2006 low coolant

I did a coolant swap a few months ago. Fairly recently, i've noticed a gurgling sound from behind the dash on start up and sometimes on acceleration. I just checked under the hood and noticed that not only am I low on coolant, but there's some dried coolant around the reservoir cap. My truck has never overheated since i've owned it and there's never been any visible coolant leaks. I also haven't noticed any burning coolant smell. My truck has a little over 204k on the odometer and i've heard that around this mileage the 06's have been known to have head gasket issues. I also have the 4.0 V6, Any thoughts? I'm headed to the dealership tomorrow to pickup some coolant and will try to bleed any excess air out of the cooling system and see if that helps. I might be taking her in to the dealership whenever they have an opening to see if its a head gasket issue if the coolant continues to leak.

 

I’d add coolant and see if it goes low again.
Here hoping it was just a large air pocket

When you did the coolant swap, did you have the heat on High and fan speed on high when bleeding the system?

 

Yeah I did have the heat and fan speed on high, but I may not have bled it long enough. I did the coolant swap back in may, noticed the gurgle noise a few weeks later and its been present ever since. The low coolant is a fairly recent problem though.

 

2006s have a lot of HG issues. Hopefully it’s something minor.

 

The oil on the dipstick is also clean, not chocolate milk looking at all. I also changed the oil about 2000 miles ago and the oil looked fine

 

shouldn't have to do this but, raise front of truck up slightly when bleeding air out

 

Just to make sure a newish member understands, HG is for head gasket.

 

I thought HG was for hot girlfriend, I’ve had issues with those

 

how fast are you loosing coolant/?

you could pull some plugs see if they are pinkish white

 

You need to burp the system with this funnel. If it still happens you need to get a compression test done. Any cloudy white smoke out of the exhaust constantly?

$25 OEMTOOLS No-Spill Coolant Funnel Kit, 15 Piece Fluid and Oil Funnel Set, Allows Access To Hard-To-Reach Radiators

https://www.amazon.com/OEMTOOLS-870...ocphy=9003814&hvtargid=pla-493792710903&psc=1

 

Definitely find a cute reliable one. Much better than pure hotness. Fewer head case.....I mean gasket issues.

 

Set up an appointment with toyota to have them check it out next week. In the meantime I bought some toyota brand coolant and topped off the reservoir, and let the truck run for about 30 minutes with the heater on full blast and the reservoir cap off. All i noticed was a small bubble every 5 seconds or so, that continued after I turned the truck off. I marked the coolant line with a sharpie so I can track if it continues to drop.

 

Also here's a pic of what the coolant reservoir looked like before I topped it off today.

 

Hey accipiter, glad u get the humor, you made me chuckle too
Thanks felt good

 

There was an “overheating” joke In There but I didn’t want to stretch it.

 

I haven't noticed any smoke or sweet smelling exhaust yet. I'm gonna take a drive tonight and have a buddy follow closely and see if he notices any cloudy white smoke

 

Were head gasket issues common on the 2.7? Mines an 06... A couple years ago mechanic told me it was low but I can't remember if they added any. Its close to the low line right now. Will have to keep an eye on it.

 

Looking at the pic, you may need to put a hose clamp around the tube to make sure it’s not leaking, or better yet just replace the hose.

I had a bit of dried pink crust around the hose going into that reservoir and that cause mine to drop low, not to the extreme yours is, but I put a small host clamp around that and it seemed to fix it. You might be able to use a zip tie as well.

 

Check your radiator cap. Could be coolant boiling in the reservoir because the system can't keep pressure. Had a similar looking issue on my girlfriends subaru and a new cap fixed it!

 

Check your reservoir for any cracks and replace if it is damaged