hey everyone,

thanks for checking in on my request.
I did my homework and couldn't find any post relating to this.

it's very strange.

Last week I bought a 1996, true granny owned ( i know her niece) hilux (4x2, but couldn't pass it up), with something like 44900 km, or maybe 31 thousand miles?

I live 1000 km from the capital, Santiago, so I had it inspected,
everything was spot on, one scrape, 2 bumps, that was it.
the owner even paid for the oil change and filter, but mechanically, it was pure.

So I traveled, and drove the 600 miles back home,
on the way, i noticed a brownish liquid puddling on the passenger's footwell.
I thought it was my buddy drinking Coke and spilling some so I overlooked it.

I parked it when I got home, two days later, had the undercarriage pressure washed.
Then I drove back home and noticed the fluid. It's not watery, and doesn't look like oil.

I looked under the hood, everything checks out, oil level, coolant level.
and this stuff seemed to leave a snail trail at the far left corner of the footwell, sort of from the center of the firewall.

then yesterday, coming up a grade, I noticed it was making very little power,
and when I reached the crest, the temp gauge was three quarters up, normally it's less than halfway.

I called the mechanical inspection who checked it for me and they couldn't even begin to guess at what it was.

anyone had this happen to them?
I tried to flush the radiator last night with a garden hose, but the little plastic hose at the bottom just drips a little,
am I doing something wrong?

thanks!

 

Sounds like a plugged heater core.

 

thank you snobdds,

that's what my mech found it was,

wish I could have done that!

for now, he's bypassed the system cause I need to get around, but he needs two full days to take out the dash, and get the part, install, and replace the dash

on a just purchased, 32 K mile truck!

well, it's 15 years old and wasn't getting much use

I did notice there's a bit of hesitation on the highway, like a mild tugging while on the throttle softly.

any ideas?

thanks

 

what engine does it have gas or diesel.

 

it's the classic 22RE

 

could be the fuel filter if its a older truck.. id do the basic tune up

plugs. wires. fuel filter, a few ,rad flush, new thermostat

looks like a nice truck

 

If the heater core is plugged you may be able to save a lot of time and money if you take the inlet and outlet hoses off (coming out of the firewall) and stick a garden hose in there and flush it out. Stick it in the outlet 1st and blow it out backwards and then blow it out the other direction and repeat a few times. It may clear it out or it may not (if it's clogged or corroded really bad in there), but it's dfinitely worth a try. I had the same issue about a year ago and was quoted $900+ for a new heater core and the labor. I fixed it for free in about 10 minutes with my garden hose.

 

that's some top advice Briansun,
but unfortunately did that, and it's screwed.
too many years (15 ) with too little use and no fluid change destroyed the seals

in my neck of the woods, a heater core is about 950 US plus tax (19%!)
but there is the option of a 150 USD metal radiator made to measure,
which is what everyone does,
in a local forum, an expert from Toyota quoted the price and said no one has ever imported one for a Hilux

the main radiator is ok
but they're built tougher

 

well, to update
( a little later...)

it had to be opened up twice to get all the leaky seals replaced,
but it worked fine after that.

the truck was sold
(in a heartbeat), and I just picked up a new (94) yesterday

will post about it somewhere else on the forum