Scrussanation

Any ideas what I should change while I'm doing a head gasket job? got a week to myself figured good time as any and I've already replaced so much and my head gasket is technically blown but not leaking into exhaust or coolant or anywhere internal, the leak is in the obvious part and has been for a year now in back near #6 on this 3vze beauty.. Its basically just leaking lil bit of oil and its traveling down in the back @ #6 but its not leaking enough to brag about... not even enough to tell on the dipstick even after some good amount of miles... but would like to get it out of the way before any harms done... dont believe this engine has ever been done as far as the head gaskets go.. 164k still goin im happy runs fine juse dont wanna let it get worse and cause anymore damage... any suggestions on anything else I may need to change while I'm doing that... also I do labor all myself so I'm saving a bundle rather then doin a engine swap... so far roughly $200 for complete head gasket kit plus the head bolts... what else? timing belts fairly new maybe 5-10k what else should I change and should I do timing belt anyways???

Gamefreakgc

I was gonna say flamethrower injectors but you already have them

Chip/break/smash out your old PCV valve on the passenger side valve cover and put in a new one and a new grommet (even if the old grommet hasn't turned to stone). $7 and you'll never have to worry about it again and get better emissions.

You'll want to adjust your valves when you've got the new head on and the cams back on. If you haven't done it before, search around a bit since there's an old thread I made back in January when I did it that has a lot of good tips. The shims are special order from the dealer in most cases. Once you've measured, you could probably take the cams back off to make it a 100x easier.

Go ahead and clean out your throttle body too if you haven't done that before. If you're a clean freak then do your intake manifold and air chamber too. If it's got significant amount of carbon deposits then you're losing airflow into the engine. Or run seafoam (works great).

That's all I can think of.

Scrussanation

lmao whenever I did the flamethrowers I already changed coolant sensor, pcv valve and hose, and anything else that looked funny and throughly cleaned the plenum as it was.. it maybe was 5k ago?? only thing Ive never done is the shim thing.. i only have a full week to get the job done... and i have a sealed cold air intake the link for that is here https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...-setup-272137/

nothingbetter

now would be a good time to flush the cooling system since it will all be empty anyways.

scope103

Are you sure you have a blown head gasket? An oil leak on the back of the engine is most likely a valve cover gasket. Clean it up really well (spray engine degreaser), run it for a few minutes, then take a look. If you have oil below the head gasket but nothing above it, well, then you should replace the head gasket.

Scrussanation

yea I was hoping for a valve cover but nope its definately a head

big bear

How about a valve grind, new valve seals, and valve adjustment done by a machine shop.

Scrussanation

is it not possible to be done yourself???

big bear

I know you could lap the valves yourself, change the seals and adjust them, but a machine shop will do a three angle grind plus the fact that they are pros and do this type of work everyday.

IDK your budget, I can do most work myself, but there are things I'd rather pay the pros to do.

scope103

not really. Merely lapping the valves is really not worth it (even Click and Clack refer to it as a "rite of passage"). You won't be able to pressure test the head, and you won't have the reamer to properly replace the valve guides. You can't surface the head. Most of all, a machine shop has a complete set of shims to adjust the valves; you don't.

But, Philbert https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...l#post52046891 determined that he could buy a new (?) head for only a few more dollars than I spent to have mine machined, and I thought I got a pretty good deal.

So you really need to make a choice. You can just pop off the head, and put it back on, whatever its condition, with a new gasket. Seems like a lot of work to go through for what is really a half-assed job. Or, you can do the complete job, replacing all "soft" stuff on the way and having the heads brought up to spec. (Well, I suppose there's a third choice where you put in a racing cam and have the head "ported, polished, and flow-tested". But doing that on a 20-ish year old truck?)

Good luck!

Gamefreakgc

Wait, valve adjustments and valve jobs are two totally different things.

I agree with scope, if you're gonna pull the head and get it redone... just buy the new one. No cracks, no worries and it will last a LONG time. Pair that with a valve job and you've got a brand spanking new engine, for the most part. But, now you're talking more like $500 for the whole deal.

big bear

If you want rebuilt heads, these guys are tough to beat.
http://www.shop.headsonly.com/TOYOTA...30-VS-SOHC.htm

$250 a head, no core deposit.

Scrussanation

Bumpity bump bump

Scrussanation

anything new as far as suggestions.. thinking about buying new heads but woulkd it be cheaper redoing everything myself

Gamefreakgc

That's about all... there's not a whole lot left of the engine at that point!

If money isn't an issue for you then look into new headers. You'll be half-way there with a cylinder head job. I hear a lot of people like Doug-Thorleys and the ones from LCE and they do give noticeable HP gains (our trucks are starved for air). You might also then want to replace any exhaust pipe that's smaller than the headers otherwise there's not much point in doing it.

You could also get an bored throttle body for even more air intake, or perhaps even a bored intake manifold. But now you're talking with all this, easily $2000.

maachine

i say call a few machine shops, tell them what you're doing and ask them for a price on fixing up the heads. probably be cheaper than buying new ones

maachine

also, i'm guessing you did the water pump recently too huh? seems like you're on top of your maintenance

Gamefreakgc

That's what we are forgetting! If you haven't ever done it, water pump and timing belt might need to be replaced.

Scrussanation

Oh yeah new water pump and New fans, timing belt, oil pump etc just didn't know if I should go ahead and do timing belt again only after 10k if that

big bear

You can get a Gates timing belt for $18 from Rock. About the price for 5 gallons of gas.
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...,parttype,5716

Do you have access to a puller to get the vib dampener off ?