YFZsandrider

I just picked up a very clean '93 extracab 3.0 a few days ago. I have only had 22re pickups until now, so I'm not very familiar with the 3VZE.

The truck has 235k miles on it, still the original motor, although Toyota said their records show the head gasket warranty was performed in 1998. There aren't any signs of water in the oil, or oil in the water... however, when I bought the truck the radiator was about 1/2 gallon low. It had a recent radiator replacement... and after talking to the previous owner, I believe he never checked or topped off the coolant after initially filling it.

The truck has good power and runs great... but today, after driving it about 15 miles and parking it for an hour, it idles at about 500rpm on start up, and runs a little rough for a few seconds under accelleration. The issue immediately cleared up, but I noticed that the tail pipe was steaming as though it were very cold outside, but it was only about 60 degrees out.

I'll watch my coolant level very closely, but I'm wondering if this could be the early signs of a head gasket going bad? Any info would be great, thanks guys!!

MudHippy

Short answer, no.

But coolant leaking into the combustion chamber can be caused by not resurfacing, or poorly resurfacing, the heads when installing the gaskets. That's happened to me before. Or it could be slowly leaking from somewhere else that you can't see or haven't found yet(or may never find). So yeah, keep an eye on it.

If coolant doesn't stop disappearing, try some Bars Leaks sealant. They've got a bunch of different types. If you have the cash get the bottle of their head gasket fix and pour it in there. I've used their liquid aluminum radiator stop leak many times and it works real good. I actually pour a bottle of that stuff in every time I replace the coolant, as a leak preventative measure. It's the one that looks like silver glitter suspended in clear viscous liquid.

About the driveability issue, it's probably not related. I'd check for codes and see what the ECU has to say about it.

YFZsandrider

Thanks, I'll keep an eye on it, and scan for codes!

TNRabbit

DO NOT use the leak sealant!!!!

I will clog your radiator & head passages, & probably your heater core as well!!!!

MudHippy

I've been running this stuff in my 3VZ-E for ~11,000 miles without any troubles. And I always will. It don't hurt a thing. No more impossible to trace coolant leaks either.

http://www.barsproducts.com/1186.htm

It's got minute aluminum flakes and trace amounts of what appears to be fiberglass threads. Nothing the size that could possible clog any coolant passages. SCA(supplemental coolant additive) too, so it's better than running plain coolant. Helps the engine stay cooler.

From the FAQ page.
http://www.barsproducts.com/tech/1186_faq.pdf

From the tech sheet.
http://www.barsproducts.com/tech/1186_tech.pdf

Sometimes you'll get a small, hard to find, internal coolant leak. That's a good way to fix it, and occasionally it's the ONLY way you'll fix it. Short of tearing you're entire engine apart...and even then it can be hard, if not impossible, to determine where it's at. Ask me how I know...

erk1983

Man, I would never put any type of additive like the sealant stuff in any car that I care about. That stuff is terrible, it's not supposed to be there. If something is leaking, then it should be fixed properly.