Reddish stuff in the engine bay

Anyone can suggest what this reddish stuff can be? Coolant leak? Transmission fluid leak?

It was not there about 3,000 miles ago. No drips or leaks on the driveway underneath the truck.

I be getting oil changed soon at the dealer so will show that to them but just wonder if it is something critical or just some weird red looking dirt.

2021 Limited
33,750 miles
all stock

 

Looks like crystalized dried coolant.

 

that's a bummer. Probably hard to tell from picture but simple fix like a new seal or possibly more serious issue.

 

It's still under warranty right?

 

I'm a second owner but allegedly still under warranty. I guess will find out....

 

Second this opinion also.

 

Coolant leak . With that low of miles and model year if should still be under warranty. Don’t try to fix it yourself just take it to the dealer. Also don’t wait for the oil change.

The Base warranty is 3 years or 36k miles.

just as a fyi you can get a extended warranty from Toyota before it hits the 3year 36k

 

I thought 4runners were supposed to be bullet proof, like 20 years of ownership with just fluid changes and occasional water pump replacement

sorry this happened to you

 

As others stated, it’s a coolant leak. Should be covered by the 60k mile/ 5 year powertrain warranty. Do not clean the area so the techs can see where the leak is.

 

Yep, my '06 Tacoma had a coolant leak in 2011. I was the second owner and it was repaired under the 5 yr/60k power train warranty about a month before it ran out.

 

It’s just a water pump, dude. A normal wear item.

 

seems way too early, shouldn't really have problem within the first 5 years or 50k miles

 

As someone has mentioned these supposed to be bulletproof. The reliability was the main reason I was valuntold to get the 4 Runner not the R/T Durango. You know what they say happy wife happy life but now the wife isn'thappy either...lol.

In any case appointment set up for next week.

Few questions:
Since it is very slow leak, I am assuming I'm ok to drive it as we have a trip coming up this weekend. The coolant level is still above the low mark when cold and increases as the engine is hot.
Someone mentioned this could be water pump. Is this reasonably easy fix at a dealer or will I have to wait for days, and days as we have another week long trip coming end of next week.

 

Water pump is routine maintenance. If they have the part in stock no problem. I wouldn't hesitate driving it before your appointment. Keep an eye on coolant level. If it were me I would have coolant with me on trip to top off as needed.

 

As I mentioned above, different engine/vehicle, but in my experience the leak from the water pump shaft seal (and out the weep hole) only seemed to occur when the engine cooled down, and wasn't enough to even drip on the ground. It just trickled down the block and evaporated. I waited probably 2000-3000 miles from discovery to have it addressed by the dealer under powertrain warranty. They were able to replace it the same day. I'm still driving the truck 12 years and 160,000 miles later with no leaks or weeps.

Hard to tell from your photo, but seems like yours is coming from the water pump gasket?

Edit: agree 100% with @2021venture

 

Sweet. Thanks for the info. I will get some coolant just in case. The weep is definitely very slow as I have nothing on the driveway and only the crystallized coolant stuff at the top of the waterpump/engine block connection area, mating point whatever you want to call it.

 

Love the forum and users sharing info with others. Makes life and troubleshooting problems so much easier making educated decisions leaning on others with more info than me

 

I'll have to respectfully disagree. A water pump is not routine maintenance, it's a two year old vehicle. This is premature failure of a part.

 

Agree it should not have failed this soon. Remove and replace part should be a 1 day job in and out was what I meant by routine maintenance.

I check my oil and coolant level every fill up just as a quick visual everything ok. I suspect most people don't but who knows. Maybe it's more common with people on forums than the masses. Always blows my mind people never know something wrong because they are not checking periodically. Nice job to the OP noticing a problem before it becomes a big deal.

 

Thanks for the clarification

 

I don't have enough miles on vehicles with timing chains to think about replacing water pumps. With timing belts I replace the pump at the same time since already opened up.

Is there a recommended mileage like replace at 120k or do you guys wait until it starts weeping? Whenever possible I try to replace pro actively with a best practice not just throwing parts at it. I don't think this would be a part to replace because of age.

 

I don't have the answer to your recommended mileage question, but I remember seeing a thread about a water pump upgrade some time back, and it sounded like a very simple procedure to replace one of these on a 5th gen.

 

Interesting video on Toyota water pumps. Not on a 4 Runner, but he goes into the subject of finding pink crust and how to proceed...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MltsfDaC0rg

 

So far I only got one oil change done at this dealer with no issues. Will see how it goes. They made sure to tell me that it will be $145 to diagnose and only if approved for warranty it will be waived...

 

Yes - it is. But it doesn't sound like the water pump has failed. He hasn't said the coolant temperature is higher than normal. Water pump is probably working fine - most likely a bad gasket. Maybe the water pump shaft seal flange has a defect such that the gasket can't seal properly. Either way, this is a minor defect. There is no such thing as 100% quality. Either the seal flange on the water pump had a defect, the gasket had a defect or got damaged during install, or something wasn't tightened properly. These are all relatively minor things that really could have been hard to detect when the vehicle was built/inspected. Not trying to make excuses for Toyota - but if they fix this at no cost to the owner under warranty and he never has a coolant leak at the water pump seal flange again - I'd have a hard time knocking Toyota on this.

 

If you had to do the water pump yourself, half a day if you're used to working on cars. A whole weekend if it's your first time.
But...if it's under warranty, let the dealer do it.

If it were my vehicle, I'd go to walmart and get the 50/50 coolant fluid that says it's for Toyota and top off the radiator and coolant bottle that hangs off the radiator. I'd keep it topped off until I got it fixed. It's most likely been leaking slowly for a while per your picture.

As others have said, don't wash it off. Let the Tech's see it.d

 

Agreed. Water pump failures typically occur at the shaft/seal, not where it's bolted down. As you say, a defect in the gasket or flange is likely.

OP, when you say this wasn't there 3000 miles ago, is that when you bought the vehicle? If so, perhaps it existed prior to your purchase and was rinsed off by the PO...?

 

Better now than 80,000 miles when it's not under warranty

 

When I got the car @ 23,000 miles I checked everything out. This was not there.
Then once in a while I would open the hood to add windshield washer, clean the covers, etc, this was not there.
After my oil change @ around 29,375 miles it was not there. I always check the engine bay after a service, checked the oil level to make sure they put oil in, etc.
Now @ 33,750 miles I was installing a dashcam and wanted to see the battery voltage and pow first thing I see when i open the hood is this reddish/pinkish crust thing. It really pops when you open the hood.

The previous services before my ownership were "allegedly" done at Toyota dealer. The history at a dealer where I take it seems to support that claim. They have the full service history since the car was brand new. No mention of any coolant leak in the previous visits or at least not that was reported.

 

I hope they will fix it under warranty. The lady on the phone said they have to see it to make sure I did not do any damage to it. I told her its under the hood, kind of on top of the engine, how could I done damage to it, she wouldn't have it, they have to see it and make a call when they see it.