Zelephant

I have an oil pan under my '89 4Runner, and I've seen a lot of green drops appearing on said pan as for back as the tranny. This lost coolant does not appear to be mixed with anything. I can't seem to find out where this coolant is coming from, except for the drain on the rad. It has me especially confused, because some of the drops are, as I said, pretty far back. Also, there is no oil that can see in the coolant, and I'm pretty sure there's no coolant in the oil (but my newbish eye could be mistaken). Anyone have any ideas where it's coming from? Thanks!

904_runner

Well, gravity will cause coolant to leak, down. So lay underneath the truck and follow the leaks

search for it. Get a diagram of the coolant lines and check all the hoses and connections. As far as the drops being far back. Its most likely leaking while your driving and the air flow is blowing the coolant back to the tranny.

dbcx

X2 Wind will blow it everywhere,get it all dry and check it. Maybe do a pressure test on it to see if it will drip

Zelephant

It's definitely not leaking while driving, because I'm not driving it right now (it will remain parked for the winter as I tinker with it). I have crawled underneath and tried to follow the drips, but that has had no result. If someone knows where a diagram of the cooling system could be found, please let me know (Chilton's manual is USELESS!)

BTW, sorry if these are uber newb questions.

swaycleveland

i just replaced a heater hose on mine ( 3.0) i had a similar drip. just a couple drops everyonce and a while about where the trans is. could see a drop about to drip down off the dell housing. for about 2 weeks i couldnt find it anywhere turns out it was a hose. the one that dives down BEHIND the intake manifold. it blew right as i pulled into the drive way. thank god
anyway go get one of those 1.00 lil mirrors on a stick and look back there behind the intake and such you might just find it . also if i recal there are some freeze pulgs and such you might be able to see with it also
my .02$

83

The only time I've had mine leak as far back as the tranny was when one of the heater core hoses was leaking where it went into the firewall, but if you're not driving it I'm not sure why there'd be coolant up in those hoses. Really if it's been sitting long enough, the only leaks should be coming from the radiator or the hoses attached to it. There is a coolant passage on the back top of the block that I guess could leak back there, and there's the intake manifold...best thing if you can't locate it is to go have it pressure tested. Most places won't charge much if anything for that.

rbmoomba

If this is on a 22re there is a hose on the passenger side front aspect of the block that is under the intake and there may be a slow trickle out of there. Gravity could then be taking it back to the trany area. This hose is relatively hard to see from the front of the engine. (I believe the A/C compressor is in the way). Just a possibility to look at.

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

Thermostat gasket is bad about leaking like that.

Zelephant

Thanks for the replies, you've given me a lot to look at over the weekend!

Well, it has been sitting, but I make a point of starting it at least once a week and letting it run for 5 minutes. I don't know if that's long enough to get the coolant into the heater core hoses.

BTW, it is a 22RE, and though it is leaking from the tranny area, there are little drops all the way up to the rear edge of the skidplate, where the coolant dripping from the radiator's drain runs down and drips off the truck. If it ever stops raining here in New England I can get pics of the coolant drops on the oil pan under my truck.

Thanks again for everyone's replies, they've already helped a lot!