A problematic 02 4Runner, Part 2

[Wilson]

I’m currently working on an issue I posted recently, here is the link. My progress is being delay due to a lack of one tool, a torx bit. Because of that, I drove the truck to the nearest store to get the bit. Before leaving the house, I noticed that the vehicle was a little dry in the overflow tank while I was re-connecting the negative battery terminal. I opened the radiator and saw that it was dry. How dry? I’m not sure. I had some coolant in the garage and I decided to top it off. If I have to guess, I poured the rest of the coolant I had which was about 3/8 empty. Upon emptying the gallon, I saw some coolant which is reassuring. However, I saw some gray specks floating in the coolant. It didn’t appear metallic but it was concerning which bring this question.
The truck is leaking coolant somewhere. The truck had a timing belt job done and upon retrieving the vehicle, the coolant wasn’t topped off. I know that it wasn’t the mechanic because the problem had arise before the timing belt job. If I had to guess the interval, it is losing coolant because I have to top it off every other oil change and the interval for the change is every 5,000-7,000 miles. I’m wondering if I have to perform a radiator flush or replace the radiator altogether.

That was my main concern, this second concern is regarding the type of leak. From this pictures: passenger side by the firewall, passenger side looking at the starter, driver side. Whenever the engine is running, I smell burning oil under the hood and see thin white smoke from the passenger side by the exhaust pipe. I’m wondering if the source of the leak is a result of a aging seal.

Topic

[zero]

Before throwing cooling system parts at it, properly diagnose the source of the coolant leak. Was your water pump replaced as part of the timing belt service?

As far as the picture of oil leaks you posted, it looks like you valve covers are leaking. They’re about that age where they’ll start to leak. If they’re leaking enough to be spilling enough oil to create a burning smell, you need to be monitoring your oil level and consider moving the repair into a more immediate priority.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/finding-and-fixing-leaks/finding-engine-oil-leaks

[Wilson]

The water pump was replaced with the timing belt. In fact, the job was delayed because they were waiting for the water pump to arrive so that I know it was replaced.

As for the oil leak, I did suspect it was coming from the value cover but thanks for confirming my suspicion. The leak is slow but I am monitoring the levels.

[Wilson]

I found the culprit for the coolant leak. When I went to the garage to remove the negative cable to continue my work, the coolant was low once again. Upon inspecting, the top if the radiator was unusually moist by the passenger side. When I wipe it to dry it off, it didn’t. Plus there was some crude on top of the radiator fins.

[quote=”DaFirnz” post=166447]Before throwing cooling system parts at it, properly diagnose the source of the coolant leak. Was your water pump replaced as part of the timing belt service?

As far as the picture of oil leaks you posted, it looks like you valve covers are leaking. They’re about that age where they’ll start to leak. If they’re leaking enough to be spilling enough oil to create a burning smell, you need to be monitoring your oil level and consider moving the repair into a more immediate priority.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/finding-and-fixing-leaks/finding-engine-oil-leaks%5B/quote%5D

[Author]

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