Loss of coolant fluid

[William Schouten]

Hi, my name is William; new to this forum.

my Toyota RAV4 2007 is losing coolant very quickly, by the looks of it through the top of the expansion vessel. I can’t find any other leaks. Does anyone else have had this problem and what can I do?

[philip42h]

First, tell us exactly which model / engine you have - it would be sensible to update your profile to show this.

And then folk may be able to give sensible, rather than possibly alarmist, advice ... 😉

[William Schouten]

Thank you Philip for your quick response. The model is a 2.2D-4D T180, has 93000 on the clock, has never given me a a problem in the 11 years I have owned it until now!

I will update my profile as you suggested. Thanks.

[APS]

And include all observations you've made. What makes you believe it escapes through the expansion vessel? Is it bubbling? How quickly does it disappear?

[William Schouten]

It is all wet round the rim of the expansion vessel and discoloured from the fluid plus fluid coming out from the overflow rubber tube which then drips onto the ground below after I switch off the engine. I lost about a quarter of a litre after a short 6m journey.

[APS]

I'm assuming this only happens after running the engine (driving) long enough for it to warm up properly? Or does it happen more or less as soon as you start the engine? 

What does the temp gauge in the car read when the coolant is escaping? Is it above normal?

Does the cooling fan come on? What you are seeing could happen if the engine overheats. 

Photo's or video would be helpful. 

[philip42h]

1 hour ago, William Schouten said:

Thank you Philip for your quick response. The model is a 2.2D-4D T180, has 93000 on the clock, has never given me a a problem in the 11 years I have owned it until now!

I will update my profile as you suggested. Thanks.

OK, it could be something really simple, like the pressure cap on the expansion tank has failed, and easy and cheap to fix. But unfortunately that engine is within the range suffering from the issue described in this thread:

Loss of coolant (possibly coupled with excessive use of oil) was a key symptom. Toyota's solution was to replace the engine - early attempts by garages to simply replace the cylinder head gasket were unsuccessful as that didn't address the root cause of the problem.

[igormus]

4 hours ago, William Schouten said:

Hi, my name is William; new to this forum.

my Toyota RAV4 2007 is losing coolant very quickly, by the looks of it through the top of the expansion vessel. I can’t find any other leaks. Does anyone else have had this problem and what can I do?

has it pink colour ? when engine is cold - open expnsion tank lid and observe whether an oil filf is available.

besides - please check if drop is hang under cooling pump or traces are available close to the pump.

also check vissible leaks thru cooling pipes \ clips \ radiator