No coolant

Hello, everyone. I purchased a 2021 Tacoma SR5 in May. One day, I was just sitting in the truck with it running when I noticed the temperature gauge was creeping up to the hot side.So I turned the truck off and looked under the hood. Low and behold, it didn't have any coolant. Thinking it was a slip-up on the dealership's part, I added some to the radiator and reservoir. A couple days later, I pop the hood just to see and again there was no coolant! It's currently at the dealership and has been for going on 4 days now. They said they don't see any leaks but are keeping it to run more tests. Just wondering if anyone else has had this kind of problem and how it was resolved?!

 

No obvious leak externally means it's leaking internally. How much coolant did you put in? White smoke? Sweet smell at tailpipe?

 

Maybe a little less than half a gallon. No white smoke and didn't think to smell the exhaust.

 

Sometimes a bubble can form in the system and it blocks coolant from getting in. The dealer should be pressure testing the system, then pulling a vacuum and putting in the new coolant. That shouldnt really take 4 days to complete, but Im guessing they are filling it then letting it sit all day to see if it leaks (which can be done with the pressure test)

 

What exactly does a pressure test do?

 

So a pressure tester will put the cooling system under pressure (forces air in and seals it off). If there is a leak, the pressure will go down over time and they will see it on the gauge. If there is a external leak, they will see coolant coming out of there. If its a internal leak (head gasket) then they will just see a pressure drop until they check the engine oil.

It could be that the system was not filled all the way from the factory, or there could be a leak. But if there was a leak, it would be very obvious. There would be coolant on the ground, coolant in the oil, or smoke coming from the tail pipe.

 

That does not sound very promising at all! Thank you for the info!

 

Its a simple test that takes about a hour to complete. The fact that they have had it for 4 days makes me think there is no leak and they are chasing a ghost right now.

 

What color is the engine oil?

 

I'm not sure, that is not something I thought to check.

 

if the pressure test detect nothing and the is no dry pink coolant anywhere around the engine compartment... then the dealer will be chasing ghost...

 

how much coolant did you add 4 days later? you say "one day i was sitting in the truck" this one day, a week ago, 2 weeks?
reason i ask is from the day you bought it until the first time you discovered it then only 4 days later again the same issue tells me it was not low from the lot when you bought it.

 

Ok...my son, my dad, and myself encountered this very situation...on a 4 cyl 93 Celica. It was loosing coolant when warm, not burning a drop, but was not in the oil. What we found when we pulled the head were tiny cracks between the water jackets and the exhaust ports....and about 1 gallon of coolant in the two mufflers in the exhaust system. When cold no leak through. When warm it would pour through on the third cyl. So much that it cooled the manifold and cracked it eventually. We chased that for two weeks in the garage before we just pulled the head off.

 

Roughly 2 weeks ago, I discovered it didn't have coolant, added a little less than half a gallon. Maybe three days after that, checked again, empty, added the other half of the gallon (most of it was gone within a 3 hour span), called dealership to make an appointment. The day of the appointment (about a week later), I added another half of a gallon and brought it straight to the dealership.

 

It a new Truck? Don't mess around with it and give the dealer a window to question something you did, or did not do. Take it back to them for a fix - that is what you have a warranty for. The overflow tank should have fluid in it all times too. Just the apparent simple fix of adding fluid could be a sign of a bad head gasket or worse. In any case you can let them know you had to add Toyota approved fluid as a preventative maintenance step which should not be necessary or a new truck. GL.

 

Yes, it's a new truck. Barely has 2,000 miles on it. I already brought it to the dealer but they are scratching their heads.

 

Quit driving it.

No coolant will eventually mean a new engine, if you keep driving it.

 

He's not driving it? he stated in his first post that its at the dealer right now and has been for the past 4 days.

 

Sorry......missed that.........

 

He is a She.

And and a Gallon of coolant in 3 days is a lot.
Since it a new truck, I’d tell them to drive it if that’s what it takes to diagnose.
I wouldn’t want it back until it doesn’t lose coolant.

Hopefully they have her a good loaner.
Nothing like buying a truck, and getting a Prius as a loaner.
Not that I have anything against a Prius, it just doesn’t have a bed or the ability to preform the task I need it to ever week.