Coolant leak inside cab on passenger side

It just happened last night. Best I can tell is that it occurred just after shutting the truck down. Did not notice it last night when locking the truck. Wife was in the passenger side coming home and she didn't get anything leaked or sprayed on her. Came out to use it this afternoon and there was an instant odor of antifreeze when I opened the door & coolant was on the after-market rubber floor mat on the passenger side, perhaps a pint? Probably less. No damage to the original carpet, thankfully, the rubber mat had contained it. Checked the radiator, it has no coolant visible and overflow container is empty. There was no indication that it was running hot yesterday, coolant temp gauge was reading normal. It's a high milage truck, 230K on the odometer, but had its oil changed every 2K miles by previous owner [yeah, I know, but he is a heavy equipt. operator by profession and is annal about clean oil]. He only used it to go back and forth to job sites, much freeway driving and it lived most of its life clean as a whistle garaged, it has no rust! I'd had it in mind to do a flush on the cooling system, but not gotten around to doing it yet. I'm in the habit of monitoring the temperature gauge as the engine warms and while driving. So, what's the most likely culprit? Could she have pushed on something inside w/her foot and cracked something heater core related or? The leaked coolant had an orange tint to it probably from it being both rusty and red or pink to begin with as it was OEM Toyota Type Peak brand coolant. That stuff is now over $21/gallon, so I'd just as soon not be wasting a bunch of it, getting this issue fully sorted out.

Looking inside the engine compartment, there are some coolant stains from an incident during the past winter when the radiator cap was cracked open w/the coolant hot but nothing around the firewall or around the heater's control valve. Feeling the hoses, they are pliable. And the truck was running just fine when I shut it off. I've not bothered to start it or add more coolant. Can I safely be sure the heater valve is closed and top up the engine's coolant, if the leak came from the heater? My initial though is that has to be the source of the leak, but I've yet to verify that.

So, that's where I am w/o having started to remove the glove box and looking further. What are your best thoughts, and has anyone been here before? Using the search feature, it only was showing the passenger side water issue from a stopped-up A/C drain, nothing about a coolant leak on the passenger side.

Thanks, folks! I don't even have a Haynes manual for this truck yet, so I'm having to dismantle blind. Any help is most appreciated. I'll wade into it further in the morning.

 

If you can get to the hose clamps that connect the heater block to the hoses coming from the engine, replace the tension clamps with worm clamps so there is a tighter seal. This can be done from the engine bay.

 

Thanks, Sefvz! I'll look into that first thing in the morning!

 

Sounds like a heater core leak

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...eplacement-any-guides-on-dash-removal.780052/

 

Expect heater core is the culprit. Oh, joy! Have one ordered, it will be here next week, probably Thursday. Is there a way I can block off the heater until then, and continue to use the truck in the interim? After topping up the cooling system again, of course. I need use of it, short term and may not be able to affect the heater core replacement until later in the month.

 

yes, route the inlet and outlet into each other at firewall.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/where-to-bypass-heater-core.490734/

 

Thank you, gentlemen! You have saved me some considerable time and effort to get moving again, until I can get the new parts in hand and time to affect the heater core's replacement. Much appreciate the kind welcome and prompt responses received

 

Not a problem.......you're getting ready to get real familiar with all that....
you guys who take on ambitious projects like this .....are my heros.....

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-guides-on-dash-removal.780052/#post-27909802