engifineer

It can still be a leak. My dad had a customer years back with a buick that was losing coolant over time in small amounts. They checked for everything, cracked head, block, head gasket, leaks, etc. The owner and the dealer messed with it on and off for over a year, not ever finding an issue. I am talking tearing the car apart looking for this leak (the guy takes incredible care of his cars, so even this small issue was something he was going to figure out and fix). Even though it was under warranty, they decided to take it to my dad, who worked on all thier other cars. Finally, dad just told him he was going to keep it and tear it apart until he found the issue, and if he couldnt find it he would just eat the labor. Sure enough, when he tore it down, there was a very, very small green line between two cylinders in the block. The block was cracked and was allowing tiny amounts to ooze into the cylinder. A small enough amount as to not cause visible steam out the tail pipe. Amazingly the crack had not worsened to a noticeable degree over time. They took the info to the dealer, who warrantied a replacement short block for him since he had the original tickets with him.

The overflow incident is probably just due to the extra engine heat when the AC is running. So if there is a slight leak internally this could aggravate it. Strange that so many of them you have seen have the same issue though.

sciontc_mich

interesting that yes, i have seen other honda's having this. But the civic was known for its "piston slap" problem as well. A weakening of the cylinder walls would definitely lead to a leak. interesting thought! makes me wonder about the honda engines now, since they seem to always "drink coolant" and shouldn't in my opinion

jbae1221

maybe i'm the only one worried about this.. but isn't it bad to mix coolants.. ^^above he states that he's been using regular coolant not the toyota one.. which means that he is mixing the green with the pink... isn't that bad or are they mixable...

sciontc_mich

um, not a good idea at all to mix the two. Dye is one thing, but if they're completely different formulas, that can be a BIG problem.

io333

My GF has a civic with about 40k mi -- it has always been eating a bit of coolant. Her dealer said that it was 'normal' for hondas. My experience with hondas a LONG time ago was that their heads liked to crack and head gaskets like to blow. I've had other people tell me that hondas like to eat coolant -- I guess they still havn't managed to get their head gasket issues straightend out.

90% of the time when I have a coolant eater, I can find a small external leak somewhere. The other 10% of the time it's usually head gasket related and I find it when I yank the head off to do valve work. I do remember back in the late 80's early 90's both GM and Ford 4cyl motors almost always blew the head gasket, or cracked/warped the head, for no reason, immediately after the warranty ran out. Seriously, no joke. Modern GM motors start leaking coolant from the plastic intake manifold and are generally terminal by 100k miles.

http://autotechrepair.suite101.com/a...take_manifolds

I can only cross my fingers that none of these things will be problematic on my tC. I've never heard of Toyota having a reputation for coolant leakers, only sludgemakers.

Tomas

Toyota pink is rather unique, and does NOT mix well with most any other antifreeze mix. Thing is, it is also a really decent coolant, and protects the materials Toyota uses it it's engine and cooling systems very well. Many other coolants don't have the same corrosion protection.

Bottom line is that it is not a good to mix other coolant blends with Toyota pink, AND that one should be very careful in selecting coolants for Scion/Toyota engines.



Tom

SciontCya

If you look at the lid on the overflow bottle, it's hardly a hermetic seal.
An engine, such as mine, running month on end in stop and go traffic in 100°+ weather is not a problem if I lose what I've been losing.

To say it's that solid of a sealed system is hyperbole.

A UOA is a good idea if you're losing a lot of coolant, and yes, "a lot" is not a tangible amount. One needs to use some common sense.
If you lose a quart a month, that's not right.

jbae1221

so what i'msaying is that the guy that has been adding just regular coolant need to go get his system flushed right away before some major damage occurs like geling.. then you'll have a big problems.

SciontCya

Flushing does not cure a leak.
If he's losing coolant, it can only go two places - internally or externally.
Internal leaks can ruin an engine.
UOA is the best way to see if that's the case, barring some obvious hole/crack somewhere.

Tomas

...but leak or no, as jbae1221 has said, if he's mixed coolants he should flush and refill before further damage is done.

(And of course find and fix any leaks. )

SciontCya

Yes, absolutely.
For me, it's ONLY going to be Toyota coolant.
The question for me is, how long can I hold out on my first change?
I KNOW I can't go 100k miles!

Jan06xB

Watch the coolant color change and the only thing I put in my Geo for 12 years was pump lube after about 5 years and it only holds 1 gallon of coolent.
A leak into the intake would go right through the engine without much notice but that would be rare if at all since there are no coolant lines in the intake manifold. So a high pressure leak or high temp leak would be next. Radiator cap has to seal the pressure in the radiator and also the outer seal to allow the over flow and filling flow from the bottle in and out of the radiator. Any hose clamps that get loose from rubber softening can also create a small leak. I would imagine you should be able to smell coolant in the exhost at idle if it was going through the engine. Then the best one is into the heater core or firewall then into the car under the carpet so you smell it when you turn the heat on but in Hawaii you don't use the heater...

kronicillusionz

dang, I guess I jsut need to buy toyotas coolant than.
Where can I get this sucker?

I havent looked for leaks just yet, nor do I have a sweet smell in my exhaust

paul34

toyota parts and supplies can be had from the dealer

miamibusta69

ok well i checked mine today i have 30k miles. when i got the car it was a little under full.
i checked it today and was under low WTF? i looked for leaks nothing i can see my radiator looks normal.. should i take it to toyota i have alot of mods so they kinda give me this look.

i opened the radiator cap and it was toped off .

funny thing is i took it for an oil change mobil station and ont the paper it said it was ok hope this didnt just happen. there is barely anything in there so somthing needs to be done quick.

fishingexpert87

u mean u have 30k miles, not 3k

miamibusta69

30k miles ~!

Jan06xB

FIRST STOP OPENING THE RADIATOR CAP!!!!
jezzz how may times do I have to tell you guys that!
You don't want to get air bubbles trapped in the cooling system!
If the overflow expansion bottle is low then get some coolant from your favorate Toyota dealer and add some. The water in the coolant can evaporate with time from the expansion bottle. Remember the engine compartment gets really hot in the summer and although it will not boil at 212 like water it does evaporate and since the fluid in the bottle rises and falls each heating and cooling cycle of the engine it results in air exchange and a little breathing of the expansion bottle. If you are checking it when it is really cold outside you will see a much lower level on the expansion bottle and if below the low mark you should add coolant.

HoldFastHope

I had a problem with my 92 Honda Civic that for some reason I kept losing coolant and had to keep refilling up waaay too often. I took it to a shop my dad was friend's with and you know what it turned out to be? The simplest of things...the radiator cap. That's all it was. After they put a new radiator cap on, the problem was solved.

miamibusta69

ok so just fill it up? cann a loose a couple ounces in about 2 yrs? if 50% is water and i didnt have alot to begin with heat could do it thanks