Good morning to all Lowyat forumer and wishing you all Happy New Year 2014, have a great and prosperous year ahead!! The mentioned car above is a Toyota Avanza (M) and currently this car still having overheating problem from time to time. I would like to share my experience here and hopefully any sifu out there can help me to identify what is wrong with my car.

The car was bought as second hand at mileage clocked @60k back in 2009 and ever since then it does not give up any problem. Car was sent to regular service at our regular mechanic workshop @every 6k mileage and no major part was replace/repair.

On one fine day while I was driving, I notice the temperature meter goes up to about 3/4 of the meter and immediately I stop at road side and check (waiting for the engine to cool down first of course) only to found out the radiator tank is empty!! I pour in water and drove to my usual mechanic shop. Upon checking the mechanic could not find any leakage and he suspect the piping has leakage. I asked him whether he could identify the leakage but he say no. He advise me to change all piping just in case and I trusted him and proceed with the changes. Total damage is RM1k.

After ~2weeks, problem occur again. This time my car was idling with air cond switch on. Suddenly there is no more cold air but instead hot air was blown via the aircond outlet, temperature was check at that time but still looking good. While approaching home, temperature meter shoot up again and upon checking radiator tank is empty...again I check the under carriage and notice some water leakage below engine compartment. Next~~send my car to the mechanic shop.

This time the mechanic still could not find the root cause but he give me 3 choices:
1. "Repair with low cost" - He suspect engine issue and say do engine top over haul as he suspect the engine
(No guarantee) piston block has worn off and thus producing excessive heat He also say
something about due to the engine problem then water sip into it and evaporate faster
This method will not guarantee that the overheating problem will stop
occurring bcz he is not sure where goes wrong.

2. "Repair with high cost" - Same explanation as 1. He suggest to do engine overhaul. He say this method will
(guarantee) guarantee the overheating problem will not occur again and the I can continue use
my car for another 5 years like that.

3. "Repair with moderate cost" - Same explanation as 1. He suggest to swap engine with those half cut shop or
(guarantee) recondition engine. This method also can guarantee that no more over
heating problem in future.

Does engine over heating will result in changing engine or overhauling it?? I am not sure whether I could trust my mechanic anymore bcz I got a "fishy" feeling from him or I am wrong?

Change your mechanic immediately.

1)Coolant used or just water ?
2)Was a pressure test of the radiator done?

I also think so haha but is it the mechanic trying to con me?


1. When the radiator tank is empty I use water to fill up. I do not know whether the mechanic use coolant or not bcz I just leave my car at his for repair ( same routine for the pass few year). The next time I know is there is over heating again and upon checking the tank is empty again so I don't know whether the mechanic did use coolant

2. I have no idea on this bro, may I know what is pressure test and how it works?


Thank you for the reply guys.

Using coolant will help identify leaks.. since it will leave stains... but water just evaporate quickly. I've identified 2 leaks easily before that was almost impossible to find with just water.


Some leaks only appear under pressure.. so a pressure test will help identify leaks in the vehicle cooling system. It's a simple job..

Hi jerry,

I would suggest you to check leakage in radiator tank.

Ic...is it hard to identify the leakage with coolant stains? bcz the mechanic say some part which is under the car engine cannot be reached so he has no idea where is the leakage, unless he "lift" the engine ><


I dont think my mechanic does this checking. In fact I am planning to bring my car to other workshop for checking or best is bringing back to Toyota SC for checking. Then once I know which part is the root cause, I will change it outside. What do you think?

Try change the radiator cap 1st and see how, i experienced the same problem, radiator tank dried and found out the cap rubber seal already full of crack hence the water evaporated out through the leaked rubber when the pressure start to build up. RM20 fix for me

This post has been edited by crayzee: Jan 2 2014, 12:48 PM

Well it's certainly easier than using plain water which leave no trace at all.. engine bay very hot, almost immediate dry up of any leaks.

I know Avanza has a lot of hoses.. but I wouldn't remove the engine just to check for leaks.

I would remove the engine to rip off and earn more money from customers.

You said you saw the water leakage. Can't you identify from where the source from? The water may leak somewhere else and dripped through outer engine components and fall off at another place.

My advice is, you yourself have to diagnose your car instead if just letting foreman to rectify unless on certain circumstances, it is totally complicated situation. Else, unfamiliar foreman will easily con you by advising you to change this and that which are not actually related to the main cause. Now days, an honest foreman are hard to find.

If you say from the engine block, I would say, it could be either your head gasket or cracked/rusted water inlet/outlet terminal or thermostat housing or damaged seals. It's easier if you can pinpoint the exact location. And yes....by adding coolant, it can help you a lot since coolant will left out residue once the water dries out...easier for you to locate the leakage.

Hope that this can help you out.

Edit : Try to find a "Workshop manual" for your engine. I think, it use the same engine as MYVI. Locate all the water passages so you'll know where to look for.

This post has been edited by gjoey: Jan 2 2014, 01:49 PM

You mean the cap where we open and pour in coolant?

Thats why he suggest me to swap engine or do engine overhaul?

Yes, I informed the mechanic about the leakage which I found earlier but I could not pin point the exact location. The mechanic did pour in water and try to see where is the leakage, he rev the car, on aircond to max and let the car stay like that for few minutes but there is no water leakage that time and water level in radiator still remain as normal. That is when I leave the car for the mechanic to further troubleshoot and gods know what he do next for checking.

Update: I just recalled that the mechanic also show me the exhaust pipe where there is water coming out. He says due to engine problem, the water from radiator leak through the engine and come out from exhaust

I am gonna check it later to see whether the mechanic did pour in coolant, if didn't can I add in Coolant myself into the radiator without flushing out the remaining water inside the radiator tank?

change mechanic. could be leaking head gasket. The water you see might not be from the radiator at all but could be from the aircond drain pipe.

Yes... but if filled with water already then not much coolant u can pour in. Anyway it will help to identify source of the leak.

Yes this cap

If the mechanic says water coming out the exhaust tip is a problem, you confirm need to change mechanic dy.

Hi Nightstalker, may I know how much would it cost to change the Head Gasket?

Thanks for the helps Unitron, by the way any specific coolant should I use in this case? Which coolant is recommended for Avanza?

Thanks for the photo Crayzee, I will check it to see whether there is any defect on it



Thanks a lot guys for the valuable information

If true that the head gasket that caused the water leak, you can do a simple test. While engine cold, open up the radiator cap and start your engine. The water in the radiator should not burst up if the head gasket is still o.k. If the water burst up, that mean your head gasket has warped or blown. The leak pressure in the combustion chamber will push out the water in the radiator.

FYI, in some cases, the crack or leak will only appear with the right amount of temperature or pressure or both. Just by running the engine idle, won't be sufficient enough.


P/S: I will not be responsible for any test you conduct ya.

TS must be kidding

1. god car can spoil?
2. kwan sooi on a japanese car?

stop trolling you conti fans

I think you should go to another workshop.

So I would take it as water coming out from the exhaust tip is normal?? If I do remember correctly, my 3 years Saga FL also showing sign of water coming out from exhaust tip, but that is during cold day when I am leaving for work.

If this method works, I dont mind trying out
For the sake of my curiosity, when you are saying "burs-up", how bad would it be?? LIke open a carbonated can after well-shaked?

I wish it is a GOD car Perhaps it is just a God-car-alike in disguise

Yeah I am planning to do so. Thanks.

Yes it is normal. Water is a byproduct of the combustion process in the engine.

It depends on how bad the gasket leak. If it is a small leak, the water may just overspill. if a big leak, maybe. As far as I been seen, not as violent as shaked carbonate can. But...theoretically, it can be.

That's why I said it's to be done when the engine is cold. Once you see the water burst, shutdown the engine.

You mechanic looks like inexperienced fella. With 1K, i would have spent it on radiator service (take out/ flush/ leak test/ welding if leak), simple radiator hose check, dissasemble hose, plug 1 end of hose, pump some air inside and put in water bucket check for leaks. Test hose for brittle mesh by pressing it. Good ones rebound. Hardend ones have cracking noise.

Coolant should have left colored traces at gaskets and water jackets if there are leaks.

If all those cannot work, assume the worse is you have warped block or head caused by overheating and rapid cooling. Can either skim to make them flat again and replace gaskets.

I'm, not mechanic. But like to hang out at my mechanics place and see how he solves problems and share it here once in a while.

Youtube have a lot of DIY check for leaks and overheating problems.

This post has been edited by netmatrix: Jan 2 2014, 07:22 PM

Any will do since this is to help find the problem. .. But since it's a Toyota.. use Toyota long life coolant

Note : later after problem solved you probably need to drain and refill water plus coolant.. so any brand coolant will do to find the leak..

Hopefully not leaking into engine.. u might want to check engine oil see got oil + water mix also.

Water pump got change ???

Water pump got change ???

Goto a radiator specialist. They know radiator best. Normal Mechanics are like general practitioner. They would send ur radiator to them for cleaning and charge u easily 50 bucks more. 1k for hoses and rubber change is a rip off. I got my radiator flushed and cleaned, changed rubber hose + new radiator cap and coolant for under 500 bucks.

If you are really sure that when you checked the temp and it appears normal yet hot air blown out from aircond means that your radiator fan has failed. The radiator fan is also the a/c condensor fan if not mistaken. When that fan fails you will lose aircond cooling and engine cooling together. Correct me if im wrong.
Intermitten failure of cooling fan can cause random and hard to trace overheating. Other things related to fan are fan motor, temp sensor, ecu fan signal (if fan operates by ecu trigger), fan relay, fuse, wiring n contact points

Loss of coolant...
You mention radiator tank, not radiator itself. If you're talkin about the 2ndary coolant tank near the radiator loosing coolant after overheating, its normal...it was circulated into radiator and engine to accelerate heat transfer.

If you were refering to the radiator water level itself, i dont think you can see thru the bottom to know it is 'empty'. there may be alot of water below the level you can see with naked eye. Did you try to top up? How much did you need to top up? If it was really empty you will need 5L plus or so of water.

From experience it can be a few things, simplest things will be worn out radiator cap, hoses, drain plug, thermostat and it's housing area. If the fan failed and these parts are worn out, they may leak water.
More serious things, somewhere cracked on the metal parts of your radiator or engine which only opens enough to leak water when hot enough. Internal engine failure/damage like what others mention above.
It can also be leaking thru your water pump area which is usually covered, driven by timing belt/chain.

Others in thread hav mentioned almost all causes, best to find a better mech as this is basic stuffs. Btw, your mech any chance in damansara area? His style simillar to one mech i know many years ago, lost 10k+ to him the hard way.

This post has been edited by andrew9292: Jan 2 2014, 10:50 PM

If it's already filled with water, you can drain the radiator abit with the drain plug at the bottom of the radiator.

Changing the head gasket would be equivalent to a top overhaul as it involves removing the head. But if its really the head gasket, your mech is really, really bad that he couldn't identify the problem. Another thing is from hearing his explanation on 'piston block had worn off causing high heat' and 'water leak through the engine and coming out through the exhaust' is complete and utter bullshit and shows his level of technical knowledge, which is close to zero. Water leaking from water jackets to the cylinder will cause white smoke, not water out the exhaust. Water out the exhaust is common during cold morning due to condensation.

If referring to the method of checking for blown head gasket by looking for bubbles with the engine running and radiator cap open, it should be bubbling quite alot. If there's no problem with the head gasket then there should be no/minimal bubbles. And as suggested by some, a pressure test can and should be done as well. The fact that your mechanic didn't do it also shows his lack of experience. Doing a full overhaul or changing engine just because of a water leak is like reformatting a PC just because of virus or spyware.

I work part time at a workshop by the way with a boss who have 30 years experience in this field. I'm just a kuli

This post has been edited by Nightstalker1993: Jan 3 2014, 04:13 AM

Thanks a bunch for all the suggestion provided guys.

I just did a simple check yesterday which are below :
1. Coolant is inside the radiator instead of water
2. Radiator cap looks old but not sure got still in good condition or not, I cant see any cracked on the rubber but I think I will get it change.
2. Removed radiator cap + start engine : coolant level go down and no visible of much bubble but I think got minimal bubble (or it is engine vibration that cause it ><). No bursting happened.
3. I don't see any leakage when I check at the bottom of my car. Just bend down and look.

I think I will send my car for Radiator leakage checking/wash/service during the weekend

Well sometimes cannot fully blame the mechanic. Some mechs will do full cooling system service eg.radiator service, fan motor, thermostat, hose and links, radiator cap replacement, temp sensor, water pump and top overhaul together. Some may even say engine overhaul only but charge u extremely high and do the full service quietly, as the other parts are relatively much cheaper should he use oem or non original parts.

Why? Cuz it completely solves the problem and should last half a decade at least if job done properly. Saves time and prevents customers from fucuking them upside down if cannot solve the problem/ taking too long, plus its a long lasting solution. Altho if you did specify u're on a budget or to troubleshoot root cause the correct thing to do is start from engine external, if failed then only engine internal. With proper troubleshooting and inspection methods of course.

Thats my only argument for the mechanic to be 'fair'.lol. but he still shouldnt jus jump to top overhaul and all that nonsense. Good luck!

This post has been edited by andrew9292: Jan 3 2014, 02:41 PM

Partly to be blamed is me myself too as that time he called me during checking and inform me about the rubber hose leakage, he told me that there are 2 leakage and advise me to change. At that time I didn't specify to him only change that 2 hose but upon talking with the mechanic I was advise to change the rest of the rubber host as well, so I inform the mechanic to carry on with the changes but only to find out at the end is that the total rubber host he changed is 12 pcs and cost up to 1k

Oh well, lesson learn..next time I would need to specify and ask for more details before letting mechanic to "cut-throat" me.

Once again thank you guys for all the precious information that been provided to me. Hopefully I am able to solve this over heating problem soon.

Good Day to everyone in lowyat forum.

My father's Avanza has new problem again This time is jerking. While changing gear and while cruising I can feel the car jerk from time to time. At first it is intermittent but this few day the jerking happened quite often.

Send to workshop and change spark plug and the wire coil but problem still persist. The mechanic suspect it could be due to the Clutch plate. Anyone can advice me is there anything to do car jerking whiale crusing with clutch plate?

Thank you in advance for your valuable feedback.

Good Day to everyone in lowyat forum.

My father's Avanza has new problem again This time is jerking. While changing gear and while cruising I can feel the car jerk from time to time. At first it is intermittent but this few day the jerking happened quite often.

Send to workshop and change spark plug and the wire coil but problem still persist. The mechanic suspect it could be due to the Clutch plate. Anyone can advice me is there anything to do car jerking whiale crusing with clutch plate?

Thank you in advance for your valuable feedback.

Any feedback?

Throttle body dirty or sensor faulty will cause the car jerking too.

Jerk during gear change emit noise?

Could be clutch plate symtoms but honestly, the mileage seems a bit low for clutch plate to give way. Normally, clutch plate starts to give was for say a 10-year old car and mileage > 150,000 km. At least, that's what happened to both my Manual Cars.

You can try to change the Transmission Fluid first.

http://www.carama.com/car-service-price-ca...et_modelYear=25

Unfortunately, the price estimate is not available but my guess is not more than RM600

Btw, your radiator problem fixed already. Wanted to share that my wife old car also had similar issue, the top part of the radiator had hairline cracks and water was evaporating. The mech tried to check for leaks int he pipping buy could not find any leaks. Waited until the engine was hot and could see that water was evoporating on the top part of the radiator

If u want a good air cond / radiator, check out this is a famous air-cond / radiator repair shop at Jln Raja Laut, right behind the Honda showroom called Ming Wah. Quite famous with reasonable charges.

Its Jalan Raja Laut heading from Jalan Ipoh / Chow Kit towards KL. After the Pizza Hut, you cant' miss it. If you are Chinese (or can ask your Chinese friends), the very famous "Pan Mee' shop is just around the corner.

This post has been edited by cfa28: Mar 7 2014, 12:17 PM

Sorry for asking, what is throttle body bro? The sensor you referring to izzit O2 sensor? How to check the sensor is faulty or not?
Thank you and appreciate your feedback.

no noise bro, just jerking during gear changing and also while cruising.
Thank you and appreciate your feedback.

Hi there,
Thank you for your sharing your experience. Hope you get your car fixed bro

Thanks for the link to. Really appreciate it.

Are you suspecting the jerking came from the gear transmission from not having the fluid change?

When it comes to repairign cars, its based on the cheapest to the most expensive way to fix it.

So, For gearbox, its

1) Change Transmission Fluid first - cheapest way

2) if Change fluid, problem still persist - Change Clutch Plate - more expensive than (1) but cheaper than (3)

3) If change Clutch Plate problem still persist - Overhaul Gear Box. I always recommend to overhaul your existing gear box cos u still know its history and existign condition and if your mechanic does a good job, it will operate as good as brand new. Problem is many if not most mechs don't want the trouble of opening a gear box and changing the individual parts as it could be a 1-week 2-week job depending on availability of parts but swap to a gear box from a chop shop is just 1-day job.

Cost wise, it depends on your car and model, which is cheaper. If you want a reliable mechanic around Puchong area, I can PM you. I have another in Sg Long area who does not cheat newbies, no camber tricks on people who does alignment. So, depends on which area you want

Hi all,

I didn't want to start a new thread for essentially the same problem, I hope it's ok if I carry on here.

I drive a 2007 Avanza, about a year ago the radiator burst.

I was able to stop before the car overheated, and managed to replace the radiator myself.

Of course, idiot me never tried to figure out why it burst, believing it was old age/lime buildup etc.

Summer is here, and the fan is not working. I've checked the fuse with a multi-tester, it seems fine.

And I've now exhausted my mechanical ability :/

Please, how do I test the fan motor/circuit/thermostat without dismantling the entire cooling system again?

Any advice is welcome, thank you.

Advanza rear wheel drive isn't using fan belt and viscous clutch meh?