I have a 95 4runner 3.0 and just had a overheat problem yesterday, the heater was blowing cold air few days before on and off, 1 day hot. 1 day cold.

1st off i did get the thermostat and water pump/timing belt changed 5 months ago and havent had any problems.

today I did notice a leak around the neck of the radiator right below the cap.

the truck over heated and steamed out yesterday so today, and gurggling the resevoir, i refilled with about 1g of water and let it run today and it never overheated, i let it run in the yard for 20+ minutes and drove it around to get it hot. the heater is blowing hot again now.
so i took the radiator cap off while still running at normal operating temp and there was very little pressure at all, the water doesnt seem to be moving and the hoses dont seem to have any water in them.

could this be the thermostat sticking or water pump?

i thought if the pump was pumping there would be water moving through the radiator?

or could the small leak around the radiator neck be the problem since i can take the cap off when running and very little pressure.

 

if u have a leak it will not build up pressure, and will lose water over time causing it to over heat and no hot air inside. i would get the leak fixed, check your oil to make sure u don't have water getting into the oil and mixing, if not then u should be good, also the only time u will see the water move is when the thermostat opens. other wise it is moving around the motor area and not as much in the radiator.

 

the leak may be the problem, is there anyway to seal the leak other than getting it braised? never seen a radiator fix at autozone or anything hopefully they do exist.

 

is the radiator metal or plastic? if metal then u can solider it and it will hold and fix it, but there could be other spots u don't see right now that will pop or leak after u fix that spot or soon, might want to just get a new one or good used and save the headache of it causing more of a problem later,

 

the radiator is metal/brass, dont have 150.00 to replace the radiator right now so a more economical fix would be better right now lol.

has anyone used the permatex radiator repair before?
i see they have some epoxy stick stuff but i dont trus that to much.

heres a link to it
http://www.permatex.com/products/Aut...Repair_Kit.htm

 

i would use a torch and solider and do that over that stuff. i have fixed my radiator this way a couple times

 

i dont have a torch to do this with, ill have to try the permatex stuff and hope it works for now thanks

i dont want to use this stuff but i have no choice right now

 

if u put where ya live and that there might be someone that lives close that could help and solider it for you...

 

i finally found someone and got them to fix it for 20.00,looks better than new now. just refilled and drove it around for 30mintues, didnt run hot and heat works fine so hopefully that was the issue, ill know tomorrow when i drive it for 50 miles if that was it or not.

i felt the hoses after i got it good and hot, top is really hot and bottom is much cooler, hopefully were good to go. thanks for the fast replys justin4runner

 

glad u got it fixed. wish u the best with it.