Blue turned black coolant. Compression test results. Help? Potential Headgasket

Sorry to bother you guys again I hope someday I won't be asking a question a week on here. I have tried my best to find other threads but non seem the same. So if there is one feel free to point me in the right direction. I bought my truck a month ago, and I've been too caught up with steering and suspension but that's all done now. My engine has been getting considerably louder since I bought it, most of it I think is just the regular piston slap etc diesel noise, but lately there has been much more noise up front by the radiator, belts, and fans etc, kinda sounds like a belt, bearing, or fan is loose.

Anyways I did notice the coolant was blue when I checked a few weeks ago, and knowing it is supposed to be red I wanted to do a flush and get some Aisin red in there but I haven't gotten to it. Engine temperature has not changed at all, it never gets hot, stays at slightly below half always when driving, so I didn't make it a huge priority. But then I checked today and the coolant reservoir level was much below the needs fill line and was no longer clearly blue, it was pretty solidly black. and had shiny look of oil or something similar. I'll attach pictures. There is also one of those little foil seals from a bottle or something in the reservoir (!??).

I just recently changed the oil so I don't wanna drain it, but the dipstick looks normal and there is no white foam or anything anywhere.

Thoughts? Do as good of a flush as possible and see what happens? Any other diagnostic tests or similar I should do? Radiator has lots of miles who knows when it was last replaced.

Drove 60 miles today just fine with a half cord of wood in the back, same temp as always.

 

I recently bought a Camry, and it had blue coolant. Blue is for Hondas, and has more or less the same HOAT composition as our Red and Pink coolants. But I'm AR, and it just bugged me..."it's not supposed to be blue!"

So I bought a bunch of distilled water, drained the system (be sure to find your block drains), filled it with the water and ran it for a while. I did this twice more until the water started to look clear(ish), then finally filled it up with pink. No problems before, none after...but now it's pink and not blue!

 

You've definitely got an issue somewhere. Have you inspected the timing belt? What's the status with that. Because you lost coolant (doesn't matter the color) kind of suddenly, and you've got increasing noise I would start by pulling the serpentine belt and checking pulleys and the tensioner. While you're there, pull the driver side timing belt cover back a bit and have a look. Post pics if you have questions on what it's supposed to look like. If by checking the serpentine belt pulleys and tensioner yields nothing, it's time to look deeper. There's no "regular" piston slap/diesel noise on these engines. Something's wrong.

 

Okay sounds good, I'll get on that. There are a lot of people who report having loud engines, I've seen a few people talk about it, and say it's normal, that's why I was saying it. I'm not sure if mine is piston slap, it might be noisy injectors or the cracked exhaust manifold or who knows what. I've noticed my exhaust is louder now too, has sort of a glug glug glug to it.

A bad timing belt could explain the lost coolant?

I'm planning on flushing the system, and getting pink aisin coolant in there.

 

Does it go away after warm-up?

Do you know for sure that the overflow tank was full before? I've had to top of the overflow on a few of my vehicles before, not often but I don't really think much of it when it is just a bit low. I'd say at least pull your overflow tank and empty it and wash it out with a water hose and put it back in with some distilled water since you don't have any of the blue coolant. It shouldn't hurt anything to put just a little bit of distilled water in the overflow until you can do the full flush.

Exhaust rusting out maybe? Muffler getting a hole in it?

Could remove the serpentine belt and run the engine and see if any of the noises go away, if the noise goes away spin each pulley and see if one of them is making a noise.

 

Check your transmission fluid. There is a transmission cooler in the base of the radiator and if the seals fail you're mixing coolant with transmission fluid.

If the trans fluid looks like milkshake you found your problem.

 

I'm not sure why that didn't even cross my mind. OP as stated above check your transmission fluid level. Do it while the vehicle is off first just to observe fluid quality and see if the viscosity seems off or anything, if it seems OK you can check the level while running and in park preferably while hot for best reading, you're looking to see if it is overfilled because of coolant intrusion.

 

The ticking diesel sound doesn’t, maybe a little quieter but definitely still there. The belt sounding noise does.

Oooh okay yeah that makes sense. I haven’t had time to look at the tranny at all yet. I’ll let you guys know what I find

 

Not directly. But it does drive the water pump. I needed to think this through, and I agree with others that you need to check the transmission fluid.

 

@ATBAV8 - Edit - I was wrong.

 

You might want to check into that. The water pump is most certainly driven by the timing belt on the 2UZ-FE.

 

@ATBAV8 - you’re right. I was thinking fan. Brain fart. Accept my apology please.

 

No big deal. And, no need to apologize, but thank you.

 

Thank you guys for the help, coolant arrived, tomorrow I will have time to take the serp belt off and I will update.

 

Update: Still haven't had time to flush the system. Temps have been consistent still. When I measured tranny fluid level it was way too high, so I took it to a shop to have them check over everything and make sure there wasn't pink milkshake anywhere, and they found regular tranny fluid level and no mixing. I checked on the timing belt, it does appear to be in great condition and looks pretty dang new.

Need some opinions on what to do!!

Shop said the serpentine belt, fan clutch, etc, all were fine, but not great. I don't know when/ if the radiator was last replaced so I'm thinking I may do a proactive replace of that, and that will make replacing the serpentine belt easier as I'm planning on doing that too, because it looks and sounds not great. Wondering if I should do fan clutch too, I haven't done the full running check on it with a rolled up newspaper, but spinning it while cold, it felt very sticky and not smooth at all. It is also very loud.

Lately when driving the air intake has been roaring way louder than it used to, especially in second gear, but does it in all gears, and gets louder with rpms. Fan clutch? Thoughts?

Starting yesterday there is a high pitched whistle/ squeal that starts at 10mph and disappears at lower speeds. It sounds like something relieving built up pressure, but it also sounds like it could be a very squealy belt sometimes.

I've noticed my exhaust is dumping white smoke on colder start ups. Still sounds like a diesel for sure.

As of now I'm thinking proactive radiator replacement, serpentine belt and tensioner kit replacement (Gates?) and then maybe the fan clutch but it's expensive so not something I'd like to do unless necessary. I'm planning on doing the work myself. I appreciate any advice.

 

Indication of a head gasket, I believe. Would also explain the blackish coolant. Summoning @shifty`

 

Dang I was really hoping it wouldn't be that. I'll have to double check but I think I might have lost oil. I do definitely have some oil leak(s) especially on driver side. Note: Coolant in radiator is in much better condition than the auxiliary tank.

 

Before you throw any more parts at it, it might be worth scoping the inside of the cylinders and pulling plugs to see their condition. I think you can buy cameras cheap these days for less than $40 on Amazon.

 

this.

white smoke is the biggest red flag of coolant in a combustion chamber.

you can let the white smoke hit you hand and give it a touch/ smell. You'll get your answer

taste if you're @VR6T

 

The hand-to-smoke tip is a good one, because a lot of people have a hard time distinguishing blue/white smoke

BUT it's also worth mentioning, that a puff of smoke at startup is a blaring sign the power steering air control valve is shot, not a head gasket. And it happens often enough that @Dustbox could do this easy ass test to verify if his is shot, OR just plug the vacuum lines to see if the smoke escapes. However, just removing the vacuum line that routes up to the intake and inspecting inside for evidence of power steering fluid should answer the question about whether the valve is malfunctining and sucking power steering fluid up into the intake, which you're then seeing exit as smoke.

More info here: https://www.tundras.com/posts/2833199

Last guy we helped save a bundle with this tip is over here: https://www.tundras.com/threads/blown-head-gasket-nope-power-steering-air-control-valve.147766/

He mentioned the following, top of page 2 on that last thread: "the hose that leads up to the top of the engine was full of PS fluid. So that makes for great confirmation that that was the cause of the puff of white smoke on startup. If anyone else suspects they have a failed PS air valve, I'd recommend unclipping that hose and seeing if any red fluid drips out -- failed PS Air valve for sure."

First off, the biggest thing you need to do is flush the blue coolant out. But yeah, sure, replace the radiator too.

Fan clutch may be "good enough" but it's more than just a clutch, its bracket has a bearing, and some of your symptoms could be caused by the bearing failing on the fan bracket, at least the wobbliness you describe, and could contribute to other shit, and it's something the shop could EASILY not know to test for and/or miss. I'd replace the clutch fan/bracket assembly. The clutch itself is easy enough to test, when the engine is cold, spin the blade hard by hand. You shouldn't get more than half a spin out of it. If you get a full spin or more, it's probably shot, or on the way out if it only goes a full turn or two.

Fan Clutch Bracket - Aisin FBT-002 (Summit Racing link - usually free shipping and prices lower than the knockoff/counterfeit kingdoms scAmazon and fleaBay)​

The tensioner pulley assembly has been updated to a new model. It's highly advised to get the new OEM part. With the 25% off parts sale going on nationwide through the Toyota Parts national site, it's running around $40-50 once you get to checkout and they apply the savings.

Serpentine Belt Tensioner - 16620-0W101 (Toyota National Parts Site link - note, each dealer has different discount level, so check multiple dealers near your ZIP code AND discounts don't showup until you reach the 'checkout' page, so DO NOT think the price you see at that link is the "final" price, fake your way to checkout!)

Gates "HD" serpentine belt (p/n K060908HD) is a great belt to use for serpentine and easy to replace at same time as the tensioner.

Note the new tensioner design uses a smaller pulley! And is less noisy.
​

But seriously. If you think a head gasket is blown, do a compression/leakdown test. It's that simple. Test all cylinders. However, if any numbers are in the sub-100 range, don't take that as an immediate "fail", you may have a stuck valve. It's really not common for these trucks to blow a head gasket.

Really, be skeptical with mechanics who don't specialize in Toyota specifically. This is a very well-known engine amongst the Toyota crowd. You cannot trust non-Toyota fanatics to give you good advice on it.

 

@Dustbox all hope is not lost. Now at least you have some things to test and look for thanks to @shifty` and @FishNinja . These guys have A LOT more run time with 1st Gen Tundras than I do. Keep us posted as to what you find.

 

I just know random shit.

 

Ah okay, I agree. I'll hold off on buying parts til I know for sure.

This one seems a lil too cheap to be good:

$36 Julaiwy Industrial Endoscope Borescope Camera with Light, Borescope Inspection Camera, Industrial Camera 1080P HD 4.3" Screen, IP67 Waterproof Snake Camera with 8 LED Lights, Gadgets for Men, 16.5Ft

https://www.amazon.com/Julaiwy-Indu...2254&msclkid=978b6a5177751c503d370d4a849ecc9b

Just did the check procedure! 1: RPMs do not decline when turning the wheel full crank either direction 2. RPMs don't increase when turning the wheels straight from fully cranked left, but they DO when returning from fully cranked to the right. Fail??

My power steering hoses are VERY coated and definitely look like they leak but my fluid level is right below cold max and at hot min , which is where it always has been.

I do believe I've lost a little oil in the last thousand miles.

 

If I recall right, and you pinched the hoses while doing the turning, and the RPMs (idle) didn't drop, yes, valve is not working as expected and you just found the source of your smoke at startup.

Even if nothing happened while pinching the hose as shown (which is also a sign of failure), get a shop towel handy, pop off one hose and see if there's fluid in it (same color red as your power steering fluid).. If not, reinstall that hose and repeat with the other hose. If either hose has power steering fluid inside, you need to replace that valve. It can be a real bitch to get off, and the part costs about $50. If you want things to stop smoking at startup, cap off the hose that had fluid coming out of it. That's a vacuum line, it shouldn't be sucking up power steering fluid.

Basically that valve (shown in the picture here below, it's next to the passenger cam tower, a little tophat looking thing with two vacuum hoses plugged in) has two vacuum lines on it, one of which goes up to the intake IIRC. When you turn the wheel, that valve should open, allowing vacuum to pass thru the valve, effectively acting as a power booster. Similar to how your brake booster uses vacuum to make braking easier, that valve lets you temporarily steal vacuum from the engine (which causes an RPM drop!) to make steering easier. I want to say this is the function, although I may have stuck open/closed backwards

If the valve is stuck closed, idle will be low.
If the valve is stuck open, idle will be normal and you'll suck fluid into the intake.
If the valve works as expected, idle will only drop when you engage power steering.
If the hoses ever get swapped, your idle will remain abnormally high.

 

Shifty I think the vacuum valve opening increases idle about 200 rpm not decrease.

 

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I got that backwards. And we know from @Weagle's recent experience that having the hoses reversed jacks up the idle a couple hundo RPM.

 

I noticed that when cranking left the rpm’s fluctuated randomly by like 50-100. Anyways I’ll check the hoses. Gonna go rent a compression test kit from autozone and do that today.
I’ll keep updating

 

Anybody got any tips for doing the test? I know that info is out there somewhere, but more info on this thread the easier it is for me and the more helpful it is to others in the future.

 

Pull fuel pump fuse, Pull spark plug, install compression test tool, cranky cranky, look at gauge.

best to have a buddy.

 

Alright, tested cylinder pressures. FYI this was my first time ever doing engine stuff, so it may not be accurate. By the time I actually was testing cylinders, engine was no longer hot. The first two I checked (passenger side) were still pretty hot but especially the drivers side ones were definitely cold. Discovered sparkplugs are all autolite except for cylinder 3. Lots of gunk on most of them. 4 and 3 looked like had fuel or something on them.
Odd cylinders are drivers side correct?


Cylinder 8: 150 Cylinder 7: 150
Cylinder 6: 150 (Drops quick) Cylinder 5: 153 (Lots of oil everywhere)
Cylinder 4: 150 ish (drops quickly) Cylinder 3: 135 ish (Drops quick) (NGK spark plug, non denso new looking coil)
Cylinder 2: 153 Cylinder 1: 135

There is definitely an oil leak(s) in the engine, there is lots of oil especially on the drivers side, with more of it down by cylinders 1 and 3 (low pressure) than up at 5 and 7. I was too tired to put the oil in to see if that changed the low cylinders results.