Low coolant, empty reservoir- RESOLVED

Just checking in.
Everything is fine. I filled up the coolant and it hasn’t gone down at all over multiple drives. Thanks y’all!

 

NOPE take it now! Have them mark it with a date when they top it off.

 

I’ll definitely mention it today with my oil change.

 

Good for you OP! Level headed thinking wins the day!

 

Hey guys I’m back again. 8200 miles on the truck and the reservoir is at the low mark again. Filled it to the top line last time at 4000miles.
I’m going to make an appointment at the dealer with a Rental.

 

I gotta ask brother, have you accounted for temperature difference? Not saying you don't have an issue as I think you might.

But one would expect the level to have gone down some if it's much colder now than it was when you topped it off due to contraction. Just wanted to see if you had factored in that variable.

 

I checked it about a month ago and it was still level. it went down within a months time which is interesting. I doubt it would make the fluid contract that much from temperature change. I’ve gone through about a half a jug of Toyota coolant since I’ve had the truck. Only had it for 6 months Through summer and winter here in Washington. It should have gone up during summer if that’s the case. It seems to only be going down and not up. No noticeable leaks external. I have not looked at the back of the engine and I do not smell anything sweet. Just new truck. No significant amount of smoke from the exhaust.

 

Good job staying on top and checking all the fluid levels OP.

I’d be surprised if they don’t find a leak, but truth be told, they should have found one last time if they had really checked it.

Maybe is time to get another set of eyes on it, this is serious issue.

Full disclosure here, I only open the hood to check mine every 5k or six months which ever comes first. Approaching seven years with over 70l miles, no leaks, oil stains or seeps thus.

Good luck

 

Pics ?

 

I’d put my money on this. I bought mine in June and it was leaking from the back of the engine. Took it in and they fixed it.

Sounds like you are already taking care of it.

 

I bet it’s this also. I shined a few lights down in the rear engine area last night but couldn’t see any coolant anywhere.
I just don’t want one of those trucks where they have rip open the engine to replace a gasket. I have an appointment on Friday (with loaner ), I’ll keep you all updated for sure on what they find.
When I called the service rep was like “yeah a car with 8k miles isn’t supposed to go through that much coolant. There’s something wrong with your car. And it’s a hard to find manual also”.
Luckily it’s the only issue so far!

 

Thanks. The first time I took it in was for an oil change but I didn’t even get that since it would've taken 2-3 hours. I bought some filters and did it myself in under 45 mins first time. 2-3 hours is long enough to where they should be handing out loaners .
I hope this isn’t an internal leak..

 

So many forums already open on the rear leaking plastic welded bypass tube. Why can’t Toyota just replace it already…

 

Possibly because we have so many customers on this site who bow to the Toyota god/engineers who swear they are perfect. They cite the 10k oil interval change as optimal while turning a blind eye when it comes to this coolant pipe, timing cover leak, rear diff howl, etc… You can’t make this stuff up.

 

Oh gosh I would never go over 5k for any oil change. Synthetic or not! The oil gets dirty with fuel and all kinds of other combustion byproduct. Those that don’t change their oil enough probably don’t bother to check their oil enough as well. When I did my first and second oil change, the first one had metal shavings in the oil and filter. The second time there was none that I saw.
imagine going 10k with all that metal moving around your engine, scratching up the walls the whatever it abrasives with.

I had the rear diff howl but that was before I filled it all the way to fill plug with AMSoil. I just topped it off. But it was missing like 1 Qt for sure. The noise got much quieter after that.
My friends 2016 has had all those issues minus the coolant pipe and they all got fixed under warranty. Timing cover job turned into a new head gasket job as well because they folded the gasket the first time trying to replace it at the dealer. They had to do the second time fix with a different method to prevent the human errored gasket installation. All of that costed about $8000 under warranty.

 

You'd think they would learn after the 2nd Gen 2.7. Same problem. Plastic.

 

It’s honestly the dumbest peice of plastic.. and to put it behind the engine away from the fan where no one can reach it.

 

I agree, however It may not need replacing, but the issue sure as heck needs to be resolved .

The issue may not be a part concern as much as it seems to be an assembly issue. Part problems are usually discovered quickly and superseded with a new part and a bulletin or recall.

Moreover, most issues seem to appear early on indicating it to be the case, while many older high mileage units are having no issues with it at all.
If That is indeed the case, once you make it thru the initial early period, life is good.

 

More details here. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/check-your-3-5l-coolant-pipe.531758/

Hope it not this or a head gasket but something rather simple to fix.