Gen 3 3ltr Help needed with air in coolant, radiator dumps fluid in bottle..

[S14A-J]

Hi there,

i have an issue with the coolant being transferred into the coolant bottle. It empties about 2 litres into the bottle after a journey leaving the top of the radiator empty :-(

This had only recently started happening and so far i have changed the rad cap and do e a thorough flush and coolant change twice...

My fear is the early signs of head gasket problems, thing is the engine runs perfect. No residues at all and temps are all spot on etc..

Any ideas guy?

[red barron]

Im afraid it will not be the head gasket. Go to the search and check there.

[S14A-J]

Thanks for the reply! I have searched for hours about this problem and im hoping its just air in the block still pushung out the water, it just seems to be very difficult to burp this engine with no bleed screws that i can find..

[Sylux]

To easily burp the truck (to eliminate that as a cause) do the following:

1. Put all heaters on the hot setting (inc back seat heaters).
2. Park the truck on a slope, with the radiator/front at the highest point.
3. Remove the radiator cap (put it on the driver's seat so you don't forget)
4. Leave over-night.

This is what I did on the advice of BUSHWHACKER and the whole system was beautifully burped.

[S14A-J]

Great advice, i hadnt thought of that. Im gonna drive it home from work tomorrow (30 minutes of motorway driving) then do as suggested take the radcap off (very slowly) and leave it off all night.
Fingers crossed.

[si tate]

I know this sounds obvious but don't forget to top it up in the morning before you start it. Not saying your a numpty but some people on here are thick as $hit.

[Sylux]

[S14A-J]

Lol will do cheers. Btw on the American 4runner forum people were saying that the reason the heater hoses at the back of the engine bay had a join in them was so that you can separate and elevate them and the run it with the rad cap on to clear out the trapped air. Sounds feasible?

[si tate]

I acctually did my coolant last week & here's what I do;

Undo drain tap on bottom of rad.

Remove top hose from rad end.

Remove bottom hose from rad.

Remove both rear hoses from joints just before the bulkhead so you have 2 tails coming out.

Blow through one hose making sure that the other hose is pointing away from your face "for obvious reasons" until all/most of the coolant is out.

Blow through other tails that are going down into the engine until all/most of coolant is out.

Flush through all hoses & rad with garden hose until all pipes & rad are producing clean water & go through all blowing procedures again until you can't get any more water out.

Close drain tap & connect top & bottom hose "only" & begin filling with coolant until rad is full.

Now poor coolant through both rear hoses that go into the engine until full & try & keep them vertical so you don't lose any coolant.

Now poor coolant through one of the bulkhead hoses until it starts coming out of the other hose then "this is the tricky part" connect both ends back together trying to lose as little coolant as possible.

Once all hoses are connected & rad cap is on, top up expansion bottle to full mark.

Right your nearly done.

Park surf facing uphill, heaters on hot & run engine with rad cap off.
Once engine is hot the coolant will start to rise so replace rad cap before you lose any coolant, keep engine running to allow thermostat to open & squeeze pipes a few time to help circulation & then leave to cool down. Keep an eye on the expansion bottle as it will draw coolant into the engine as it cools down.

I think that's it, sounds alot of work but its quite easy.

At the end of this procedure I had about half a litre of coolant left from 10 litres so allowing for water left in the engine from all the flushing yours should be the same.

[S14A-J]

Thanks for that excellent guide, i think that's great advice and through hours of forum hunting that's basically what i decided to do and did.
Sadly I've taken the rad cap off after my journey to work this morning and with the engine running ive now got large bubbles and constant foam coming from the radiator..... Im thinking the gasket has failed
Ive ordered some K-seal as a temporary measure but im guessing that if this cures the problem for the minute then im gonna have to start saving up for the head gasket works...

[si tate]

Thanks for that excellent guide, i think that's great advice and through hours of forum hunting that's basically what i decided to do and did.
Sadly I've taken the rad cap off after my journey to work this morning and with the engine running ive now got large bubbles and constant foam coming from the radiator..... Im thinking the gasket has failed
Ive ordered some K-seal as a temporary measure but im guessing that if this cures the problem for the minute then im gonna have to start saving up for the head gasket works...

Don't be disheartened it may just be the mother of all air locks, wait till its flat cold & keep topping up every day " may take a week" & see how you go from there, I marked the coolant bottle with a pen because I put a little more coolant in after the flush & it is still going down a bit every day as it is still releasing small pockets of air, don't put the kseal in just yet, hopefully it will right itself in a few days.

[Sylux]

What he said.

Not sure why you did it after a journey. There's not reason to take the cap off when it's still boiling hot.

Just park it up and before bed go and remove the cap.

[BUSHWHACKER]

If the coolant is bubbling/frothing, then it's the head.

Exhaust gasses get into the coolant and make it bubble because cracks open up in the combustion chambers, this doesn't happen if it's just a head gasket leak.

[si tate]

If the coolant is bubbling/frothing, then it's the head.

Exhaust gasses get into the coolant and make it bubble because cracks open up in the combustion chambers, this doesn't happen if it's just a head gasket leak.

Righto.

Well at least we know for future reference.

[S14A-J]

Ok.... I have just mega flushed it with the garden hose again (twice) and finally there is no more foam coming out from the radiator. I have let it idle for 30 minutes with just fresh water in it and no signs of bubbles or foam, just very hot fresh clean water. Could it be possible that there was a lot of residue from the two forte flush bottles i used let over in the block causing the foaming and cavitation??? Oh well gonna see how i get on..