Overheated and - 9° weather

Freaking out hoping for some help / advice. Had my Tundra up at the pass while I was working it got down to -16 with wind chill. When I got back to my vehicle it said -9 but started up just fine. I drove it down the mountain all the sudden the four low light started blinking the trac control light came on the engine light came on and I didn't know what was going on. About a mile later I noticed that the temperature gauge was pegged to the red I threw it in neutral and Coast into into the gas station when I got there green radiator fluid was spraying out of the overflow tank.

I let the vehicle cool off for quite a while and then turned it back on it was at normal operating temperature still no heat coming through the vents. Made the decision to try and get to the next town down where my buddy is did slightly overheat again on the way there. Not sure this is going to be good for my anxiety to post but what should I definitely have checked? The local Toyota dealership just wants to do a $200 diagnostic check. My local shop wants to do $160 one.

 

Make sure you have air flow through the radiator. Could it be full of snow and or ice?

 

Possibly

 

Is the fan coming on?

thermostat may be stuck.

Overheating aluminum is a big no no. Don’t keep driving it. You’ll warp a head and blow a head gasket.

how many miles on the truck?

 

Green coolant is your first problem... should be pink. But first, as mentioned, check to make sure you have adequate air flow through the radiator. It *could* ice up, but if hot fluid is flowing through the radiator, it should have no problem melting the ice. I've had an inch of ice built up on the front of my truck from driving four hours on the freeway through a blizzard with zero issues with temperature or reduced airflow through the radiator.

Second thing - did you by chance happen to look at the radiator hose when it was hot? If the thermostat, for example, is stuck closed you can have too much pressure building up in the radiator hose. It will feel like concrete.

But back to the green coolant... if the wrong coolant was used in your vehicle, in can cause issues like corrosion and build up. Failed water pump or thermostat would be high on my list. You will probably want to get if flushed and replaced with the correct pink or red fluid. Some will say the Universal Green Coolant is perfectly ok and compatible with Toyota red; I would disagree.

 

Were you in 4lo?

 

194k yes I know that's a big deal and this is one of the reasons I didn't want to post this is because everyone was going to start talking about warping heads and blowing head gaskets and cracking blocks.
What sort of test do I need to do to test to rule out these things.

 

No heat from the heater core would make me look at the thermostat first, and water pump next if that didn't fix it. Something is preventing water circulation through the cooling system, it's not an airflow problem or you'd have functional heat.

 

Didn't feel the coolant hoses. Toyota disagreed with you about the green coolant also. I disagree with Toyota service manager. They should have seen that and recommended that I fix it.

 

No I was in 4 high 4lo was blinking telling me there was a problem. I've had that happen before with another problem.

 

Compression check. Cooling system pressure test. Replace Tstat w jiggle valve at 12 o’clock position. Replace radiator cap. Replace coolant with Zerex Asian Red/Pink.

 

In that order I assume?

 

There’s a kit you can pickup from Napa that tests for exhaust gasses in the cooling system. It’s quick and easy.

 

I'm betting the thermostat stuck closed.

 

Would I still be cycling fluid through my engine?

 

Yes but not the radiator.

 

Check the radiator cap. Quite a few of us had broken radiator caps which got stuck in the system causing overheating issues.

 

I almost bought that kit a few weeks back when dealing with an overheating issue with my daughter’s Tundra. Kit was a crazy CAN$160, so I said no thanks. Decided to take a chance and use the money towards a new Koyo radiator as I was 90% sure it was leaking coolant.

 

I’m guessing you’re dealing with a couple of issues.
First. Driving in those winter conditions assuming you were driving in snowy conditions could have affected your ABS sensor connectors, and hence the 4L and TCS light coming on. Did they go out while driving it to your buddy’s place? This happens occasionally on my MDX.
Second, if the radiator surface wasn’t blocked by ice or snow, then as others have mentioned, could be water pump, thermostat, but I would also check to see if anything related to the cooling system was damaged or punctured. Driving without coolant was a mistake as you probably already know and wasn’t a great idea. I’m guessing the reason you had no heat is that you were low on coolant. My daughter drove her Tundra for about a month (but only on very short trips once a week) then finally informed me that there was no heat. I ended up adding 1-1/2 jugs of Toyota coolant which solved the issue of no heat, however she has a coolant leak in her radiator which I will replace with a Koyo one.

 

Rock auto sells Denso radiators

 

Hey I'll just checking back in. I added a jug of 50/50 diluted and a half of coolant to my system. Still only having cold air blow guessing it may be the thermostat at this point from what I have read. I only get up to about a quarter and it will blow some hot air but not a lot.

 

Post pic of the bottom of the radiator cap

 

Is your truck keeping the fluid full? Just a suggestion but my 96 honda pilot had a small leak in the radiator crimp and slowly lost lost the coolant, in the meantime the wife ran it low and heated the coolant so hot that the heater-bypass valve melted and was not functioning correctly and the heater core would not develop normal heat. If all fluids are staying put and your radiator hoses are hot and your heater core hoses are cold or luke warm the you might just have a bad valve.

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