Head Gasket problem? Heater and fuel consumption Corolla T Sport

[Ross_sandy]

Hi all,

 

After cleaning my OCV lift is now working a treat  a car is dirving smooth. Went for a Motorway way drive at the weekend, i used lift to join the Motorway and that was it. Roughly £10 of fuel was gone in ten minutes and i had to pull into the services to fill up again! When i rejoined the motorway i noticed that my heaters were only luke warm, i know this can be an ongoing issue but not sure if its connected to anything else. My engine temperature i am sure used to sit at the halfway point, i am not sure if its because the weather has just changed but its now always at the bar before this and never gets to half way. I have topped up the rad and expansion tank, i also noticed a bit of creamy sludge in the overflow tank around the cap. I gave that a good clean up but it almost looked like the overflow had been filled with screen wash!? Very bubbly like fairy liquid, i topped this up with water and the bubbles havent returned.

Car is holding water fine and engine gets warm but still no heat coming out of the heaters, Oil looks fine and is the correct colour but obviously a bit worried about the creamy sludge and bubbles i found in the over flow tank, and the increased fuel consumption.

 

Any ideas or other things for me to check would be a great help!

 

Thanks!

[SanaYusuf]

Have you checked under oil filler cap, any mayo?

 

[Ross_sandy]

7 hours ago, SanaYusuf said:

Have you checked under oil filler cap, any mayo?

 

Hi, thanks for the reply. no mayo in the oil filler cap but almost like a sludgy Mayo in the coolant expansion tank... only a little bit around the top but I've never seen that before. Took it on another motor way drive tonight, heaters still very week and temperature not getting up to the usual half way mark but drives faultless still so I'm baffled. Not sure if I'm over worrying but would rather try and cure the problem now before it potential leads to something else, top radiatior pipe feels warm but bottom one was cool 

[Aamir2892]

The top pipe should be very hot as this is the water coming from the engine going to the Radiator. Very rare hearing head gasket issues on a 2zzge engine I don't think I've ever heard one going. When the engine is hot and running check to see if the water in the overflow bottle is gurgling around. This shouldn't happen it should be level if it is gurgling then it may be head gasket and further investigation will be needed unfortunately. How many miles does it have, does it have good service history and has the coolant been changed at all? I think the Toyota long life coolant is 100,000 miles.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Depends which coolant the car has.

Think Toyota Super Long Life Coolant (pink) was introduced around 2004 - the first coolant change is usually due at 10 years/100,000 miles, with subsequent changes due every 6 years/60,000 miles, whichever occurs first.

A 2002 vehicle may have Toyota Long Life Coolant (red), where the coolant changes are required at shorter intervals.

[Ross_sandy]

6 hours ago, Aamir2892 said:

The top pipe should be very hot as this is the water coming from the engine going to the Radiator. Very rare hearing head gasket issues on a 2zzge engine I don't think I've ever heard one going. When the engine is hot and running check to see if the water in the overflow bottle is gurgling around. This shouldn't happen it should be level if it is gurgling then it may be head gasket and further investigation will be needed unfortunately. How many miles does it have, does it have good service history and has the coolant been changed at all? I think the Toyota long life coolant is 100,000 miles.

 

6 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Depends which coolant the car has.

Think Toyota Super Long Life Coolant (pink) was introduced around 2004 - the first coolant change is usually due at 10 years/100,000 miles, with subsequent changes due every 6 years/60,000 miles, whichever occurs first.

A 2002 vehicle may have Toyota Long Life Coolant (red), where the coolant changes are required at shorter intervals.

Hi both,  the car has now done 129k miles, has full main dealer history up to 100k miles and then the history is a little patchy, the coolant doesn't bubble around with the engine running so that's a good sign. However the coolant in the over flow appears to be clear, no colour to it at all other then it look a little shiny like it has a small amount of fuel or oil in the mix. I'm guesssing I really should take it in for a winter service...

[Ross_sandy]

Okay so this morning, main tank was still at the same level but expansion tank totally empty. As you can see the sludge has re-appeared. I didnt have any coolant but topped it other with a little water and as you can see the water just turned to bubbles!!

The main owner clearly looked after the car well but the previous lady owner i dont think serviced it properly at least there was no history. Now i only paid £500 for the car which isnt bad for full leather, intergrated sat nav etc etc and the car is in good condition. Now i was planning on getting it serviced next week but not sure whether to try and fix this problem first. Not sure what the sludge is, any ideas?? Could it be left over Rad-Weld or something? The car is still not over heating but the heaters still do not work, no white smoke and drives fine. Im guessing this could be a waterpump or Rad issue?

 

Kind regards in advance!!

[roks]

Maybe the last person really did fill up the expansion tank with washer fluid/washing up liquid?

You might want to do a completely flush everything out and take it from there?

[Ross_sandy]

54 minutes ago, roks said:

Maybe the last person really did fill up the expansion tank with washer fluid/washing up liquid?

You might want to do a completely flush everything out and take it from there?

I would really hope not but I've never seen bubbles like that before unless in a washing up bowl in my kitchen! Could try and do a full flush and reverse flush of the heater matrix and take it from there I guess, or get the garage to do it as part of a service as it's due it's winter service now anyway...

[roks]

If you take it to a garage, make sure you trust them....you don't want a 'empty rad and refill job', thats's only half the fluid.

[mickburkesnr]

I think detergent has managed to find its way in to your coolant, and the brown muck you're seeing is the interior of the coolant system rusting up. What does it smell like when it's cold and when it's warm?

It's difficult to say this without sounding mysoginistic, but I've had two out of the three cars who were owned by lady owners previously (as have two other friends), and they've been very problematic. I would avoid them in the future.

[Ross_sandy]

1 hour ago, mickburkesnr said:

I think detergent has managed to find its way in to your coolant, and the brown muck you're seeing is the interior of the coolant system rusting up. What does it smell like when it's cold and when it's warm?

It's difficult to say this without sounding mysoginistic, but I've had two out of the three cars who were owned by lady owners previously (as have two other friends), and they've been very problematic. I would avoid them in the future.

I agree, sometimes when I see the advert stating 'lady owner' I think the worst!! But have never considered screenwash going in the expansion tank! I have sniffed it and it kind of smells like coolant but could he screenwash. Not sure of the best way to remove it other than a full system flush and then service from my local garage...

[Aamir2892]

Yep first job would be a full proper drain, flush and fill of the cooling system, ensure the new coolant is correct spec and has had the 50:50 mix of antifreeze and distilled water (if the coolant is concentrate)  especially since Winter is coming.

[Ross_sandy]

Thanks all will give it a full flush this weekend

 

also this could be a stupid question but... since owning the car upon start up and until the engine is warm the car makes kind of a whirring motor noise and then stops once the car is up to temperature. It's reasonably loud and noticeable and I must admit I just always assumed it was something to do with the aircon, the noise comes from the passenger side almost under the air box area. Was just wondering if this is normal or if it's possibly connected to my lack of heat from the heaters or anything to do with the water Pump! I have a T-sport wit climate control

 

any feedback appreciated 

1 hour ago, Aamir2892 said:

Yep first job would be a full proper drain, flush and fill of the cooling system, ensure the new coolant is correct spec and has had the 50:50 mix of antifreeze and distilled water (if the coolant is concentrate)  especially since Winter is coming.

As You have a t sport too is what I mentioned above nomral?

[mickburkesnr]

7 hours ago, Ross_sandy said:

I agree, sometimes when I see the advert stating 'lady owner' I think the worst!! But have never considered screenwash going in the expansion tank! I have sniffed it and it kind of smells like coolant but could he screenwash. Not sure of the best way to remove it other than a full system flush and then service from my local garage...

I was helping out at an event once and an entrant was late getting to the place we were holding the competition (was a horse event). Anyway, it transpired that the horsebox the competitor was using to transport their horse had broken down not far along the motorway after filling up at the service station. Transpired that her mother thought she'd be helpful and fill the truck up with diesel - even though she never filled the truck up with anything before. Managed to pour a few litres in to the oil tank of the truck, and blew the whole engine up.

So it wouldn't be totally beyond anyone to put screenwash in where the anti-freeze should go.

[SanaYusuf]

2 hours ago, Ross_sandy said:

Thanks all will give it a full flush this weekend

 

also this could be a stupid question but... since owning the car upon start up and until the engine is warm the car makes kind of a whirring motor noise and then stops once the car is up to temperature. It's reasonably loud and noticeable and I must admit I just always assumed it was something to do with the aircon, the noise comes from the passenger side almost under the air box area. Was just wondering if this is normal or if it's possibly connected to my lack of heat from the heaters or anything to do with the water Pump! I have a T-sport wit climate control

 

any feedback appreciated 

As You have a t sport too is what I mentioned above nomral?

That noise is normal. It's the secondary air pump which feeds air into the exhaust manifold to help with emissions, sound a bit like a vacuum cleaner.

 

[Ross_sandy]

3 minutes ago, SanaYusuf said:

That noise is normal. It's the secondary air pump which feeds air into the exhaust manifold to help with emissions, sound a bit like a vacuum cleaner.

 

Yes that's exactly the noise,  I thought it must be normal as it didn't sound unhealthy, thank you for putting my mind at rest!

[FROSTYBALLS]

I suppose you're lucky the screenwash bottle wasn't filled with coolant .........

Could probably tell if it had been, by the stripped paint around the washer jets.

[Aamir2892]

2 hours ago, Ross_sandy said:

Thanks all will give it a full flush this weekend

 

also this could be a stupid question but... since owning the car upon start up and until the engine is warm the car makes kind of a whirring motor noise and then stops once the car is up to temperature. It's reasonably loud and noticeable and I must admit I just always assumed it was something to do with the aircon, the noise comes from the passenger side almost under the air box area. Was just wondering if this is normal or if it's possibly connected to my lack of heat from the heaters or anything to do with the water Pump! I have a T-sport wit climate control

 

any feedback appreciated 

As You have a t sport too is what I mentioned above nomral?

Yes what Sana said its just the secondary air pump. Also when doing the coolant change make sure you set the climate control temp to MAX HOT and ensure all the air is bled out of the cooling system, that's the biggest problem especially with the heating coming through just warm when on MAX, this is most likely trapped air in the heater matrix not ideal with colder weather on the way. Hope the problem gets resolved! 

[roks]

I would add that, use concentrated coolant, reason being, after draining the rad and filler tank there will be about 50% water left in the system. What I did was flushed it several times with de-ionised water, each time made sure the thermostat opened up (max heat setting) so the water can circulate. Once the water was clear, I drained the radiator for the final time and fill up with concentrated coolant, that gave me a 50/50 mix. Then take the air out of the system.

You might want to change the thermostat while your there, if its never been changed, it helped mine.

Also, don't forget to close the radiator drain plug before you fill up otherwise you'll be thinking where did that litre of coolant go

 

[Ross_sandy]

13 minutes ago, roks said:

I would add that, use concentrated coolant, reason being, after draining the rad and filler tank there will be about 50% water left in the system. What I did was flushed it several times with de-ionised water, each time made sure the thermostat opened up (max heat setting) so the water can circulate. Once the water was clear, I drained the radiator for the final time and fill up with concentrated coolant, that gave me a 50/50 mix. Then take the air out of the system.

You might want to change the thermostat while your there, if its never been changed, it helped mine.

Also, don't forget to close the radiator drain plug before you fill up otherwise you'll be thinking where did that litre of coolant go

 

 

Will definitely try and not forget the drain plug lol!! It does appear that the heaters seem to be a common thing with the t sport corolla and celica and have just been reading up how to perform he reverse flush of the heater matrix.

Is the thermostat easy to get too? I'm quite a confident DIY'er but without a Haynes manual I don't want to start taking off to many bits!

 

 

[roks]

Its not too difficult, you'll have to remove the belt and move the alternator out of the way to give you room.ture of the

Just take a picture of the belt so you know how to put it back on.

[KenMavor]

Suggest heater matrix maybe blocked as well which is a common fault on these cars.  Flush in situ or remove and flush.

[Ross_sandy]

12 hours ago, KenMavor said:

Suggest heater matrix maybe blocked as well which is a common fault on these cars.  Flush in situ or remove and flush.

The pipes going into the matrix behind the glove box are very hot so I'm guessing this definitely points to the matrix itself. Looks like another job for this weekend!! 

Is it any easier to do it in situ or is it about the same work?

[KenMavor]

On 21/10/2016 at 9:10 AM, Ross_sandy said:

The pipes going into the matrix behind the glove box are very hot so I'm guessing this definitely points to the matrix itself. Looks like another job for this weekend!! 

Is it any easier to do it in situ or is it about the same work?

Can be done insitu but have seen many guys flush and still not get the cr*p cleared and have resorted to new matrix from Sam Nadeem.