Engine got a bit hot. Now Coolant on top of radiator

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Also, after a short drive now I opened the coolant overflow reservoir and there was some smoke coming out it. Nothing puffy white, did not smell like exhaust gas, just like evaporation sort of smoke, water vapour. No bubbles in radiator. Is this normal?

Sorry for all the questions
 
I've given you my thoughts on the facebook group.

Are you going to do a teekay head test, cooling system pressure test or oil analysis?
 
I held off, read along to gather info, and now here goes; I think you're fine and you should stop worrying about it.

First off, the video you posted of the radiator coming up to temp looks 100% normal to me as the block heats up and the coolant expands. I don't see a volume of never ending bubbles like you'd get from a blown coolant seal on the head, nor do you have excessive pressure in the system from cylinder compression entering the coolant system. You're not seeing lung butter on the oil fill cap, nor coolant in the oil. You're not presently overheating, nor have you stated any loss of power or huge volumes of steam coming out the exhaust. You don't have hard starting due to hydrolocked cylinder(s), and your coolant doesn't show an oil sheen. Basically, I think you're fine to just keep driving it and let this one go until some real symptoms show up.

For reference, I live in the Sonoran Desert of AZ, and it gets HOT here. Most guys have gone through coolant system troubleshooting, because once the daytime temps hit 115+, any weakness in your coolant system becomes evident. You don't seem to have any of those problems.

Plus, you mentioned driving 20k (km's?) since you started worrying about this, and it hasn't gotten any worse for heat. Keep an eye on the overflow bottle as it burps, because every time you open the radiator cap you open it to atmosphere.

Me? I'd quit messing with it and move on. Good luck,
 
I seem to have missed the fact that the op has driven 20,000kms since his initial concerns.. I'd agree and say that any issue with a headgasket would have gotten considerably worse and more evident over 20,000kms of driving.
 
petegangies said:
I've given you my thoughts on the facebook group.

Are you going to do a teekay head test, cooling system pressure test or oil analysis?
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haha yeah thanks mate! I was locating one of those Teekay test, will buy directly from the supplier as that website seemed a bit dodgy hahaha. I could not find any company doing oil analysis in Aus? I had contacted Nulon and a few more and they came back saying they don't do it anymore. This was for something different btw, back in the days. Do you have one in mind, as I would be interested to know how my oil is looking anyway.
 
jeanbono said:
haha yeah thanks mate! I was locating one of those Teekay test, will buy directly from the supplier as that website seemed a bit dodgy hahaha. I could not find any company doing oil analysis in Aus? I had contacted Nulon and a few more and they came back saying they don't do it anymore. This was for something different btw, back in the days. Do you have one in mind, as I would be interested to know how my oil is looking anyway.
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I purchased mine from the website I sent you 12 months ago and had zero issues with purchasing and receiving it. They are a legit business and registered with an ABN etc etc. They offer Paypal as a payment method, so there was zero risk for me after my research. You can check that here.. Current details for ABN 57 617 372 755 | ABN Lookup - https://abr.business.gov.au/ABN/View?abn=57617372755

Link to what I purchased:
TeeKay Head Check Combustion Leak Detector Changeable Fluid Color - https://www.aboutmoto.com.au/products/ds001-a0252-tk01?srsltid=AfmBOoq0ShsbwVLt_r-kCcS035KYE3k31sn6HHO7-vNpylkTcwgvkRV0
 
LongDuck said:
I held off, read along to gather info, and now here goes; I think you're fine and you should stop worrying about it.

First off, the video you posted of the radiator coming up to temp looks 100% normal to me as the block heats up and the coolant expands. I don't see a volume of never ending bubbles like you'd get from a blown coolant seal on the head, nor do you have excessive pressure in the system from cylinder compression entering the coolant system. You're not seeing lung butter on the oil fill cap, nor coolant in the oil. You're not presently overheating, nor have you stated any loss of power or huge volumes of steam coming out the exhaust. You don't have hard starting due to hydrolocked cylinder(s), and your coolant doesn't show an oil sheen. Basically, I think you're fine to just keep driving it and let this one go until some real symptoms show up.

For reference, I live in the Sonoran Desert of AZ, and it gets HOT here. Most guys have gone through coolant system troubleshooting, because once the daytime temps hit 115+, any weakness in your coolant system becomes evident. You don't seem to have any of those problems.

Plus, you mentioned driving 20k (km's?) since you started worrying about this, and it hasn't gotten any worse for heat. Keep an eye on the overflow bottle as it burps, because every time you open the radiator cap you open it to atmosphere.

Me? I'd quit messing with it and move on. Good luck,
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Thanks mate appreciate it. Regarding not overheating, I have just ordered an aftermarket temp gauge, because as far as I know my engine could be running 40 deg C over and I would not know as the OEM gauge is pretty useless, but yes I am starting to feel better about it. You read somewhere radiator hoses should not firm up straight away after cold start, well mines do, but don't get rock hard, could just be the water pump moving some coolant and building some pressure, and nothing is wrong. So yeah most importantly I understand that it's easy to enter the OCD/paranoia stage when things are actually fine. I don't have much savings and this is my daily which I heavily rely on, so I get maybe too serious about it.

On a positive note, I've just ordered some parts and will do a bit of preventive maintenance on the weekend for other areas of the car and stop focusing on the cooling system until something actually wrong happens (if ever).

Also no sorry if it wasn't clear, I have NOT driven 20,000km since my initial concern, when I overheated I had driven 10km (typo I typed K) soon after it is what I said. and I have now driven 1000km since the incident. I thought that opening rad cap too often would introduce air in the system, I'm going to give it a break.

Thanks for all the help
 
petegangies said:
I purchased mine from the website I sent you 12 months ago and had zero issues with purchasing and receiving it. They are a legit business and registered with an ABN etc etc. They offer Paypal as a payment method, so there was zero risk for me after my research. You can check that here.. Current details for ABN 57 617 372 755 | ABN Lookup - https://abr.business.gov.au/ABN/View?abn=57617372755

Link to what I purchased:
TeeKay Head Check Combustion Leak Detector Changeable Fluid Color - https://www.aboutmoto.com.au/products/ds001-a0252-tk01?srsltid=AfmBOoq0ShsbwVLt_r-kCcS035KYE3k31sn6HHO7-vNpylkTcwgvkRV0
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Apologies, I was in a rush yesterday and looked at aboutmotoR.com.au ahah, nothing wrong with this supplier indeed.
 
Also, hope your Teekay check came up negative. It's crazy that the big Aus parts retailers (the ones you can walk in) sell these sort of kits for 200/300 aud and seem to not even work quite as well as this one. So many bad reviews.
 
jeanbono said:
Also, hope your Teekay check came up negative. It's crazy that the big Aus parts retailers (the ones you can walk in) sell these sort of kits for 200/300 aud and seem to not even work quite as well as this one. So many bad reviews.
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I originally got a weak false positive because of the way I was doing the test. I had a bad exhaust leak in the engine bay, and instead of sucking out enough coolant from the radiator so it wouldnt be drawn up into the test tube, I tried to hold the tube off the radiator slightly, which means I was sucking in ambient air that was contaminated with exhaust gases. Once I did it the right way, my consequent tests were negative. They are extremely sensitive to exhaust gases which is how they work so well. You can test this by standing at the back of the car near your exhaust and drawing in air which will change the blue to green/yellow within seconds (but dont bother, you'll waste the blue fluid) haha. You also need to do it with the thermostat open and have someone rev up the engine a bit.. all of these will help with a more valid test.
 
petegangies said:
I originally got a weak false positive because of the way I was doing the test. I had a bad exhaust leak in the engine bay, and instead of sucking out enough coolant from the radiator so it wouldnt be drawn up into the test tube, I tried to hold the tube off the radiator slightly, which means I was sucking in ambient air that was contaminated with exhaust gases. Once I did it the right way, my consequent tests were negative. They are extremely sensitive to exhaust gases which is how they work so well. You can test this by standing at the back of the car near your exhaust and drawing in air which will change the blue to green/yellow within seconds (but dont bother, you'll waste the blue fluid) haha. You also need to do it with the thermostat open and have someone rev up the engine a bit.. all of these will help with a more valid test.
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very good info thanks, and also I have an exhaust leak as well haha so that’s even more relevant. Glad it ended up being positive, what made you do this test in the first place?
 
jeanbono said:
very good info thanks, and also I have an exhaust leak as well haha so that’s even more relevant. Glad it ended up being positive, what made you do this test in the first place?
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When my old man passed away, I had no idea the car was running like a dog. So when I officially took ownership and started to drive it, it was having trouble starting, blowing steam/smoke, losing coolant etc. I thought maybe it's done a headgasket and he just didn't tell me because he was crook.

So I started doing all the tests... starting with the teekay head test.. then a cooling system pressure test (which I should have done first) revealed several coolant leaks.. heater tap, couple of hoses. He hadn't service the cooling system in ages, so I did a full flush, new thermostat, all new hoses, even the heater hoses and smaller ones, new radiator and started using Toyota red LLC. There was also several mechanical issues contributing to how it was running overall..warped EFI fuse, vacuum leaks, exhaust leaks, faulty o2 sensor and wiring, air flow sensor and timing was out. It was a good 12 month journey of tonnes of testing and parts replacements before I finally got her running A1. Night and day difference now.
 
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yeah you read my mind, I was looking into either this one or the JRP (Just Race Parts) ones but in the end will go with Engine guard, as the JRP ones only do coolant temp (and coolant level), not engine temp, and Im lazy to cut the top rad hose to install it internally. I'll just do cylinder head and somewhere colder on the engine seems like enough to me at least.

Edit: Also not sure JRP are made in Australia and I like to support local manufacturing indeed.
 
jeanbono said:
yeah you read my mind, I was looking into either this one or the JRP (Just Race Parts) ones but in the end will go with Engine guard, as the JRP ones only do coolant temp (and coolant level), not engine temp, and Im lazy to cut the top rad hose to install it internally. I'll just do cylinder head and somewhere colder on the engine seems like enough to me at least.

Edit: Also not sure JRP are made in Australia and I like to support local manufacturing indeed.
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I have had the engine guard for 10 years. Works great simple and robust. Small so easy to mount with supplied doubled sided tape. And I like supporting those Aussies too. I put sensor on top of thermostat hosing. As you can see in pic. Used one of the bolts

IMG_1388.webp
 
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FJ80HI said:
I have had the engine guard for 10 years. Works great simple and robust. Small so easy to mount with supplied doubled sided tape. And I like supporting those Aussies too
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which model did you opt for?
 
petegangies said:
which model did you opt for?
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I just have the single temp monitor. I like the voltage monitor also. Was thinking getting the oil press one but did not want to mess with installing the pressure switch. May also be good to put one on the auto transmission. I assume you have manual so really no need
 
FJ80HI said:
I just have the single temp monitor. I like the voltage monitor also. Was thinking getting the oil press one but did not want to mess with installing the pressure switch. May also be good to put one on the auto transmission. I assume you have manual so really no need
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automatic actually!
 
FJ80HI said:
I have had the engine guard for 10 years. Works great simple and robust. Small so easy to mount with supplied doubled sided tape. And I like supporting those Aussies too. I put sensor on top of thermostat hosing. As you can see in pic. Used one of the bolts

View attachment 4108983
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Nice, I was wondering why your whole engine bay was completely symmetrical to mine and the realised you had a 3FE engine.
 
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