Radiator Leak Questions - Real Time Help Needed

I’m 200 miles from home on vacation and realized I have a hole in my radiator. It’s enough to drip a drop about every 3-4 seconds. There doesn’t appear to be any damage to it. It’s about 4” from the top of the radiator. It never got hot (I watched the gauge closely) and I noticed it when I walked back up to the truck and saw it dripping. It left a pretty good puddle where it had been parked for a few hours that I didn’t notice but found after I got back from the 15 mile trip I was on when I discovered the leak.
Is this a common Tundra problem?
Is the radiator covered under the 60K drivetrain warranty?
With it running, will it quit leaking after it gets below this point or will it pressurize and push all the coolant out the pinhole?
Think I can make it back the 200 miles as long as I pay attention to the temp gauge and top off every so often?
Thanks!

 

Any chance you're close to an autozone or o'Reilly? If it were me I'd try to swap it out before heading home. Most will have loaner tools available, although you might need to buy some supplies to tackle a swap in the parking lot.

 

Go to an auto parts store and get some stop leak for rads. Only use enough to stop the leak. When you get home give a call to the dealer and see if it's covered. It' not a common problem but can happen on older trucks.

 

I appreciate the input but I’m not putting that in my truck. I’d rather have it towed 200 miles than contaminate my engine with that. That’s next to impossible to get completely out, even with multiple flushed, and causes long term clogging.
I got 2 jugs of Zerex Asian coolant. I’m going to fill it up before I leave in the morning, take a couple jugs of water, watch the temp gauge and hope for the best. If I run into issues I can’t resolve then I’ll have it towed.

 

Agreed on not putting that in your vehicle. Extra coolant, extra water, extra eyes on the gauge. If you can stand it in the cab put the heat on and try to keep the truck moving.

Good luck!

 

If you get the rad seal that uses small aluminum particales it wont harm anything. It moves around in the coolant until it passes through the hole and plugs it. There are some products that can cause issues but the stuff I'm talking about is a dry product in a small tube. Flush the system when the rad is changed. Adding coolant will work if you keep am eye on it but maybe pick up some in case that plan doesn't work. Cheap back up.

 

I wouldn't rely on the factory temp gauge for quick and or accurate feedback
Remember when 2nd gen tundras had trans temp gauges that never moved until they were overheated anyways?
Or gas gauges that have delays that say 1/2 full when the pump clicks off?
An OBD reader gauge would give you better resolution and data you can trust.

Honestly 200miles is only like 3 hours of driving, I would top it off and make a pit stop 30 mins in and pop the hood and check it. if the resivoir is empty, you know it will be a long trip home with alot of stops.
The problem with relying on the temp gauge is that the coolant resivoir will have to completely drain + the coolant system will drain to the point it can't cycle fluid. (IE impact cooling ability). Then its a rush to pull-over get the truck shutoff to avoid overheating and re-fill system.

 

Deal is, reservoir hasn’t dropped at all. I’m assuming because, for it to drop, the pressure has to pull vacuum and pull from the reservoir. It can’t pull on the resi if there’s a hole because it’ll pull from that hole.

Make sense?
Am I correct I. That thinking?
Thanks.

 

That's correct. When the coolant cools and contracts it pull in coolant from the reservoir. With the hole the air is just being drawn in. If you start loosing a lot of coolant you could leave the rad cap on the first notch so it doesn't build pressure. This will help slow the leak.
Make sure there is no pressure in the system before opening the rad cap buy squeezing the upper rad hose.

 

Well, made it home without any incidents. It took 1/3 gallon to fill it up before we left. Drove 1:15 and added another 1/3. Drove another hour and added another 1/3 and filled the reservoir. Made it home without adding any more. It will now probably take another 1/3 gallon. As soon as I pour it in it starts leaking then I guess quits when it gets down to where the whole is. This worked out a lot better than I thought it would. Thanks for the input fellas.
Does Denso make the factory radiator for the Tundra? Online dealers want $300 for it but I’d imagine I can find it cheaper. I won’t use a cheap Chinese one from parts store.

Anybody have a good write up on R/R the radiator? I’ve done them before but never on a Tundra. I might add, due to my bumper, I can’t remove my grill and I hope that doesn’t present a problem in removal.

 

Check Napa for a rad. I believe they have a lifetime warranty.

 

For a little over $300 you can do the Koyo aluminum radiator. https://shop.redline360.com/products/koyo-aluminum-radiator-toyota-tundra-2007-2016-hh012076

 

While that’s a beaut I’d prefer not to spend that much. That one is $381 with shipping. I have a good, local radiator shop and I’m going to see what they repair mine for first. Until then, I’ll be looking for a cheaper Koyo or CFS (I think it’s CFS I’m thinking of).

 

You can buy a Denso for $132 @RockAuto

 

Found a Koyo for $336 with free shipping. It lists 07-15, but is the same part number as the 16. Still a bit more $ but thought I'd post it in case it helps someone out.

https://www.evasivemotorsports.com/...mNgPhVDWDP083EUllwSWbYU7L55PjYWRoC_8AQAvD_BwE

 

If its in the aluminum and not too close to the plastic I'd get it repaired. Got mine repaired when I accidentally put a hole in it replacing my water pump, cost me 30 bucks and he cleaned it and made it look like new as well. Took him about 2 or 3 hours

 

oem is best imo

 

Is OEM Koyo or Denso? My factory one says Made in Mexico so I doubt it’s the best. It has a familiar looking D on it which I think is Denso.

 

Wow, guy works for less than $15/hour and that's before material costs.

 

Got it out. Would’ve been a 15 minute job but I couldn’t remove the grill due to the bumper. Took about 45 minutes. Hole is on the front of the radiator but in this area, it’s 100% protected by other stuff. Idk how this happened.

 

I think the hole itself only took a few minutes, but leaving it in the cleaning solution probably took the longest. I just ran my errands around town and came back 2 or 3 hours later and it was done. Not exactly sure how long it took him to do it, but he didn't have any other work going on, it was a one man show when I went there. Still holding up good a year later

 

That is 100% repairable. Id repair it if it was my radiator.

 

I'm taking it to a radiator shop in the morning. Hopefully they can knock it out quickly! I'm @ a loss as to how this even happened. Other than this & it being a bit dusty, looks pretty good for 58K miles.

 

Is there anything that the radiator could have hit, that is attached to the truck that could have done this? Like hitting a big pothole shifting the radiator forward and it hitting a bolt or something? Had it happen on an 91 f150 I had. Glad to hear you're getting it repaired instead of replaced! Too much stuff that could be fixed is just thrown away these days.

 

I've thought about that & looked there area over well. There's no bolts in that area & no way a rock/bug could hit there. The closest thing to it is the 'cage' the radiator is bolted to. The area around it is flat & could've even touch the radiator @ this spot.

 

OEM Denso rad off Amazon is $130ish dollars. Can swap easily,since you already got yours out clearly you know that already. That one looks to be fixable. Mine the plastic end cap cracked. Easy fix

 

Hmm that's strange.... maybe its related to the transmission cooler, and thats why toyota removed them.... but in all seriousness I'm not sure how it could have happened. Rocks thrown from the road can and do wind up in strange places, ill take a look at my radiator tomorrow to see if I can come up with a conspiracy theory.....I mean, uhhh, a probable cause

 

Rad. is at the shop now. He’s going to clean it, pressure test it and fix any/all holes in case there’s one somewhere I’ll I never saw. He thought it was weird it got a hole there too. I walked up and he said “Toyota radiator?”. He could tell from 20’ away what it went to. He said he doesn’t know why Toyota uses such a basic radiator for such an overbuilt truck.

 

He just called and said it’s ready. Just the one hole. I dropped it off at 9:30 and it’s ready at 2:00. Total cost : $30.
Hooray!
He said it’s 100% ready to go flushed, cleaned, brazed. $30 is a steal!

 

Thats great to hear! Glad it worked out for you