Weird Noise In The Morning

[amores723]

when i start my car up in the morning sometimes i hear like water dripping or something that has to do with a watery noise and it comes from the passenger side i'd say by the battery area, could it be the battery or what is it?

[supdawg240]

maybe ac is on?

[IFixEm]

when i start my car up in the morning sometimes i hear like water dripping or something that has to do with a watery noise and it comes from the passenger side i'd say by the battery area, could it be the battery or what is it?

←

Cooling System 101

Best guess without hearing the noise for myself....if it sounds like a "brief waterfall type gurgle".....pop the hood and check the radiator level when the engine is cold. Some coolant should just begin to spill out or it was not full. Also check to ensure the coolant level is correct in the resevoir. Lex/Toy/Scion are notorious for leaky waterpumps. When the car is at opperating temp there should be 8psi presure in the cooling system. You shut off the hot car (when I say hot I do not mean overheated) and the presure forces a bit of coolant out the gasket or weap hole. As a normal (healthy) hot car shuts down you will also see a rise in presure past 8psi, but it pushes the radiator cap spring open and the coolant is caught in the recovery bottle. As the healthy car cools, a system vacuum is created and the coolant that went out comes back in from the recovery bottle into the rad. If a car has a small leak, it goes out the leak point, not the rad cap. As it cools and low presure develops, air enters the system instead of opening the rad cap via vacuum. When you first start it up, the air bubbles cavitate as they pass through the heatercore (behind the glove box) causing a brief gurgle. The bubbles find the highest point in the system (rad cap) and remain there. Since you posted in IS300 I assume it is a late model IS with a few miles and not a Volvo or something. IS waterpumps are an easy job for even novice mechanics. You may not notice a leak hitting the floor yet because as the coolant wicks out, it dries leaving a red crust trail. Look for this by the belt, right side of the engine, below the pump impellor. Dont be a tightwad, use factory coolant. Do not mix Red and Green. Buy the same coolant (LLC red) cheaper at your toyota dealer. You need 3 wrenches, a razor blade. and about 1.5 hour for a novice.