6G Celicas Forums

hi
Celica ST
coolant seems to be coming out from the back of the engine, left (passenger side) that is where the steam is coming from.
it has the smell of coolant
i had the heater turned on all the way, no heat at all.
looked at the coolant reservoir, doesn't seem low.
I recently had the radiator and freeze plugs replaced because it overheated on me 3 weeks ago.
not sure what to do from here. use stop leak?
could the freeze plugs have went bad again?
what could it be?
thanks

edit: also when I was going downhill, the temp gauge seemed to go down a bit.

This post has been edited by celicanice: Nov 1, 2009 - 4:00 PM

is there coolant in the radiator? look under the car and try to see where its leaking from or look at the back of the head. i've seen the head plugs go out on a 7afe before.

that will be a big mistake.

did you check hoses?

there could be a coolant hose leaking. are you sure its only coolant or coolant mixed with oil, that would be a bad head gasket.

i didn't have a flash light on me so I wasn't able to trace the leak , it was a little harder to see then expected. the pic shows the approximate area where the smoke comes from,

water pump is right there as well as some tubes and hoses.

the black rubber pipe just under the power steering cap seems to be leaking. its not gushing or anything, weird that i get no hot air at all even when on all the way. maybe there is something blocking the heater core? i havent got the the pipe yet, looks like a pain to get to though. hopefully just needs some tightening

with the leak, you most definitely have an air pocket in the line... it will sit in your heater core until its pushed out by "burping" the radiator.... you need to fix the leak first... stop running the heat with the coolant leak also, you'll ruin the core... fix the leak, burp the system, all problems solved

Looks like sludge. previous owner did use stop leak, i found it blocking the radiator cap, i removed it.
seems like its loose and i am thinking probably blocking everything in the heater core, which is why i get no hot air in cabin even though there is no (apparent) leak.
if i leave the coolant reservoir open i dont get the steam as the pic though it will overheat still eventually. fluid level in resivoir is low but not down to the end low.

options:
bypass heatercore?
power flush?

f i can bypass heater core and have it work i can live without heat. i think bypass would be a cheaper option.


edit:
i did burp the car, i let it run 20 mins, and while idleing after removing sludge, it didnt overheat while idleing, overheats when moving though. i havent idled longer then 25 mins

This post has been edited by celicanice: Nov 9, 2009 - 4:44 AM

does this stuff feel kind of oil and is slightly gelatinous?

yes oil/ gelatinous to touch. orange brownish

thats not stopleak my man, thats oil mixed in with your coolant. what does your oil look like on the dipstick?

oil looks brown, no milky residue.
i do burn about a quart every 3500 miles

hate to say it, but you probably have a blown or blowing head gasket due to the repeated overheating. possible that you don't but if you get a picture of the mystery substance i'll be able to tell you for sure.

here's the best I could do with the camera I had.
the blockage that I could get to i removed when I first saw it.

Tubgirl in your radiator!! That's not good news at all.....


Let the car run, once warm reach down and touch the lower radiator hose. Is it cool? If so it's probably a blockage in the radiator.

nope, thats engine oil. does the radiator smell sort of like exhaust?

that is quite nasty. I am surprised you don't run overheated all the time. That's going to need some serious flushing once the problem is fixed if not a brand new radiator amongst other cooling parts.

the radiator doesnt smell of exhast.
what I think it is is a mixture of dex-cool(yellow) + green coolant. (wasnt me... which is another reason I only like touching my car. old stuff was supposed to be drained, maybe all of it wasnt.)
ill try to clean it out, I'll be away for a while so I wont be able to get to it.
hopefully I can get it back in action.
ill update as a I progress
with a small drain flush Im getting 7 miles before overheating.
as to why the engine isnt giving me issues,
when I see the needle reaching the H I pull over asap, I dont let it hit red, maybe thats why the engine isnt giving me issues.

This post has been edited by celicanice: Nov 18, 2009 - 4:03 AM

Sorry to say to you "celicanice" but I'm thinking its a broken head gasket or from what I've been told, maybe a crack in the head? That's oil in your radiator and that's bad. I had a 1999 Chevy Lumina that leaked coolant also (a lot, 1 qt per trip of 20+ miles) and my radiator looked exactly like yours with the oil mixing/coolant issue. I just bought a 94 st coupe for $100 (still runs ok) and the oil is starting to mix in the radiator/coolant as well. I'm guessing a head gasket job will run atleast $1000 and that may not be the only issue.