90_2DOOR

I Need help anyone!!, specs on my vehicle... 90 4runner, 3.0 V6... anyway i noticed the past few days my runner heating up every so often, so i would top off coolant & water ...... then when parked noticed a very fast constant drip... earlier today i tried to look for a leak and narrowed it down to where the bottom coolant hose connects to the water pump?? ...is that the water pump?. im gonna try and snap a pic when the sun comes up.... i just hope it's a gasket or something.... this is my only transportation to work!!.... any suggestions... or does anyone have a pic of what they think might be what im talking about?


ANY HELP IS APPRECIATED

-Sean

90_2DOOR

Ok so i looked at this chart and it has to be either the water pump or thermostat...it's leaking from either one of those..... you guys think this is a gasket or the whole part? are gaskets known to crack on these parts? let me remind you all that i have about 218,xxx on the clock. it runs like a champ and i dont want something like this to change that!!\

here's the diagram.... the first pic when you scroll down

http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-b...06operatio.pdf

NYChopshop

First, make sure you don't have a loose hose. I just had to replace my water pump. There wasnt any leaking coolant that I could see, but just that hot antifreeze stink when my car was going slow. My mechanic said it could have been the gasket, but I told him that since he had to pull the thing off anyway, he should just replace it. Money's tight, but if I had to replace my water pump anyway in the next 10k miles, I would have been awfully PO'd.

90_2DOOR

^^ i hope its just hose..... how much did a waterpump set you back?

NYChopshop

honestly, my truck is still with the mechanic. I'm getting a bit done. marlin crawler 2100lb clutch kit, new reverse light switch, master and slave cylinders, and a new A/C compressor. My mechanic said if you drop the tranny on these wonderful jap engines, you may as well replace the main seal. My girlfriend has an 01 XJ that has had to have 2 main seal replacements (shoddy work the first time) and that involves pulling the engine and tranny... ouch. As an afterthought, I asked the guy to 'figure out where that coolant smell was coming from' and water pump it is. He's a great mechanic, one guy brought an Econoline van in having gotten 3 or 4 quotes on repairing the engine rattle. Other shops said it was a valve knock and the entire engine needed to be replaced. My mechanic put it on the lift and pounded the exhaust with his hand. Rattle. It was loose bits in the catalytic converter. A couple hundred in exhaust work instead of several thousand on a new engine. Too bad I just moved back home to NYC and hes in Los Angeles. I have to have my truck shipped to me in the next week or so.

bugs1961

A new water pump costs between $40 and $90 depending whether you get it aftermarket or OEM. I strongly suggest OEM for reliability and durability. If you have to pay someone else to do it, it will cost $250 to $300 because the timing belt has to come off first and quite a bit of labor is involved. There are some good threads here on how to do it yourself if you are a little bit mechanically inclined or at least willing to try. The water pump should be replaced anytime the timing belt is changed as a matter of course (about every 5 years) and if OEM pumps are used, you will never again have a leak. Do a search for timing belt change and see if you want to tackle it yourself.
Bugs

GorgeRunner

My 95 4Runner is doing the same thing. Can't see a leak but coolant appears in the bolt recesses at the top of the timing belt cover. I'm thinking water pump leak of some kind. It's got 168K on it, so looks like a timing belt/water pump job is in the near future.

90_2DOOR

Well i just came back from the local servco toyota dealer. i toatally forgot that my girls aunt works there, so i went to price out a water pump , timing belt & thermostat...... might as well not stop there right?...lol. so i went and ordered a new radiator, belts for the P/s, A/c , new cam seal, and all the coolant hoses.. so everything came out to $583.95 and thats with her discount. oh well might as well change everything at once right?..... Especially because i have 218,xxx miles... im pretty sure im overdue for these parts. Anyways im picking up the parts tomorrow & my brother in law is gonna help me change everything on Wednesday, So this is gonna be fun... haha. i will take lots of pictures of where the leak is for anyone else that runs into this problem in the future.

thanks all you guys for the help and info.

-Sean

bugs1961

Man, you're setting yourself up for a nasty spell of reliability. Sounds like a good plan.

TNRabbit

That's not a bad price; the radiator alone is usually more than that....