silvertop coolant leak help!

[KwS]

Hi guys. Yesterday my silvertop developed a coolant leak. Its coming from the drivers side, at the 'front' (where the pullies are) of the engine. It appears to be at either the middle or the side closest to the driver.

What i need to know, is are there any coolant hoses down that way? I have had a look, and i cant see any. im thinking maybe the waterpump has given out? It was only replaced a couple of hundred ks ago though.

The coolant is dropping onto the ground after leaking down the sump. Its also getting onto the belts so it must be high up.

I filled the radiator up (since it dumped ALL its coolant over night) and then fired it up. The water was extremely frothy when the car was running, but i assume (hope) thats just airlocks in the system bleeding out. Temp didnt change at all when i was driving it yesterday, and the overflow was still full. The overflow isnt overflowing either (like it would if combustion pressure was getting into it)

[KwS]

Service manual for a blacktop shows the only water carrying thing on that end to be the water pump... and mine was replaced with a brand new unit about 800ks ago.

No little hoses from hell that anyone knows of?

[MAGN1T]

Headgasket.

viewtopic.php?t=74959&start=0

Waterpumps fail due to too much pressure in the cooling system.

Steve

[KwS]

forgot to mention too, when the car is started, at idle there is sometimes a metallic whining noise coming from the front (belt end) of the engine. This goes away when you raise the rpm.

Also, oil isnt milky, and neither is any of the coolant that came out. No steam out of the exhaust. Doesnt overheat, and until the coolant started pissing out, there were NO issues.... no lack of power, nothing. Still drives fine, and has no lack of power, and no white smoke. Im thinking its unlikely to be a BHG.

oh, and before this, it didnt use any coolant at all.

[rollaholic]

ignore magn1t

my car is pulling to the left!

BHG for sure.

[KwS]

That thread he posted was a pretty good laugh though.... even the missus enjoyed it. A coolant leak, OMG it must be a BHG!

[sergei]

Water pump could leak if it wasn't installed properly, from O ring on the block, from the gasket if only half of pump was replaced , also the hose behind water pump could be split or just not seated properly, it is about 5cm long.
What water pump was used as replacement, OEM or crappy chinese one?
Noise could be water pump, if it was overtightened, also overtightened water pump could leak as well (wear out seals faster, as bearings wear out due to excess stress). Generally when water pump is changed cam belt has to come off, which means it would come back on and re-tightened, some mechanics ignore standard process and tighten the belt by applying pressure on the tensioner with screw driver, over-tightening belt in result, which would result in whine (belt tensioner prematurely worn). normally when water pump is done, it is best practice to replace cam belt and tensioners along with seals, but it depends on the budget of the repair (usually labour is a lot more than parts anyway in this case).

[KwS]

Water pump could leak if it wasn't installed properly, from O ring on the block, from the gasket if only half of pump was replaced , also the hose behind water pump could be split or just not seated properly, it is about 5cm long.
What water pump was used as replacement, OEM or crappy chinese one?
Noise could be water pump, if it was overtightened, also overtightened water pump could leak as well (wear out seals faster, as bearings wear out due to excess stress). Generally when water pump is changed cam belt has to come off, which means it would come back on and re-tightened, some mechanics ignore standard process and tighten the belt by applying pressure on the tensioner with screw driver, over-tightening belt in result, which would result in whine (belt tensioner prematurely worn). normally when water pump is done, it is best practice to replace cam belt and tensioners along with seals, but it depends on the budget of the repair (usually labour is a lot more than parts anyway in this case).

i had cambelt, tensioners, and water pump replaced by Miles toyota. I would assume it was all TGP.... 120 for the pump alone. Gonna give them a ring on monday and see what they say.

You say there is a hose behind it? do you have a diagram or a picture of where? can it be accessed with plenum etc still attached?

[KwS]

Just checked, manual shows a tiny little bit of hose but doesnt mention it.... but just checked the car myself now, and spotted the hose.

Its blown up like a balloon in the middle, and appears to be the original hose. Im guessing the internal structure has gone (due to age), and now its blown out the underside.

It has a new hose clamp on the waterpump end, so obviously the toyota tech that did the pump touched it.... surely he wouldve noticed it was stuffed and shouldve either replaced it, or noted it down?

Bit disappointed really. they did a really good job at a good price on the work, and if this is indeed whats happened, its a bit sloppy.

[sergei]

Bring it back to them and complain.

[tsoob]

[quote="MAGN1T"]Headgasket.

viewtopic.php?t=74959&start=0

Waterpumps fail due to too much pressure in the cooling system.

Steve[/quote

[Dell'Orto]

Just checked, manual shows a tiny little bit of hose but doesnt mention it.... but just checked the car myself now, and spotted the hose.

Its blown up like a balloon in the middle, and appears to be the original hose. Im guessing the internal structure has gone (due to age), and now its blown out the underside.

It has a new hose clamp on the waterpump end, so obviously the toyota tech that did the pump touched it.... surely he wouldve noticed it was stuffed and shouldve either replaced it, or noted it down?

Bit disappointed really. they did a really good job at a good price on the work, and if this is indeed whats happened, its a bit sloppy.

Was going to mention this, both silvertop things I've owned have had this hose swell up, though not leaking (touch wood on the current one). Its not really dear through our sponsor, but its just a straight piece of pipe so you could use any sort of generic hose to do the job...just cant remember the ID of it

[XSVWGN]

the hoses from toyota retail for about $50 i think. I just replaced mine but yea cant remember the exact price i paid

Matt

[RS13]

Lol, I had that exact same problem in my AE101. Access is terrible, I could just touch it with one hand, so ended up sliding the useless factory spring clamp off and managed to get a hose clamp on, stopped the leak. Ideally to replace that pipe you'd need the inlet manifold off too.

[KwS]

I couldn't even get my hand on the hose. Air con pipes are in the way. I'm thinking the easiest way to get at it is to take water pump off. I'll be contacting Toyota tomorrow and asking them to tow it to the workshop and fix it. It's leaking out too quick to drive it there without risking an overheat (and then a bhg)

[CAMB01]

Just remove the inlet manifold and throttle bodies, is pretty easy once they are out of the way.

[sergei]

I still say go back to them and make them do it for free, they should of looked at it and replaced it when they did the pump.

[KwS]

Sounds like Miles is coming to the party. Car is getting picked up on a tow truck tomorrow and heading to the workshop. They're going to assess it, and if its something related to the work they have done, or should've done theyll cover all the costs.

We'll see though, they could try and work their way out of paying for it... but i hope not, they seem pretty good and very helpful.

[KwS]

Well, car got towed away yesterday, to miles to get the leak inspected. Turns out it was indeed that hose, which over time had gone soft and when they did the waterpump, the new hose clamp they put on it cut into the hose, and thus it poured out it's blood. Miles is covering all the costs and I'll be picking it up tomorrow morning. Yay

[Mr Revhead]

good to hear
that hose should really be done every time the water pump is done
that way it will never be an issue