Air in Cooling System

I have a 2006 4.0l v6 4WD TRD Sport and there is air trapped in my cooling system that is driving me nuts! I hear water sloshing around behind the dash all the time.

- I have replaced my water pump and pulleys, belt, thermostat.
- Back flushed my heater core and it works fine.
- I see no visible leaks and my oil does not appear contaminated.
- I seem to lose the fluid contents of my reservoir about every couple months.
- My AC system seem to be draining fine although I have flushed that core as well.

If anyone has ever gone through this I would love to hear how and if you got it resolved. Any advice or comments are welcome.

Thanks everyone

 

2005's and early production 2006 can have headgasket issues. You could test for exhaust gasses present in the cooling system, or do a leak down test, or any other common head gasket leak tests. That's where I would start since you've already been so thorough.

 

Thanks for the tip. I didn’t know about those kits, but I’ve ordered one from Amazon.
I’m not sure if I’m more nervous or anxious to get the result.

Thanks again

 

Mine did that after I flushed the coolant system and then when I did an engine oil analysis with blackstone they found traces of coolant in the oil... hopefully thats not the case with yours, good luck

 

Headgasket’s leaking. Guess I’ll try a sealer now before I spend big $$$

 

That's a bummer.

FWIW I think I have a minor HG leak but it hasn't gotten any worse over the past 50k miles. I monitor my temps closely and they do just fine. Personally, I'm leaving everything alone.

 

Don't do that. That shit can cause more damage

 

I wouldn't put stop leak anything in there. itll gum up more than just your problem area. if youre planning on keeping the truck a lot longer, sometimes its best just to bite the bullet and get it done right, then you'll be able to trust it and know youre in the clear. have them replace other common items while they're in there. sorry to hear about your troubles. good luck.

 

I think it was Chris Fix (utube) that tested some head gasket sealer kits and had positive results with some of them.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/overheated-after-using-head-gasket-sealer-update.779543/

 

Thanks for all the feedback.

I've decided to hold off and think this a bit more. Right now the truck is running fine, oil looks great, no white smoke. I'll keep an eye on things and probably look into replacing the head gasket when things get worse.

 

That was my mentality as well and it just never got worse. I’m not complaining.