Major steam from engine center firewall (1 Viewer)

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M

Mazaz66

Joined
Mar 12, 2016
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Location
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2000 LC started steaming. I though was VC smoke but dripping water from upper center rear engine bay. Drive 5 minutes and when I came to stop it looked like car overheating No sure how to diagnosis. Took pic and video of the hissing sound and dripping water Any ideas to start solving kindly appreciated. I'm traveling and away from tools.

image.jpg
 
One or both of the plastic tees failed. The FAQ has a replacement procedure. Most people replace them as a part of the 100k service
 
I have so much computer skill that I was able to make two post and not even know it :/ I thought the first one had disappeared.

It's not a hard job to do
 
I think any auto parts store will have them. Probably a Lowes or Home Depot too but maybe not good for the water temperature so I would stick with an auto parts store
 
If you go to Lowe's or Home Depot, get brass ones. Then you won't ever have to worry about them failing again. BTW all you need to do the repair is a set of pliers.

Edit: copper, not brass.
 
Last edited:
labcab said:
If you go to Lowe's or Home Depot, get brass ones. Then you won't ever have to worry about them failing again. BTW all you need to do the repair is a set of pliers.
Click to expand...

And long arms, double jointed elbows and a LOT of patience. But yeah...the only tool needed is pair of pliers.
 
I've been reading about these failing tees on so many threads, and thinking, "I should probably do this soon". I looked at the OEM tees in my LX when I checked the oil a few days ago, and noticed a little bit of pink goo/dried coolant leaking down from the hot side tee. The tees (which were probably original on my 212K+ truck) themselves looked fine from the outside, but I didn't mess with it (i.e. trying to adjust the clamps/hoses), thinking that if the plastic tee was bad, I'd be up a creek without a paddle. I immediately ordered a couple 5/8" brass tees (from Amazon) and new OEM hoses (set of 6 from ToyotaPartsDeals.com). The parts arrived yesterday, so I decided to tackle the job this morning, rather than putting it off.

After prepping everything, I went to remove the first clamp. I was even being gentle with the pliers, but as soon as I gripped the clamp and tried to pull it away from the joint, the plastic tee virtually disintegrated. Yes, of course, a little bit of coolant spilled out, but I was prepared for that with a towel. I followed others' advice and cut the hoses off rather than trying to pry them off, since I was replacing all of them anyway. The rest of the job went pretty easy, other than having to contort myself while balancing myself precariously over the engine. The whole job, including prep and cleanup took me about 90 minutes.

Anyway, I'm soooooo grateful to the forum members who posted warnings about this failure-prone part, and the DIY steps to do a replacement. I was likely due for a catastrophic failure out in the middle of nowhere....apparently very soon. In fact, tomorrow morning I'm headed up into the North Georgia mountains with a truck full of Boy Scouts and gear. I'm so relieved that I headed off would have been a really bad day!
 
Larch Tree,

Here you go:

1998-2002
87245-6A220
87245-6A210
87245-6A180
87245-6A201
87245-6A190
99556-20200

2003-newer
87245-6A220
87245-6A210
87245-6A180
87245-6A800
87245-6A190
99556-20155
 
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