97 overheating issue

97 Tacoma, 200,000 miles. Replaced the radiator, thermostat, fan clutch, and still running hot. Iv'e even removed the thermostat for the moment. Not leaking water anywhere.

What else is can I do?

 

how about the hoses? if they are old or soft, they can collapse when they get warm and coolant is flowing in them.

off chance, did you flush the entire cooling system? if the coolant system had been neglected, there is a chance that a build up of crud could be clogging the engine.

man, I did mine this spring after getting my truck, and I was prepared to get a new rad. but first I spent 3 days flushing the system, 2 times with prestone, and i think 12-14 gal. of distilled water, till it was nice and clean, and I was sure the rad. did not leak. also new hoses and therm.

 

Bad water pump? Just tossing that out there...

 

Check your engine oil level?

 

take pics of the truck and engine bay
for us

 

overheat when driving or idle or both

 

Are you sure it is running hot? Maybe the temp sending unit is bad or the guage. Does it read anything on a cold engine? Does it read high soon after starting. If it reads high after normal warm up you probably have a clog in the engine and it needs flushing like it was said above.

 

Havent tried engine flush, or replace hoses. will do next.

Isn't a water pump designed to leak in case of failure.

Oil level is good. It overheats both when idling or driving, but erratic on both cases.

Thanks all.

 

Did the radiator come with a new radiator cap? The caps go bad sometimes and cause that

 

water pump should not be leaking at all

 

did you let the rad burp after you installed the coolant. re check coolant level and see if you need to add more to the rad.


the water pump leaks at the holes when the bearing goes out. you could still have the blades worn out of the impeller of the pump.

when your running the motor and you have the rad cap off do you see bubbles? do you see flow

oil did it look milky or chocolate like.

do a compression check of your cylinders.

also does your exhaust from the tail pipe smell sweet

erratic sounds like the system is blocked, has air,or the pump isnt flowing. also your fan clutch could be worn

also toys have sensor that look at the temp in the system. put a new recommended thermostat back in. so the engine will run properly.

 

Pop the grill off, an check for blockage of the AC condenser. Could be so full of bugs that not enough air is getting through to the radiator.

 

Ever find a solution to this? My friends 97 V6 is having an overheating issue as well. Only happens at red lights or at idle. Not while moving. Coolant level is good according to her. I haven't taken a look at it yet. Any thing I should look at that would be obvious? It has 283,000 miles on it and according to her, she has not replaced the water pump since she got it 2 years ago.

 

Change the radiator cap first

 

The water pump, contrary to popular belief, creates flow, but not pressure. The "pressure" in the system is due to increased temperature of a fluid causing expansion of said fluid. If the water pump has failed due to bad impeller or other failure, it will not supply efficient flow, hence engine will overheat. Also, as mentioned, check for proper airflow through the condensor and radiator, as poor airflow could cause this. A good point to would be to confirm the engine is overheating, and not a bad sensor. When you say it is overheating, does the gauge go far into the red and the radiator cap start allowing overflow into the coolant jug, or is the sensor just reading higher than you think it should?

Overheating at idle or at a stop is typical of a failing/weak water pump not able to provide sufficient flow at idle to properly cool the engine. That being said, an engine will normally run at a slightly higher temp at idle than at speed. Does it actually overheat, or does the temp gauge on his truck just read higher than when driving?

 

Hmmm, I'm not sure exactly what it's doing. Like I said, I have not had a chance to go check it out yet. I'll see if I can run over and look to see what it's really doing and report back. Thanks for the info.

 

remember whatever you do for christ sake, do not over heat these motors!
one little thing can help, AND THIS IS NOT A CURE ALL, is to throw the heat on in the truck if the truck starts to run warm, till you get to a garage or home, but if in doubt, stop, and turn the motor off,
a tow is alot cheaper than a new motor.

 

does your fan have any resistance when you spin it by hand? If it spins really easy, the fan clutch may be done and not locking up when it needs to.

 

Positive rep giving. a VERY good point that I forgot over the years. this will help as it will act like a tiny radiator to try and reduce overtemping!

 

I replaced just about everything, hoses, fan clutch, water pump, thermostat, radiator, radiator cap. One problem I encounterd was refilling the system; it was difficult to get the air out, so it kept overheating, and I kept replacing shit till I figured it out, wich was about the time I replaced everything.