About a week ago my 95 toyota tacoma started overheating on the way to work. I found a small hole in the radiator hose. Replaced that but it didn't solve the overheating problem. I then noticed water in the front floorboard so I bypassed the heater core until I can change it out. Still overheating. I then back flushed and used the flush stuff, three times at least. Still overheating. Radiator started leaking so I put a new radiator on, new thermostat and new rad cap. Still overheating. Put a new water pump on it and it is still overheating. Clutch fan is working fine. Put new belts on it too.. I am banging my head against the wall.. Can not think of anything else to do. The engine runs smooth and there isn't any water in the oil. Any advice will be greatly appreciated!!!
Steve

 

headgasket? exhaust leak in coolant?

 

Clogged coolant passage(s) in engine block? Have you noticed any power loss, white smoke and/or water out the tail pipe, or are you having to add coolant? How does your engine oil and coolant look - not like chocolate milkshake right?

 

I bet you have a bubble in your cooling system. Jack the front of the truck up, open radiator cap and fill until full. Then squeeze the top rad. hose until all the bubbles come out. Let it get to operating temp and then let it cool completly. Check one more time to see if the coolant level is fine then you should be good.

 

I'm hoping it isn't a blown head gasket.. Haven't noticed any white smoke or moisture in tail pipe but really haven't paid attention to that. I'll look. Coolant is thick rusty looking. When I first flush it it is clear and then when I drive the truck and it over heats coolant is thick and rusty again. I can't see any water in the oil though.
Thanks for all the responses.

 

Yeah I am gonna hope for your sake it is what snobdds said and you need to "burp" your cooling system. Same thing happened with my old 93 runner (tippy I) when I first got her.

But if yopur coolant is thicka nd rusty I feel like you have oil leaking into it. Are you losing oil?

 

pull your oil plug a bit, oil sets on top of the water and coolant, so you can drain out all the water and oil all at once.. well the majority of coolant if thats the case.

what you need to do is to do a pressure test on your raditator, you make hav a slight crack in your raditator and it will cause you to always to over heat...

you can pick up a raditatior test kit at harbor frieght tools pretty cheap.. no sense to by a expensive snap-on or craftsman setup,

 

Rusty coolant (or probably just rusty water in your case) will clog coolant passages in the block like I was saying earlier, but rust will also eat away at and blow your HGs. My bet is on one or both of these possibilities now that we know about the rust and also since you checked and/or replaced pretty much everything else. You or the previous owner must have ran straight water in the cooling system and that's a BIG no no. A 50% coolant/water mix is enough to virtually never develop rust in the cooling system. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if the HG(s) aren't already blown, I believe there is a very high chance that they will in the near future.

 

i couldnt agree anymore with your post...

preventive maintenance such as coolant flushes help out alot...

ie garden hose enging runnning line off squriting like old faithfull.
and old coolant running down the drive way in to the storm drains

 

I bought the truck new 15 years ago and I've never run straight water. Always 50/50. It has had a bad heater core for a while and I think that might be where the rust build up has developed from. I hate to think that it's a HG blown but am beginning to believe it is. One last thing I was going to do was pull the engine coolant plug and drain from there but I can't for the life of me locate it. I have a chilton manual but it isn't where the manual says it is.
Thanks again for ALL responses! I really appreciate all of them!

 

well if you pull all of the spark plugs and do a compresion test you will know, very quickly

or you could do a quick oil change and look for any signs of coolant in the oil

pull your rad, cap and look for extrem eamount of bubbles for top of radi. while engine is running..

pull your oil fill cap, should pretty noticable sound is you got a leak

 

If a HG is blown between the exhaust and a coolant passage (as opposed to the coolant/combustion chamber/oil passages), there will be no trace of coolant in the oil or vise-versa. So, you could still have a blown HG without any oil/coolant mixing (aka chocolate milkshake).

The hole you mentioned in the heater core could explain the rust too (anywhere that air can enter the system).

 

I am pretty convinced that I have a blown HG... I really appreciate everyone's input! One more question.. Does anyone have any experience in changing a HG on a Toyota and how hard is it. I've changed HGs on 350 and other engines years ago but never on a Toyota engine. Thanks again!

 

I would take it to a shop (or have it towed if it's overheating quickly) and have them run a compression test to see if it's a HG. The HGs on a 3.4L (I assume that's what engine you have) are pretty straight forward. The only real difference from a Chevy is that the head bolts are "torque to spec" or whatever that's called. In other words, there's a torque spec, but then you go like another 90 degrees or something. There are links to the FSM on ttora.com which should have all that info or maybe someone on here can link the FSM for you (I'm at work right now and all my saved links are on my home computer).

 

ya, thats about right with the extra 90' turn..

listen up save your self dome money and go drop about no more then 30 bucks on a hanyes manual so you have a book of info..

go to sears or harbor frieght and by a new compression tool kit.

or save your self even more moeny and go to autozone, advance auto parts and rent a tool for just a few dollars..

then remove your plugs insert comperssion tester.. and check all your cylinders

your chiltons hyanes manual or online sourse will give you all your info..

if your not sure on how to do a compression test.. try it out on your lawn mower first.. just so you can call it your first rodeo/moped ride..

 

This may be a dumb question, but did you check your sensors? Is it actually overheating or is the gauge just saying it is?

There is a joke about this. A guy goes to the doctor and says "it hurts everywhere." He squeezes his arm...it hurts....he squeezes his knee....it hurts. The doctor says "your finger is broken...quit squeezing stuff."

Go to the source man. That is why I asked about the sensor. If it is just the gauge saying it is overheating, then there is your problem. If it's not just the gauge and it is actually overheating and spewing antifreeze.....well....good luck. I am in the middle of changing my hg on my 3.0V6 and it is a nightmare compared to a 350 or 302. You can do it, but you better set aside a weekend or two. you will also need a some sharpies, ziplock bags, some string, and some masking tape. And don't forget the $250 head gasket kit. If I had it to do over again.....I would still do it myself, but that's because I like self torture.....

 

oh ya, go get a iR thermostic gun and run you engine and shoot a beam on the engine to see what your temps are...

 

Or find a hobby store with one of the RC car temperature measurers. they work digitally and are small..
i've used it on my engine before.
good up to 300 degrees lol

 

u cen get thermostat tape... like on your refridgrator magnets

 

Just wanted to get back with everyone who replied to my original post and thank you for your time and knowledge. I took the truck to a reputable mechanic here and had him look at it. He pulled the head and found that I had a bad block. SOOO looks like I will have to part it out.. Can't find a motor anywhere for a decent price and I have over 300 thousand miles on the truck so I really don't want to put a lot of money into it. It was a great truck and I hate to have to give it up but the time has come! Again thanks for all your responses.