'04 Known Issue With Overheating?

Hey TW,

I've owned my 2004 Tacoma Double Cab TRD for about 2 weeks now and am loving it!

However, today in the steak'n'shake drive thru the temp gauge decided to start rising...until it stopped just under the red max line.

I turned my heat on full and opened the windows (trick my uncle told me about) to try to keep it from overheating.

As soon as I pulled back on the road, the temp dropped back to dead center then stayed there even after turning the a/c back on.

Are there any known issues with overheating? Or possibly the sensor?

I'm hoping I don't have to take it back to the shop right away.

 

The thermostat could've temporarily stuck

 

Possibly the fan clutch... mine did the same thing. Damn thing was toast. The spring was completely discolored.

Good luck.

 

Could be a failing fan clutch, a sticking thermostat, an air pocket in the coolant, or a plugged up radiator as well as a few other things. If it only did it once and never again I wouldn't worry too much. If it does it again it is time to start checking things.

 

New truck, best to replace the whole cooling system so you can avoid getting stuck or ruining the engine. The radiator, hoses, belts, and thermostat can be done easily in a couple hours. DO NOT use tap water, only distilled. When was the timing belt done? Not sure? Do that next with the water pump.

 

if you don't have a 6 cylinder then you don't have a timing belt to change.

I don't think its a thermostat because it wouldn't change when driving if it was a stuck thermostat because air flow would change nothing even though there is a "tiny" chance it may have been stuck and then unstuck when you drove it just by coincidence.

what you describe sure sounds like the fan clutch is bad so its not moving enough air to cool but once you get on the road you have air moving through the radiator and all is well again. I would start by replacing the fan clutch, they are recommended to be changed every 75k miles but really you only do it as needed but it isn't very often they quit working or you have a problem with one.

 

Id say fan clutch too! If it were a restricted radiator the symptoms should have been opposite, cool while idiling and gaining heat while driving under slight or heavy load.

 

Fan clutch and check the radiator cap. I've been fighting this issue and just checked the cap and the seal is cracked and you can see where it was leaking a bit around the filler neck. Still haven't been able to replicate as my trucks been on Jack stands for the past month.

 

fan clutch is the most likely candidate here as others say. got a 6 cyl? try and spin the fan after it's been sitting a couple hours or overnight would be best. you wan't to feel some good resistance when trying to turn it. need maybe 5lbs of force to move it if it spins too easily, with the push of a finger, it's bad.

other possibilities is your fan shroud is damaged or missing. your radiator fins are extremely dirty. you don't have enough coolant. wrong coolant. very dirty old coolant. thermostats are cheap, replace if you wan't to eliminate that possibility.

water pump could also be a possibility. not sure how you would check the waterpump on our trucks. there should be a how-to around here somewhere. i'd imagine it involves removing the timing cover and belts though.

 

Thank you everyone for your replies and advice!

It has happened 3-4 times since, always after driving at least 20 mins then happens when stopping or sitting in traffic for a few minutes.

I will inspect the fan clutch first and replace if needed.