EGR cooler fail

[Spook1205]

Well after 165000kms the EGR cooler failed....
Symptoms being heater not working due to low coolant.

So after some diagnosis and analysis I removed EGR and found moisture in the bypass valve and wash out marks on the carbon from EGR and EGR pipe.

Removed cooler, coolant came out and it doesn’t hold pressure.

Now let’s hope mr Toyota has one in Australia.

[White One]

that's happened to a few others Luke , might even be covered by warranty seeing its a known issue. I suppose there is no way of repairing them somehow? or can you bypass the hoses to get you back on the road ? what issues would that cause?

[Spook1205]

If they give me a new one under warranty happy days. But I doubt it as vehicle is not going to Toyota for them look at.
I’ll see what they say in spares later today.
Coolers are a known issue in general with common rail diesels and as you say it’s a known issue with Toyota so hopefully there is some in Australia.

[White One]

after experience with the last Tuna , I installed a low coolant alarm . Its just a contactless water level sensor , cable tied to the side of the coolant bottle.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BH-Non-c...4AAOSwfY9cwYCU

it runs off 12v , and has a normally off output , with a blue LED showing that there is coolant detected. when it detects loss of coolant it sends 12v to a flashing LED on the dash.

[Spook1205]

Great idea!
Local dealer has a cooler in stock, price better than I expected too.

[Spook1205]

Can you share a pic of the water level sensor on vehicle?
Cheers

[White One]

I just sent it by text , couldn't attach it for some reason

[White One]

Ok , here is the coolant level sensor attached to the coolant bottle. as you can see it does not need to be in direct contact with the liquid. I originally used double sided tape but then went to cable ties to hold it in place as the sensor needs to be in direct contact with the plastic tank. Hard to see in the photo but there is a blue led on the sensor which makes setting up a breeze.

[Spook1205]

That’s brilliant mate!

[Spook1205]

Cooler bolted in, now just all the stuff around it!

[Anthony]

White One; That's a great idea. Can I ask a dumb question. In your earlier post you mentioned the LED in mounted on your dash. Then in the latter post you mention you can see the LED on the sensor. So is there in fact two LEDs, one on the sensor & one for the dash, or only one LED on the sensor, & you then got a separate LED to mount in the dash?

[White One]

no worries , I'll try and explain it better - there is one blue Led built into the sensor , which is used for testing / setup. You apply 12v to the sensor ( which only has 3 wires … +12v , eth , and output ) . When the sensor "sees" a liquid , the Blue Led is lit up , and there is no voltage on the output wire.
When the sensor no longer "sees" liquid , the reverse happens - The Blue led on the sensor turns off , and the output wire goes to +12v. What you do is connect this output wire to a dash mounted Led , so therefore when the sensor no longer sees coolant the dash Led lights up.

Most non contact sensors work this way but not all , there are various types , but this particular one is good for hot liquids and perfect for this application.

I also mentioned attaching the sensor to the coolant bottle using cable ties , as the closer it gets to the liquid the more accurate it is. even 2mm can make a difference here.