tyrell2004

New to this forum and want to say thanks first.
I have gotten so much help from this forum in doing my heads on my 3.0.
Got down to the cams and heads to pull off.
Two questions?
Can you pull the heads without removing cams, does not look like it but I was tired last night and it was very dark.? and
Are there an improved or best Head gaskets to use ? as I do not want to do this again for as long as possible. Enginge Builder was reccommended on this and other Toyota sites.
Thanks and Merry Christmas.
I was dreaming of a White Christmas , but I got a White Smoke Christmas instead .

95 3.0 FWD 237,000; about 30k on rebuilt motor

ChickenLover

The cams have to be removed first. Engnbldr's products are second rate. He gets great reviews because of his outstanding customer service. I have been reading a lot about his gaskets and bolts failing recently. Your best bet for head gaskets and bolts is OEM.

thook

You're shatting me!? Really!? Where have you been reading this....about the hg's and bolts failing? This doesn't bode well. I have 'em in my '92...

Yeah, the cams have to come out to get the inside head bolts out. It's not a big deal, though. Just line everything up in order as you pull them out. It helps because you have numbers and arrows, but it doesn't hurt to stay organized. And make sure you follow the removal procedure/sequence to a T. Also, make sure the tension is off the cam lobes and valve caps/buckets before you start to loosen everything. There's a whole thread about how some have had the cam guides crack from the stress. Happened to mine when the motor I now have was rebuilt by another person. Little did I know, little did he know, but I'm the one who needed another set of cams....and heads. The scoring of the journals and cams was too major to machine out.

Next time, dream of white smoke and maybe you'll get a white christmas instead....

DeathCougar

iTrader: (23)

I say go OEM.

Engnbldr does have some ok quality parts. But he sells made in taiwan gaskets just like everyone on Ebay. Ted does however have the best customer service in the business, so if you plan on going cheap anyways, go see him. He will take care of you right the first time.

tyrell2004

Is that where the natual resting place of the cam shaft is, rotational speakig?
It kinda got me when I was rigging up a holding bar to get the pulley's off, almost nipped my pinkie finger off.
I thought there was a improved gasket design or at least there semed to be a hint at that. or maybe that was just marketing.........
LOL on the white smoke dream.

thook

Yeah. If you can put a wrench on the end of the cam and rotate/wiggle it and it's loose, then the tension is off.

Yes and no on the gaskets. Toyota improved the headgaskets they were using since the original recalls. But, so did a lot of manufacturers making aftermarkets since the removal of asbestos. Apparently, there's still some not so good ones out there, though.

Anyone got anymore verifiable info on the engbldr problems?

tyrell2004

I got both heads off, Only two main probs .Nut on the pair reed valve was rounded so I had to wait until I got the pass side head off to file off the nut , pretty minor actually. Took off the pass side head with the exhaust crossover attached.
Biggest trouble is # 6 plug is seized, Best practices for removal???
And should one replace cam bolts like recomended for the head bolts or are they ok to reuse?
New head gasket install dry? or with permatex copper
I noticed the old gasket was gooped up pretty good around the exterior water passages but obviously did not help much.

Again thanks to this site for helping me avoid lots of pitfalls during this repair!!!

thook

Use some PB blaster on the plug. If you can get in there with a small propane torch, that would help.

The bearing cap bolts (on the cams) are reusable. The only reason the headbolts aren't is the high amount of torquing that stretches them out.

You don't anything for the headgaskets. Just put them on, put the head down without moving it around, and finger tightened the headbolts down. Then, start the tightening sequence.

CoedNaked

I would go OEM if you can afford it for your head gaskets. Also make sure your head is true (straight/flat) before putting it back together. I'm sure there have been a few guys in here who haven't checked this as well as they could and then b*tch when their HG goes again.

runethechamp

I wuld go OEM. engnbldr has GREAT customer service, but there wasn't many nice words coming from my machine shop regarding the parts I got from there for my rebuild, so I sucked it up and got OEM parts for it all. I figured the few extra hundred bucks is worth it if I'm spending all the money and time for a rebuild anyway.

thook

So what did the machine shop say about the parts? What parts were they talking about? Come on guys.....you know lots of folks are using engnbldr parts and it would be nice to know what's going on with them. If there are problems, I would like to even talk to Ted about them.

tyrell2004

I am going with OEM oarts, the Toyota parts guy said there has been at least three revisons to the head gasket design.
Putting it in dry, no copper no sealant.
Thanks

runethechamp

I'll see if I can remember it all. Sizes of bearings were badly out of spec and not as marked, the pistons did not have fluted skirts as the originals have (iirc the piston diameter decreases as you go down the side on the originals). That was pretty much it, but those are pretty important parts for the rebuild.

thook

Uhhhh.....slightly.

Thanks.

runethechamp

My favorite quote, as there was practically smoke coming out of the machine shop guy's ears: "And these pistons, they're made in India! I'm not saying that everything that comes out of India is cr*&, but this is NOT Toyota quality."

And just for the sake of it, there was no financial benefits for this guy to say what he did and implicate that I should get origianl parts. I bought all my parts from somewhere else.