Looseing coolent

[Jim Cummings]

Hi, I have a so far faultless 93 3 litre surf. Its just started loosing coolent. I check the coolent at weekly intervals and I had to add 1 litre on this weeks check. I run orriginal toyota long life, I've inspected quickly as I live in Norway and its -20 at the moment, and cant find any obvious leaks. I have only done 250 miles since the last time I checked on many short trips. Their is no sign of contamination in the oil or coolent. The engine runs perfect as normal, it has not over heated or in fact shown any unusuall signs.. other then loosing coolent. The only thing I noticed is under the oil cap it was very, very slightly grey the oil, on the cap, but it is normal to get some condinsation in the oil filler cap during winter. The oil on the dipstick definately looks normal though. What do you guys think, the motor has only done 79000 and has been looked after perfectly regardless of cost and has never had any problem. Do you think its the cylinder head? Any other ideas, if you think it is the head how do I test, whats gonna happen if I keep running it....other me having to keep refilling the coolent? Why would it just break, if it has not overheated?
Thanks for the tips. Cheers Jim

[NiftyNev]

Any signs of residue around the radiator cap indicating coolant is leaking and drying out before you see any leaks? I'd replace the cap anyway just to be sure. If you still have a problem have the cooling system pressure tested. You could lose coolant from any number of hoses, water pump, or even the radiator itself and small leaks are often hard to find. Check under vehicle when both hot and cold for signs of coolant.

Nev

[Jim Cummings]

Dam it looks like the head has gone

After a more thorough check today and test drive I am now begining to see condensation/sludge on the oil filler cap, and also I've noted the pressure seams greater then normal after a short drive in the radiator. So it would seam like the head has gone.

A dissapointing result. I've allways maintained the car very well. I even changed the radiator, and thermostat 6 months ago, even though there was nothing wrong with the old ones, just as a path of course as added safety. The car is a manual though and has allways run cool, when I first bought it I installed an extra temp guage so allways have monitered closely the temp, with never any problems. The car has only done 79000 miles and I feel I have taken every possible precaution to protect the head, But it has still gone, for no obvious reason, other then being 15 years old. I have seen heads go on other cars before but only as they have been overheated, this car has never overheated, yet the head has just failed, seams like pretty bad engineering to me.
So I'm just considering my options weather I break a very well maintained otherwise great car up as spares or buy a new head, and rebuild her. I just feel at this minute that I've lost a little confidence in the durability of the motor. When you read so many stories of head problems on this vehicle it does not inspire confidence, what do you guys think?