Thoughts after my first PHH job - with pic (1 Viewer)

[aznxfactor]

More pics as I can only upload 5 at a time...

The leak seemed to moved it's way to the transfer case or it's leaking everywhere...

 

[aznxfactor]

Here are the remaining.

And...last but not least the fjz80 selfie.

Any input would be nice. Again I'm either having it towed or mobile mechanic.

Can I just tow it with my gx470 or lc200?

 

[Fletcher34]

Looks like oil but just touch it and smell it. There's definitely a difference in both touch and smell between oil and coolant. I think you have several issues going to be honest. Your radiator looks bone dry from the pics. That's probably your biggest problem at hand because if you overheated, you probably blew a head gasket. There are tests that can be done to determine that. Milky looking oil is not the best test and often doesn't even indicate HG failure. Your oil leak/leaks could be from a number of things from valve cover gasket to rear main seal. Even a little leak is magnified by the vehicle's movement and wind. For example, my rear main seal has a slight leak but if you look under my rig, it's got a nice coat of oil in certain areas. I'd rather pay a few bucks a month to add oil than the pain in the ass job to do the rear main.

 

[aznxfactor]

The milky look I was referring to was the radiator. I've read that if you open your radiator cap and there is a milky residue on the cap and inside than the head gaskets are bad.

If what you are saying is that the radiator is dry than may be the radiator needs to be replaced. I don't know but I will soon one way or another. Thanks for your input.

 

[OREGON85]

Milky coolant indicates a blown head gasket, but if it is not milky doesn't mean the head gasket is not blown. When a head gasket goes oil and/or coolant end up in places they don't belong, but they don't always end up together. If the coolant is leaking into the cylinders it comes out the exhaust and neither the oil nor coolant get contaminated, but the coolant makes a big white cloud as it exits with the exhaust. Then your radiator is empty and your engine overheats.

 

[aznxfactor]

Milky coolant indicates a blown head gasket, but if it is not milky doesn't mean the head gasket is not blown. When a head gasket goes oil and/or coolant end up in places they don't belong, but they don't always end up together. If the coolant is leaking into the cylinders it comes out the exhaust and neither the oil nor coolant get contaminated, but the coolant makes a big white cloud as it exits with the exhaust. Then your radiator is empty and your engine overheats.

I see. So the white smoke that comes out the exhaust, is that a constant thing if the head gaskets are bad? Like if I crank the engine on and everywhere I drive it's white smoke?
I've seen white smoke come on in the past but only when turning on the engine. Once driven it's gone.

 

[SteelHunterFJ80]

Could it be that your overheating because you don't have enough coolant in the radiator?

 

[aznxfactor]

Could it be that your overheating because you don't have enough coolant in the radiator?

I hope so but from the pics the coolant tube is more than full. Maybe I should put some coolant into the radiator as well?

I know this: during long trips to Houston and back to Austin that my little sister does or when I drive to marble falls and back that I normally would refill the tube with coolant as my fjz80 eats up a lot of coolant. However it it looks empty from the pics and the tube is more than full....any ideas?

Thank you for everyone's input.

 

[SteelHunterFJ80]

I hope so but from the pics the coolant tube is more than full. Maybe I should put some coolant into the radiator as well?

I know this: during long trips to Houston and back to Austin that my little sister does or when I drive to marble falls and back that I normally would refill the tube with coolant as my fjz80 eats up a lot of coolant. However it it looks empty from the pics and the tube is more than full....any ideas?

Thank you for everyone's input.

Yes definitely....the radiator needs to be full of coolant. You should be able to see it over the metal fins inside the radiator in your picture.

When you say tube did you mean tub? The container in your last picture yes? The plastic tub is designed to take on overflow from the radiator but does not cylcle back through thre system as I far as I know

 

[aznxfactor]

Yes definitely....the radiator needs to be full of coolant. You should be able to see it over the metal fins inside the radiator in your picture.

When you say tube did you mean tub? The container in your last picture yes? The plastic tub is designed to take on overflow from the radiator but does not cylcle back through thre system as I far as I know

So if the tub is full and the radiator is empty, could it be the tubes are clogged or bad?

 

[gummycarbs]

So if the tub is full and the radiator is empty, could it be the tubes are clogged or bad?

Coolant will flow into the expansion tank as the engine heats up, and siphon back into the radiator as it cools.

But you have a problem: it's only going to siphon if the radiator is full! If there's an air gap in there, there's not going to be any siphoning action.

 

[Cass007]

Radiator def needs coolant. The pic of the thermostat housing is what concerns me. That area looks wet for sure and wet all the way up by the front sway bar too. Hard to say the cause since it overheated and looks like it spewed out everywhere. What color is the coolant in the overflow? Did it leave drips or a puddle where you parked it?

 

[aznxfactor]

Radiator def needs coolant. The pic of the thermostat housing is what concerns me. That area looks wet for sure and wet all the way up by the front sway bar too. Hard to say the cause since it overheated and looks like it spewed out everywhere. What color is the coolant in the overflow? Did it leave drips or a puddle where you parked it?

I can check for you. I believe the coolant in the overflow is orange from Japanese coolant.

The drips on the asphalt underneath the engine looks like oil or black dirtiness. I touched the wetness from the front axle tje first time when i posted it and it felt like oil however i cant confirm. The interesting thing is that it's still in its same spot undried which makes me believe that it's oil and not coolant? Again I'm no expert so I can't tell the difference.

It's like the same color from the oil dipstick. I'll confirm tomorrow. Thanks again for your input.

 

[Cass007]

Coolant will feel slick as well. I would expect to see more drips hanging on if it was oil. Make sure to match the coolant color when you fill it back up and report how much you had to put in.

Red = Toyota coolant
Green = Prestone
Orange = Dexcool (I forget the brand names)

Some white smoke on start is normal, at least for both of my trucks it is. Did you get an oil lamp on the dash when it overheated?

 

[aznxfactor]

Coolant will feel slick as well. I would expect to see more drips hanging on if it was oil. Make sure to match the coolant color when you fill it back up and report how much you had to put in.

Red = Toyota coolant
Green = Prestone
Orange = Dexcool (I forget the brand names)

Some white smoke on start is normal, at least for both of my trucks it is. Did you get an oil lamp on the dash when it overheated?

The check engine light is always on because off the EGR that hasn't been replaced. So it's hard to tell.

I know before my little sister put the green stuff in the car. I told her that she needs to put Japanese coolant in the car next time which I did as the coolant got low a while back.

Also be good to mention that my car has 234k miles on it and the the head gaskets were replaced at 155k. I bought it from a guy at 230k.

I was told a head gasket job is basically a brand new engine. Just the engine maybe.... haha.

 

[LINUS]

You really need to identify the fluid leaking. It looks like oil in pics 2&3 of post #21, but it sounds like you're blowing coolant.

The milky look under a cap is the oilcap (the inverted bucket design holds condensate vapor too well) - but even that's bad info in Winter for 75% of contiguous United States.

Don't look at caps. Look at the fluid levels directly in the radiator & the crankcase.

Frankly things are now so convoluted here I'd simply drain the oil into a clean container so you can watch for water (your coolant) in the bottom of the oilpan (remember science class where oil floats on water?) - if no coolant, just dump it back in the crankcase.

Sounds like you also have a mutant hybrid color of coolant now too - no clue what orange Jap koolaid is, but Dexcool doesn't like anything, even looking at it wrong. And maybe you mixed Prestone or eco-hippie koolaid in with it? Yikes.

I'd drain & fill the whole system with water (IDK TX water, for this I'd use the tap or garden hose here in WA) - because you expect it's going to leak, plus a little dilution of whatever is in there is going to be a smart move.

JUST REMEMBER IF YOU DO THIS, YOU NEED TO DRAIN IT AFTER FULLY COOLED SO YOU DON'T FREEZE THE WATER.

If it holds & no water leaks, you need to at a minimum drain the contents equal to a jug of correct antifreeze & add that, run it for ~10mins to get it mixed in.

-That or if you have more $$$ than time, call that rollback tow truck & send it to the shop. It most likely is just some hose, esp if your HG was done at anytime previously.

 

[Fletcher34]

You mentioned coolant levels have gotten low in the past. You should not be having to replace coolant on a regular basis. You're losing it somewhere.

 

[aznxfactor]

You mentioned coolant levels have gotten low in the past. You should not be having to replace coolant on a regular basis. You're losing it somewhere.

Ok so poured coolant into the radiator. This is where the coolant is leaking. Like all of it out. Any ideas?

Bad radiator or hose?

 

[BILT4ME]

Ok so poured coolant into the radiator. This is where the coolant is leaking. Like all of it out. Any ideas?

Bad radiator or hose?

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What year is your truck? 93-94 or 95-97?

The leak you see out the bottom COULD BE where you spilled it when filling the radiator. We cannot tell from the pic. If it is leaking in that area, it will be either the top or bottom tank on the radiator, which would indicate a required radiator replacement.

The 93-94 trucks have a brass radiator and may be able to be repaired. The 95-97 trucks have an aluminum radiator with plastic top/bottom tanks that end up leaking or splitting. This would require replacement.

Thing you MUST do:
Flush the entire cooling system with water. Distilled is preferable, but hose or tap water will work initially.
Flush the overflow tank with water an fill to the "minimum" level.
Buy some new GREEN coolant. Buy EITHER the 50/50 pre-mix OR the concentrate, but not both.
Run the truck up to temperature with the cap off, or until the water/coolant starts to overflow the fill neck.
Turn on your HEATER and slide the heater slide all the way to HOT.
Install the radiator cap and operate the truck, looking for leaks.
Pinpoint the leak and then you will be able to correctly identify what need to happen next.

There are many threads on here about aftermarket radiators as well as OEM radiators. Just get the right one for your truck and situation. I also recommend that you consider replacing all your hoses at this time. They are 20+ years old and are on the verge of blowing out anyway, so you may as well be pro-active about it. This is called While I'm In There (WIIT) stuff.
Radiator hoses
PHH and 3rd PHH hoses
Heater Valve
Rear heater lines bypass (for the heater under the passenger seat)


You have multiple problems going on.
First and foremost is lack of coolant. It appears to be leaking if we could interpret your pic correctly.
Yes, you have oil leaks. There are multiple that occur. Front main seal, oil pump seal, distributor O-Ring seal, valve cover gasket, spark plug tube seals will cover 80% of your leaks. The first two are recommended to do when you have your radiator out because it makes them a WHOLE lot easier.

I don't know your financial situation or your daily need for the truck, but it may be time to do some serious baselining on it.

You don't seem to have a lot of experience.
You need to hook up with a couple local Cruiser Heads (Look up above in the Clubhouses section to find a local club) They can and will help you walk through this and teach you.

 

[rolliges]

Yep, had a leak in the same spot on the ground. It's from the passenger side of the radiator; either the top plastic cap or the bottom plastic cap.

If you see dried radiator fluid could be spots of white if old or pinkish if fresh, then the leak is above where you see the spots of fluid.