Hilux4Life

Hey guys and gals. I thought I would start a new thread because it looks like all my issues have changed. Well let me start off by saying I know at a minimum I have a blown headgasket. I really need yalls expertise in helping me figure out how bad it is.

I thought a while ago I might have had a headgasket issue because radiator reservoir would run dry from time to time. However, I never ever had any white smoke and I never had any discoloration in my oil at all. Plus I could tell there was an extremely small hole in my radiator just below the radiator cap.


Flash forward to about two weeks ago I had a very random idle surge issue (that was my other thread). At that time when I would start the truck it would idle rough for about 10 seconds and then run fine until I drove the truck about 5 minutes and the truck idle would bounce a bit from 1,000-1,200 RPM. That would only last for about 10-15 seconds and then the truck would drive fine without any further issues. Some days the issue would not even happen. At this time there was NO WHITE SMOKE at all.

Then on July 5th I noticed my temp was rising past the normal temp. So I pulled over right away and took a look at what was going on. When I opened the hood water/antifreeze was coming out of the small hole in the radiator. So I thought all I needed was a new radiator. So I put in distilled water and drove her home (with no issues at all and the temp stayed normal). I ordered my radiator from Low Range Offroad (which gets here today). Then I dove the truck this week to go back and forth from work and for the most part everything was normal except the little idle issue.

Well the last two days coming home (and for some reason this only happend on my way home and not when I started in the morning) from work the truck was acting like it did not want to turn over. Kind of like a dead battery, but after 2-3 attempts it would turn over like normal and start right up (without any smoke of anykind). No mind you I probably had mostly water in the radiator at the time. Well the past two days I noticed the temp would rise up a little pass normal (no where near RED) and then go back down when I would move forward and get the air flowing. So last night I decided to put some Toyota Red antifreeze because I thought that would help with the temp. I did this with the mindset that I was going to get my radiator today and replace everything this evening.

So when I started my truck this morning there it was the dreaded white smoke!!!!!! However, our weather was really wet and humid this morning and sometimes I have noticed my exhaust during those condidtions (no white smoke though) and I guess I was hoping that would be the case again. So I drove into work, about 4-5 miles, and the truck ran completely fine the whole way. During lunch I went out to my truck to take a further look and there is the white milk under the oil cap. However, when I checked my dipstick it looked completely normal. So I know my tuck needs a new headgasket at a minimum at this point. Thank god I have a very short commute so my drive home wont be too bad. My plan is to take it home, park it, and drain the oil to see if it is milky. Now I know nothing about headgaskets at all so this is where I need yalls help.


If the oil looks ok is it safe for me to assume that the damage is minimal and I can just replace the headgasket, radiator, and call it a day? If there is the milky oil does that mean I need a full rebuild? I have tried to be very honest and open about all my symptoms so please share your thoughts.

I will take pics when I get home tonight or tomorrow if its too dark outside.

I have a feeling this will end up being a long thread. Lord knows this happened at the worst possible time when I can really least afford this, but isnt that how it always is? I really appreciate all the help I can get.


All I can do is KCCO!!!!

gigatech88

Do you have the tools to perform a leak down test? @ this point I would replace the hg. The idle surge seems to be another problem not related to coolant. You could use dye and a black lIght to watch fOr leaks in your coolant system .

Full rebuild because of hg. Normally no, if you keep driving it its possible to do lots more damage.

I Heart my Yota

How many miles on your Timing chain? is your water pump gasket leaking? (you would see wet below the water pump if it was) and if it where my truck i would pull the rocker arm cover and see if maybe you have a stretched timing chain. that's what i would do.

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

If you are getting water in the oil, it will eventually damage it. If the water is going out the tail pipe you would be a little bit safer. Driving it with a blown gasket is not wise, but I too had to drive one of mine a short time til I was able to shut it down for awhile so I know where you are coming from.

Some will say if you are going to do a top end rebuild, may as well do the whole motor. If fianances werent an issue I would agree. I have done several top end rebuilds and have gotten several more miles out of a motor. I did have one that I rebuilt the top end and it increase the compression and basically blew the ring out of it and resulted in me getting the block bored to repair the damage from the ring.

There is a slight chance of the top end rebuild coming back and causing more harm to the lower part of the motor. How is the motor otherwise? Low mileage, well maintianed, ect... it will all add up to where you need to decide if just a top end rebuild is enough. I would do a compression check. Just tryig to cover all of the bases.

Doing a full rebuild will take some time. It wont happen overnite but at the very least get the head checked to make sure it is in good enough condition to reuse. You can get a head for about $250. Once I have one that is going cost over $175 for machine work, I replace it. You have to decide where the line is for you to keep or replace. If you just replaced the head gasket and a problem is with the head, you didnt accomplish anything and will cost more in the long run.

A long answer to your "can I keep driving it", but maybe show you something you may have not thought about. I have done about 10 top end rebuilds and only one has blown the ring out. Drive it no more then you have to and just do a top end rebuild if it were me and considering it the worst time for it to go bad on you.

jalopytech

The day it didn't want to crank over like a dead battery, may have been what is called hydraulic lock. Coolant in the cylinder(s) has to be hydraulically pumped out, be it past the rings or valves. Luckily it sounds like it was a small amount of coolant or much worse happens, things bend and break. Leak down / coolant pressure test will confirm.

Hilux4Life

Ok well I got her home, but it took awhile because the temp went up a bit and I wasn't taking any chances. The reservoir would start to bubble up and the temp would rise so I would pull over to let the engine cool off. In a gas station parking lot I checked the dip stick and oil still looked good but a little lo so I put a quart in just to make sure.

Oh BTW when I started the truck to go home from work, it started right up with no white smoke at all.



This is a pic I took when I pulled over the first time.



Here is a shot of the reservoir as soon as I got home. The engine is off. What you hear is the bubbling in the reservoir and you can also see the leak on the radiator. Later I opened the radiator and it looked dry and yet the reservoir tank is almost filled up all the way.

Hilux4Life

Unfortunately I do not have those tools. The truck will no longer be driven at all. She is parked at home. The thing that really sucks is that she is my DD.

Hilux4Life

The truck is supposed to have a LCE double timing chain with about 50k on it. I do have receipts for everything. I have noticed any leaking but I will look tomorrow and report back for sure.

Hilux4Life

I really appreciate the advice. I will do a compression test, but to be honest I have never done one before so I will have to google that. I will not be driving the truck so no worries about screwing it up anymore. The engine have never give me any issues until now and to be honest she still runs strong as hell now. Only real issue is that I need to do a valve adjustment, which I was going to do this weekend before this happened. I have always used either Amsoil or Mobil 1 full synthetic and always changed at 5k on the dot so I think the lower end should be fine. I am at 158k right now.

Hilux4Life

I thought that too. Good news was there was about 90% water in the cooling system at the time so at least it wasn't much if any antifreeze in there. For the record I have only seen white smoke one time and that was this morning. This afternoon it started up just fine with no smoke what so ever. I actually smelled the exhaust at it smelled normal too.

Hilux4Life

Thanks for all your help guys I really appreciate it.

gigatech88

Compression check is simple. Take 1 spark plug out and insert your compression gauge. Unplug the wire from your ignitor to your dist. Center on the cap. "start" your engine for about 3 seconds. Then move on to another cylinder. Do it twice just to make sure your #'s are close. Buy a decent compression gauge. We just threw away our mack tool gauge cause it would read up to 30 psi different in the same cylinder. If you have a genius tool supplier get one from them. Snap on and Matco are overrated and too expensive these days. Ill try and find a link of the gauge I just bought.

Edit. Ok I can't find the link also can't find it on their website. If you aren't going to use the gauge a lot you can get a cheap o. I owned this http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewi...d=171073307975 for 3 years and it worked fine.

You can buy some for around $20 . But you get what you pay for and I can't say How good the quality will be.

aztoyman

Coolant will attack engine bearings and ruin your O2 sensor. By the looks of the crud on your oil cap you have oil in your coolant. Maybe it is just from a timing cover issue. Maybe not.

An easy way to check without special tooling is look at your spark plugs. If it's a head gasket, the good cylinders will have brown or black colored spark plugs. If any look super clean it is because they got steam cleaned by the water/coolant.

Also crank the engine over without the spark plugs in and see if water sprays out of any of the holes.

When you see how far your engine is taken apart with the head off, you will see why you may just as well pull it and do it right. You may have to have the deck surfaced anyway. It's expensive enough to do the top end. You will be kicking yourself if you manage to come up with the time and money to do the top end and a month down the road the bottom end comes apart.

Hilux4Life

Well didn't do anything at all with it today. It was raining out all day and honestly I am still struggling with decision on what to do. I am not the type to half ass anything and I am a big believer in if your are going to do it, you better do it right. The way I see right now, if I am going to tear into the motor I might as well do the whole thing and if I am going down that road I am going to go with something like a stage 2.5 performance 22re engine. I am a salesmans wet dream because I will upsale myself in a second. OR my other option is too finally pull the trigger and get an FJ cruiser.

See I love this truck more than anything but I have two kids now, so it doesn't fit my lifestyle, especially when I can't use the space in my ex cab (its filled with stereo equipment). So I am trying to decide on how much money I am willing to pour into am engine versus getting new yota.

Tomorrow I will pull the spark plugs and take a look and if I have time I will pull the valve cover to take a look.

aztoyman

You might want to take a test ride in the FJ Cruiser WITH your family before you jump into one.

My wife has one and loves it but, it sucks if you have adults or bigger kids going along. Getting in the back sucks, there are no windows for them and there really isn't much cargo room when you make a grocery run or load up for camping.

Don't get me wrong, its a very capable and damn cool 4x4. But, I'd get a 4Runner, Sequoia, or Double Cab Tacoma for a family.

Since I got my Double Cab Tacoma, my wife is always stealing it when she has to pick up the grand kids. Just way more room and no struggle to get them in the rear seat like in the FJ.

If your pickup is paid for just keep it as a toy or backup. A stock rebuild is cheap. Even a mild cam and better exhaust will get you a little better performance. Spending a ton on a 22RE isn't worth it in my opinion. Gears do all the work off road. The 22RE is only lacking ON the road.

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

How are your mechanical skills? How new of a truck are you wanting to buy? Do you have the time for it to be down? There are several questions to see which way would be best to go. If it is a great truck other then the head gasket, I would suggest rebuilding the motor. I have found them rebuilt for around $1400 shipped. http://www.unitedengine.com/index.ph...mart&Itemid=55 I have had 3 great motors from these guys.

Here is a thread to by 92 Toy https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...cement-212688/ I am currently into about $600 for a rebuild on my motor and I have about $150 into the head. 92 Toy lets it be known that he had no skills at all when he got into his rebuild. These are an easy motor to work on with the most basic of tools. The FJs are great trucks but they are still way up in price in my area. Trying to show both sides of cost and time. I seen in your orginal post about it the worst time to go down fianancially. Just from my own experience, these little trucks have really got me from behind on the 8 ball on fianances. I used to get cars paid off and shortly I would have to go into payments on another car. I have been without carpayments for quite some time now it and it took a while but I am feeling the benefits of no car payments.

I have always had newer cars and my 01 Runner is new to me and is still new to me, but my everyday trucks are something I can work on and have all started out in bad shape and just something I enjoy and can justify spending a little money on not just as a hobby but as daily drivers. Any of the three builds below started out as junk trucks but cost me way less then a new to me truck. What I have into all 3 is about what I would have into one good used dependable car. Granted I do the work myself, but the carpaymet money goes to alot of other things that make life funner to enjoy besides payments and the debts started going away.

Hilux4Life

I appreciate the insight. My problem is I don't fit in a Tacoma very well. As of now I am strongly leaning towards keeping it and fixing her. My wife is strongly urging me to get something better for the family. I am really considering my options as far as a rebuild goes. The way see it if I am going to do a head gasket then I might as well rebuild the top end and if I am going to do the top end I might as well do the whole thing. And the leads to new headers and a new clutch.... You see where this goes quickly. Certainly doesn't help that I already have two offers on it as it currently stands.




I pulled the plugs and all looked normal. This one looked different, it was on cylinder #1. Also, very odd but the whole entire reservoir was empty and when I opened up the radiator it looked dry. When I parked the truck the reservoir was completely full literally. No signs of a leak anywhere either. Checked the dip stick again and it looked clean. Haven't drained the oil yet, but will do so this weekend when I have a chance.

Hilux4Life

I appreciate the links. I really need to consider all my options at this point. Part of me says go get a used 4runner to drive while I work on this, but the honest question I need to ask myself is do I have the time to do it myself? Between 70-75 hour work weeks and two little boys, I don't have the luxury of free time. I found a place here in raleigh that is absolutely top notch, but I haven't gone down to see them yet to get the bad news on what it would cost.