1996 TOYOTA TACOMA radiator cap

11 2
CAUTION
Always observe the following pre-
cautions to minimize the risk of seri-
ous personal injury or damage to
your vehicle: Drive carefully when off the road.
Do not take unnecessary risks by
driving in dangerous places.
Do not grip the steering wheel
spokes when driving off-road. A
bad bump could jerk the wheel and
injure your hands. Keep both
hands and especially your thumbs
on the outside of the rim.
Always check your brakes for ef-
fectiveness immediately after driv-
ing in sand, mud, water or snow.
After driving through tall grass,
mud, rock, sand, rivers, etc., check
that there is no grass, bush, paper,
rags, stone, sand, etc. adhering or
trapped on the underbody. Clear
off any such matter from the un-
derbody. If the vehicle is used with
these materials trapped or adher-
ing to the underbody, a breakdown
or fire could occur.
The driver and all passengers
should fasten their seat belts
whenever the vehicle is moving.!

If driving through water, such aswhen crossing shallow streams,
first check the depth of the waterand the bottom of the river bed forfirmness. Drive slowly and avoid
deep water.
Take all necessary safety mea-sures to ensure that damage to the
engine or other components does not occur.
Water entering the engine air in-take will cause severe engine dam-
age.
Water can wash the grease fromwheel bearings, causing rusting and premature failure, and mayalso enter the differential, trans-
mission and transfer case, reduc-ing the gear oil's lubricating quali-ties.
Sand and mud that has accumu-
lated in brake drums and aroundbrake discs may affect braking ef-
ficiency and may damage brake system components.
Always perform a maintenance in-spection after each day of of f-road
driving that has taken you through rough terrain, sand, mud, or water.
For scheduled maintenance infor-mation, refer to the separate
Owner 's Manual Supplement/
Maintenance Scheduleº.
NOTICEMake sure you have ethylene-glycol
antifreeze in the radiator.
Do not use alcohol type antifreeze.
NOTICE
Check the condition of the battery and cables. Cold temperatures reduce the capacity of
any battery, so it must be in top shape to provide enough power for winter starting.Chapter 7-3 tells you how to visually in-
spect the battery. Your Toyota dealer and
most service stations will be pleased tocheck the level of charge.
Make sure the engine oil viscosity is
suitable for the cold weather.
See Chapter 7-2 for recommended vis-
cosity. Leaving a heavy summer oil in your
vehicle during winter months may cause
harder starting. If you are not sure about
which oil to use, call your Toyota dealerÐ
he will be pleased to help. Keep the door locks from freezing. Squirt lock de-icer or glycerine into the
locks to keep them from freezing. To open
a frozen lock, try heating the key before in-serting it.
Winter driving tips

122If your engine stalls while driving
0
1. Reduce your speed gradually, keeping
a straight line. Move cautiously off the
road to a safe place.
2. Turn on your emergency flashers.
3. Try starting the engine again.
If the engine will not start, see If your ve-
hicle will not startº.
If the engine is not running, the
power assist for the brakes and
steering will not work so steering
and braking will be much harder
than usual. CAUTION
! If your engine coolant temperature
gauge indicates overheating, if you
experience a loss of power, or if you
hear a
loud knocking or pinging noise,
the engine has probably overheated.
You should follow this procedure 0
1. Pull safely off the road, stop the vehicle
and turn on your emergency flashers. Put
the transmission in Pº (automatic) or neu-
tral ( manual) and apply the parking brake.
Turn off the air conditioning if it is beingused.
2. If coolant or steam is boiling out of the
radiator or reservoir, stop the engine. Wait
until the steam subsides before opening
the hood. If there is no coolant boiling over or steam, leave the engine running.
To help avoid personal injury, keep
the hood closed until there is no steam. Escaping steam or coolant is
a sign of very high pressure. CAUTION
!
3. Visually check to see if the engine drive
belt (fan belt) is broken or loose. Look for
obvious coolant leaks from the radiator,
hoses, and under the vehicle. However, note that water draining from the air condi-
tioning is normal if it has been used.
When the engine is running, keep
hands and clothing away from the
moving fan and engine drive belts. CAUTION
!
4. If the engine drive belt is broken or the
coolant is leaking, stop the engine immedi-
ately. Call a Toyota dealer for assistance.
5. If the engine drive belt is O.K. and there
are no obvious leaks, you may help the en-
gine cool down more quickly by running it at
about 1500 rpm for a few minutes with the
accelerator pedal lightly depressed.
6. Check the coolant reservoir. If it is dry,
add coolant to the reservoir while the en- gine is running. Fill it about half full.
Do not attempt to remove the radia-
tor cap when the engine and radia-
tor are hot. Serious injury could re-
sult from scalding hot fluid and
steam blown out under pressure. CAUTION
!
7. After the engine coolant temperature
has cooled to normal, again check the
coolant level in the reservoir. If necessary,
bring it up to half full again. Serious cool- ant loss indicates a leak in the system.
You should have it checked as soon as
possible at your Toyota dealer.
If your engine stalls while
driving
If your vehicle overheats

151
When the engine is running, keep
hands, clothing, and tools away
from the moving fan and engine
drive belts. (Removing rings,
watches, and ties is advisable.)
Right after driving, the engine
compartmentÐthe engine, radia-
tor, exhaust manifold, power
steering fluid reservoir and spark
plug boots, etc.Ðwill be hot. So
be careful not to touch them. Oil,
fluids and spark plugs may also be
hot.
If the engine is hot, do not remove
the radiator cap or loosen the
drain plugs to prevent burning yourself.
Do not smoke, cause sparks or al-
low open flames around fuel or the
battery. Their fumes are flam- mable.
Be extremely cautious when work-
ing on the battery. It contains poi-
sonous and corrosive sulfuric acid.
Do not get under your vehicle with
just the body jack supporting it.
Always use automotive jack
stands or other solid supports. CAUTION
!
Use eye protection whenever you
work on or under your vehicle
where you may be exposed to fly-
ing or falling material, fluid spray, etc.
Used engine oil contains poten-
tially harmful contaminants which
may cause skin disorders such as
inflammation or skin cancer, so
care should be taken to avoid pro-
longed and repeated contact with
it. To remove used engine oil from
your skin, wash thoroughly with
soap and water.
Do not leave used oil within the reach of children.
Dispose of used oil and filter only
in a safe and acceptable manner.
Do not dispose of used oil and fil-
ter in household trash, in sewers
or onto the ground. Call your deal- er or a service station for informa-
tion concerning recycling or dis-posal.
Remember that battery and igni-
tion cables carry high currents or
voltages. Be careful of accidental-
ly causing a short circuit.
Add only demineralized or dis-tilled water to fill the radiator. And
if you spill some of the coolant, besure to wash it off with water to
prevent it f rom damaging the parts
or paint.
Do not allow dirt or anything else to fall through the spark plug
holes.
Do not pry the outer electrode of aspark plug against the center elec-
trode.
Use only spark plugs of the speci-
fied type. Using other types willcause engine damage, loss of per-formance or radio noise.
Do not overfill automatic transmis-
sion fluid, or the transmissioncould be damaged.
Do not drive with the air cleaner fil-
ter removed, or excessive enginewear could result. Also backfiring
could cause a fire in the enginecompartment.
NOTICE

157
Look at the see-through coolant res-
ervoir when the engine is cold. The
coolant level is satisfactory if it is be-
tween the FULLº and LOWº lines on
the reservoir. If the level is low, add
ethylene-glycol type coolant.
The coolant level in the reservoir will vary
with engine temperature. However, if the
level is on or below the LOWº line, add
coolant. Bring the level up to the FULLº line. Use only ethylene-glycol type coolant. See information in the next column.
If the coolant level drops within a short
time after replenishing, there may be a
leak in the system. Visually check the ra-
diator, hoses, radiator cap
and drain cock
and water pump.
If you can find no leak, have your Toyota
dealer test the cap pressure and check for
leaks in the cooling system.
To prevent burning yourself, do not
remove the radiator cap when the
engine is hot.
CAUTION! Coolant type selection
Your coolant must contain ethylene-gly-
col antifreeze. In addition to preventingfreezing and subsequent damage to the
engine, this will also prevent corrosion. Further supplemental inhibitors or addi-
tives are neither needed nor recom- mended.
Read
the antifreeze container for informa-
tion on freeze protection. Follow the
manufacturer 's directions for how much
to mix with water. The total capacity of the
cooling system is given in Part 8. We rec- ommend 50% solution be used for your
Toyota, or a sufficient quantity to provideprotection to about -35 C (-31 F).
Do not use alcohol type antifreeze
or plain water alone.
NOTICE
Type A
Type B
Checking brake fluid
Checking the engine coolant level