Coolant leak?

Was filling the windshield washer fluid reservoir today and noticed this pink residue at the front of the engine.

View from drivers side front...

View from passenger side front...



Anyone had this issue?

 

Water pump.

 

How many miles do you have on that engine and water pump?

 

Just under 35,000.

 

id clean it up and snug the bolts..otherwise warranty may work

 

dont clean it or do anything to it. Bring it in as is for them to take care of it under warranty

 

Sitting at Toyota waiting to hear what they say about this.

 

Gonna need a new engine probably.

 

Lol

 

j/k good luck bud. subscribing for the resolution.

 

I would somehow mark the waterpump and bolts where they will have a hard time seeing it so you can check if they did work on it or not. You don’t want to just drive home after they just washed off your visible evidence and called it a day.

 

The technician uploaded a photo of the leak to Toyota TAS and started a claim to get authorization to replace the water pump under warranty.

They are supposed to call me when they know when the part will arrive to schedule replacement.

 

I vaguely remember seeing this similar issue on some of the other forums, too. Good on you for finding it. Would recommend to others to keep an eye out for it, too. especially as the warranty nears end and if you plan on keeping the car.
Do your own oil change, change the fluids - spend some time under the hood - it will help you get to know your car better.

 

Received a follow up call from the dealership today. They stated that since there is only residue and no active visible leak with the engine running, they are not able to replace the water pump under warranty at this time.

So I guess that means it's the good old "Toyota says this is normal"

 

Unbelievable. The evidence couldn't be more ...well, evident. If you've argued it to the limit, my next step would be to document the clean up and take pictures when more residue shows. Waiting for it to have a full on leak is careless on their part.

 

I would wipe it up good and check torque on all the bolts on the water pump. And then keep an eye on it. You can also try another dealership.

 

Lol...they said I could get a 2nd opinion if I wanted to and mentioned 3 other local dealerships.

 

I'd exhaust all three if you keep hitting a barrier. I would download the Toyota Owners app as well, that way you can see the notes that are being entered.

 

They didn’t even at least check the bolts and torque them to spec?

That’s some garbage customer service
right there. Its shit like this dealerships lose customers and potential customers that could have been recommended to come their way do business with them. Would have taken one of their techs just a few minutes to check.

 

A bit of follow up... I called Toyota corporate and started a case to try to get Toyota to take care of this issue. Final verdict... Toyota says this is normal. However, they are unable to say what rate of leakage is not normal.

I asked them to provide me with a service interval for monitoring coolant leakage and I was told there isn't one.

 

Any follow up? Mine is leaking pretty good @ 49k miles.

 

Good to know and look out for thanks for this. As an auto mechanic this doesn't look like a water pump failure per say. Usually if it was the water pump it would leak out of the weep hole under the pump or the fan would be wobbly. Gasket failure or loose bolts as already mentioned is the likely cause. But Toyota has no right to say this is acceptable leakage. It should never leak here as shown by the pics.

 

Looks like a gasket failure. Retorquing the bolts isn’t gonna fix that.

 

Bit the bullet and took mine to the dealership today. They’re covering the repair but only because I knew what I was talking about.

Initially tried to say I was out of warranty and that if something damaged it physically, it wouldn’t be covered anyway.

These guys are con artists.

They about lost it when I said I’d need a loaner to leave it there until tmrw. Not impressed with Toyota. Not the product or the reps.

 

Personally I wouldn’t touch it. I am almost positive the water pump is included on the drivetrain warranty. And if you’re dealing with one of those dealerships that have a lifetime drivetrain warranty they are eventually going to be on the hook.

 

Can’t really say I like too much about my 4Runner lol. Other than it’s cool looking. Things are breaking, gas mileage is terrible, technology is outdated, and they’re overpriced.

 

Careful. There’s others roaming around these forums that will tell you you didn’t deserve to buy one if you can’t keep up with the surprise repairs on almost new 4 Runners. The Toyota quality just doesn’t seem to be there as like I remember it being when I was a kid and my parents owned the product.

 

I guess it’s better than my 3 year old sierra that need fuel injectors. GM conveniently didn’t cover injectors under warranty. Figured I’ll get a Toyota and won’t have to worry too much

 

Crazy.

 

While under warranty, the dealer and Toyota will say every leak and drip is normal.

However when they find a leak after the warranty is over, they will make it sound like if you don't pay them thousands of dollars to fix it right away you engine will blow up into a huge fireball.