Coolant Reservoir Empty After Flush

Help! Just had the coolant flushed in my 2016 5.7L V8 (3UR-FBE) a few hours ago. Drove just over 100 highway miles, and decided to take a look under the hood while I was filling up gas and found this.


I've only owned this truck for a few months but until today the coolant level hadn't dropped at all. Needless to say I'm furious with this shop, but I need to know what to do now.

I'm still parked at the gas pump waiting for the engine to cool, and I'm about a 45 minute drive from home. What next? Is it safe to pour in whatever I can get my hands on (once the engine cools) and drive home? Could just drive a mile down the road to a motel and bring the truck to a local shop in the morning instead of that's the safer move.

Don't know how long the tank has been that low. Could have been the whole 100 miles. Didn't have any warning lights come on or notice the engine temp rising, but wasn't paying close attention to it. Is there a chance the engine has been damaged??

 

That's just your overflow bottle. Your radiator is full. You will be fine to get home. Buy a bottle of premixed coolant (pink stuff - see below)

 

The shop did not properly ‘burp’ the engine of air bubbles. Fill the reservoir with distilled water and top off as needed. If the temp stayed out of the ted zone, no damage was done. The shop just did a shitty job and, hopefully, they didn't do anything else foolishly.

 

Did you overheat? You said you were letting the engine cool is why I ask. An empty reservoir is not a big deal, an empty radiator is though. You still have coolant in the overflow from what I can see.

If your temperature gauge is still in the normal operating temp range, you'll be fine to drive home.

 

Distilled water as said above and you’re good. I keep a couple gallons nearby for just this and windshield washer fluid. Works well if not worried about freezing temps.

 

Sounds like I overreacted, which is a relief...


This is all they have at the gas station. Doesn't say HOAT, but does say "ethylene glycol based... low silicate". Is it ok to top off with this? If so, to the FULL line or how far?

 

Nope. You'll be fine to make it home.

 

Could also drive 2 miles down the road to the Walmart if they have the right stuff and then top off.

 

No, don't put that in. Mismatching coolants is not recommended. The Pentofrost would be ok, but distilled water is the safest bet.

 

You'll overpay at the gas station, for what it's worth. Keep an eye on your temp gauge if you believe there is a problem. I wouldn't be too concerned about it.

 

Don't mismatch the coolants. Some of them don't play well with each other and can turn into goo that will cause problems.

 

Drive it home it’s fine. Get the correct fluid and don’t mix it

 

OK, this looks close, but says "POAT" for phosphate enhanced acid technology.



Close enough or is distilled water still best?

 

That should work. If your engine is operating temp, then fill to the HOT line in your overflow bottle.

 

Thanks for talking me through this ya'll. Trying to decide how to follow up with the shop. Is this diagnosis by @Chuy! the consensus?

"The shop did not properly ‘burp’ the engine of air bubbles... If the temp stayed out of the [r]ed zone, no damage was done. The shop just did a shitty job and, hopefully, they didn't do anything else foolishly."

If so, should I get the truck looked at by a different mechanic or am I good after topping off with the Peak pink coolant pictured above as long as the level doesn't drop again?

EDIT: Does this shop owe me a refund? Would you let them work on your truck again?

 

Monitor your temp. If it stays good and there is no sign of overheating, I'd say all's good. If you're seeing temp fluctuations, there's still air in the system so it needs to be bled out.

 

Is this a shop you've used before? I personally don't think they really owe you a refund. They should definitely be made aware. Could have been a simple error they forgot a step (burping) in their process. If it's not a shop you're regular with, I wouldn't go back to them. Find another you can trust. You got off easy this time on this one but you never know what could happen in the future (missing oil drain plug).

Fill her up to correct levels when you get home and rest easy knowing your Tundra is safe.

 

I'd guess you were fine. Some air pockets that needed to purge...No overheat on temp gauge. Top it off, recheck it a few times later. you'll be good..

 

Why did you get a radiator flush to begin with?

How many miles on the truck? Have any other fluids been changed?

 

The context here is this shop is new to me because I just bought this truck a few months ago and I've just moved back to the region where most of my family lives after a long time away. This shop had been recommended to me by a couple of members in a regional forum here. It's a two hour drive from where I'm living now, way out in the mountains of western NC, but it's one of the few shops in the region that specializes in Toyotas, and I thought that expertise would be valuable.

I had a lengthy exchange via email with one of the Service Advisors about the specific condition and maintenance history of my truck (excellent all around) and about the pros and cons of various service choices. He was responsive and seemed knowledgeable. In additional to the coolant, after much back and forth about the process, I decided to take their suggestion to do a transmission flush ("dialysis style", not high pressure) instead of a pan drop and filter change. As you might imagine, I'm also second guessing that choice now...

I wrote him an email when I got home last night. He responded this morning and acknowledged the error. Will let ya'll know how it turns out.

 

Meanwhile, last night I had filled the coolant up to the level where the red arrow is here, and when I got home it was still at that same level. This morning, It's dropped back down to the same spot it was last night, below the tube at the bottom of the reservoir. Hot or cold, I've never noticed the coolant level fluctuating like this before. Is this an indication that there's still air in the system that needs to be bled? Do I just need to add more coolant? If so, how high while the engine is cold?

 

I think you’re over worrying. Might have still had some air. It’ll go down when cold. Just add some more and monitor it.

Check under the truck. If there is a coolant leak, you will definitely notice it.

Is the transmission shifting fine? There are signs if the fluid is too low or high.

Do yourself a favor and do not look through the cam tower thread.

 

It’ll always suck coolant back in as it cools. Fill it cold to that line with the arrow. A little May pour out the overflow when hot but that should stop it from being low.

I’d pop the actual radiator cap when it’s completely cool to make sure that’s 100% topped off as well.

 

Agree. Nothing wrong with doing a fluid change at the trans cooler.

 

I spoke with the service manager at the shop that changed the coolant today and he acknowledged that they were at fault and refunded me for the full cost of the coolant flush. He said they've had a few issues before with the tech that worked on my truck overlooking things, but nothing this significant, and implied he might be on his way out. I emphasized that I didn't want anyone losing their job over this. Hopefully they'll just supervise his work a little more closely for as long as he needs it.

He also agreed that I should top off the coolant again to roughly the height of that red arrow in the photo above while the engine is cold and said he didn't think there would be any need to purge more air from the system. I hope he's right. Good reminder that whenever we take out trucks in for service, we should always do our own due diligence to confirm the work was done properly as best we can before driving away.

 

1- Looks like the truck has been well kept just from the lack of corrosion on any of the fasters or clamps visible in your pictures. Good find.

2- Coolant changes are easy, but tedious and there's kind of an art to it. Last time I did one thought I had it burped, but took a few of cycles to get it all sorted out after a full flush. Kept doing the same thing yours is.

3- Seems like you've been very gracious with the shop, and they with you. Good to see this kind of courtesy and benefit of the doubt still in the world

 

Refilling the reservoir twice indicates the coolant level in the radiator is quite low. If the reservoir keeps going empty, add coolant via the radiator cap when cold, then top off the reservoir. If the radiator was topped off correctly, you should not have to refill the reservoir twice.

Only other conditions that would cause level in reservoir to go down is a leak and bad head gasket. With that much coolant dropping low in the reservoir, you would notice the leak under the engine. And your temp gauge staying steady in the middle indicates gasket is ok. Since this engine does not have a coolant bleed valve, the tech needs to run the engine with the radiator cap off, and slowly add coolant as the engine warms up. Squeezing the upper hose during this process helps push out air bubbles. That Lisle #24680 funnel kit is especially useful on these non-bleeder-valve systems.

 

Just to clarify, I had a hose bust today and leaked all my coolant. Had the Zerex brand in it. By the grace of god I broke down right in front of a kwik car automotive center where the mechanic was gracious enough to find a hose that fit to the “T” and slapped it in for me for free, all I had to do was go down a mile to AutoZone and I was only able to get the Peak brand antifreeze also for Asian vehicles and recommended for Toyota. I might be overthinking it but am I good mixing the brands as long as they’re both for Toyota vehicles?