Radiator fluid leak? Need feedback please.

2001 Tacoma 3.6L 4x4
Roughly ~180,900 miles

So I just noticed last night that my truck might be leaking. I re-parked it, to make sure and sure enough, totally started dripping fluid. Its greenish-yellow, so thinking radiator fluid? Of course its wicked difficult to see exactly where its coming from, but took the best pics I could without jacking it up. (Dont believe it's a hose.)
Thoughts??

 

Yes thats antifreeze, and it looks like its time for a water pump.
So thats the bad news, and also for more- may as well get the timing belt and all tensioners replaced, along with the radiator for good measure as these are better off replaced every 8-10yrs.... all this to keep you solid for 100,000 more miles.
400-800$ if you can dyi

 

there's no need to arbitrarily replace the radiator. It's not a 'wear' item. Either there's something wrong with it or there isn't.

 

I disagree. My standard practice is to replace the radiator when I buy an old Toyota.

More often than not I have found them to be partially clogged when taken to the radiator shop to check.

These days I don't even bother having them checked - just replace...

 

when they do go bad (internally) you risk pink milkshake taking out your auto transmission. corrosion/cracks from age/off road jarring allows antifreeze and ATF to mix causing the problem. While it is apart, may as well swap a quality new.

0r not.

 

RIP water pump. doesn’t hurt to get a new radiator as stated above but mines original at 184k and is still fine but i could just be lucky

 

Yeah probably radiator fluid but its the wrong color should be red....when you fix the leak flush it good and 9ut back in the proper fluid

 

Looks too far to the right. Are you sure the expansion tank isn't leaking the fluid?

 

Not a clue. I'm not the most auto mechanically inclined person. My mom's husband thinks it could be the thermostat? Maybe a bad o-ring or gasket?

I did mention to him, not that long ago (maybe week or less), that I noticed after driving to and from the store, that I sorta smelled like a hot burning oil kinda smell (drivers side)... could that be related?

And on a side note, it has been getting freezing temperatures lately at night (25-34° degrees F) and normal 50-65° degrees during the day... cold enough to freeze the water pipes from our well pump and bust some pipes...

 

Or...?

 

'tis very important to have the dealer 'or other shop' do the coolant fluid exchange at the recommended interval nowdays then, so they can check for these contaminants?

my trucks history has had probably 4 radiator drain and fills, maybe 5?.. but never the complete system flushed out until last summer. The mechanic tech said it looked good, no odd-looking particles or anything came out, yada yada, very clean bill of health except the top hose started leaking a month after they did the job

since they no longer offer a plain drain and fill (have to do the entire system again) i located the little open valve at the bottom that unscrews that i can probably reach topside and let er flow out onto the driveway when i reach the approximate mileage to do this drain/fill
plus i found Toyota red coolant at a much better deal online than the local dealers $50/$60 a gallon markUp, which is quite the coin

i have MT so it is probably not connected to any transmission

 

I hope you didn’t just drain the coolant down your driveway. Also a $50 markup for coolant? I recently just bought red Toyota coolant from the dealer for $25, it costs more to buy online.

 

Yeah, don't do that. Catch it and bring it to a hazardous waste facility/dump, just like you would with your oil. Not sure if you're being sarcastic or not. Antifreeze is pretty poisonous to animals, and tastes great apparently. That little drain valve is called a stop cock/drain cock.

I'm on the original radiator with 208k, temps are between 186º-195ºF.

 

yeah animals love coolant, its pretty great for getting rid of pests, but not so good for your neighbors dog.

 

I will make sure my dog is inside!
Possibly could rent lift @40 and take skid plate off. No clue if that skid needs to be removed to access the cock from the bottom?
Would the lower radiator hose be better to drain it thoroughly

 

Oh yes my local dealer is nutty on markups!
I had to fix the top hose diy because of their markups ... 280 quote!

 

You shouldnt be draining it into anything except a container and disposing of it properly.

Damn that’s ridiculous. Must be the only dealer for miles and miles then at $50 a gallon. Replacing the radiator is a very straight forward and simple job. No way I would pay them $280 for a drain and fill.

 

Removed skid plate and it looks bad.




Here's a video:
https://lisapeckphotography.smugmug.com/LISA-PRIVATE/Tacoma-Leak/n-tTVN33/i-Kd5DX5N

Also pretty sure it's the water pump. Picking up some parts with my mom's husband on Saturday and then Having a guy friend come out to help me look at it and hopefully fix it sunday.

 

All that means is that they didn't use the magical OEM red coolant.

Mine is green too because that's what I put in it. It's not going to make your Toyota explode.

 

I don't think you get that kind of grime build up from a coolant leak. Methinks you got another leak in there too. Looks like maybe your front diff.

You gotta wash all that off so you can maybe see where it's coming from.