KevyWevy

alright guys, i need your help! im leaking coolant from this thing....

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...20911834qJRygB

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...20911372goFefC


so how do i go about fixing this? is it just a gasket? what do you guys think???

Del

First thing to do would be to buy some Stop Leak from any auto parts store. Make sure you get the aluminum powder though, not the liquid. I had a good size leak around the thermostat (think it was in the engine itself but couldn't really see up there), threw a bottle (not the bottle itself ) in the radiator and two days later the leak stopped. If that doesn't work then you might try replacing the gasket.

AverysDad

easy...........first you want to get yourself some black rtv sealant from the autostore.

drain enough coolant so theres not any left in the upper radiator hose.........unbolt the two bolts that hold on the metal neck (in the pic) and take off the upper rad. hose from it as well. scrape off the old stuff and clean off the gasket surfaces. follow the directions on the rtv sealant and lay a bead to replace where the old one was.

bolt everything back up and top off the coolant.

AverysDad

i wouldnt use any kind of leak stopper unless it was an emergency.

that stuff has a nasty habit of not only sealing leaks but also ruining thermostats and clogging coolant passages............

just a word of warning

Del

Really? I've used it many times before and have had no problems with it.

KevyWevy

so do you guys know what that metal peice is? because i had the thermostat and coolant pump replaced by my mechanic a few months ago. i resently saw that he didn't put enough coolant back in and have been adding little by little over the past 2 weeks. i haven't had any problems with over heating, i just walked out to drive somewhere last night and saw a little puddle under my car so i started looking. if it is part of the pump or thermostat i could take it back to my mechanic, that i don't really like any more and make him do it under warrenty or whatever. thanks guys! i might just go ahead and do the rtv stuff. thats pretty much just a liquid gasket right?

VolcomTacoma

Yeah, RTV is just a liquid gasket maker. Make sure and turn on the heater when filling your radiator back up.

Shane

Agreed, don't touch that stuff!

KevyWevy

why do i need to make sure i turn the heater on?

Shane

Air pocket. If you don't the heater core won't fill.

toy283

Not famaliar with the 5VZE but that looks like the thermostat housing to me. If so, your mechanic screwed up.

superjoe83

you need to turn the heat control to hot, so that the valve opens up one of your heater core hoses to allow air to be purged from the heater core. About the leak, i just would get a new gasket for the housing, if thats where its leaking. You have to be careful about using RTV/Silicone sealants, if you use too much, it will squeeze out when you tighten it down, and may plug up some passeges in your radiator/block/ or heater core. Good luck!

KevyWevy

its actually the 3vze 3.slow represent!!! oh god. but yeah im not surprised if my mechanic did screw up. as i stated above i don't really like him any more. i'm going to be doing every repair maintanace thing i can without taking it to a shop from now on. i think i'll just go get a gasket from the dealer. i need to get my diff breather plug things anyways. does anybody know what this gaskets # is or what exactly its called? its one thing to sound like an idiot on the internet, but its another thing to do it in person. hahahahaha thanks guys i love ya all!!!

Shane

not 100% sure it's the same as on my truck, but it may be called an "o-ring" instead. It looks like a grommet, but the groove is on the inside of the ring and it slips around the thermostat's flange.

KevyWevy

hmmmm do you think if i just took the part to the dealer, they would have it in stock? its my daily driver, so i can't be with out it for more than a day.

toy283

Not really familiar with 3VZE's either
Any dealer will have a thermostat gasket in stock. It probably is just an o-ring and the one you have may be pinched and thus leaking. When you disassemble the housing, inspect both mating surfaces and look for pitting/scoring that may be the cause as well. If there is, a little bit of fine sandpaper and then fill the pits/scratches with RTV will usually work. Better still would be to fill them with a decent epoxy (such as J-B Weld) and then sand it smooth after it sets up. In all likelyhood, you won't have any problems though.

CTB

Actually, the thermostat and housing are where the lower radiator hose meets the engine down below.

Most cars I have ever worked on have the thermostat and housing where the upper radiator hose meets the engine, but not on our 3.0L's....

Highland Runner

I have the exact same leak. Very slow and leaves red splatter on the timing belt cover. The proper way to fix it is the RTV sealant and the process AverysDad explained. I remember a small groove for the sealant to go in then the rest squishes out when the 2 parts are tightened. Mine started to leak about a year after I did this fix last time, so I must not have not cleaned the surfaces good enough. Don't use too much RTV because pieces will break off and circulate through your system.
My thought was to cut some thick gasket material to use instead of using RTV next time I fix mine.

MTL_4runner

There should be an o-ring in there.
You need to replace the o-ring and then clean the surfaces very well.
Once you do that, use a little bit of RTV on the engine and filler neck and bolt them together.
Let the truck sit overnight and try it in the morning.

Highland Runner

From what I have read in maunals and the net, no o-ring supossed to be in there. But that doesn't mean the manuals are correct. That may explain why mine started leaking less than a year after I put in the RTV. Here is a picture from Off-Road.com on timing belt replacement. Looks like this one had RTV in it also.
http://www.off-road.com/toyota/tech/v6tbelt/0703.jpg