Rocketwrencher

First off, I am posting this in this section because of the notorious blown head gasket issue with the 3.0. Second, this test was done on my 99 GMC Suburban because I already rebuilt the 95 4Runner 3.0 six months ago. If I had known about this product back then, I could have saved myself thousands of dollars.

OK, the symptoms that I had were white smoke out of the exhaust and a miss-fire on cylinder #3. I did not have any water in the oil or any oil in the water. There was also no obvious leaks in the engine bay, but the smell of coolant was definately noticeable and I was constantly having to refill the radiator. I figured that with these symptoms, my leak was between a water jacket and cylinder #3. Hence the miss-fire and white smoke.

I ordered The thermagasket kit for the presense of water in the oil because I figured with 135,000 miles on the truck, it could use a crank case cleaning. I believe I paid $150.00 for the kit shipped. I followed the manufacturers instructions as far as the flushing of the radiator and adding the thermagasket. After the 15 mile required trip, there was no white smoke coming from the tail pipe and the smell of coolant was gone. I figured the smell was gone because the system did not have any coolant in it, only water. I then proceeded to change the #3 spark plug and do the seafoam treatment. Within 30 seconds, the check engine light for the miss-fire was gone. Once all the white smoke from the seafoam treatment had dissipated, I changed all the plugs, oil and oil filter. I went with 10w-50 and slick50 oil additive for high milage engines because I had been burning oil as well. I have to say, the truck runs like it was brand new. I was skeptical at first, but so far, it seems to be the easiest/best repair in lew of a top end rebuild.

I will continue to monitor the truck for the next 2 weeks as directed by the instructions and repost if anything goes awry.

yodercrawler55

well thats good to hear, I have a headgasket problem. I am leaning towards using thermagasket since I do not have the money and time to do a rebuild. How much was the seafoam?

Rocketwrencher

If you order the kit for water in the oil, you get a can of it with your order, otherwise, it runs about 9 bucks at the auto parts store.

yodercrawler55

alright sweet, thanks

d71889b

wow, now that i wouldn't trust the slightest bit. you will eventually have to do the head gaskets anyways

yodercrawler55

o yea i don't trust it at all I just hope it will get me through a couple weeks so i can get from work and back.

turborich

Sometimes stuff like that will work for 2 days & other times it will last for years. I hope it last for a long time. Keep us posted.

92 TOY

1 month and still holding

Matt16

That's awesome that it works to some extent. i wouldn't use it before a big trip, but it might be useful to get you home from one.

92 TOY

I agree. i'm still nervous about the durability. i used mine a month ago, and it's still holding, but realistically I've only put about 600 miles on it, so even though it's apparently still OK, i have my doubts about the long term.get in there and fix what made the head gasket fail in the 1st place. in my case it was a clogged radiator. as they said on the site, it's not the head gasket that caused the failure (or maybe) but rather some sort of failure in the cooling system.

Rocketwrencher

I will soon find out as to the durability of it. I drive 600 miles a week for work and I have to drive to flagstaff in two weeks to pick up my son from college (about 1200 miles round trip).

92 TOY

did you do any repairs before the thermagasket?? like I said, my problem was a terrible radiator that caused the overheating that caused the head gasket failure.

Rocketwrencher

The truck had overheated once a long time ago when my wife was driving due to a bad thermastat. It had been slowly leaking ever since, but never overheated since then. I am pretty sure that is what the initial cause was.

TNRabbit

Thermagasket will eventually clog your radiator & any small water passages. It's ok for a short time but will cause major issues if you run too long with that junk in there.

Rocketwrencher

According to the instructions, you only leave it in for two weeks. After that, you flush the system with water again and refill with water and antifreez.

It has been one full day and 120 miles since the repair. Truck ran great and never got over 190deg. Checked radiator after it completly cooled and it was full to the brim. I will continue to update this post through the required two weeks of keeping the thermagasket in the radiator for those who are considering this repair.

92 TOY

agreed. same story here. new radiator and joses and thermostat removed for thermagasket treatment. left in for about 3 weeks because truck was not inspected and had to wait on that. water level never changed. when treatment time frame (3 weeks for me) was done, diconnected upper and lower hoses from the radiator, flushed the system / flushed the radiator, filled with water / flushed again and then again. assured myself the heater worked. took it apart again / this time put the thermostat in / filled with water again and have been running it that way for 2 weeks. willl flush it one more time in near future and put in pre-mix antifreeze. also had to use 1/2 can sea foam in the oil and 1/2 can in the gas. truck runs great / no heater core issue / no radiator issue / no loss of water / thermosta does it's job /problem fixed. just waiting now to see how long it holds. supposed to be as good as a true repair minus the $$$$$.

92 TOY

Joses???


HOSES!!!!

can't spell tonight!!

92 TOY

prior to using thermagasket , had to change the oil. so much coolant in it it was about 8 inches up the dipstick. even though i changed the oil / i had been doing the cooling system repair and just from flushing the system (before the thermagasket) it invaded my oil again to the point that i changed the oil a 2nd time so that it was at the right level (1 quart low as per instructions).
my oil level is still perfect.......since the thermagasket treatment.

92 TOY

on the same note....what are the ways to diagnose a head gasket failure. mine was based on previous experience.....about 7 years ago...same deal ....overheated and sucked coolant into the oil and steam out the exhaust.

my question is not about my 92 truck but about the 88 4runner we just got "as-is blown head gasket" so I jumped on it after the success i had with the thermagasket. i've already replaced the hoses and radiator and verified that it had no thermostat in.

how can i verify blown head gasket...or this only a mechanic-able diagnosis. i know there is a sniffer for exhaust gases in the radiator (actually sell it on the thermagasket site). oil level is good, but i don't know how much this thing has been running since the oil was changed, but like i said, when my truck (92 truck)was only run for the sake of flushing the system, it sucked it right into the oil.

Rocketwrencher

Get a block tester. You put about two inches of the blue fluid in it, hold it over the radiator mouth making a good seal and slowly pump the rubber ball on the top of the tester. if there are exhaust gases in the cooling system, it will turn the fluid yellow. I used it just to verify my head gasket leak. That coupled with white smoke in the exhaust and a miss-fire on cylinder #3 and having to top off the radiator every couple of days confirmed it for me. I did not have water in the oil though, but went ahead and did the seafoam treatment anyway.

I have now put 300 miles on the truck since the repair. So far, everything is checking out perfectly. Hope it lasts. I have to drive to flagstaff Az. in a week. 1200 mile round trip!