My 95 4 runner has started leaking a very little bit of coolant when it is cold only. (Not leaking when hot). When it is parked overnight there is coolant comming off of the back of the cylinder heads and off of the front of the engine around the thermostat and on the other side of the water pump also. Is it possible that the water pump to block seal has starting leaking? Anybody ever come across this? I have not had a chance to take the timing belt cover off yet. Has 108,000 miles. Definately no coolant in the oil, does not run hot.

This was one of the last '95 4 runners which were supposedly not on the head gasket recall program. I hope it is not that.

All input appreciated.
Charles

 

Charles, Welcome to YotaTech. Sounds like you have a few leaks on your hands. Crappy. I would start by doing a coolant pressure test to note what exactly is leaking so you do not replace uneccisary parts. Sounds like a head gasket but I have not looked at it in person so dont quote me. A PSI test will tell the tale though. 108K on a 95 is a sweet deal in my opinion though. Do you take good care of it? Are you the original owner? Also on the recall have you had it checked or just had someone say they didn't think it was on the recall list? I would take the vin code down to the dealer and have them check it. Dont like their answer take that code to another dealer for a second opinion. Ben

 

I don't know if this is entirely relevant, but my headgasket has been leaking coolant down the exhaust side of the block for almost a year. I just have to top off the overflow tank every couple weeks. Hoping to make it until summer when I plan to rebuild it. Point is, you may not have to panic if it's leaking coolant to the outside...

 

Yes, I do take care of it. I am the 2nd owner and have put the last 60k on it. In fact up till now, it has only needed scheduled maintence, an adjustment to the TPS and two new bolts which vibrated out of the EGR valve. It has been a great truck. I did contact toyota via Toyota.com on the head gaskets. I also found a web site with the affected vin range, it is definately of the newer generation head gasket so hopefully it is not that. My driveway is on a slight uphill grade, I parked it backwards tonight (nose down hill) to see if the back of the cylinder heads are dry tomorrow. I have a hunch it will only be wet on the front of the engine (if it leaks at all, it has only leaked on two nights about a week apart). It would be REALLY odd the have all of the sudden developed multiple leaks with no overheating or malfunction first. Again, the leak stops when the engine is running and pops up overnight. It has not leaked enough yet to need to be topped off.

Charles

 

Could very well be the water pump. It will start as only a trickle and slowly get worse. I am doing my timing belt here any day and I'm doing the water pump at the same time. I'm at 125K and this will be the second timing belt. My buddies 94 crapped out at 130K and another friends went at 140K. If you are physically getting a puddle out of it I would be willing to bet it's the pump. If you tear into it might as well change out the belt too. Good luck.

 

The 3VZE is known for head gasket leaks.
In two trucks and 14 years they have failed no less than 6 times. Warranty each time.

In my '91 (predecessor to my current one) I ran it knowing it was leaking for a year+.
Finally I tore it down b/c it had no power.
Turns out I had one cyl in each bank with very low compression. Inspection revealed that the cyl walls were pitted, also signs of detonation on the piston. REBUILD ENGINE - yuck.

Dealer in Greenville, SC did my '94 three times. It would last 6mo and start leaking again.
Finally, no more warranty and I did it myself.
When I did it, I replaced the headbolts. These are a torque to yield design and should not be re-used (even the factory admits this.)
Dealer in GV refused to replace headbolts.

It's been 4 years now since i did it myself and it's not leaking yet, guess I must have done something right.
{sound you now hear is me knocking on wood}


Not sure if these headgasket design flaws allow the fluid to escape, mine were always internal leaks into the combustion chamber.

 

It's very common for the water pump to go out at that age. If you haven't done the timing belt yet, this is a good time to do that.

The normal HG problem with the 3.0 is an internal leak so you won't see any coolant leaking outside unless the block is cracked. Typically, signs of a HG failure are: milky substance under oil cap, oil in the coolant, white smoke screen exhaust, and a rough idle.

 

there are freeze plugs under the intake manifold along with a heater pipe both leak out rear of block down bellhousing.water pump leaks up front,as does t/stat and gasket.

 

p/s get used to coolant useage.