monoman

Hello again to all! So, I wrote a thread the other day on a coolant leak in the rear of the engine on my 91 runner 3vz-e. I got a little info and looked real hard and finally i think i found the leak. I believe it is coming from the upside down U shaped bypass hose in the rear of the engine. First off let me say that's the worst spot to "engineer" a rubber hose on the 3vz-e, its absolutely ridiculous how tight it is back there. Any-who, I thought to myself that with a long set of needle nose pliers i could pry the hose off but with my big fat sausage fingers it was next to impossible for me to accomplish. So my next thought was to remove the upper manifold plenum and access the hose that way. everything was going great! I got the plenum off in under 30 min's, and i thought to myself, "hey this is easier then i thought". So now i had total access to the leaking hose and now that the plenum was removed i could clearly see that it had a tear on both ends around the clamps, I thought "sweet!" So i grabbed my shear cutters and needle nose pliers and cut the hose in two pieces then removed the clamps. the passenger side hose lifted rite off with no trouble at all but the hose on the driver side was super stuck on there. I pried up on it and it tore the hose leaving just a small piece around the actual tube itself. So me being eager to get the job done placed my pliers under the hose and on the pipe and tried to "wiggle" the hose up..... and thats when the gummy bears hit the fan! mind you the next few seconds passed by in what i thought was an eternity. The hose fires like a rocket straight up "hood removed from truck" and hits the ceiling of my shop... can anyone guess what happened next? Yes sir! that little piece of rubber tubing made a hole in 1 from 3 point land straight down the intake manifold. Its in the last runner toward the rear of the truck and i cant even see it!

Today Im going to take my small shop vac over tho the shop and see if i can suck it out if possible. I really dont want to have to buy more gaskets then what i have to, so do you guys think a vac will work? any other ideas? anyone what to poke and make fun of me? lol. next time i will be covering the runners. lol. just thought some of you would get a kick out of my story. I will update if and when i get it removed but for now any ideas or "tricks" would help. thanks and have a great day!!!

sechott

That Murphy he is always up to no good. I hope the vac works you can duct tape a small hose to the end of the vac hose that might help.

BMcEL

Might be able to use one of those flexible grabber tools in conjunction with a small inspection mirror to get it out.

tj884Rdlx

you could try some clear flex tubing duct taped to a shop vac hose. i've done this with success before when fishing a screw out of a body panel. the smaller tube made for stronger suction. good luck!

JBurt

I would try a flexible something with some gorilla tape on the end. I think it is stickier than duct tape. You could also see if anywhere in your area rents inspection cameras like this




and stick some tape on that. Good luck. Wish you could get that kind of luck playing the lottery.

sb5walker

Just turn the truck upside-down and shake.

BMcEL

lol...why didn't I think of that?

az_eaglescout_pilot

iTrader: (1)

^ not only would that work but you may become rich too! hahahaha

monoman

Well guys im back to say that the vacuum with a smaller hose trick did not work for me. Twice I had the rubber hose at the top of the runner but no success as far as getting it out. So now im moving on to removing the rest of the intake manifold. Thinking now that if im going to go that far i mite as well replace the head gaskets too. so thats my plans. thanks all who tryed to help.

tj884Rdlx

sounds like your only option now is to fill the runner with water so it will float the piece to the top.


seriously, sounds like you're really making this negative into a positive! there is nothing wrong with a fresh set of HGs. this crappy event could actually be saving you from some unforseen headache you'll now never experience.

you've changed the future!

BoostedRNR

You could maybe get it on the intake stroke for that cylinder and use a air chuck with a rubber tip and blow through your spark plug hole

Hotrodder

Ha, very funny read. Hope it all works out. I've got a small coolant leak just like yours so I hope it's that hose only. Don't worry I will learn not to shoot hoops with the hose piece though haha.

Utah4Runner86

iTrader: (1)

That's ridiculous, that truck is way too heavy to shake.

I recommend flipping it on it's back and wait for an earthquake.

Blue_petersen77

It is tight as hell back in there! I had to do this a while ago but didn't need to remove the plenum luckily... but i did have to cut the hose to get it out. it was a huge PITA. i couldn't get a bent replacement hose and those hose shapers wont work for that sharp of a curve and you wouldn't be able to get the hose clamps on it if it did work! which leads me to a question... if that hose is bent would it affect shifting in an automatic tranny? i ask because since i have changed that hose and it's now kinda kinked it's been taking forever to shift into overdrive and sometimes it'll slip back into 3rd and not shift back into overdrive for another 20 mins.

any ideas? i'm thinking just use a longer hose so i can get a smoother bend, but i don't know if that'll affect anything.

monoman

I would go ahead and replace that hose with a longer one. I have had success in a similar situation by tying a zip tie tight at the "kinked" part of the hose to help round it out a little more. Mind you that this is a "ghetto" fix lol.


Okay, so I FINALLY got the rubber hose piece out of the cylinder!! yay~ I ended up stripping the intake completely. It ended up being stuck between a valve and the runner. Needle nose pliers made quick work out of it once the intake was removed. And thank you to whom ever posted about me changing the future, lol. I enjoy working on and fixing my own rig rather then shelling out a few thousand bucks to accomplish something I could do myself. Also i am very optimistic about most things in life, Im a glass half full kinda guy lol.
Any who, I ordered up a full gasket set today including HG's and HG bolts for $90 bucks, so Im planning on doing it rite the first time to try and squeeze another 100,000 miles out of it! I had a few glitches along the way though so let me tell ya about them. First off, when i pulled the front water bypass timing belt pulley I spun it in my hand and noticed that the bearings are shot. Then I took a look at this...

Turns out that the timing belt is shot and needs to be replaced. So I ended up doing some searching and my next payday im going to buy a timing belt master kit that includes all the pulleys, hardware and even a new water pump and gaskets. The kit i found is roughly $100 bucks so i will be in the top end a total of $200. Question for ya though??? should I pull the whole darn thing and spend a few more bucks and rebuild the bottom end too? i would love to do that but i got a funny feeling once i dump that much time and money into the engine then the tranny will go out.... oh the life of!
So im going to be checking out the timing belt replacement posts on here because im kinda lost when it comes to that. if it was a SBC I would be all over it but im clueless when it comes to the yota. Any advice on that would be great. i have a chiltons book however im still kinda lost with it. Also the timing needs to be reset because when i removed the bypass pulley it made the belt jump and spun one of the cams so i know its out of time now. Thanks to all, and next time i will have to try that upside down truck idea and the filling the engine up with water idea, they were both great ideas that made me laugh when i read them. thanks again guys.

monoman

Oh and change your T-stat too, it could have failed in some way. my truck was like that too and wouldn't freeway worth a darn till i changed the T-stat and that fixed the problem. these engines need to reach a specific temperature before they will shift into 4th (O.D.). it all comes down to emission control. i hope this helps ya.

rworegon

Skip the Chiltons/Haines books. Use the real thing - Toyota Factory Service Manual (FSM):
http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/index.html

Blue_petersen77

I just replaced the Tstat last year... I hope it's still good lol

Hotrodder

Good to hear it all worked out for you. Think how much worse off you'd be if that belt snapped while running!

I thought that little hose was leaking on mine too but a pressure test revealed a leaking heater hose! I'd still love to tear the motor apart and freshen it up. Keep us updated on your progress and total cost.

bmcghie

In my experience, and everything I've read on the 3.wheezy... the bottom end is pretty stout. The biggest problem on them is exhaust routing and general overheating issues. You're doing exactly what is best for prolonging engine life. Headgasket, new head bolts, timing kit, new waterpump. Hopefully a new thermostat as well? May as well flush the coolant while you're in there.

Beyond that, I think you're just wasting money. Stick with what you've got so far!