Quick help, overheating in Phoenix

[Zor]

I just bought a 92 with 250k on the odo and not much history. Today on a short drive to costco it got hot quick and puked once I got it into a parking spot and shut it down. It hasn't overheated since I've had it. I went through emissions yesterday and the temp needle crept up a bit, but didn't get to the red while I was in line. Today it was pegged waiting at a light to pull into Costco. I haven't had a chance to go through anything with the cooling system other than look to see there's level in the overflow tank. It has green coolant and there wasn't any oil apparent in what it puked out today. My plan is to leave it up there until sundown and take a few gallons of distilled water up there and limp it home. I was going to toss in a new thermostat and maybe fan clutch out of principle of not knowing their last replacement dates. Anything else I should replace as baseline maintenance for cooling system? What coolant should I buy if it has something green in it currently?

Parts dept at Camelback is open til 4pm.

 

[Funner]

I just bought a 92 with 250k on the odo and not much history. Today on a short drive to costco it got hot quick and puked once I got it into a parking spot and shut it down. It hasn't overheated since I've had it. I went through emissions yesterday and the temp needle crept up a bit, but didn't get to the red while I was in line. Today it was pegged waiting at a light to pull into Costco. I haven't had a chance to go through anything with the cooling system other than look to see there's level in the overflow tank. It has green coolant and there wasn't any oil apparent in what it puked out today. My plan is to leave it up there until sundown and take a few gallons of distilled water up there and limp it home. I was going to toss in a new thermostat and maybe fan clutch out of principle of not knowing their last replacement dates. Anything else I should replace as baseline maintenance for cooling system? What coolant should I buy if it has something green in it currently?

Parts dept at Camelback is open til 4pm.

It's awfully darn hot, but I think you're on the right track. Probably a good idea to get a new Toyota radiator cap too. Can you tell where it puked from? Overflow tank or did something give up the ghost, i.e. Hose split or radiator crack?

 

[Zor]

It's awfully darn hot, but I think you're on the right track. Probably a good idea to get a new Toyota radiator cap too. Can you tell where it puked from? Overflow tank or did something give up the ghost, i.e. Hose split or radiator crack?

That's what worries me, the puke wasn't from the puke tank, nor the overflow hose. I looked and didn't see any split hoses, but the majority of the water was over by the rad cap when I popped the hood. I'll ad Rad cap to my Camelback list. Headed there now, one thermostat in stock thankfully.

 

[murf]

check the radiator seams for signs of leakage? maybe rent a radiator pressure tester from Autozone (replaces your rad cap and has a pump attached where you can slowly add pressure to your system) and crawl around to try to find the source of your leak.

good luck!

 

[Zor]

Thanks Murf. Your retail parts dudes were on the ball. I'll pressure test the system when I get it home.

 

[Living in the Past]

My 89 FJ62 with a 3FE did this years ago on a trip up north. Problem was just the thermostat stuck close. Wasn't near as hot as it is now but with just the bypass I was able to make back to town.

 

[mtkreitz]

What about the PHH? Did you check the little hose on the back of the head near the firewall? My old LX450 puked and I could not tell where it was coming from until I learned about it. If it has never been changed that might be part of your problem.

 

[Pitch]

No PHH worries on a 3FE.

Toyota OEM rad cap and OEM thermostat/gaskets are the easy/obvious places to look for fixes. I would not hesitate to put some new upper/lower and inlet/outlet hoses on there as well. Check the radiator cap mating surfaces to make sure they are not boogered.

I believe green fluid was the standard on 92's. Toyota red appeared on 93 Cruisers (?).

While certainly not the immediate cause of your puking coolant, I would almost consider the "fan clutch mod" with 10k CST fluid for the 3FE mandatory for desert dwellers too. Water pump shortly thereafter.

 

[mtkreitz]

Ahh sorry. Missed that it was a 92.

 

[Zor]

Well, no need for a pressure test, water flows right out. I got a little over a half gallon in the radiator and then it started pouring out Just as fast as I can pour it in. I can't pinpoint where either. It is from the engine side of the lower half of the radiator or from some hose penetration on the lower half of the radiator. It is not from the lower hose or the water pump. I can't see where it starts, but it flows right off the center bottom of the radiator.

I wish I was in the frozen North so I had a bit of a time window on the way up to operating temperature.

 

[Zor]

Oh, radiator cap was aftermarket (after comparing to oem), hecho in Mexico. I wonder if that has anything to do with the system deciding to relieve pressure to somewhere other than the overflow tank. the lower Rad hose is of the universal accordion type, leading me to believe I have some money to invest in putting the cooling system back to correct in this pig. I hope the head gasket and head are ok. I pulled the oil fill cap and, using a flashlight, didn't see anything milky under the valve cover. Fingers is crossed.

 

[Pitch]

HG issues can always occur, but they are far less frequent on the 91-92 80's than the 93-97 models.

Sounds like you may have split the radiator(?). Unfortunately, there are not too many options for a 3FE replacement. I have 2.5 yrs on a CSF brand replacement. It does not seem to cool as well as the no-longer-available OEM option.

Good luck!

 

[Otter]

Pitch is right. Good 3FE radiator options are pretty slim. I recently replaced mine at Camelback. Murf set me up with a Performance Radiator. It's been great.

 

[Zor]

Thanks for the advice so far.

Unfortunately after seeing it in the daylight I'm almost 100% certain the radiator is the culprit. It looks like the fan and shroud need to come out together in order to get a better look at it.

Has anyone had good luck with a local radiator repair shop (if it's split or separated in an easy to repair spot) or opinions on what the best replacement option is? Looks like performance and csf are available locally, but oem is out of the question. Unless of course someone is holding...

I'll do a search over in 80 series tech, but I welcome anyone's opinion with aftermarket radiator experience in our unique, hotter than the third level of hell, local environment.

Cheers,
Zor

 

[LongDuck]

Hals Radiator Service on the West side is a great radiator shop, but not sure if they work on plastic end tanks. Worth giving tham a call, though - and they are certainly reputable.

 

[Zor]

Thanks longduck. I'll call Hal's and get a quote tomorrow. Although, my radiator isn't oem, it's a CSF, so I don't know if it's worth the cost of fixing vs. going to a hopefully more reliable aftermarket option.

I reckon I found the problem...

CSF radiator for 3FE

• Zor
• Jul 17, 2016

Interestingly no O-ring in the Tstat housing and the gasket was in pieces...

Thermostat and gasket pieces 3FE

• Zor
• Jul 17, 2016

On top of that there's a lot of solid crud (corrosion products?) in/on everything...

Tstat housing 3FE

• Zor
• Jul 17, 2016

I'm worried it's in every water jacket etc. Anything I can do to dissolve it and flush it out without taking things apart and hot tanking? I don't want to head down that road. In other news the trans supply (I'm guessing) hose was so brittle it broke in two places and the upper rad hose internal spring was mostly gone save a few rusty coil pieces.

 

[LongDuck]

That much corrosion suggests that it was run for a LONG time with an imrpoper mis of water and antifreeze. If it looks like that on the thermostat, you likely have heater cores and internal lines that match. A swish with a 50/50 mix of CLR and water might help, but it also might dislodge stuff that will then collect in your newly rebuilt radiator, resulting in more Overheating.

On that note, your tank looks to be metal, so I'd imagine that Hals can rebuild it with a rod-out and repaint to get it back up and running. They pressure test everything, so if they say it can be rebuilt, they can make it good. My first inclination would be a new OEM, but since NLA, your options are limited.