manboy

First of all let me start by saying that I'm no exprt on engines in anyway shape or form. I had to get a radiator leak fixed a couple of days ago and everything was dandy. I pulled up to the store a couple of days later and white smoke started coming up from the hood towards the cabin and I could imediately smell the sweet smell from the vents. I looked under the car and I could see coolant dripping on the ground. The leaking stops after a while sitting parked, but after the car warms up you can see the white smoke again. It took a couple of days to find where it was coming from since we've been getting hammered with snow, but I finally found it. It appears to be a metal pipe under the engine towards the back near the firewall, but I'm not sure what this is.









Can anybody tell me what this is and what kind of damage I'm looking at to get this fixed. From my first look, it looks like I have to take the whole engine out to get to this bad boy. Hoping to not have to retire her just yet. Also, is there a chance of doing more damage topping here off with coolant and making short trips?

There doesn't appear to be any white smoke coming through the exaust (kinda hard to tell with all the cold), and the oil on my dip stick isn't milky looking. Thanks.

nv4runner

Is that a right hand drive 4runner? Okay, anyway there are so many coolant hoses running around this engine. I just did a head gasket job and replaced at least 8 hoses just on the firewall side of the engine. There is a metal bypass pipe that bolts to the top of the water pump, runs between the two heads and under the intake manifold, and is the main supply for the heater core. It might be possible to get that pipe out if you take all of the timing covers off and can find a way to reach inside the V to undo the three bolts. 2 on the front side and one about a third of the way inside from the front. There is also one bolt on the back side.

Personally I would want to make sure it isn't a hose first before that PITA pipe. Good luck to you.

toyota4x4907

Im not firmiliar with the 3vze, but I would say its some cross over pipe from one side to the other.

I went 3 years with a couple pinhole to pencil hole size leaks in the top of my radiator. Then went two weeks with it loosing about 3/4 of the whole capacity from just sitting for 6 hours. Never overheated. It got expensive to keep it full If it were a 22re I would say you'd be fine for a while, just make sure its full all the time, buuuuut, its the 3vze, and they seem to be touchy about having coolant and blowing a head gasket.... Im sure most the stories of the 3vze are just hype, but I wouldn't risk it if it were my vehicle.

manboy

Yeah, it's a right hand drive....I'm living in Japan. After I made the first post, I went and checked again to make sure that it wasn't another hose just leaking onto the spot and causing it to smoke. As far as I can tell, that's where it's coming from. I'm also pretty sure of it since it wouldn't start smoking until I drove around the block one time. Not exactly sure what that pipe does but I think if it was a hose I wouldn't have to move to get it to leak.

And yes the 3.0EFI is touchy when it comes to overheating. I had to replace the head gasket about 3 years ago and she never even got into the red. It's not supposed to be a problem with an aftermarket gasket, but I'm still playing this one cautious.

I've been looking at the threads and haven't seen anyone with this problem. I can't see a way to get at this bad boy without lifting the whole engine out. And even then I don't know what it's gonna take after that. I might just take it to a local mechanic and let them handle it, but the cost for labor in Japan is brutal.

Zinek

Had a similar problem ended up a pin hole in the metal cross over pipe, needed to take the intake plenum of to get to it.

reggie 00

I had the same thing.

I'm pretty sure i posted my temp fix here somewhere.

I basically took a heater hose from the front of the intake and routed it back to the rear. looked hokey but worked till i could get the intake off and braze that hole.

When you pop the intake off make sure you replace all the little hoses back there, the $20 in hoses are well worth it.

LotOMiles

That arrow is pointing at the exhaust crossover. If that is leaking water, then you have bigger problems.
What normally leaks is the little bypass coolant tubes. I am not sure if this is the same on the right hand drive, but it's worth a look.

Behind and under the distributor is a small, fuel line looking hose. It runs up from the block, and into the side of the throttle body. Coolant runs inside this tube. Out the firewall side of the throttle body exits the coolant in another small hose. This hose goes to a small water block mounted on the top back of the engine in the tight space between the engine and firewall. All the coolant sensors are mounted to this block. The coolant then exists this block and back into the engine by another small rubber tube bent into a U shape.

The three hoses get old over time and tend to leak. It's not a hard task, but some of the intake has to be removed for good access.

I had my small U shaped hose get a pinhole leak that would stream water out when the engine was hot. The stream was so small, I could not see it unless the light was just right. And the stream of water hit another part making me think that other part was leaking.

manboy

I finally took the truck in shop. I had to go out of town while the guy worked on it so I'm not exactly sure how it got to it, but they only charged me for an hour and a half for labor. They said it's a heating pipe, but the mechanic is Japanese and his english is only so so. Anyway thanks the help. Till I tear something else up.

James Dean

The 3.0 has a little bypass hose in the back just above the exhaust crossover pipe. It was famous for leaking after it dried out. This may be your problem. As you can see in the last picture it leaks right onto the crossover pipe, giving the look that the pipe is leaking and causing your steam. I have a full right up here. It could be something else too, but this is where mine leaked from.