for the first time in 3 years, my rig overheated!
10-06-2008, 09:36 PM
#1
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for the first time in 3 years, my rig overheated!
so i was drivin on the freeway, and going up a big incline at 4500 rpms just to keep speed, i get to a downhill slope, so i throw it in neutral, and i notice the temp gauge starts to go up. okay, so it does this occasionally but will drop down. well, it DOESNT drop down, but goes up. so i pull over and shut off the motor. i immediately smell coolant and steam is coming up from the hood, through the grill, etc. so i get out, pop the hood, and nearly choked to death on the antifreeze smell. so i get down on my hands and knees trying to figure out if its coming from the block or not. coolant is all over the concrete, and my engine. so i pull out the flash light and determine that the drivers side of the engine is fine, since its totally dry. so i look on the other side, and its soaked. not much i can do but smoke a cig and wait for it to cool down enough for me to get to an autozone for coolant. so i wait about 20 mins, then i drive about 5 miles to an autozone. the temp gauge reads normal, but when i stop, the engine is AGAIN steaming. so i pop the hood and release the pressure valve on my rad. cap, and go in and buy some coolant. (damn that stuffs expensive). it took the whole bottle to fill! but i start it, and its still leakin. so i buy some stop leak. (yeah yeah, i know, but i needed to get home). put it in, and take it easy on the way home. i got home fine. but i noticed that its STILL leaking. so i followed a drip. it seems to be coming from UNDER the intake manifold, right behind the 2 sensors next to the intake. ill get a picture of it. the truck does NOT give signs of a bad head gasket(..no steam from exhaust, no coolant smell from exhaust, w/e), starts just fine, and runs perfect. think theres a chance the HG blew, or the head cracked, or what not? i plan on getting my compression test kit from my buddy tomorrow and checkin the compression. if any are low, i guess ill go ahead and get the engine rebuilt, since the HG is half the job anyway. think i messed it up with my stint at 4500 rpms for maybe a minute or minute and a half (at most) ? im trying to figure out what happened. i have an idea of things, but i dont want to just throw parts at it, i want to nail the problem in the ass. help?
10-06-2008, 10:44 PM
#2
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Id have to see pics, but when was the last time you did the t-chain cover??
I honestly thought you were bout to say "got on your hands and knees and started to pray" lol.
I mean, if you dont have any smoke coming from the exhaust, you could be ok, might have a hair line fracture in the HG.
You should deff get your radiator flushed, and if that doesnt fix the overheating problem a new thermostat.
ya know ??
I honestly thought you were bout to say "got on your hands and knees and started to pray" lol.
I mean, if you dont have any smoke coming from the exhaust, you could be ok, might have a hair line fracture in the HG.
You should deff get your radiator flushed, and if that doesnt fix the overheating problem a new thermostat.
ya know ??
10-06-2008, 10:53 PM
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what i have found with over heating trucks is, if they are too far gone, ie, blowing water out the overflow or the radiator cap blows, keep them running because it keeps the coolant flowing through the engine and the radiator cooling the engine. this also keeps the fluid from sitting in one place and boiling. pop the hood and keep it idling. I don't know if this is a good idea but it seems better than just letting it sit there and bake because at least this way it still has coolant flowing through it making an attempt to take the coolant away.
10-07-2008, 12:17 AM
#4
Headgaskets seal the cylinder, oil passages, and coolant passages. I was trying to remember the term "cross fire" and came up with this, which is exactly what I was going to say in the first place.
http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Arch.../msg00235.html
If it blows between an oil jacket and the cylinder you will have blue smoke and low oil pressure, possibly some pre-ignition knocking, and fouled
spark plugs. If it blows between the oil jacket and the outside of
the block you will have an oil leak and low oil pressure. If it blows
between the coolant passage and cylinder you have white smoke, mis-
firing, fouled/damaged plugs, and if there is enough coolant in the
cylinders then you can bend the rods/damage pistons. If it blows
between the cylinders you won't get the typical smoke rather you will
get a severe cross fire. The car will fight itself and sound like a
lawn mower. Everyone points to white/blue smoke but that is only if
you are getting coolant/oil in the cylinder.
I'll include this though, if the headgasket were to leak between the coolant passage and the outside of the gasket, you'd leak coolant.
You can add dye to the coolant that's visible in black light. Powerwash under the intake, then start it up until your confident a little coolant has leaked and look at it with black light. If it comes from the seam between the head and the block, its the HG.
Don't despair though it could be a coolant passage under the intake. I don't remember if there's one there or not. The black light dye trick should work.
http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Arch.../msg00235.html
If it blows between an oil jacket and the cylinder you will have blue smoke and low oil pressure, possibly some pre-ignition knocking, and fouled
spark plugs. If it blows between the oil jacket and the outside of
the block you will have an oil leak and low oil pressure. If it blows
between the coolant passage and cylinder you have white smoke, mis-
firing, fouled/damaged plugs, and if there is enough coolant in the
cylinders then you can bend the rods/damage pistons. If it blows
between the cylinders you won't get the typical smoke rather you will
get a severe cross fire. The car will fight itself and sound like a
lawn mower. Everyone points to white/blue smoke but that is only if
you are getting coolant/oil in the cylinder.
I'll include this though, if the headgasket were to leak between the coolant passage and the outside of the gasket, you'd leak coolant.
You can add dye to the coolant that's visible in black light. Powerwash under the intake, then start it up until your confident a little coolant has leaked and look at it with black light. If it comes from the seam between the head and the block, its the HG.
Don't despair though it could be a coolant passage under the intake. I don't remember if there's one there or not. The black light dye trick should work.
Last edited by Matt16; 10-07-2008 at 12:21 AM.
10-07-2008, 12:46 AM
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what i have found with over heating trucks is, if they are too far gone, ie, blowing water out the overflow or the radiator cap blows, keep them running because it keeps the coolant flowing through the engine and the radiator cooling the engine. this also keeps the fluid from sitting in one place and boiling. pop the hood and keep it idling. I don't know if this is a good idea but it seems better than just letting it sit there and bake because at least this way it still has coolant flowing through it making an attempt to take the coolant away.
10-07-2008, 06:25 AM
#7
There is a heater hardline that starts on the driver side by the firewall and runs around the back of the engine and up to the passenger side where you mentioned. It is flanged up by the thermostat IIRC and right by those sensors you mention. Mine, the hardline that is, cracked from age by the flange and I experienced the same symptoms you did.
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10-07-2008, 06:39 AM
#8
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There is a heater hardline that starts on the driver side by the firewall and runs around the back of the engine and up to the passenger side where you mentioned. It is flanged up by the thermostat IIRC and right by those sensors you mention. Mine, the hardline that is, cracked from age by the flange and I experienced the same symptoms you did.
10-07-2008, 09:57 AM
#9
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uh oh.... maybe its just my paranoid mind smelling it, but when i start the engine and smell the exhaust, it smells somewhat sweet, reminds me of the steam i smelled last night when it overheated. im hopin for the best but expecting the worst. i also found where its leaking. i have no idea what this is called, so i took a pic. its the coolant line behind the 2 sensors next to the intake manifold. it wasnt leakin, so i moved the hose around a little, and it started dripping.
heres the pic
heres the pic
10-07-2008, 11:12 AM
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I must say, your very first problem was your driving habit. You're pushing the engine hard-ish at 4500 rpm. Then by dropping it all the way down to idle, you're making it really hard for that fan to move air through the radiator (most likely nullified by the fact you are moving) but more importantly, that water pump is turning very slowly now too. To make it even worse, you shut it down immediately. You should have let her idle on the side of the road and let the water pump/fan put in some work. By shutting her down, you're leaving your whole system full with near boiling water. No bueno. This can lead to a worse case scenario cracked block.
10-07-2008, 12:00 PM
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You most likely lost your coolant when you shut it down. You should have investigated with it running instead. That would have given you a more definitive answer to where the antifreeze was boiling over from. I'm surprised you didn't see it leaking from the overflow bottle at all...
10-07-2008, 12:23 PM
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the part you show in the picture is called a thermo-sensor or something, there are 2 small coolant lines on the back of that unit, hopefully those small coolant lines are worn out and cracked when the water press got too high. other than that the heater hard line under the intake mani is a likely cause, to replace it youll have to remove your fuel filter and mounting bracket and remove the bolt holding the hard line to the cyl head right next to the fire wall. it is a major pain in the ass the first time.
on another note i am pretty unimpressed with 3/4ths of the replys on this thread. i dont think commenting on someones driving habits is nessesary and i dont think it helps anyone when people randomly chime in when they dont have any usefull info and just say something they think it might be like headgasket which would almost never cause coolant to leak out of the engine its self.
on another note i am pretty unimpressed with 3/4ths of the replys on this thread. i dont think commenting on someones driving habits is nessesary and i dont think it helps anyone when people randomly chime in when they dont have any usefull info and just say something they think it might be like headgasket which would almost never cause coolant to leak out of the engine its self.
10-07-2008, 12:42 PM
#16
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thank you, kd. anyone know the size of the coolant lines or part numbers from toyota? when i run it the exhaust smells somewhat sweet, but not overwhelmingly sweet, and its not smoking AT ALL, not even on startup. i just got my compression checker back, so im gonna go check the compression, will report my findings
10-07-2008, 12:45 PM
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yeah, the guy that i bought my enigine from said these toyota motors arnt really supposed to be run up over 4 grand too much, he said he's pulled apart these motors and measured rods and has seen them streched up to 7-8 hundreds of and inch
10-07-2008, 01:07 PM
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10-07-2008, 01:13 PM
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I must say, your very first problem was your driving habit. You're pushing the engine hard-ish at 4500 rpm. Then by dropping it all the way down to idle, you're making it really hard for that fan to move air through the radiator (most likely nullified by the fact you are moving) but more importantly, that water pump is turning very slowly now too. To make it even worse, you shut it down immediately. You should have let her idle on the side of the road and let the water pump/fan put in some work. By shutting her down, you're leaving your whole system full with near boiling water. No bueno. This can lead to a worse case scenario cracked block.
