Armada

First off I am new. Second, I just had the head gaskets replaced on my 94' Pickup with Fel-pro ones recently and they appear to have blown again about 200 km (yes Canadian) down the road due to thermostat malfunctioning and temp climbing close to the red line. Now back to white clouds in the exhaust and bubbles in the radiator. They originally blew at the hotspot on cylinder 6.

I have been searching around for a source for metal head gaskets like the ones Cometic makes for other Toyota engines and so far have found only the "metal" head gaskets on Japanengine.com

Has anyone used metal gaskets from that site? Any opinion on that site in general? Is there another source for metal gaskets for this engine? I've emailed them to find out who makes the gaskets, material, etc. If the metal gaskets turn out to be a bust, I was going to go with Rock gaskets from www.partsdinosaur.com.

Thanks

bluidvl

I've never even heard of all metal gaskets for a 3vze, but seeing as how I just pulled the heads on my 89' 4runner yesterday I'd be very interested in learning more.

rworegon

Failure at 200 km on a new re-build after a overheat is not likely due to a bad HG, but caused by a failure in the re-build process, IMO. Were the heads pressure tested? Resurfaced? The block? Was the block at least checked for warpage?

MudHippy

There are some MLS HGs around for the 3VZE. MLS HGs require an ultra-smooth head and block mating surface to function properly. Meaning they generally aren't the easiest/cheapest route to go. Most machine shops don't even have the type of equipment needed to produce such a smooth surface/finish. It needs to be mirror smooth, or as near to it as is practically possible.

Here are a couple of places selling the MLS head gaskets:
http://compare.ebay.com/like/1404802...=263602_304692

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/de...EPT312746.html

The "real deal" may be to go with a solid copper head gasket. Not only will it conform to the head and block mating surfaces without requiring a mirror finish to seal properly, it's going to have the best properties as far as heat transfer and distortion. It will also be able to have some slipping effect, like the slipperplate on OE gaskets, on both sides of the gasket even. The MLS gaskets may be able to be effective in this aspect too, but not being completely flat, will not be as able to accomodate as much slipping as a solid copper or slipperplate design. That being one of the main concerns regarding the MLS gaskets, because they have raised ridges/rings around all of the coolant and oil passages. Shifting/slipping of these ridges/rings during heating and cooling cycles could potentially cause leaks.

More info on solid copper head gaskets:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f123...t-cure-178007/

I happen to think that the newer OE type designs with the slipperplate, such as the ones made by Rock, are a pretty good design though. And when properly installed should last a couple hundred thousand miles or more.

Armada

rworegon: Block was flat with a precision straight edge, heads were flat to well within spec. Made the call not to crack test and plane .... regretting it now. This time they'll be headed to machine shop.

All: I heard back from japanengine.com about the metal head gaskets they supply. They are from Evergreen in California ... same folks as the picture in this thread would lead to believe:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f123...askets-191393/

Cometic said they would make "Steel Reinforced Fiber with a Steel fire ring" which sounds like the slipper-plate design for close to $95 each.

I haven't heard back from www.headgasket.com about the copper gaskets so ordered Rock gaskets.

rworegon

Armada, ask your local Toyota dealer who they use for machining and use that same shop and machinist. I did this and had very good results on my 5vz top-end rebuild. Since the heads are going in, have them cleaned, pressure checked, valve seals done, and resurfaced at a minimum. Others may have additional recommendations.

On the block side, do a through cleaning with a solvent (brake cleaner, carb cleaner) and a gentle scrapping (assuming the block is cast iron) with sharp razor blades....keep 'em sharp, buy a box of 50. I plugged the oil and water ports with rolled up cotton towel to keep crud from falling into the block. Also, the shop vac was sucking off stuff as soon as it came loose. Good luck on round two.

rworegon

Also, be sure all the junk is out of the HG bolt holes. I used long wooden handled swabs like similiar to a Q-tip dipped in solvent to clean them until the swab came out pristine.

Andy A

Hey MudHippy, funny thing, the HG's that came in my Rock gasket set (approx 6 mths ago) were actually the Felpro headgaskets. Go figure.

MudHippy

Huh???

What do you mean exactly? There's a pretty big difference between the two. They don't even look remotely the same.

They didn't look like these, with the words "Rock Gasket" stamped on them?


I know the package has a Fel-Pro part # on it. But they're not Fel-Pro gaskets. The number is just for reference, and simply means they're equivalent to, or are suitable replacements for that particular Fel-Pro part.

We discussed this in my thread on upside down head gaskets.
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f123...askets-191393/

The Fel-Pro head gaskets look like this. See the difference?
9728PT

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=122577

9815PT

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=122589