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Engine & DrivetrainDiscussions about the engine and drivetrain of your vehicle.
This is a discussion thread titled "Engine Overheating?", within the Engine & Drivetrain forum, part of the Technical & Vehicle Assistance Forums category.
My 2000 V8 Tundra was just recently in the garage to have starter contacts replaced and heater control assembly replaced. I took it on a road trip this weekend and within 1.5 hrs the engine had overheated and the rad was boiling over. I pulled over and had it towed back to Toyota.
Has anybody experienced this problem?
When they changed the starter contacts they had to remove the intake manifold and replace several gaskets. Also with the temprature control they could not fix it properly because the heater box door was jamming in certain positions. Any possible links to the overheat problem?
The truck has 157,000 km on it and was running well prior to the event.
Any help would be appreciated.
The best tinhg I would do is have the dealer fix the truck if any thing go down with
the parts it should be covered. You should get the truck inspect by toyota
and fix what need to be fixed and maybe a tune up if has not been done.
It's very possible that the overheating and the recent work are just coincidences. If this was an all of the sudden event AND you had plenty of coolant, it's probably a stuck thermostat. It's possible they didn't put enough coolant in the system after servicing. Also possible that something really goofy like the impeller on the water pump broke or something like that.
I just got word from Toyota regarding the overheating problem. They said that the transmission cooler is leaking into the radiator and that the radiator will need to be replaced. At my last service visit to Toyota I had them drain and refill the transmission fluid. Could there be a link to the fluid change and the damage to the transmission cooler? If the transmission fluid was overfilled would this excess pressure cause such a failure?
Any comments or experience with this issue would be helpful.
The trans flush is just coincidental also. Do you have the tow package on your truck? If so I thought they came with an external trans cooler, I think(I will have to double check mine).
I just got word from Toyota regarding the overheating problem. They said that the transmission cooler is leaking into the radiator and that the radiator will need to be replaced. At my last service visit to Toyota I had them drain and refill the transmission fluid. Could there be a link to the fluid change and the damage to the transmission cooler? If the transmission fluid was overfilled would this excess pressure cause such a failure?
Any comments or experience with this issue would be helpful.
Thanks,
Matt
No, extra fluid will not cause enough pressure to blowout the rad. However something that catches my eye hear ........ Toyota told you that the transmission fluid is leaking into the rad ? If so, you probably are getting antifreeze into the trans fluid and transmission ( when the engine is off, the rad pressure will exceed the transmission oil pressure and flow into the cooler lines ). I would clarify this as you could have transmission trouble ahead, automatics do not like any water in the fluid, it takes very little to do damage.
I would ask a few more questions from the dealership such as:
1 - how they think this will cause an overheat condition. (It would take a large amount of ATF to alter the temperature in the rad and you would notice the loss of fluid in the trans. To loose that much ATF, the leak would be more than a drip and you would very likely see antifreze in the transmission fluid which would cause issues.)
2 - did they test for antifreeze in the trans fluid ? ( if so are they just going to fix the leak - replace rad - and let you take your chances down the road with the trans ? )
I noticed within about 10 mins that the truck was overheating...I pulled over and poped the hood. The rad was under high pressure and the coolant was being released into the overflow and leaking all over my engine. I did not notice any broken hoses or visual leaks from the rad besides the overflow. I waited for the truck to cool down and then restarted and drove for 2 mins within which the truck overheated again. I pulled over and called a tow.
From the leaking rad fluid you could clearly see that there was oil mixed in it. Toyota is saying that the coils between the ATF cooler and the engine cooler broke and the fluids mixed. They did not clearly define if the coolant had mixed into the transmission. I would assume it did. They are proposing to replace the rad and fluids and then test drive the truck to find out the extent of the tranny damage.
I don't quit understand how the mixing of the oil and coolant would cause the truck to overheat either. I will ask Toyota some more questions. I specifically asked why this occured and they simply said it just failed. Possibly scale or dirt in the lines that caused a blockage. The truck was woring great prior to the service visit 1 week ago where they replaced my starter contact, heater control, and all drivetrain fluids.
Needless to say I am not impressed. Seems like the more I read the 00-02 Tundras were an engineering beta vehicle. Lots of problems...and not small ones. Last year my front lower ball joint failed and the wheel fell right off the truck causing $2500 in damage...
I thought that the extra money I was paying for the supposed quality of the Toyota would be worth it but I am seriously wrong. Since manufacturing started in North America these trucks are no better than the Fords or GM's.
I will be putting it for sale once its fixed and buy an old beater car...when the damn thing breaks down I can leave it on the side of the road and buy a new one.
I don't tow with my truck, I don't offroad, I have it always maintained at Toyota. This is not a case of user abuse. Just very poor design and quality.
I am thinking that the overheat would have been caused by the loss of coolant through the overflow. But for that much displacement of coolant, you must have transferred alot of ATF into the cooling system. I would have suspected that you would have noticed tranny driveability issues associated with low oil. Starting to sound like a headgasket issue. Can you be certain the oil was in fact ATF or engine oil ? Might be well worth checking out. Please let me know whatever else you find out.
Also sorry to hear about your problems with your '00, I know there were issues with the early ones. I have an '01 with over 305,000 km's on it with nothing at all serious. Runs great, I tow with it , drag race it during the summer, and generally make it work. I have only replaced 2 rear u-joints, and 1 steady bearing from driving hard, aside from regular maintainence ( timing belts, plugs, oil, brakes etc. ).
...Needless to say I am not impressed. Seems like the more I read the 00-02 Tundras were an engineering beta vehicle. Lots of problems...and not small ones....I thought that the extra money I was paying for the supposed quality of the Toyota would be worth it but I am seriously wrong. Since manufacturing started in North America these trucks are no better than the Fords or GM's...
Please don't take this the wrong way, but you indicated in the other thread that you had never changed the coolant. The coolant has corrosion inhibitors that dissipate over time. The coolant should have been changed every 2-3 years. Without the corrosion inhibitors, corrosion takes place. Pitting type corrosion is all it took to penetrate that coil. It has nothing to do with the quality of manufacture.
We have been hearing this more and more lately. I just changed my coolant this year. Makes me want to change my radiator out in a couple years when its due to be changed again.
Please don't take this the wrong way, but you indicated in the other thread that you had never changed the coolant. The coolant has corrosion inhibitors that dissipate over time. The coolant should have been changed every 2-3 years. Without the corrosion inhibitors, corrosion takes place. Pitting type corrosion is all it took to penetrate that coil. It has nothing to do with the quality of manufacture.
We have been hearing this more and more lately. I just changed my coolant this year. Makes me want to change my radiator out in a couple years when its due to be changed again.
Good point to make about regular service intervals on antifreeze, it often goes overlooked. Regardless if it says "longlife" on the jug I do mine every year since I put on a fair amount of mileage. It is actually cheap maintainence if you do it yourself.
Toyota replaced the rad on my 00 Tundra yesterday. The apparent cause of the problem was that one of the ATF fluid line fittings on the bottom of the rad corroded. The fitting sits inside the rad and has an o-ring seal to prevent the ATF from mixing with the coolant. The corrosion occured on the radiator threads where the fitting is secured. When they should it to me there was pretty much no thread left inside the rad. When this occured the fitting became loose and the o-ring seal failed. This allowed ATF to mix with the coolant.
Toyota said that there was only about 0.5 L of ATF left in the transmission. They claim no coolant made it into the tranny. They took it for a test drive after replacing the rad and it appears the transmission is working ok. They are flushing out the cooling system a few times today to remove all traces of ATF. I will pick it up tonight and hopefully the tranny will last.
Can someone tell me if they remove these ATF fluid line fittings when they perform an ATF fluid change? From the look of the thread inside the rad I am surprised that the fitting was still in place. At this time I could not even screw it in.
If they hooked up to a flush machine, they may have unhooked the fittings at the radiator. Otherwise, no.
Sounds like this is most likely due to corrosion in the aluminum trans cooler caused by caustic antifreeze. In other words, the antifreeze wasn't changed after 5 years and corroded out the aluminum. Even if they did remove the trans cooler lines going to the radiator, the failure wasn't likely caused by anything wrong the mechanic did.
I drain and fill my system (including drains on the block) every year using Toyota AF and distilled water. Cheap insurance.
Engine Overheating?
Re: Engine Overheating?
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