Hello everyone, first time posting here, I just found this site. I have a 1994 toyota pickuos base model, 2wd 22re with 280k miles. Its coolant system has been funky for the 3 years that ive owned it. If you were to turn the temperature dial to heat, the truck would begin to go towards hot, then right before it would get to the red, it would cool back down to normal and be fine. If you left it on cool, it would never go above normal. Also, it would never keep the radiator totally full, it would push some coolant out but wouldn't lose any more afterwords. Now, ive had a more serious issue come about. After the engine has been running about 2 or 3 minutes, it pushes a lot od coolant out, probably 1 quarter of the coolant then will ease up. But will periodically push out more and more coolant as you drive it, each time it starts to ease towards the red mark as well, before cooling back down after it pushes some out (until theres not enough left to push out and it starts overheating) this takes probably about 30-45 mins of driving to empty the coolant completely. I thought head gasket, however the oil and water doesnt seem to be mixing. No water in the oil. Could it be my thermostat causing excess pressure in the system or somthing? Thanks for reading!

 

Pretty much certainly the head gasket between 1 and 2.

There are coolant hoses under the head. Start with replacing all hoses. Get new radiator if you do the head gasket. Water pump as well.

New head screws, and really do check for warpage.

Only use Toyota Red coolant.

22re performance or lcengineering is where I buy my stuff.