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My fellow toy home members:

It's my second day of my annual Mexico trip and I noticed the RV is running hotter and hotter as I drove it throughout the day. I have driven 460 miles today and just reached Red Bluff, California. I stopped at a rest area outside of the city because the coolant temperature gauge had reached the top of the normal operating temperature zone, and I am highly concerned because nothing liked this had happened before.

So, I opened the hood, there's no sign of overheating, no coolant loss, however the exhaust manifold was bright red hot. Could this be a clogged catalyst causing the problem? I have just driven over the Siskiyou summit and then some.

After a few minutes of cooling down the exhaust manifold I key on the ignition and the coolant temp showed it is back at normal in the middle. If this indeed is a clogged catalyst problem, could someone around this area recommend a muffler or repair shop to me so I can have this rectified tomorrow? Thank you very much for your assistance.

EDIT: I intend to eat a bit something now in the RV and drive about 120 miles down to the rest area closer to Sacramento afterwards so that I can have more repair shop options ...

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Did you loose power? If not I would guess your radiator just isn't cooling properly. Is it running rough? Check the oil to see if there is any coolant in it? Are all your belts tight? Lots of things could be the problem but I don't think a clogged catalytic converter is one of them

Linda S

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Thanks for the reply Linda. I have since driven 38 miles south from Red Bluff, and is refuelling.

Oil level ok, no coolant. Coolant level ok, no loss. Radiator fan is blowing hot air. I filled the expansion tank to the full position and it is now about 2cm above it, which is what it normally is. My drive did not have any problems, coolant temp remains at normal. I will continue drive another 68 miles south to my destination, rest area just outside Sacramento.

The condition was progressive, I drove after lunch a total of 407 miles, stopped only twice for refuelling and after Siskiyou summit the coolant temp got hotter and hotter and eventually reached the top of the normal operating range. So I stopped at the rest area outside of Red Bluff and when I opened the hood, everything is normal except the exhaust manifold, it is red hot and I mean you can see it glowing red.

So I drove another 38 miles from rest area to the gas station and temp remains normal so I guess the blockage for some reason happens after long period of hard driving. I couldn't think of anything else at the moment.

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Thank you Linda for your post. I have made it to the rest area just outside Sacramento. Will have a good thinking session of how to deal with this. Coolant temp was normal, just a bit higher than half on the gauge throughout the drive. I don't think it is the Timing as I did my timing chain when I purchased the RV in 2009 and this is the Sixth time I am making the same trip from Vancouver to Baja California, without ever experiencing this problem - I tend to think it maybe a minor blockage in the exhaust system which had a cascade effect when the vehicle is continuously driven hard - the drive from Red Bluff to Sacramento was mostly flat roads so could be why the problem didn't come back.

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I am not much of a mechanic, however Sherrie went through an ordeal with overheating and posted frequently and detailed info. Maybe her post will help?

http://toyotamotorhome.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=8460&hl=overheating

Without a loss of power I would not suspect the exhaust system. If I did I would not throw parts at it but unhook it and test. That is only an opinion.

Year and engine might help. jim

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Glowing exhaust manifold happened to my friend in my Subaru. Like Linda mentioned there are a few things that could make it happen, cause I googled it, too. In my friend's case, it was because not all the spark plugs were firing. Mice had chewed through a couple spark plug wires.

I would check the the wires and plugs, and the timing. Could be an electrical issue with the coil or ignitor or plugs or wires. The fact that it's coming and going seems like an intermittent electrical issue...which unfortunately are probably the hardest to track down...

But it seems to me that if you weren't getting spark on one or more cylinders, you would notice a major lack of power. The fact that it only happens on climbs seems strange, and seems like more of a cooling issue...

BUT the fact that the manifold is glowing makes me think it has nothing directly to do with the cooling system (radiator, coolant, thermostat, fan clutch).

So that's an interesting one...

There were arguments on whether running lean makes the engine overheat or running rich, that I saw. I think running lean causes the engine to run hotter, but running rich specifically causes the exhaust to run hotter rather than the entire engine, because unburnt fuel is making it out of the engine, then burning up when it hits the hot exhaust manifold (which can happen if a spark plug isn't firing and burning up that fuel in the cylinder).

But the temperature sensor is in your coolant system. So whatever is going on is causing the entire engine to run hot. So there you have a bunch of contradictory information from me... :) But maybe it'll give you some ideas...

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My rig is 87 Dolphin with 22RE engine.

Thank you all for your posts. I have checked all the wires and they seemed fine. Distributor Cap and Rotors were replaced probably less than 7k miles ago along with plugs. Thermostat was just replaced with a Toyota 2 stage one. Drove for one and a half days now from Vancouver to just outside Sacramento. Temp of the rig had been going up and down when driving throughout years of ownership but never liked this and this one is definitely new for me.

No sensation of loss of power whatsoever.

I am going to drive for about 480 miles in total today and my destination will be at the rest area outside Camp Pendleton. Since nothing happened last night on the last 120 miles drive I will continue driving and observe.

Thank you again.

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Years back I had a 84 Dolphin with a 22r. Loved that rig.

After a few years of ownership a similar problem appeared,

Sometimes not always the temp gauge would start to climb up towards the top of hot. Always after stopping, turning off the engine and examining under the hood, never found anything wrong, then start the engine the temp gauge would be where it should.

I replaced the thermostat from NAPA, no change. I replaced the thermostat from Toyota, no change.

Then I replaced the temp sending unit, that worked. Never had the temp gauge go any higher than normal operating temp from then on.

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Sounds like a coolant systems/radiator that just old and nearing the end of life. But its working the best it can. Enjoy your trip and plan on an updated radiator soon.

You would be surprised how little hill or hard work it takes to make a an exhaust manifold glow.

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My rig always had a problem with coolant temperature going higher than half about at half way between max normal operating temp and the half way point between C and H. I suspected either thermostat, gauge or sender problem. For the last maintenance I changed the thermostat, sender (2 of those apparently) and flushed the coolant as well. The Toyota 2 stage thermostat apparently worked well.Temp

Temp fluctuations seemed to have no apparent reasons behind it, whether you run it higher speed 60+mph or lower 55mph, flat or slope, it just came and go. It never did however reached that high on the top white line of the normal operating temperature zone. When it did that last night I pulled into the rest area and for the first time I found the exhaust manifold glowing red.

Today I just did a stretch of 60 something miles and just refuelled. The operating temp was generally a bit higher than half like before and it raised a few of times higher than that and dropped back down. Will keep on monitoring.

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Sounds like a coolant systems/radiator that just old and nearing the end of life. But its working the best it can. Enjoy your trip and plan on an updated radiator soon.

You would be surprised how little hill or hard work it takes to make a an exhaust manifold glow.

Radiator was replaced when I bought the rig in 2009, I think it had less than 40k miles. It's a CSF 3 row radiator. Not sure it would be the problem.

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An exhaust manifold glowing red is usually caused by the exhaust valves leaking, or a super-lean fuel mixture. If the exhaust valves are leaking - it might just be caused by a need of a valve adjustment (if caught in time). Very common problem in motorcycles. A bit more rare in cars and trucks with cast-iron exhaust manifolds (unless you've got steel-tube headers?).

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Hello JD and thanks for your post. I am at Kettleman City, California at the moment having driven about 220miles. Temp fluctuation remains the same, and am at a mechanic shop now. They say the problem is the fan clutch it's not blowing air anywhere near what it should be. Anyway, at this point I am willing to give this a try. Will report back on the progress.

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I have completed the replacement of the fan clutch at Kettleman city and had driven 250 miles south to the rest area near camp Pendleton.

I have never had such stable temps before with this RV - on the first 90 miles after repair to before climbing of the Tejon Pass (4.1k feet) temp was more or less pretty stable near the middle.

During the climb, temp rose upwards but as soon as it's not under load it gradually drops back towards the middle, then everything went well.

The tech said that the fan clutch was blowing hot air out but the volume wasn't enough. I suspected it was defective to begin with. My six and a half years of ownership of the vehicle I didn't realize this was the problem.

I would hope my experience could shed some light on others who experiences similar problems ...

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Glowing exhaust manifolds are common on the R series engines the early ones that had exhaust heated air intakes were very prone to cracking. There are things that can cause problem but a plugged exhaust system is not one of them. If it running fine then there really is no need to worry most people don't look at their manifolds after a good hard run. Toyota is not alone in glowing manifolds it was not a big problem in the age of the carburetor because the mix was rich enough to keep the manifolds cooler.

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Happy new year to everyone here at the forum!

I am on my way back home to Vancouver and now I am in Oregon. No problem so far after driven to San Quintin in Baja California and back. Yes I think temperature going up during climbing is not something normal too, and the mechanic did suggest that my three row radiator is not having the cooling effect enough and suggested I should changed it into an aluminum one. What do you think?

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The only replacement radiators that I know of that are aluminum have plastic tanks, and that sucks. Unless you go some sort of custom aftermarket... In my Corona wagon, I'm running a late '60s Mustang small block "aluminum racing radiator". It is a three row, and does a good job. It just might fit a truck as well, although I think a factory type brass three core should be more than adequate.

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I am not a big fan of plastic and aluminum either. When replacing my radiator and looking at the information available, then looking at the price's $$$$$$ I opted for the plastic and aluminum.

Jim

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A radiator as new as yours should work just fine. Unless there is something defective with it, or something has clogged it, it's not the radiator causing the problem. But there could be something defective, or something clogging it...

I hope you aren't going to the type of mechanics who just start replacing parts on hunches and keep going till they finally stumble onto the right solution...That gets expensive. There are tests for all these components.

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All aluminum radiator....http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-Pickup-4Runner-Aluminum-Core-Radiator-Rad-22R-22RE-T-/181922791042?fits=Year%3A1987%7CMake%3AToyota%7CModel%3APickup%7CEngine+-+Liter_Display%3A2.4L&hash=item2a5b717e82:g:9N4AAOSwPe1T4Vga&vxp=mtr

I will say I installed a HD 3 row radiator, waterpump, and fan clutch all at one time. No low price aluminum radiators then. I pulled a 5x8 trailer all over the Rockies, while it did get warmer going up hills it never got close to overheating even going over a 10,000ft pass on 100 degree days.

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The Chinook I had is obviously on the small side of Toyota RVs, but I never had issues with heat. I had all new cooling system components, but never "upgraded" components. Always OEM, stock parts. Like WME, I took the camper over Vail Pass (10,000ft), down into the southwest, all over. I don't know if I went over any crazy passes with temps over the 80s, but my temp gauge never climbed above its normal place, a little lower than half way on the gauge.

No matter what I did, no matter the outside temps, my gauge stayed put. I'm sure some higher temps are normal under "extreme" conditions, but I wouldn't call climbing a pass during December to be an extreme stress on the cooling system. I'll be interested to see what you find.

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Thanks everyone for your comment I was just arrived back to Vancouver yesterday and had my first day of work today.

I won't be heading out with my rig anytime soon so I would spend sometime to plan for any work to be done on it.

I have found an interesting article in choosing aftermarket radiator here.

I would like for comments on the article please.

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Your article is radiator 101. All known facts.

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Seems to be an ok article. I read what was available, I could argue either side of the issue, but went with aluminum because of the cost difference. Aluminum appears to be more sensitive to corrosion so changing coolant at recommended intervals is important, which is not an issue for me. HTH Jim

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Perhaps there is someone with more information regarding antifreeze but wondering if it wouldn't be worth the expense of going with the low silicate Toyota Red with an aluminum radiator? My 2005 Toyota needed a waterpump at about 100k due to the seal that had begun to leak. The thing of note with this repair was the pump impeller I pulled out looked like new. Same with the block cavity the pump came out of. I was pretty impressed given the age and mileage.

All the reading I did suggested I replace the coolant with the OEM long life Red. What I saw when I pulled the pump convinced me that it would be worth the premium of $31 a gallon premixed. Also considering it's meant for extremely long change intervals, the cost didn't seem expensive.

What I don't know is if flushing the system out effectively gets all the old coolant out enough to change types. Here the reading I've done has lots of contradictory information (seems to be the nature of the internet).

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I spent far too much time going through lots of misinformation about coolants, I read statements, looked at charts and graphs. Waaaay too much BS on coolants on the net!

I think I read in there somewhere that the new Toyota coolant was not marketed until after our machines were built? Could be wrong on that one?

My owners manual states "use only ethylene-glycol coolant" Does not even say Toyota brand ethylene-glycol! Lots of people saying other wise, but no link to a Toyota announcement or TSB. Like the guy that put Green antifreeze in his Toy with 180,000 miles on it and six months later the water pump went :rolleyes:

Then decided that most autos today have aluminum engine parts and radiators so any coolant should be good and went with Peak. My opinion is as long as I change it to refresh corrosion resistance, I'm good to go.

Of course this is by a non mechanic, non automotive engineer and only my opinion. Jim SW FL

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"as long as I change it to refresh corrosion resistance"

The thing about the Toyota red coolant is that it has a 100k miles service interval and is designed to be extremely corrosion resistant. I was at first more than a bit skeptical but when I serviced the Corolla, I was very surprised at how clean everything was inside the cooling system after 100k on it. Replaced it with the OEM coolant and put another 97k on it before selling it and never worried about the cooling system.

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Those are my thoughts on it. For $30, once every...I don't know...5 years or something if not longer, I'm happy to just use Toyota Red and forget about the whole debate.

I can see people being more concerned about engine oil and stuff you change regularly. But I'm cool with skipping the whole argument and just using the Toyota stuff. It is pretty crazy how much they charge for it, though...

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