2001 TACOMA OVERHEATING!

I noticed smoke pouring out from my hood for the first time yesterday after driving through typical FL rush hr traffic. When I took a look underneath there was coolant all over the top front end of the car. I've narrowed down the issue to either a cracked seal on the top plastic part of the radiator or something failing in the water pump/thermostat dept. I like to do my own repairs so I want to MAKE SURE its one of the two before buying a whole bunch of parts. Some of the other symptoms include:

Squeaky belt sound
No hot air blowing out of heater vents inside
Steam coming out from the radiator cap ontop
After about 5 min of iddlying drops of coolant started to drip from top of radiator where the plastic meets the metal tooths and getting whipped around by the fan all over the place (including my face)
The car does not drip when the engine is not running
My coolant reservoir was just a hair below the full line yesterday when my engine started to overheat

I want to know for a fact that the coolant dripping out from the top of the radiator is not caused by buildup of pressure from faulty thermostat or water pump

 

Could be as simple as replacing the radiator cap. OReilly's http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/RentalTools.oap and probably Autozone has a radiator pressure test kit in their loaner tool program. You pay for it, but get a full refund when you return it. Use it to pressure test your radiator and cap....or just replace the cap as they are pretty cheap. Consider doing this before checking the thermostat and water pump.

Maybe somebody else here can tell you the test pressure, but probably between 12 and 15 PSI. Essentially you use the pump to pressure up the radiator and see if will hold pressure. If not, then look for the leaks.

 

Wow, that's a crappy day. I'm no mechanic but wanted to say Welcome to TW . I'm sure one of the others will chime in very shortly. Some pics of the area, once cooled down might help them with your problem.

 

Thank you! Not sure why it took me as long as it did to join a forum. I took some pictures for reference. The green highlighted areas are where the coolant pools. I actually noticed that after 10 min of running the engine is when the coolant starts to pool from the top. There's also an area that I highlighted that looks like the plastic has 'swelled'. And steam escapes this area. When I turn the engine off the pool of coolant around this area seemed to pulse. I've seen plenty of pictures of cracks in this top radiator plastic but nothing like this bulgy area that I have going on.

 

I'm not much help as far as troubleshooting and solving your issue, but you definitely want to get it fixed before you blow a hole in your head gasket. (Overheating the engine) If that happens, you'll have a lot of labor hours to fix it by yourself or dollars to have it done. While it's not hard, it is time consuming...

 

Yes...this I know. I am not driving it anywhere, it doesn't take more than 10 min for a burning smell to start emitting from the engine while I've been fiddling with it. Thank you for the concern though!

 

bump for some help on this

 

Radiators toast
If you're in the Orlando area need some help I'll be happy to help install it

 

Radiator leaks between the plastic cap and metal fans. Seems you need a new radiator. I'd start there since you know it needs to be replaced. This thread is a compiled list of guidance for 1st gen maintenance, including radiator replacement:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-thread-compiled-list-of-helpful-links.95271/

How many miles on the truck?

Have you had the timing belt/water pump/thermostat replaced?

 

<$100 for a new radiator. They are easy to change. Hardest part will be figuring out the clips that hold the grill on.

I've found that aftermarket rads fit perfect. EBay, rock auto or Amazon. I've used them all.

 

Have you had one that you think is the highest quality? Part #?

 

I ordered a stock OEM one. If the original lasted 220K in Texas, well they work!

 

Great links. Thank you! I'm up to 182k miles. Its worth mentioning that I am not the original owner of this thing so I don't know if the thermostat/pump have been replaced in the past. I myself have not changed them. That being said the truck had obvious signs of collision before I bought it, I'm not sure how severe but I'm finding out that every time I go to repair something, its an aftermarket part and has been ghetto rigged in some form or another. I just noticed that the radiator in question is not original, hangs too low, and the bracket to hold it in place is also something weird and not original. I'm not sure if they did this because the original mountings had been damaged in the accident or if its just because the radiator is horribly misaligned. I'm going to have to take everything apart today just to see what the heck is going on. I'm also looking at different brands online. Anyone have any bad reviews on Denso or TYC? Kyoto is out of budget for me right now. But if these other brands are trash Ill have to give in

 

The automatic transmission trucks have a taller radiator. If you're is a stick shift, someone just used a rad for an auto. They both fit.

 

I notice the factory rad s always seem to leak in the same place. I always opt for any rad manufacturer that is not OEM.

 

You were right. I just removed the old radiator, it has a hookup for transmission fluid. Anyone recommend a good middle grade brand for the replacement radiator?