My 88 4Runner 22RE makes gurgling sounds under my glove box and stumbles to start some times.

I presumed my head was blown in a small place between cylinders, but...

I had the coolant system (heat included) and cylinders pressure tested. Everything was fine.

I just drove +900 miles home for spring break using heat the whole way. It used 1/4 gal of coolant.

Then I drove +900 miles back not using heat at all, and it used 0.00 gal of coolant.

Oil and coolant are clean (i.e., no mixing)

Any suggestions before I pull the head?

 

Oh, I think mudhippy said to check plugs for coolant (i.e., starting short out stumble) on another thread. I’ve run it with the heat on, let it sit, and checked. They were dry.

 

possibly just a leak in the heating system?

 

Is your passenger side carpet wet?

Wash the engine bay well from above and below, then park on your grandmas perfectly clean drive way. Look for any dots of coolant when your done eating her fresh made cookies. A piece of cardboard work too if its not windy.

You can also get a cooling system pump. you hook it on where the rad cap is, pump the system up to pressure and look for your leak.

 

Are there any coolant like that feed a rear heater set-up? Gurgling under the passenger side dash is often the heater core talking to ya.

 

I had the coolant system pressure tested, with cut-up boxes underneath. There were no detectable leaks, so they left it under pressure over night. Pressure held.

 

How does the oil look?

 

I did a tune-up and oil change before the drive out (which used some coolant) and back (which used less coolant than detectable by placing a piece of duct tape on the waterline on the reservoir).

After the 1800 mile trip, the oil is still amber.

 

bad radiator cap?