2001 Tundra 4.7 coolant leak behind AC compressor

Hi Folks,
I got a very small coolant leak which appears to be behind the AC compressor. Fortunately I caught it before it drained to much & caused damage. I only lost 2 cups.
Unfortunately I'm on a road trip & need to address this immediately. I have a basic tool kit but I'm hesitant to dive in too deep. Anyone experience this scenario? I'm thinking it could be the water pump, unless there is a line behind the AC compressor I'm not able to see. I can definitely remove the AC compressor with the tools I have. Changing out the water pump / timing belt probably not. The timing belt is due in 20,000 miles, so I'm hoping it is not the water pump. Any ideas on this problem would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
John

 

If the timing belt is due most people replace the water pump at that time too. You might aa well go ahead and do both, assuming that's actually the leak.

Also, we're not supposed to use green coolant in our trucks. You should consider flushing that out and getting in the pink stuff. Either Toyota, Zerex, or Aisin.

 

Personally...If I couldn't see the source of the leak, I wouldn't start wrenching on it away from home. I would either take it in to a Toyota dealer, or if you're not headed back, I would turn it around now and try to make it home.

One Tundra owner's hard luck story I read had a small leak that he ignored and took a road trip. Small leak became a LARGE leak on the road between Louisiana and Houston (water pump seal element probably shattered). He overheated, lost all coolant, tried to make the next city. The engine severely overheated with major damage. Repair bill was thousands. If you try to make it home, keep a sharp eye on temp gauge, and stop every half hour or so to check the idling engine to insure the leak stays small. Buy some gallon jugs of drinking water at the grocery just in case you start to overheat. At the first sign of overheating, shut it down, let it cool, and refill with the drinking water. If the leak has become a LARGE leak, then it's probably time to call the tow truck.

If you make it back without incident, change the water pump (if that's where it's leaking) and the timing belt. You may find the leak is at an elastomeric seal which some antifreezes will attack. As said before, don't use cheap Prestone Green in your Toyota...use Toyota, Zerex Aisin or equal antifreeze. The chemistry is OAT (Organic Acid Technology) which has organic corrosion inhibitors without silicates; it's easy on aluminum engine components.

 

Yes, I know the green anti freeze is not good, it came that way and I have lagged in changing it to red. Thanks for the input. I may attempt the job of replacing the timing belt, water pump & tensioners. I am at my dads now and will be here a while, so I'll call a few repair shops & weigh my options.
The truck has 282,000 miles and still runs great so thank god I didnt overheat it!

 

Have you found the culprit of the leak on this? I just had the same issue on mine I was driving down the road and the truck started steaming, I pulled over and saw coolant leaking all underneath the engine. Towed it home and looked underneath and saw it leaking from the EXACT same spot that you have in your photo. I couldn’t find where it’s coming from though. Let me know what you found please and thank you.

 

It's your waterpump. Thats where my leak was.30k left on the timing belt. Either they didnt replace the water pump or it gave out early. Good luck!~