over heating toyota

my toyota hi lux surf did a major ' over heat ' back in february. the
thermostat was changed, but a week later it did it again so the local
mechanic ' summised ' it was probably a head gasket and refused to do it.
so it sat on my drive for 5 wks while I decided whether it was worth the
expense, then someone else looked at it and said, definately NOT head
gone, so started driving it again, with no problems for approx 2/3 months,
then it blue again after @ 50 miles towing a horse box. I kept topping it
up with water every time it went onto the red on the way home { unladen
}for which I had to stop 5 times! since having it home it's been on lots
of short journeys with no problems and even got to Exeter one day, a
distance of 35/40 miles! I haven't put any water in it and in fact, i've
left the level down so far as it can't be seen from the filler
cap.........could this be the problem; too much water ? any suggestions or
similar stories welcome.

You need to find out right away where the water is going or you will be
buying a new engine really soon...

The coolant should be full to the top of the rad with an overflow bottle
about 1/2 full.

If it is puking it out the overflow when it overheats, then it almost
sounds like you have another bad thermostat. You can now buy ones that
will fail open when overheated.

If it is not puking it out on the ground or all over the place, then
indeed you have a bad head gasket at the least. The coolant will
destroy the guts of the engine very quickly too.

What does the oil on the dipstick look like?

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

extacy wrote:
>
> my toyota hi lux surf did a major ' over heat ' back in february. the
> thermostat was changed, but a week later it did it again so the local
> mechanic ' summised ' it was probably a head gasket and refused to do it.
> so it sat on my drive for 5 wks while I decided whether it was worth the
> expense, then someone else looked at it and said, definately NOT head
> gone, so started driving it again, with no problems for approx 2/3 months,
> then it blue again after @ 50 miles towing a horse box. I kept topping it
> up with water every time it went onto the red on the way home { unladen
> }for which I had to stop 5 times! since having it home it's been on lots
> of short journeys with no problems and even got to Exeter one day, a
> distance of 35/40 miles! I haven't put any water in it and in fact, i've
> left the level down so far as it can't be seen from the filler
> cap.........could this be the problem; too much water ? any suggestions or
> similar stories welcome.