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03-31-2014, 10:16 AM | #1 |
Embracing Curves
Drives: '14 Prius Executive Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: mid-western Germany
Posts: 256
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1KR-FE: mysterious water loss - gasket failure?
Hi there,
now the mysterious water loss has come to me (or my yaris) About 800km/500mi ago, I had filled up the white coolant tank up to the upper marking. Today, I had a look at it again (just been curious) and it was almost empty (ok, some ml on the bottom were left). I filled it up and continued my ride (about 20km) without any problems. I have the coolant and intake temperatures in view while I'm driving, and the recent days, I did not see the coolant temperature rise far above 81°C/178°F (the ambient temperature was 15°C/59°F or less). Today, after the fillup, I got up to 87°C; but it's quite hot outside (>25°C/77°F I reckon). The intake temperature was rather high (40°C/104°F); because the heated throttle body's position in the coolant circuit is one of the highest I conclude that there's still enough water inside (else, the air could not heat up that much). But before I have only H2O flowing through the engine, I want to have this issue fixed. I had a look at some parts of the coolant system, because the water loss happened that slow, I don't think that the radiator or the heater core has a leak. When the engine has cooled down, I'll have a closer look at the water pump. I saw in fact some pink residues near a hose connection, but I spilled some coolant there before when I had taken apart the coolant system in order to experiment with the flow heater (another story...), so I am not sure wher this is coming from. I had taken out the spring clamp and replaced it with a screw type, I'll put in the old one if this is the reason. I have cleaned the junction when I did the fillup, I'll have a closer look at it soon, too. Due to the spill that had happened before, I don't see a big sense in looking for pink crystals now, because I want the still hot engine (I just came home) to cool down, so I can see probably wet spots then. Up to then, this main question bothers me: Might the cylinder head gasket be broken? I have the tools to change it, but as far as I know it's a PITA. My mileage has not really changed, it's about 38MPG/6,2l/100km; some months ago it was 39MPG/6l/100km (with a lot of city traffic). How common are gasket failures today? |
03-31-2014, 01:14 PM | #2 |
Drives: Sedan 07 Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Asia
Posts: 478
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water loss is similar to overheating issues. as with my advice, start with the easiest and cheapest first.
1) fill up your reservoir and rad. don't use the car, see if water level goes down -- leaking rad. check your drain plug while youre at it. 2) replace your radiator cap. might not be opening at the right time. water pump leaks sometimes have leaks showing at the floor under the area where it's located. (timing chain side). i once had this problem, only to find out the radiator is clogged inside and has a small leak somewhere else (bec it's clogged). all good though, as i started with the cheapest/easiest ones first before thinking it's a bad gasket. BTW, you can also check if you have a bad gasket if you have 1) water gushing out of the rad mouth when you start the engine or 2) bubbles coming out of of the rad mouth while the engine is running. (both 1) and 2) have rad cap removed) |
04-01-2014, 05:55 AM | #3 |
Embracing Curves
Drives: '14 Prius Executive Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: mid-western Germany
Posts: 256
|
Thanks for your answer.
I let it run for some dozen seconds with the radiator filler cap open and no bubbles popped up. There was also not even a notion of an oil film on the water, I consider this a good sign ;) |
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