Daughter had a fender-bender and I tried to pull out the dent with a claw hammer (duh). Coolant came gushing out, like a gallon or two. What did I break?

 

Are you sure it is the coolant?

I would have suspected transmission fluid or windshield washer fluid. So start by checking all fluid levels to make sure what has leaked out.

Right thing would be to drop the plastic shield and remove the plastic wheel well shield and then have a looksie. Then figure out what is busted. At times the problem may be couple of feet away from where the leverage is applied at.

To fix the dent, start by removing the bumper skin. The above steps will give you a head start.

Salim

 

You should be using heat to pop out the dent! Otherwise your going to crack it and take off th bumper while working on it!

 

+1, it may be either the transmission fluid or the washer fluid.

The reason Salim and I say this is because the transmission cooler is located right in that area, directly in front of the tire in the wheelwell. And in front of the cooler sits the washer fluid reservoir.

 

thanks for the replies. right after posting I started thinking that I must have disturbed a hose, based on the all-at-once gush of fluid (had I punctured something I think I would have had a slower leak). Tranny fluid is reddish and thick, like power steering fluid, no? This was nearly clear and kind of sudsy.....

edit: looks like IT IS washer fluid! (man, that seems like good news!) started the car to turn the wheel and the washer icon is lit, and before I even start removing the wheel well cover I see this flopping around:



I'm hoping for an easy reinsert and fill to fix.

 

Probably washer fluid - it is located on that side, and reservoir is all plastic. Claw hammer + plastic = instant gush.

Put it into ACC mode & try the squirter. If it only works for a few seconds, then that should verify.

(Transmission & power steering is red, coolant is most likely pink).

Completely agree. Had a similar issue on my '04 Highlander. We took a heat gun to it (careful not to get it TOO hot!) and pushed it out from the inside. Wasn't perfect, but darn close.

Good luck!

 

The little sensor that is hanging out is the washer fluid level sensor.

You should have a orange washer level light on in the dash.


Salim

 

whew! Almost done....washer fluid reservoir dented but intact, fluid level sensor reinserted, dent pushed out from within (used hairdryer):



can't seem to get the gap between fender and bumper right; this part fell out while removing wheel well cover and I don't know exactly where from:

 

From the looks it seems like a part that keeps two plastic pieces together ... skin of the bumper with the bumper insert maybe?

Salim

 

If you were closer to me, I woulda popped out this dent with no damage at all!