3FE help needed, blown headgasket possibly?

[slow91fj90]

So Im on my way back from the weekend camping trip. I cruising about 70mph with AC on. All of a sudden truck starts sputtering and loosing power. I turned the AC off and truck goes back to normal, truck is running fine. At this point I have about 40 miles till I am home. Well I make it about a quarter mile from my house and the guy next to me at a light says there is water pouring out from under the engine. I look at my temp gauge and see it steadily rising. The light turns green and I limp it through the intersection and shut it off. Coolant is pouring out. So I go to buddy's house and grab his truck and tow it home. So today I pulled skid plate to see where the leak is coming from. It looks like its coming from lower radiator hose. Actually its a 2 piece setup. It looks like it is coming from the hose that connects to water pump. What a pain it looks like to get out. Anyone have any ideas? I checked under the oil cap and pulled dip stick to check for coolant, and didn't find any. Any body have similar situation. Am I gonna have to remove the AC compressor and powersteering to get to the hose?

Thanks for any help.

 

[murf]

If you shut down soon enough, your HG most likely will be fine. You ll know after the repairs and how it runs afterwards. Sometimes if there is a small HG leak (Ive seen it usually in the rear most cylinder) it will run rough upon inital start up for a very short period of time after sitting overnight due to the coolant interferring with the plug.

Ive seen many a LC engine get hot without blowing the HG - dont worry yet!

 

[mshelby]

Sounds like you *may* have caught it in time. You really won't know until the leak is fixed.

No coolant in the oil is a good sign though.

 

[powderpig]

If you have the time, before you start it. Pull the spark plugs and turn it over by hand and see if you have any coolant in the cylinders. Or see if one spark plug looks different then the rest(clean of carbon). If one is different then you have a problem with the HG or at least one sign that you may.
I would do this rather than trying to turn the engine over with the starter and maybe have more damage if coolant is setting on top of the piston.

 

[slow91fj90]

Great info guys, I'm heading to Toyota dealership tomorrow to order the 2 hoses. Ill try pulling the plugs and turning over by hand next.

 

[nodaksn3]

The lower hose is a real pita as I recall. Just take it slow and easy and you'll get it. If you caught it soon enough, all should be well. Good luck, Ned

 

[alkaline747trio]

Sounds like what happened to mine, its a fun fix.

 

[slow91fj90]

Update, I got the hoses in from Toyota and put them on on Wednesday. So far so good. No leaks and truck is running normal. Not the most fun job to do. I didn't realize how dirty my truck is underneath, time for some serious degreaser and a power wash.