lost coolant, its going to be bad (1 Viewer)

[dudeman]

Wondering what news to expect. But expecting the worst. I occasionally have to top off my coolant after a week or so of driving in the really hot weather, but its been holding nicely the last few months after finding a few hoses to tighten. Today it was 100 degrees and I let a friend have the fj60 for the day to pick up a new bunk bed for his hid. I made sure the coolant, belts and oil were all good before he took off. He called two hours later saying the car started to smell and then it lost power. I guess it was smoking when he pulled over. When I got there I hoped a belt had snapped so I checked that first. When I looked, the coolant was completely gone and the car smelled really bad. Had it towed to my shop, but assuming the worst.
I am assuming the worst, but what would be the best case scenario?
Thinking I might be selling an 82 FJ60 in quite good shape without en engine soon

 

[Spike Strip]

Best case? Put coolant in it and it goes. Worst case? You already said it. Most likely? Something in between.


I never let wives or friends drive my cruisers, unless they already own one.

 

[Haggis]

If the engine is fried, why sell the rig? Rebuild that 2F.

 

[dudeman]

Yeah Spike Strip, lesson learned...only I drive from now on...assuming there is a now on.
Showed up to the shop today and put coolant in and it turned on just fine and drove it the 15 feet to where they are going to be checking on it. They are going to pressurize the cooling line and also check to see if I blew a head gasket, but somewhat positive signs so far. No bad smoke coming out of my exhaust.

 

[Spike Strip]

Let us know the outcome.

You won't get smoke out of the exhaust - most likely steam. Also check for discolored oil.

Good luck! Hope she's ok.

 

[Godwin]

I never let wives or friends drive my cruisers, unless they already own one.

X2 but even then Cruiser ownership may not meet the minimum.

 

[landcruiser80]

The worst part is that they usually try to blame it on the "Old, unreliable, vehicle you lent me."

 

[dudeman]

Well good news so far. Mechanic found a large leak in the hose coming out of the heater. The smell of burned oil and overheated engine led him to do an oil change and he drained the coolant. He found no water in the oil, and no oil in the water. Fixed the hose, ran the engine for an close to an hour and didn't notice any signs of head gasket troubles. So i've got her back and am crossing my fingers that i've dodged a bullet so far. I am not sure how the hose sprung a leak so quickly or how it all got out of hand so quickly....well, it was 100 degrees in LA this weekend. But I am back on the road after 200 bucks. Much better than I thought it was gonna be at least so far.

 

[Spike Strip]

 

[bentonrover]

Toyota God's was sending you a message.

 

[Spike Strip]

Has your oil galley plug been replaced ?

 

[vipergrhd]

$200? You really dodge the bullet my friend. Ok i need to borrow your 60 for field testing and make sure there will be no coolant loss issue in the future. It will be 360 miles one way from my house that should do it. When can i pick up the keys? Spike will vouch for me.

 

[dudeman]

Looking like I spoke too soon. Looks like worst case now...I only drove to work one day last week. At the end of the day I went to look and make sure I wasnt leaking coolant anymore and sure enough the coolant was fairly low, and gross
I turned it on to look for bubbles, didnt see any, but that didnt matter. At that point when I went around the truck I saw that coolant or fluid was dripping out of the exhaust.
Now the really difficult decision comes...Trying to figure out if there is any solution that is less than $2,000. If not, wife and checkbook are going to freak out and not sure what the other option is going to be.

 

[Output Shaft]

If coolant is flowing out to the exhaust pipe, the head has to come off. If you are lucky it will just be a blown head gasket.

 

[cwwfj60]

are you sure it's coolant? water/condensation will accumulate in the pipes and muffler. If it does it constantly then it's probably coolant, and you should be able to smell it. Your mechanic should have a combustion leak tester which will "sniff" the coolant for exhaust gases. They work great and aren't expensive.

 

[dudeman]

Yeah, pretty sure it is coolant...It wasnt running for long and it was a pretty steady drip. I am sure my mechanic will have all the equipment to check. I am just worried that he'll very quickly get convinced that the head needs to come off, and then at that point I am just crossing my fingers that the bill will be under $2,000. Very likely he'll tell me a day later that its gonna be $3500 for a cracked head and cylinder work, and then what do I tell him if I dont really have the money for that...tell him to put it back together and let me figure out if i should buy a used 2f from someone, or if i should sell the truck? That'll be hard to do if its there at the shop.

 

[Output Shaft]

The nature of owning an old cruiser is fraught with a million "what ifs" for all of us.

Do not let your mind travel down that neurotic path. You will only make yourself miserable.

Instead of fretting the worst, know that you have in your posession one of the most durable engines ever produced. Instead of worrying about all the bad/expensive things that could happen, focus on the very high likelihood that maybe it's only a blown head gasket.

If you've got a budget of $2000 max, there is nothing to worry about. That's way more moola than you'll probably need to get you back on the road, living the cruiser life once again.

Focus on that.

 

[fnpierce]

I was in the same boat a few months ago. I decided to take the head off myself. I sent it to a head shop and had it tested and decked. It took me a while but I put it all back together with a new head gasket. It's a big job but it is doable. I have limited mechanical skills. I figured if the head was bad, I would junk the whole thing and look for a new engine. The machine shop told me they had done a bunch of these and despite the very long head, they rarely crack.

 

[Bear Lake Cruiser]

The nature of owning an old cruiser is fraught with a million "what ifs" for all of us.

Do not let your mind travel down that neurotic path. You will only make yourself miserable.

Instead of fretting the worst, know that you have in your posession one of the most durable engines ever produced. Instead of worrying about all the bad/expensive things that could happen, focus on the very high likelihood that maybe it's only a blown head gasket.

If you've got a budget of $2000 max, there is nothing to worry about. That's way more moola than you'll probably need to get you back on the road, living the cruiser life once again.

Focus on that.

Once again very sound advice from output shaft. I call it getting shafted but in a good way. I've had a lot of 2F and blown head gasket or cracked head that has happened...well...more than once in 9 cruisers. And if that's the only thing that happened consider it a a good thing. You will have a rebuilt head on a most bullet proof bottom end. And good to go for many more years

 

[Bear Lake Cruiser]

Did you get an official diagnosis yet?