PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

Also, there's no Napa near my house that I'm aware of but there is an AutoZone like 2 miles away. Can I get something like this at AutoZone cheap?

 

Small chance of it being blocked. Just not a common thing. Unless incompatible fluids were mixed or oil is causing blockage.

 

Why was there so little coolant in the radiator?

 

Thank goodness this happened around home instead of in Massachusetts.


Your truck is getting older and you are driving over 20K/year - there are two sides here and you can't have them both.

Most people who drive a lot run fairly new vehicles and trade them off before they start having old age problems.

Most people who keep older vehicles do a significant amount of their own maintenance and also don't put excessive amounts of miles on them.


Paying someone to keep an old, high mileage vehicle in trustworthy condition for 20K/year gets very expensive in both money and time and will rapidly exceed the value of the vehicle. Sure, you can "keep a vehicle forever" -- and by golly you will pay to do it.

I completely understand having a sentimental attachment to a vehicle but there is a crossover point with budget and practicality too.

 

over heating can lose some if head gasket is going out it can be slowly leaking into a piston/combustion chamber and out the exhaust. Once your heater quit "working" coolant was low. You filled up the radiator but still needed to fill the lines to heater core.

Despite what is said coolant doesnt evaporate on closed system

 

I think you have solved part of it. If there was a blockage it wouldn’t have affected the coolant level. This is all guessing of course but it sounds like you lost heat because the coolant level dropped low enough that it was affecting circulation and not flowing through the heater core. This would also explain why it started to overheat. So now the question is where is the coolant going. You said you have done all you feel comfortable doing so your mechanic will have to take it from here. Trying to diagnose without more information is completely pointless so you should do what the others have suggested. Put this aside for now and try to enjoy your trip. Until you have the diagnosis nothing more can be done.

 

There are several different ones available. This is the one napa sells, for half the price. I know it works. Talked a friend who had a similar problem on a honda civic into getting one. It showed quickly, upon disassembly found a tiny pathway thru the head gasket laminations.

His we could burp and refill and it would be fine except for long trips, then he would lose heat, start to overheat, then be fine for a while, then do it again.

Replaced gasket and drove until it was totalled by a dummy hitting him.

 

Ok, coolant does not exactly evaporate. It is normal to lose 4-6 ounces of coolant per year. I believe the water evaporates out of it due being hot in the recovery tank. The part in the closed system doesn't evaporate. The part that is pushed into recovery tank while got is vented to atmosphere and does steam. That steam has to be made of water molecules.
When the recovery tank gets low, and as the coolant in the closed system cools it draws from the recovery tank. If it gets low enough it draws in air.

I guess I should of explained that.

Wilcam is 100 percent correct in that coolant in a closed system does not evaporate. It is designed to account for expansion and contraction with a vented recovery tank, most vehicles do lose 4-6 ounces per year from the recovery tank.

I hope this helps and makes it more clear.
Steve

 

Did you have your coolant bypass line replaced for the metal one, I've heard the plastic one can melt and cause weird issues with heater and truck cooling.

 

First sentence especially, MA is the last place you wanna be stuck haha

When you had it running and warm today, gently touch the upper hose and see if it's hot or cool. If it's cool you have a t-stat stuck closed. Ideally that's the case of course.

 

Head gasket for sure- did anyone notice that gunk on the inside of the radiator?

 

A bad head gasket isn't typical with the 2.7L, is it? Especially around 157k miles. I know it can happen to any engine, but I thought it was not common, but reported more with the 2005-2006 V6s. I also saw that tendency when looking at 4Runners a while back.

 

This is true, not a common issue per se.

 

If I remember correctly he said that a technician had used a oily funnel to fill the radiator with coolant. I also expect it is a head gasket.

 

Sounds like my pos BMW which had a cracked engine block.....

 

That was done.

 

How the hell would a well-maintained Tacoma with less than 160K have a cracked engine block?

 

I can't afford a new vehicle right now, but I think I should probably lay off on how often I drive...

 

After seeing the gunk that @OnHartung's Road noticed wjerr the radiator cap goes, and showing it to a friend who used to be a mechanic concurs, I am pretty sure that the head gasket is shot...

 

And I seriously cannot afford a new vehicle (or even a decent used one in today's market)...