Metal shavings on thermostat

[911nFJ60]

Hi all,

Was flushing coolant and replacing the thermostat in an attempt to solve an odd cooling issue. There are a number of metal shavings on the thermostat.

What would be causing the shavings to collect on top of the T-stat? I also see smaller shavings in the drained coolant.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Spook50]

That's an oddity to me. I have no idea what could be causing it beyond a badly deteriorating water pump causing damage either to itself or to the cavity that the impeller rides in, but those look like some seriously large shavings to have not caused any obvious issue somewhere else. Curious to see if anyone else has experienced something like this.

@cruisermatt any thought?

 

[OSS]

What’s this?
Sheared bolt?

Are the shavings attracted to a magnet? (Steel) or not? (Aluminum).

 

[911nFJ60]

Yes, sheared bolt. I’m going to remove the lower housing and try to extract on the bench. In the meantime I ordered a replacement with new bolts.

The shavings are non-magnetic

 

[OSS]

So if the metal shavings are aluminum — there’s not many sources for that.

Only things aluminum in the engine (that I can think of at the moment) are the water pump as Spook mentioned and the thermostat housing and distributor body and carburetor.
Of course the valve cover is aluminum too.

 

[John McVicker]

And you are missing (at least in the picture) the top ‘O’ ring gasket. When you button it back up, be certain you get one.

 

[ToyotaMatt]

Hi all,

Was flushing coolant and replacing the thermostat in an attempt to solve an odd cooling issue. There are a number of metal shavings on the thermostat.

What would be causing the shavings to collect on top of the T-stat? I also see smaller shavings in the drained coolant.

Thank you in advance.

View attachment 3709095

- i will suggest your water pump Steel impeller and other internals have failed hence chewing up the Aluminum water body from the inside out , like a Hungry Monster ,


can you please describe ALL the details of your ( attempt to solve an odd cooling issue. )

i have seen more then one very old and or Green Coolant filled toyota aluminum water pump fail like i think might be the case here


the water pump is usually a low quality aftermarket Chairman MAO spec. one and once it starts to go it can go aggressively fast ...


,

 

[MDH33]

Do you you have an aftermarket aluminum radiator? If so, could be manufacturing debris that didn't get cleaned out.

 

[911nFJ60]

This is the odd cooling issue I have been experiencing:

Puff of white smoke after steep down hill

Hi all, seeking help on diagnosing cause of white smoke from left headlight on FJ62. I live on top of a hill which is about 2 miles from the golf course at the bottom. There is a fairly steep 0.7 mile stretch of road before it flattens out at the course. As I approached the stop sign at the...

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The radiator appears to be original, not aluminum.

 

[Spike Strip]

Only sources are as Matt mentioned: thermostat housing itself, or water pump casting. Impeller is cast iron. The shavings do look 'rolled' as might happen if the WP impeller wobbly and hits the aluminum housing.

 

[yotadude520]

Yes, sheared bolt. I’m going to remove the lower housing and try to extract on the bench. In the meantime I ordered a replacement with new bolts.

The shavings are non-magnetic

I don't think you need to remove the housing to get that bolt out - looks like there's enough threads there to double nut it and get it out with some PB blaster. That's how I got my broken thermostat housing bolt out

t.