05 headgasket or water pump?

Hello every one! I hate to beat a dead horse but here goes.
My 05 tacoma 4.0 with 130k on it has been acting up for a few thousand miles.
At first I noticed a gurgle behind the dash after taking off for the first time in the mornings. Than one day sitting in my truck my heater went cold, I reved it up and got heat again. Every thing had been going fine until I noticed the coolant was a little low. Topped it off and after 15 miles of driving it was bubbling it out of the over flow. I kept an eye on it for the rest of my trip and it was fine never overheated. On my way home it started to creep up slightly so I pulled over and topped off the radiator. I also checked my radiator hoses. Upper was hot but I still could hold onto it. Lower was significantly cooler. When I got home same thing but after sitting for 10 min it reversed. I pulled a compression test tonight 168-175 across the board. I’m really at a loss here. If it’s a hg issue not the end of the world but I can’t see pulling the heads with that great of a compression reading. Any chance the water pump is weak? Maybe impeller is slipping?

Thanks in advance!

 

Well if your water lump is giving up the ghost you may want to make sure it I not leaking if it is in suspect. Best way to do this is to pressure test the cooling system.

Next if the pressure test passes and the coolant is still disappearing then you need to perform what is called a cylinder leakage test. You are ideally looking for less than 20% leakage across the board. If you find more than that and there is coolant coming up through the radiator filler neck, you are done. Purchase a cylinder head gasket kit and get to work on pulling the heads, all that fun stuff.

Hope this helps, and good luck. Let us know.

 

That could also be a thermostat, check it out first cheap fix. please let us know........

 

Do you smell coolant at the exhaust?

 

Ok thanks I did notice there was a small pink crusty spot under the water pump hard to say if it’s from the weep hole or from it pushing coolant out. Every thing is covered in coolant from this.

 

Is a head gasket replacement a diy job?

 

How's your oil? Cloudy at all?

 

No coolant smell in the exhaust, I have had my fair share of 3.0’s and 3.4’s and have never saw any thing like this. What worries me is the known issue 05-06 have with head gaskets.

I have no problem tackling the head gasket my self but every one is different. It’s just nuts and bolts right? Haha

 

It sounds like your water pump is going bad. My water pump did the same thing (leaking out of weep hole) and eventually started leaking bad. About a gallon of coolant every 100mi. These water pumps are known for going bad at about 100k miles. Do not replace the water pump with a Duralast water pump. I did on my last truck (Also had 1GR-FE engine) and wound up replacing it again 10k miles later. I believe the original one is manufactured by AISIN. If I remember correctly I bought mine at NAPA for $180. Replace coolant with Toyota pink or Zerex pink Asian coolant.

 

Another thing about Napa is they warranty there products. I had a old S10 that I replaced with a napa water pump it was faulty.The fan clutch seize and resulted in the fan flying forward into the radiator and almost up through the hood. Napa cut me a check for all the damage that was caused from the water pump.

 

I like NAPA because they are never clean. I feel like I'm walking into a real parts store when I see a fine coat of dirt all over the floor. Not like AutoZone or O'Reilly's that polish their floors every night.

 

It's not for the faint of heart and if you are not experienced in mechanical work I would not even touch it. There is a decent amount of procedure involved in doing such a job. More so because there is a timing chain involved in these motors.

 

I came across a post by Lester lugnut with a procedure to pull the plugs and insert one at a time with the radiator full and see what bubbles. I’ll give it a shot. Aisin water pump will be here Friday. Thanks for every ones input. Stay tuned.

 

My water pump was already going bad when I bought my truck with 99k miles on it. The one on my Tundra didn’t even make it to 60k.

I used a Beck Arnley pump on my Tacoma, they’re well known for making good aftermarket parts for foreign makes.

 

Link to said post?

 

I’m not sure how to link things yet haha I just copy and pasted it:
Fill It Up: Being fooled by chemical testing/infrared testing of the cooling system for head gasket failure(s), I stumbled on a better method, which is much faster and more accurate, too. Next time, try this:
1. Remove all the spark plugs from the engine.
2. Fill the cooling system right to the rim of the radiator neck.
3. Disable the ignition system.
4. Insert one spark plug in a cylinder and then crank the engine for five to 10 seconds, while watching the radiator level. (A remote starter comes in real handy here.)
5. Repeat step 4 above for all cylinders.
The idea behind this is simple: This uses the engine’s compression to pressurize the combustion chamber and force this pressure past any potential head gasket/cylinder head leakage into the cooling system.Should there be a leak, the level in the radiator will overflow. The reason all other spark plugs are left out is to allow the starter to spin the engine faster, without shaking so much and helps to identify whichcylinder is the culprit. Why not let the 150 to 200 psi compression do the testing? Now, 13 to 15 psi in the radiator to test it just doesn’t seem up to the job anymore, does it?
Brad Petersen, Owner, ASE L1Master Tech, Peterson Automotive, Escondido, CA

 

My last truck was also a Tundra with the 4.0. It about 89k mi and the water pump failed. I went with the AISIN because I noticed the marking on the original pump. After dealing with the Duracrap pump I wasn't taking any chances on another one.

 

Water pump was pretty crusty out the weep hole. Fingers crossed that it’s fixed now. Letting the air bleed as we speak. While apart I flushed and back flushed the heater core everything was nice and clean