Coolant levels are frustrating!

EDIT: so you don’t have to read 5 pages..
Truck was magically dissipating coolant from somewhere, wasn’t by driver carpet, in skid, on ground, no bubbles when radiator cap was off. Nothing leaking from any fittings.. took it to Toyota and they said no physical damage but the radiator was leaking. Haven’t gotten more info. Will update.






Quick back story... 17 tacoma.

So I always noticed my level under “low”, recently got some fluid and filled up the reserve. About a day later it was back lower than it was. So today searched through everything on TW, wiped down all spots so I could see if anything leaked and put more in. After putting in more the level dropped within 20 minutes, truck not on or anything picture shows. Drove it around, dropped some more.. no leaks, nothing out of the ordinary. I’m
No expert, but could the main been low to begin with? I’m super confused.

edit; pic is not after driving around. I’ll update a pic in a bit, to show the difference

 

You don't smell antifreeze while running/ coming to a stop etc? Look up the "rear crossover leak" on Google a d see if that's you.

 

So I looked into that and I should be able to see some sort of dried up AF, correct? I didn’t see anything back there. I don’t really smell anything..

edit: so would this crossover, be something covered by warranty? I’ve only got the 60k warranty left whatever that covers

 

You should be able to see but it's very difficult to do so. Have u had any cooling issue or anything of the sort? I had to top mine off a wee bit but since topping off it's remained stable. Sometimes the coolant will boil off / evaporate but very minimally. Fwiw I routinely have long idle times and today in AZ it was like 112-113

 

I mean I haven’t had anything pop up on the dash as to too hot. Unless I should be checking something else.

 

Nah. You're just referencing the overflow tank right?

 

Correct. Unless I’m just out of it and missing maybe the main resi is low? I don’t know. It is Perplexing.

 

So this is where I am now. What in the actual F***!



edit.. followed and don’t see any leaks anywhere? Wtf!

 

Check your oil for the level and water bubbles on the dip stick . Also you can run a cold engine with the radiator cap off ( do not remove it when hot ) With the cap off and running , if you have a bad head gasket you will see bubbles in the radiator this would be engine compression going into the coolant passages . sometimes the coolant goes into a cylinder and is burned and sometimes it goes into the oil , sometimes both places.
If it is being burned in the cylinder , the truck will put out white smoke /steam and smell sweet .
What I gave things to look for are for if the level changes while running .
Another place to look is in the cab on the floor under the carpet , this could be a coolant leak in the AC system .
Hope this helps somewhat , good luck .

 

So did the dip check, nothing abnormal.
I have not done the cap off and running, I’ll have to look into that.
Take cap off, turn engine on, look at the radiator for bubbles?
The coolant drains when driving, when I put some in to top off it settled. A bit, as in first pic, no idea where it went.

 

Have you checked the level in the radiator itself?

 

oh yes, I can see it with the cap off.

took the cap off, started the truck saw no bubble. Exhaust smells like exhaust? It’s not rich smelling, so I’m assuming it’s right it has a small sweet tint but it just smells regular to me? Although im not a exhaust expert, I don’t huff that much.


Where in the world is it going???

 

Is your engine hot?

 

Cold

 

You may have a high pressure leak, something that opens up when the engine is hot and running or conversely gets worse at a standstill. Pressure test the radiator and check for a hairline crack somewhere.

 

I’ve got a 17 and 30k miles. If I take it to the dealership it should be free right?

 

Run it hot. I’ve actually never had temp problems so I don’t mess with my coolant reservoir and don’t know how it works in this truck.

My work vehicles have a negligible amount of fluid in the reservoir. Once the engine is hot and the thermostat opens, then the reservoir will show the proper level. We have had new guys add fluid because it looked low, and once the engine got up to temp, they just dumped coolant all over the bay as the fluid shifted to its proper spot.

 

I’ll give it a check tomorrow after running it. Again.

 

. If you have a regular mechanic he probably wont charge you to throw a pressure test on it...it takes all of 5 minutes and you just remove the radiator cap and put the tester on it.

 

its all in the heater core