I have a '92 FJ80 with a 3FE. I have 228,000 miles on it. A little background on it first. I went wheeling with it soon after buying it. On a big, loose hill climb I noticed the temperature gauge had gone into the red. I immediately shut it off and let it cool down. After my overheating scare I went ahead and replaced the fan clutch (stupid Autozone one). The temp gauge never got into the red again but into the summer I noticed another problem. After a 20-30 minute drive I would notice the coolant boiling in the overflow reservoir. The temp gauge never went much above halfway any of these times. Still, being paranoid and always going a little overboard, I overhauled the cooling system. I warranteed the fan clutch for a new one, replaced the thermostat, radiator, coolant hoses, and water pump with all OEM units (except the fan clutch). Until lately I haven't nopticed any real issues but now I am noticing a strong smell after driving that smells like burning rubber. It is most noticeable on the driver side. I also seem to be losing a bit of coolant (maybe a quart a month or so). No white smoke from the exhaust, no signs of coolant in the oil but it seems to have a slight miss. I got a block tester and tried that out. The fluid stayed the same color. I have some signs of wetness on the driver front lower corner of the radiator and the passenger rear upper engine corner. Any ideas what my problem is?
3FE issues (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Izeloz
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
- Thread starter
- #2
A picture of the upper rear engine leakage (right where the head meets the block).
Make sure all your hoses are on tight enough but not overly tight. I had something similar to that also, and found a couple of small cracks on the two small pesky hoses that come out of the waterpump housing leading towards the firewall. On the overheating, is your rad OEM or aftermarket?
jvazquez53
El Tractor
- Joined
- May 6, 2007
- Threads
- 352
- Messages
- 3,413
- Location
- San Juan Puerto Rico
- Website
- www.facebook.com
Mine was leaking trough one of those heater hoses, after tightening the hoses a couple of times and still leaking I replaced them. 
I went to Autozone and bought about five feet of Goodyear 5/8 hose, for the bends I got some bendable springs and problem solved. Found out that the hoses were brittle.
I went to Autozone and bought about five feet of Goodyear 5/8 hose, for the bends I got some bendable springs and problem solved. Found out that the hoses were brittle.- Thread starter
- #5
The upper and lower radiator hoses are new. So are the hoses coming out of the thermostat housing and all the hoses connected to the water pump.
- Thread starter
- #6
The radiator was a new OEM from CDan.
Boiling??? or simply air being forced out of the cooling system through the radiator cap making it look like it's boiling?
Sounds like a leak in the system somewhere. Coolant gets hot and expands. The system is supposed to be completely closed and the only pressure relief it through the radiator cap which drains into the overflow bottle. When things cool off, the system goes negitive pressure and sucks liquid from the overflow back into the radiator.
If you have a leak somewhere, coolant will be forced out and air will be sucked back in.
Have the system pressure tested. It will reveal itself.
- Thread starter
- #8
Sure seemed like it was boiling to me but I suppose I could be wrong. I will get a pressure tester and see what I can find out.
