marshallinmontana

I've got a 2002 Tundra with 160K miles. I recently noticed a leak on the pavement. Looks like it's coolant dripping from the chassis cross-member -- the leak is above the oil pan, where it looks like a wire terminates into the block at a round protrusion. Anyone have experience with this? Thanks for any help!

75w90mantraN

Leaks touch all sorts of places and parts. When the vehicle is in motion, momentum makes them drip towards the back of the engine compartment.

Verify the color of the fluid leaking.

To better help you out, post a picture of what you're looking at.

If you have an understanding of cooling systems (not to be confused with A/C), easier to solve. Or a shop can help.

Common sources of coolant leaks--water pump, hoses,radiator, coolant lines. But dont jump on parts yet. Verify first.

marshallinmontana

I ended up taking this to a shop. Here's what I learned -- hope it might help someone with the same problem. The coolant leak was from the block heater. Apparently leaking block heaters are a common problem on the early Toyota Tundras.
The leak was causing some minor dripping of coolant that made a small pool in the driveway. It was during a period of very cold weather, down to almost -20 degrees F, which could have contributed to the problem, as the parts flexed in the cold.
Even before I brought it into the shop, I ended up being pretty sure it was the block heater. The leak was coming from the back of the engine block on the passenger side. I could see that the leaking part was a round plug coming out of the engine block. The plus had a wire going into it, not a hose, so it made sense that it would be the heater.
It was a quick fix at the shop, around $300, which included replacing the coolant with Toyota Red. This wouldn't be a hard job for someone to do on their own -- the block heater looked to be pretty easy to reach. Just not the kind of job I want to do in my snowy driveway in the winter.
The mechanic said that he encourages people to replace the block heaters on the early Tundras about every 3-4 years, or at least keep an eye on them at that interval. Apparently they just fall out sometimes, which causes a sudden, massive coolant leak -- not the sort of thing you want to have happen on the highway. They don't screw into the block -- there is some kind of other connection where they wedge into it. Luckily I noticed the small amount of coolant on my driveway and caught it before there was much coolant loss.