I'm concerned. yellow gunk under oil filler cap...

Understand about the excel program, however, toyota made it easier. All you have to do is go to toyotaownersonline.com and register. You can then have access to all the maintenance records on your vechicle a dealership has performed as well as post your own maintenance items. This will follow the truck its entire life! I have an 07 with 124K on it and just noticed the white stuff. Needless to say I drive alot. Always used Gastrol Syntec since new. It wasnt until last oil change I realized I had put regular Gastrol 5w30 in it vice Syntec and now the white stuff. No leaks in coolant or discorled oil.

 

I hate to say it, but this has been covered soooooo many times. Do a search, you should be able to come up with lots of posts on the exact same issue.

As other have mentioned, it is quite common on 05+ Tacomas.

Shawn

 

thats funny crap right there..

 

Nothing to worry about, my Tacoma has only 1000 miles on it, and I have the same yellow gunk in the oil cap. My oil was just changed that's' when I found it, its from cold weather condensation, it will clear out when the weather gets warmer.

 

Hm.. Why're you running 5w20 though?

 

Hey everyone. Sorry for using an old thread, but I figured it would be better than starting a new one.

During my oil change today, I noticed this:


After reading a few different threads on TW, I felt confident that this was acceptable. I do a lot of short trips, not letting the engine heat up, cool mornings, etc. It wasn't until I read about coolant contamination being a possible cause that I became concerned.

My coolant reservoir looks like this:


A few months ago during my last oil change, I noticed the coolant level was a hair below the "Low" mark. Three months later, it is far below.

Coolant in the radiator is normal and oil on the dipstick is not milky or distorted in any way. I do not smell coolant in the exhaust (that I can tell at least). Could the film in my cap and the coolant level just be a coincidence?

Thanks in advance!

 

Agree with the condensation in the oil comment. So long as it's limited to the cap. If you see the oil a yellowish color, you've got bigger issues like a blown head gasket.

 

Your clamp its rusted all to hell lol

 

Pull the dipstick and check the oil. Is the oil on the stick milky? Don't use what is in the cap to determine the condition of what is in the pan.
Also, ADD COOLANT! When you see that your coolant is "a hair below low", it is a good time to fill it and figure out where it is going.

 

lol this guy

 

The stick wasn't milky, but the oil I just drained during the oil change was slightly brown. Not super milky, but a tint.


I let the truck run for about five minutes after I finished the oil change and I noticed the tailpipe was steaming and water was sitting in the pipe. Is this normal?

 

Your oil looks normal, and water from the tailpipe is also normal. It's just condensation from the cold exhaust pipe with hot exhaust flowing through it.

 

Oil looks normal. Water in the tailpipe is also normal. It is a product of a properly functioning emissions system.
As for the loss of coolant, start by looking for any leaks. Check your hose clamps and connections. Check the water pump weep hole for any buildup.

Edit: water in the tailpipe is normal (as is the soot). However, if you have a constant cloud of steam coming out of the exhaust on a day that isn't cold/cool and humid, it is not normal.

 

Thanks guys! One last question: can I top the radiator reservoir off with distilled water, or should I grab some Toyota anti-freeze?

 

A small amount of distilled water won't hurt anything or throw the ratio out of balance just don't use too much water.

 

It's always handy to just get a gallon of Toyota's super Long life coolant. Regardless, I would have to go out for either Coolant or Distilled water.

 

Water coming from your tail pipe is great. Perfect Air/fuel mixture.

 

I would always go with Antifreeze. Back in the day I used water in my old camaro radiator. Guess what happened. The water froze. Freeze plug feel out of my block while I was driving. Car over heated and shut off going about 50 mph. Not fun lol.

 

IMO, the best thing to do is have a half gallon or so of 50/50 mix on hand for those refills when needed.

 

BTW, the oil looks really good. How long has it been since you changed it?