Help! On a road trip with a leak...?

I did look above and below yesterday before posting but the sun masked a small wet area I can see from above near the bottom of the radiator and some light splashing on the white washer fluid unit shows the liquid is reddish.

 

Thanks, the red is hard to see, I will look for the wet or white origination. Is there some type of overflow valve on the passenger side bottom of the radiator or just the reserve tank on the driver's side?

 

Check along the seams of the top and bottom radiator tanks (the plastic tanks attached to the metal radiator). They sometimes will form a leak along that seam. Also where the radiator hoses connect.

Power steering fluid can be red as well. It's got to be one or the other.

 

Dumb question/observation:

It is the end of July... has it been unusually hot wherever you are? Could reasonably be coolant overflow after a hot day, hot engine, AC running.

 

Sounds like you have a slow leak on the radiator. How old is it? My OEM one went out at about 110k miles. I replaced it with an autozone one and that went out at 180k miles. Both had leaks at the joint of the metal core to the plastic top, but the same thing could happen at the bottom. It wasn't a major leak, but it will get worse with time. It's also possible that it could be leaking at the hose connection, but if it's older than 75k miles I would say it's time for a new radiator.

 

68K trying to find someone to test and repair today... out of town on road trip... Thank you!

 

The valve on the bottom passenger side is the drain. It is not an "overflow valve".

 

I don't believe I saw it mentioned when I scanned the thread but also check your ATF hard lines, can't remember if its the send or the return (I think its the return) - ATF fluid enters the radiator cooler on the driver side and then exits the radiator cooler on the passenger side and heads back to the transmission. Right above that leak spot is where the tubing coming off the passenger side radiator connects to the hardline (which heads back to the transmission). The constant tension clip may have worked itself loose (doubt it but...) worth a check.

I have the skid in place so view is obstructed but red arrow point to the line from the cooler going back to the hard line. Blue line points to the petcock drain valve for the radiator.




Again, not the best picture but circled in red are the rubber lines connected to the transmission hardlines. Stock connections are with constant tensions clips.

 

I get that now, thank you! But the plug was fine, the main plastic piece was snapped off inside the hose. Radiator ordered and being installed tomorrow or Wed am.

 

Thank you again to all that provided guidance. Truly appreciate your expertise and generosity of time. I don't know the technical terms but the main plastic pipe on the back top, passenger side of the radiator had broken off with part inside the hose. The clamp was holding it together. New radiator ordered and will be installed tomorrow or early Wed. I'm 1000 miles from home and was lucky to have a local family trusted mechanic to fit me in. (I actually viewed the hose being removed and viewed the broken off piece.) New washer reservoir, water pump & now a radiator all in the last 10 months... krimanny, low miles is turning out to Not be a positive after-all...

 

Becoming a new truck again one piece at a time.

 

A lot of wear items are xx,xxx miles OR x years, whichever comes first. And pretty much any original rubber (bushings, etc..) or high temp plastic pieces are almost certainly at the end of their life span regardless of miles.

 

Congratulations on getting it solved (and soon fixed).

Washer reservoir, water pump, and radiator in 10 months sounds like a very uneventful 10 months lol.

 

Thank you. What are the other high temp plastics and bushings I need to pay attention to please?

 

Thank you, I'm sure you are right.
I was just spoiled with my 2001 4x2 auto, basic - bought @ 17K and sold at just shy of 170k - only repairs were reusables, & @ 99k gave a trusted (now retired) mechanic $1k to update/adjust as much as possible... Never a problem...

First taco was an '83 Mojave edition - young and dumb to have traded it in.. but the first MR2 was so Kool! ... I wonder if Toyota will ever bring back a Mojave "like" inspired taco again....

If anyone has a copy of this ad to sell... I'm your huckleberry!

 

Definitely look over all rubber hoses (mostly vacuum lines). It’s the age that will make them start to crack and fall apart. Also motor mounts and transmission mounts.

 

Glad you got this handled with as little drama as possible.