Red liquid from front of car

[Josh]

Just been for a blast on the motorway and after coming back I've noticed a hell of a lot of red liquid coming from the front on the car. Is this coolant?

 

It's pretty much a constant flow and it seems to be coming from the radiator.

 

Any advice on what to check?

 

Off for a round of golf now but will keep checking this and will try and sort it when I get back.

[CanisLupus]

If it's from the rad it's coolant.

[mr lover]

yes coolant mate, or your red paint is falling off

[bobapple]

Check your bottom rad pipe mate, I think its in the deep dark depths of the front left part engine bay. That would be first port of call. .

You wil obviously need to get some Toyota Red coolant as well, Toyota sometimes stock it but worth a call first.

[Samurai 20V]

Could just be the reserve tank pushing out some coolant as the pressure was higher after the blast on the motorway?

[scotty71]

shouldn't you be on the 5th tee by now? ready to hack one off to the right

 

Bottom hose popped off rad as above OR hole in rad (unlikely) Thats it....really. Find the source, fix it. Alls good

 

EDIT yes as above check its not coming from the overflow pipe from the expansion bottle... the overflow pipe runs and would let out its fluid half a foot in from the front N/S wheel under the car. You can see the pipe poking out under the car N/S front

 

Thread closed

Edited May 28, 2011 by scotty71 (see edit history)

[Swampy442]

Check the top of the rad for cracks/splits

[Robzki]

Well my mate was on his way to pick me up so I didn't have time to jack the car up and check. I just wondered if anyone had an idea as to what it may be.

 

Don't forget I'm only 22 and this is the first car I've really done stuff to so I need to learn stuff first.

 

Sorry m8, caught me in a narky mood. First thing find out if its coolant(more than likely) then find out where, its a simple system at the rad end. Pipe at top and bottom(could have split, come loose or popped off(doubtful) Pushing out of the expansion/overflow(more possible after a hard run but could be harder to diagnose the reason) or a split in the rad.

 

apologies again

 

Rob

[Ricky49]

Is this still the first page.

 

As said above Joshy boy should be a quick fix. If it is the rad get a nice SRD one in there.

[Awisto]

Could also be ATF if it's fresh, as it runs through the radiator for cooling.

 

But does sound more like For Life coolant.

 

Shouldn't be the expansion bottle unless the coolant was overfilled.

[Robzki]

 

Shouldn't be the expansion bottle unless the coolant was overfilled.

 

Unless the system is pressurising which can show up a fault after a spirited drive, also possible if the rad cap isn't holding the pressure it was designed for or hasn't seated properly

[Dnk]

Unless the system is pressurising which can show up a fault after a spirited drive

 

Cracked head or blown head gasket ?

[Robzki]

Cracked head or blown head gasket ?

 

Could be, until Josh finds out where its coming from its all speculation, lets hope its a cheap fix. If its a split hose I'd take the opportunity to go single

[scotty71]

cracked head no no

 

dont wind him up dnk

[b_have]

Power steering fluid is red (and easy to boil)

[Dnk]

cracked head no no

 

dont wind him up dnk

 

Its probably because the rads very old and gave up the will to live

[scotty71]

pics of the said fliud / location would help

 

we like pics here

[Morpheus]

On a more constructive note, you may well have blown the top rad tank/gasket Josh as others have said. If it's a copper one it's highly likely IMO, as I've done it myself after a blast in both of my MkIII's years ago. It's the same radiator. Had to replace both of them for the same reason.

 

After a sustained, hard run the coolant can get hot enough to soften the top plastic tank where it comes in directly from the engine which balloons the plastic out slightly under high pressure and it can crack the fold in the brass or ali crimped top edge where it wraps around the plastic, right behind/infront of the filler cap area. You might not see much of a leak as it seeps and runs down but it might appear to go away once it's cooled down, only to go again once it warms up. The old copper rad's with a brass top plate are really thin and weak but the new ones are thicker aluminium so should be stronger and much less fatigue prone. Brass cracks easily under tension so all those warm up/cool down cycles take their toll over the years, as does corrosion, of course.

 

Atleast you have the proper coolant in there. As someone said, always use the Toyota red stuff. Think it was £13 for 5L last time I bought some. Don't be tempted to top it up with plain tapwater though, unless you're going to flush and drain it.

Edited May 28, 2011 by Morpheus (see edit history)

[Josh]

I only went for a 30 minute drive to take the missus to work. I was on the motorway for about 15 mins altogether and only had a couple of blasts in 4th, 5th and 6th.

 

There is dried liquid on the front of the engine, the fan blades and around that area so the liquid has hit the fan and sprayed around at some point.

 

I got a piece of white tissue and dipped it in the coolant and in the puddle on the floor and it's the same colour.

 

I may pop to the garage down the road and get them to look at it as I know the guy that owns it so they should have a quick look for free.

[scotty71]

if you need any coolant I have some toyota red

[Morpheus]

I only went for a 30 minute drive to take the missus to work. I was on the motorway for about 15 mins altogether and only had a couple of blasts in 4th, 5th and 6th.

 

There is dried liquid on the front of the engine, the fan blades and around that area so the liquid has hit the fan and sprayed around at some point.

 

I got a piece of white tissue and dipped it in the coolant and in the puddle on the floor and it's the same colour.

 

I may pop to the garage down the road and get them to look at it as I know the guy that owns it so they should have a quick look for free.

 

Definitely the radiator blowing at the top Josh. Sounds like a classic case. Have them look right at the filler cap area along the folded metal plate full of dentils on the engine side.

Edited May 28, 2011 by Morpheus (see edit history)

[Josh]

Cheers guys

 

Right, here are some pics of when it's coming from and what's happening:

 

 

The bit I've ringed in blue where the drips are, it's dripping all along there and each spot is dripping every 5 seconds or so;

 

 

 

Big puddle;

 

 

 

Sprayed and dried in engine bay;

 

 

 

On fan blades and all on the inside of the fan shroud;

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers for the help guys, I really appreciate it

[DaveR]

My stock rad split along the plastic part at the top during a track day at Silverstone (in the pits, thankfully...). I've ringed it in this pic for reference:

 

 

Check along the rear of it just below the rad cap. If it's split, it'll be fairly obvious.

[Morpheus]

Look at the first and third photo showing the top of the radiator where it's leaking. You'll find that the seal has failed. Looks like it's been doing it for a while from the dry red colouring underneath and just became borderline catastrophic. Bit of a pain to access but there's your leak. New or repaired radiator I'm afraid mate.

 

You might be able to get it brazed or welded but either way it will involve rad removal. First needs to be pressure tested then if it isn't actually cracked, re-crimped to tighten the seal again. Might have just bent back from occasional 'high stress'

[Josh]

My stock rad split along the plastic part at the top during a track day at Silverstone (in the pits, thankfully...). I've ringed it in this pic for reference:

 

http://i693.photobucket.com/albums/vv291/george_1200/Randoms/Dodgyradbit.jpg

 

Check along the rear of it just below the rad cap. If it's split, it'll be fairly obvious.

 

Oh nice one, thanks. I'll go look for any splits now