Car repair question

[ruxCYtable]

Couple weeks ago, water pump went out in my 2009 RAV4 -- first unscheduled repair in 360,000 miles of driving Toyotas. Now, I'm slowing losing anti-freeze and my heater is struggling. It gets warm, but never warm enough I have to turn it down. It's too much of a coincidence to NOT be related to the water pump replacement, isn't it?

 

[cmjh10]

Couple weeks ago, water pump went out in my 2009 RAV4 -- first unscheduled repair in 360,000 miles of driving Toyotas. Now, I'm slowing losing anti-freeze and my heater is struggling. It gets warm, but never warm enough I have to turn it down. It's too much of a coincidence to NOT be related to the water pump replacement, isn't it?

Wouldnt be surprised if the water heater didnt get tightened down enough

 

[ISUAlum2002]

When they installed the water pump if they didn't bleed the coolant system properly you could be dealing with a massive air pocket in the system that is preventing hot coolant from reaching the heater core. As for why it is "losing antifreeze," it may just appear that way because the air pocket is slowly burping it's way out of the system and is being back filled with antifreeze and lowering the reservoir that you're measuring it from.

 

[CyCloned]

Wouldn't be surprised if the water Pump didnt get tightened down enough

FIFY

 

[Cyclonesrule91]

What do you mean you are slowly losing antifreeze? Is it leaking or are you noticing the level go down only?

Coolant that is too low will not heat up the cabin of the car because it's low enough that it can't get pumped through the heater core that provides the hot air....

If it is not leaking and you just notice level in overfill tank going down then it could be you have air pockets in the coolant system passages in the engine. Best way to get rid of that is to open the radiator cap......AND NOT WHEN IT"S WARMED UP AND HOT...... and then start the car and when the antifreeze starts flowing and you see air bubbles then they will leave and you can add more antifreeze. That would cause your heater not to work as well but you would notice the temp guage really fluxuate as you run it. Stays cool and then when the air pocket gets to the sensor it will show hot.....

DId they replace the thermostat? If not that could be your issue.

Or did they hook up the coolant hoses wrong to the heater core. Not sure it that makes a difference but it could.

Does the temp guage show the temps in normal operating range?

If it's leaking antifreeze, take it back to whoever fixed it and have them fix the leak.

 

[ruxCYtable]

When they installed the water pump if they didn't bleed the coolant system properly you could be dealing with a massive air pocket in the system that is preventing hot coolant from reaching the heater core. As for why it is "losing antifreeze," it may just appear that way because the air pocket is slowly burping it's way out of the system and is being back filled with antifreeze and lowering the reservoir that you're measuring it from.

I did have to refill the reservoir the other day, but I am also seeing very small puddle under the car in the mornings now.

 

[Cyclonesrule91]

If you have a puddle under the car and it is antifreeze then it was not done correctly or they didn't finish it correctly......Take it back and have them fix it.

 

[ISUAlum2002]

If you have a puddle under the car and it is antifreeze then it was not done correctly or they didn't finish it correctly......Take it back and have them fix it.

Yeah, I agree. If you've got a leak now it means they didn't get the pump sealed up against the engine block correctly or one of the connections isn't tight enough. Only other explanation for having a puddle under the car is of there is still some residual antifreeze making it's way down from when the original water pump was removed. But if it repeatedly has new puddles forming then it's most likely an active leak that needs to be fixed up.

 

[CloneGuy8]

Bumping an old thread. My wifes vehicle lately has had an issue where there is a bit of a delay when it shifts from 2nd to 3rd gear. I got the transmission flushed earlier today, but it is still doing this. If it had been an issue with the transmisison fluid, would this have fixed it immediately, or is it something that would take a few days to get the fluids running through?

 

[BCClone]

Bumping an old thread. My wifes vehicle lately has had an issue where there is a bit of a delay when it shifts from 2nd to 3rd gear. I got the transmission flushed earlier today, but it is still doing this. If it had been an issue with the transmisison fluid, would this have fixed it immediately, or is it something that would take a few days to get the fluids running through?

You don’t really want to know probably. Drop some transmission seafoam into it and see if it loosens stuff up. It’s a few bucks and worth a try. Most likely you have something going out. Could be transmission, but I had a differential do the same thing and that went out.

What color was the fluid, did the mechanic who flushed it say anything?

 

[CyCloned]

Bumping an old thread. My wifes vehicle lately has had an issue where there is a bit of a delay when it shifts from 2nd to 3rd gear. I got the transmission flushed earlier today, but it is still doing this. If it had been an issue with the transmisison fluid, would this have fixed it immediately, or is it something that would take a few days to get the fluids running through?

Normally if it is an issue with the fluid you will see improvement right away. Have someone with a good scanner run a test to make sure you are not throwing any codes. Modern transmissions have a ton of electrical crap that can go bad in them. A lot of transmissions will have a speed sensor that will determine shift points.

 

[CloneGuy8]

You don’t really want to know probably. Drop some transmission seafoam into it and see if it loosens stuff up. It’s a few bucks and worth a try. Most likely you have something going out. Could be transmission, but I had a differential do the same thing and that went out.

What color was the fluid, did the mechanic who flushed it say anything?

The mechanic said it was kind of dirty when replacing it. Good suggestion on the seafoam - I might give this a try. The transmission went out on our last car, so we bought a Lexus thinking it would be a good investment mechanically, so I'm going to be sick if it does need a new tranny.