96-02 4Runners have a plastic aluminum radiator. As these get older the seal will wear out where the aluminum core is pressed around the plastic tanks. Another guy up above mentioned that you had fluid on your fan shroud. That is right next to the lower tank. You said that you had it looked at, did they pressure test it?

 

well, after getting tired of looking all over my engine bay and radiator for small drops, i just filled it up, ran it dry, and then filled it up again (overflow tank) tonight i popped the hood with the black light i just bought from walmart and BAM i found the leak before i even turned the black light on... just had to let enough leak out to where it was so evident with a flashlight i would have to be stupid to not see it... pics follow

this doesnt look like the hose is good anymore


this is another clue as to which hose it really was...


the very obvious leak


dont mind the really greasy/oily PS resevoir, it has a leak also and ive been filling it up alot lately and have a habit of not using cones to funnel it into the tank without pouring it over everything else... when you look at this picture and then the pictures i posted earlier, you can see how i confused the location of the leak to the bottom of the radiator


so tomorrow its off to toyota to buy a new hose and install it, do a flush of my cooling system and then drive it around and make sure that was the only one leaking.... thanks everyone for all your help!

 

Glad you found it and that one is pretty common. One hint I will give is that the hose is not always at fault. You may want to remove the hose and check the necks for signs of corrosion. If you do find some then scrape off any high spots and use a little 320 grit sand paper to prep the surface for attaching the hose again. If the hose is old, brittle, stiff then you should probably replace the hose as well.

 

ok, fixed the leak followed the directions i found on 4x4wire, pretty easy just took about 2 hours. while i was in there i replaced my airbox with a new one that didnt have the deckplate mod done to it, tomorrow im gonna go clean up the engine bay and wait to get enough $$$ to fix that power steering rack!


had to represent... didnt actually use that for too long, had to throw a short trashcan under it right after this picture


im not sure if this is what you would consider rusty, but i considered it to be unneccessary build up and sanded it off.



a good reason to clean your overflow tank

 

Are you using Dexcool? .......I can't tell from the pic but it looks orange.

I had mine begin to leak a while back right at the same place on the neck of the radiator and the engine inlet too. All I did was hit it with some 320 grit sandpaper to knock down any ridges and it has sealed fine ever since. Glad you finally got it solved.

 

i was using red prestone to refill it before it leaked, now im using prestone that is green. im worried because this morning when i got back from class it had drank a good portion of the overflow tank up, i need to go clean my motor off and check if im still leaking from somewhere else. i hit that engine inlet and the radiator neck with the 320 grit sandpaper pretty decently, did a flush of my system (water was nasty when it came back out the first time, so i know it needed it bad) and refilled with right around 2.5 gallons of 50/50 premixed coolant (im lazy) im hoping that the reason my overflow tank was a little less full this morning is because i didnt fill the radiator up all the way, i turned on my heater this morning (even though it was hot outside) just to let the coolant go thru the heater core and make sure that everywhere that needs it has it. flushing and refilling takes alot longer than i thought it would though, thats for sure

 

The green stuff is fine as long as you change it frequently, I'd shy away from the long life dexcool type:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/just-finished-timing-belt-coolant-question-77747/

 

I replaced my fluid w/ the red type to keep it consistent. Glad you found the leak.

 

I never knew that antifreeze glowed in the dark. Oly884 mentioned it and I had to find out for myself. Here are some coolant spots on the conrete of my car port from my 86 4runner that is leaking coolant...somewhere.



Here is what the coolant looks like on the various parts under the truck:


The pictures are sideways, so the actual top of the picture is the left side of the picture.

 

It is normal to have to refill the overfill tank after doing a coolant change. Air gets in the system and after driving for a while it sucks coolant in to replace the displaced air.

Rob

 

yeah, after i filled it up a couple days after i did the flush and changed the hose it stopped sucking more up, i am soo glad i found the leak now. one less thing on my truck to worry about!

nice pics illustrating that aaron

 

okay, so after i thought i fixed it, i find that i am still losing coolant somewhere. how many places can there be a leak from? i got under there and took some pics of random places that i saw the glowing. this is gonna suck if its some hose that is impossible to get to... here are the pics

i can see glow on the back side of the mount for the lower control arm


the grey piece here i can also see what appears to be dried coolant


here are where a couple hoses are right above where the glow is


think it could be my lower large (1.5" d) radiator hose?

 

 

The only coolant I run is Toyota Red, mainly for it's ability to seal small leaks and the residue it leaves behind making it easier to locate them. From the last pictures posted, it is very difficult to know exactly where your fluid is comming from.

 

yeah, tomorrow night if its not raining im going to figure out how to get my camera to take good pic's with out the flash and attempt to take more pics. i am almost glad that i have a leak (as long as its something cheap to replace like a hose) so that i can switch back to toyota red. so hopefully i can get this fixed once and for all this weekend!

 

definitely go buy toyota red or pink

i have pink in my truck now. i had a big coolant leak, turned out to be the radiator itself... the side seals on it just sort of cracked and let go.

so i got an aftermarket one. that turned out to be defective, so i returned it and got a new one which has been flawless. it is metallic, not plastic, and it has been absolutely perfect.

i would recommend looking into spending the 150 on an aftermarket radiator and change it out and use toyota red or pink, see if that solves your prob. i know thats not cheap but at this point it would be a good option to eliminate a variable.

 

hey lee, could you post up the link of where you got yours from? when i first found out that i was leaking (when the needle started approaching the red, i should really check my fluids more often) i had my radiator pressure tested, and the shop that did it said everything was fine. i dont know much about pressure testing or radiators for that matter, so perhaps its shot anyways.

my leak isnt that big, in the past month ive easily put on over 1200 miles in november and when i got back to gville noticed that i was low. tonight im going to spend awhile trying to locate the leak. i really hope its something cheap like a hose, that 150 could buy me sliders!! plus i really need new tires and funds are really tight, so keep your fingers crossed its just another hose. i find it odd though that more than one hose is leaking, perhaps if i do have to replace my radiator ill just go ahead and replace everyhose and be set for another 110k. thank god for yotatech, i dont want to know what toyota would want to charge me for this!

and what are the pro's/con's to a metallic radiator?

thanks everyone for replying and helping me track down this leak

 

i got it from a local parts wholesaler that i finagled an account from.

a guy at a local toy dealer sent me there so when i showed up and used that guys name they gave me an account under that dealership... they dont do individual accounts, only business accounts, so i am lucky and can get parts at the same prices shops in the area do

anyway, i dont know ther brand of what i got, and i dont there are any pros or cons to a metallic one, it just happened to be metallic and works awesome. i guess one con is if you touch it, it is BURN-YOUR-SKIN hot

anyway good luck man, hope you find the source...

 

well if i dont find it tonight, im just going to bite the bullet and replace the radiator and all hoses next week after exams. im tired of this crap, i have enough other broken things on my truck to not want to worry about a coolant leak

 

you sound like me when i was having radiator problems

i dont think these trucks cool very well to begin with.