leaking, are they keeping up on maintenance? Did they let their coolant run low? Could they have accidentally overheated their trucks ? So many variables .

 

Ok so far I’ve gone through the same process. Toyota service rep gave me a phone number to call and open a case. Just waiting for them to call me back (within a day or two) and go from there.

 

I’m jealous of you man and I’m the same way with my truck. But I really don’t ever beat the piss out of it. Most stress it’s endured was driving across the country a couple years ago. I’ve taken note of the coolant being a little low in the past and didn’t think much of it. But this time it was well below what should be considered normal. As for keeping up on maintenance, I’ve never missed a service appointment or gone over mileage in between services. When it was time for the diffs and all the fluids to be changed, I paid the dealer to do it. Always taken care of her and this is how she repays me.

 

Thank you for this! I’m gonna dig in and check it out for sure

 

report it to the NHTSA. Coolant leak can lead to overheating which could damage the engine and cause a dangerous condition. Not to mention glycol is flammable and cars have burned from coolant leaks. Recalls have happened for similar things in the past. Toyota already acknowledged there is a defect with the design revision.

 

I agree with the first half. I would say I’m hard on my truck (I’m hard on everything, it’s why I don’t skimp on quality, parts, maintenance etc). My truck will routinely idle at the hottest AZ summer temps (120*f) with AC on high and no issues yet. I’m definitely weary tho.


The second half of your statement is a lil goofy. How much maintenance should one do on a 5 yo truck that would cause a coolant bypass to crack? Short of avoiding bouncing the truck off the rev limiter in the middle of summer that is.

 

Right . I'm sure most that are experiencing this poor part are not banging the rev limiter in death valley. I just feel fortunate that I haven't experienced this yet in my 17. I am cautious of the part potentially failing. In all reality I hope Toyota does something about this for us earlier 3rd gens . I had plans on running this taco into the ground. lol

 

I have the same plans haha. I feel the same way! My truck has been super error free. Although I think my timing cover is venting some fumes. It’s not a full on leak even remotely, but it’s starting to gather some dark soot / dust on the front of the timing cover.

 

UPDATE:

So I just got off the phone with Toyota. They were able to get the original quote for the coolant crossover Replacement down from $1,600.00 to $670.00. I’m still not exactly thrilled about it, but have decided that I’m also not going to waste my time and energy arguing with a large corporation over $700. I tried to go back and forth with the rep regarding the Platinum Warranty and why I think it should cover this repair in total. Unfortunately he’s just a guy at a desk who punches in some numbers and it spits numbers back out. I know, some of you will say fight it to the death, but man I’ve got bigger things to worry about in life. A savings of $1000 is still a $1000. I’m chalking this one up as a win. Especially since this repair is not covered under any warranty.
Thank you for all who responded and pointed me in helpful directions. This is why I love this forum. I’m going to call the service department in about an hour and schedule the repair. I’ll update with anything interesting that comes up.

 

Right on. Ain’t no shame in that. At least you’ll be gettin back out on the road soon

 

Thanks man. That’s all I want is to be able to drive that thing another 60k worry free

 

i have a 2016 so far so good but good info here in case i am in the same boat some day.

 

Yeah man keep an eye on that coolant level. If it gets real low, you know it’s going somewhere.

 

So...what was their justification that it was only "partially covered"? So the warranty really isn't a warranty?

 

I was told that part was NOT covered under any warranty, be it factory or my Platinum. The rep mentioned it may be covered under the GOLD level warranty (which I didn’t even know existed) or some other warranty from a third party. He didn’t explain why Toyota was willing to partially cover the cost, and to be honest I didn’t ask. I speculate that maybe my dealer put in a good work for me and even more so I wonder if Toyota is seeing more and more of this becoming a problem. But like I said that’s purely speculation.

 

I think for the most part Toyota is a decent corporation and takes care of their customers

 

Well, we know that's not correct....everything except stuff like tires or wiper blades are covered under the factory warranty. Imagine have a new vehicle, including a nice coolant leak, and Toyota saying "we don't cover that".

I understand your position...but from a legal standpoint most likely that part is covered by your Platinum warranty unless specifically stated using the part nomenclature as exempt.

 

I wonder if some of the dropped exhaust valve seats in the # 1 cylinder are due to low coolant because of the leaky pipe...

 

I bought the extended warranty on my truck and I looked at the contract and the way it’s worded in the parts not covered sort of says it’s not covered. The only thing I say is that if they changed the part, they did it for a reason, which means it’s potentially defective and I think that should be covered. On the same not at least Toyota stepped up for the OP and took the brunt of the financial hit .
So I think in the end he did ok, because obviously not every bypass tube goes bad