I'm at my Wit's end with coolant problem, need some advice...

cylinder 4

 

Cylinder-2

 

oh, i tried placing the "no Spill Funnel over the fill hole. i put some coolant in the funnel then zip tied a zip lock bag over the funnel and started the truck and let it idle for a good 45 minutes with the bag on it. coolant started flowing into the funnel from the radiator. I turned the truck off. I cut the zip tie and tried the best i could to keep the bag air tight. then i zip tied the bag to the gas tester and sucked the air from the bag through. Fluid stayed blue. Not sure if I if did the bag trick right or not?

 

My engine would occasionally boil fluid out the overflow under hard use.

It passed all the standard tests for headgasket except the oil sample tested positive for coolant contamination.

Also is it just me or does it looked like cylinder 2 and 4 have a different piston?

 

did you do the leak down test with the radiator cap off? that one has been pretty good for me. Or even just the funnel test on the radiator. let the car get up temp to were the fans kick on. for the most part it should be calm. might see a few tiny little bubbles. if it's gushing that' almost always combustion getting into the coolant.


the liquid block test has not worked for me. I tried a five gas analyzer also but was afraid to get it to close to the coolant and ruin the expensive tool.

 

Bad drain plug seal/o-ring?

 

In your original post you stated "the lower radiator hose collapses".

Years ago I had a similar problem -- turned out that the original hose had a spring looking support that slipped into the lower hose to help it keep shape. The customer had changed the hose out but failed to transfer the spring into the new hose.

It would idle or run at low speeds all day without issue - at sustained higher rpm the hose would collapse and restrict the coolant flow.

 

This was my issue. Replaced the lower hose and my issue went away….basically replaced every else first. But they do make springs that you can add to keep it from collapsing

 

That is my guess. Pretty sure it’s an o-ring seal. Mine didn’t even start draining until 3/4-1 full turn out. Mine is thumb and finger tight. So, not super tight.

 

I have extra hoses, I can try swapping them out.

 

the spring for the lower radiator hose, is that a seperate part you buy or should it already be built into the hose? never heard of adding a spring?

 

Man, I hope so. But until last night I never noticed any leaking from that area? could a small leak on the drain plug gasket have been letting air get sucked in and causing the original issues?

I have an extra Denso radiator laying around, might try swapping it in to see what happens.

 

It shouldn't matter but for the sake of clarity this is a J-Vin 1GR-FE from an FJ assembled in Japan.

 

One of the first things I did was pull that hose and it was definitely full of coolant it splashed all over my face when it came loose, lol

 

Lol. It'll definitely splash out at you like an alien face sucker.

 

I plan on sending a sample of oil to blackstone to check for sodium, but it will be a while since I just changed the oil. That's going to be a whole nother thread, lol! Just for fun, i tried putting some of that engine flush into the oil right before I changed it, Then did the old tried and true redneck tests, lol! I drained the oil after running the flush through it, then strained the oil through a tshirt. Then put some cheap walmart oil in it, ran it for 100 miles, then drained the oil and strained it through another tshirt to see what came out. So now I have fresh oil in it. I'll post all the oil pics later on.

 

Hoses regularly will degrade to the point they will deform and lose their shape under pressure. The pressure will suck them shut like a vacuum. They will "vapor" lock but its a "steam lock".

Id replace your hoses with OE factory Toyota hoses.

Is there coolant in the oil?

 

No there is no coolant in the oil and no oil in the coolant. Ive pressured up the coolant system several times, left it for hours and checked the cylinders, I have not found any seepage into the cylinders either. The hoses are OEM almost brand new. I have another set in the shop, like I said I can try them. Does anyone have a part number for this spring everyone keeps mentioning?

The one test I have not tried yet because I dont have the adapter on hand is running a pressure test through the cylinders. I had a 1GR-FE years ago that I swore had a head gasket leak because of the water swishing sounds under the dashboard, but I could not diagnose it. Tried everything! Finally the only way I finally found the leak was to get an adapter to hook the shop air compressor to screw into the spark plug holes and run 275psi through each cylinder, and rotate the crank until the valves closed. When we got to cylinder 6 started seeing a few bubbles in the coolant. Found the leak.

 

Many of the older vehicles had a spring in the lower hose from the factory.

Replacement hoses usually don't come with the spring as it really isn't a wearing item.

You just pull it out of the old house and slip it in the new one.