[veloVW]

Hello all, i am a complete newbie to this forum. I do participate in other automotive forums, and yes i have searched the forums before this post.
I have a completely stock (engine wise) 2000 Tacoma 3.4L I do all the maitanance and take extremely good care of my truck. Anyway it has been using coolant lately and i cant find any leaks in the system. It only has 57,000 miles on it and i cant see why it would be using coolant. Anyway im sure all the gurus here can help me diagnos this problem.

 

[grumpy]

Hello all, i am a complete newbie to this forum. I do participate in other automotive forums, and yes i have searched the forums before this post.
I have a completely stock (engine wise) 2000 Tacoma 3.4L I do all the maitanance and take extremely good care of my truck. Anyway it has been using coolant lately and i cant find any leaks in the system. It only has 57,000 miles on it and i cant see why it would be using coolant. Anyway im sure all the gurus here can help me diagnos this problem.

have you checked your oil t o make sure its not leaking into engine. if in oil look brownish and indicates a cracked head or bad head gasket.

 

[bb609]

Worst case, check your engine oil. If it is foamy, then you probably have a head gasket problem, or worse. Otherwise, it's got to go somewhere. Passenger side floor boards dry?

 

[veloVW]

Worst case, check your engine oil. If it is foamy, then you probably have a head gasket problem, or worse. Otherwise, it's got to go somewhere. Passenger side floor boards dry?

Mmmm Foamy, well there have always been very small bubbles on the dipstick when i check the oil, but i thought this was from the oil stiring around, i actualy had a Toyota mech. tell me it was normal.

 

[bb609]

Mmmm Foamy, well there have always been very small bubbles on the dipstick when i check the oil, but i thought this was from the oil stiring around, i actualy had a Toyota mech. tell me it was normal.

Milky might be a better term but clear to amber color is what it should be if you change it regularly, no bubbles.

 

[veloVW]

Milky might be a better term but clear to amber color is what it should be if you change it regularly, no bubbles.

It is always a nice golden color, as i change it regularly and always use Mobil 1. The very small bubbles im told are from the turbulance caused by the crank? Anyway, it should not be using coolant like that, and i cant find any leaks???

 

[rcrop50]

Hello all, i am a complete newbie to this forum. I do participate in other automotive forums, and yes i have searched the forums before this post.
I have a completely stock (engine wise) 2000 Tacoma 3.4L I do all the maitanance and take extremely good care of my truck. Anyway it has been using coolant lately and i cant find any leaks in the system. It only has 57,000 miles on it and i cant see why it would be using coolant. Anyway im sure all the gurus here can help me diagnos this problem.

My first guess would be the pump. I have a 99 V-6, and had the pump replaced under warrentee at about 56k.

I was slowly loosing fluid just like you are, and noticed some redish pink dust down by the crank, on top of the plastic wiring harness protector. When the coolant dries, it leaves the pink dust behind.

 

[TacoPoPo]

rcrop50 is right on the money. Pull your skid plate off and look around the front of the block. If you see the residue he speaks of the water pump is going bad. There is a weep hole in the housing that will allow water to pass through when the bearings are starting to go. It is a fairly common problem with the 3.4's from what I've seen.

The condition of your oil sounds normal to me and should not cause any worry.

 

[CoTaco]

Here is another vote for the water pump. It happened to me on
my 4Runner. Had been leaking for a long time.

Also check the heater hose. There is a plastic "T" that will that will cause
coolant to leak on rear of engine and will evaporate before it shows on
garage floor.

I hope it is not getting into the oil.

 

[BigBadBob0]

It is always a nice golden color, as i change it regularly and always use Mobil 1. The very small bubbles im told are from the turbulance caused by the crank? Anyway, it should not be using coolant like that, and i cant find any leaks???

You should only have bubbles if you're putting too much oil in. Otherwise the oil level in the pan shouldn't be anywhere near the crank.

 

[knoxtaco]

Hello all, i am a complete newbie to this forum. I do participate in other automotive forums, and yes i have searched the forums before this post.
I have a completely stock (engine wise) 2000 Tacoma 3.4L I do all the maitanance and take extremely good care of my truck. Anyway it has been using coolant lately and i cant find any leaks in the system. It only has 57,000 miles on it and i cant see why it would be using coolant. Anyway im sure all the gurus here can help me diagnos this problem. [/QUOTE
pull the skid plate and check for coolant and or coolant residue around the lower part of the timing cover or around the crank pulley. If the oil looks like chocolate milk then you probably have a head gasket leaking. If the coolant leak is slow enough the engine heat can evaporate any wet traces of coolant do you smell coolant when you shut off the engine and open the hood?

 

[cb77DEMELLO]

Hello all, i am a complete newbie to this forum. I do participate in other automotive forums, and yes i have searched the forums before this post.
I have a completely stock (engine wise) 2000 Tacoma 3.4L I do all the maitanance and take extremely good care of my truck. Anyway it has been using coolant lately and i cant find any leaks in the system. It only has 57,000 miles on it and i cant see why it would be using coolant. Anyway im sure all the gurus here can help me diagnos this problem.

How do you know it's useing fluid?
Did you recently change it and re fill it?
If you did it's possible you didn't get all the air out of the system
If your pretty sure it's the water is dropping check for dried spots where it's leaking! it could be leaking somewhere with high heat and it's drying before it hits the ground?

It's pretty rare on your year that the head gasket is bad, but it could happen?

Let us know what you find!

 

[twblanset]

My '99 started leaking at the pump at 60K. Check the pump first. It's a hell of a lot cheaper than a head gasket. My is seeping very slowly and all I could see is crystals forming around the H2O pump gasket when I had the front cover off. I couldn't even see any evidence of leaking from the outside of the engine.

PS. I did my head gasket and a Fel Pro gasket set was $350 bucks. I couldn't believe it.

good luck

 

[TacoPoPo]

Velo, just out of curiosity, have you been using Toyota coolant? The failure rate goes up exponentially when other brands are used. Some magic lubricant that Toyota uses that keeps the water pump happy.

 

[veloVW]

Mmmm... maybe the culprit, i have been using the new preston thats supposed to be good for all engines, guranteed.

 

[ratboy]

Just here to add that I too had to have my pump replaced on my 99 at 25000 miles. I could see pink crystals from the driver's side wheel well when changing the oil.