Squiddy

Oy vey. I was thinking I might have a bad cold start sensor hoohaa until this am with a moderately rough idle I noted a whole lot-o-smoke (whitish) and hmmm my coolant level has suddenly dropped. So there goes the head gasket. Boohoo. (92 3.0 Auto) I replaced it the first time at 65,000 and the timing belt at 90,000, so you can imaging how thrilled I am to be doing it at 146,000. This blows. That and a) the truck is my daily driver and b) I have no garage to work in = one very expensive repair instead of me doing it.

Wadda you all think, ie aside from lighting a bonfire under the 3.0 would you a) go ahead and replace timing belt, b) do some other stuff too?

Any input appreciated

Outsane

ARP head studs?

Squiddy

Oh, well, off to the proverbial races. Given the logistics (no garage, no time) it's off to the shop. Gory details to follow...

92 TOY

definitely try themagasket if it's the head gasket (rxauto.com) i did and it worked.

Reldnew

How long/many miles have you gone on the thermagasket repair?

92 TOY

about 600. just did it 3 weeks ago but only got the truck able to be capable of being street legal (inspected 1 week ago).it was a $135 gamble that has paid off. plus i installed a new radiator / hoses / thermostat, so it definitely put some new life into my truck.
i'm still a little skeptical about the thermagasket but it worked within 30 seconds. alot of preliminary work went into it, it's not like the other stuff that you just slop in from the auto parts store and hope it doesn't screw everything up. i have no heater core blocakage, radiator is clean as a whistle , no more steaming and no more water in the oil.
i'd like to think of it as a success.
couldn't justify the $1000 + it would cost to rip it down to do the head since i never did that kind of work before.

92 TOY

on the other hand, we just bought a 1988 4runner sr5 10 days agofor $1200 listed as "blown head gasket".body is 90% exccellent, some rust at the tops of the wheelwells and that's it besides some steaming. i figured i've seen this generation 4runner going from $2000 to $6000 in various conditions and thought if i could get a clear diagnosis of blown head gasket, it was worth another $135 to do this one too. it runs strong the way it is, as did my truck .new radiator probably will be delivered today or tomorrow ,hoses already here. having a good time with this one, it's for my son (age 13) and he's having a great time working on it. I'm quickly getting some mechanic abilities too as so is he.

Squiddy

Too late (!). Anyhow, I am leery of less than "true" fixes. The first time mine blew I figured it out when engine completely dead. Can't afford to be stranded like that. Also, I guess in end repair price is better than buying new rig, right? Sad thing is I was planning to do an overhaul around 180,000. At this point am planning to shove in new timing belt while we're in there, water pump, etc, so should be set for a WHILE...

92 TOY

do you mean you started pulling it apart already kinda TOO LATE ? beleive me i was leery too. but realistically this truck was going to stay parked until i came up with enough$$$ to do it right or make a new friend that loved doing that kinda thing. so ,practically speaking,neither was going to happen soon. that's why when i saw this stuff i figured i had little to lose, the truck was parked since july 3rd when this happened and being that i'm the original owner ,i refused the idea of getting rid of it.

Squiddy

No, too late as in "off at shop" already. Under different circumstances I would have tried your tack!

92 TOY

well, nothing beats the security of doing it right the first time. time will tell if i made a wise decision or if i only put a band-aid on it.

92 TOY

but with the money i didn't spend i was able to justify picking up the 88 4runner for my son.

Rocketwrencher

Just came across Thermagasket a couple of days ago myself. I am considering trying it out on my 5.7 Suburban with the dismal white smoke symtom. I just finished rebuilding our 4-runner 3.0 and dont feel like doing the same to the Suburban. At least not yet.

92 TOY

it's worth a $135 shot.also a money back guarantee.
about that 3.0, what was wrong.we got this 4runner w/ the 3.0 and it's strong.just pulled the radiator out minutes ago, looks like it may have been the original. about the bottom 1/3rd of the fins are missing, flushed the susytem quite a bit and then stopped for dinner now. have the replacement ready to go, but i just said to my son, while we have the radiator off we should look to see if there is anything else to do while it's out of the way. both valve covers leak but it looks like a total pain in the a** to get at them.....true?

flashkl

It sucks not having a proper place to do this kinda work at. I'm doing my HG right now, in my driveway. I too have very little time (I'm either at school or at work or it's too dark to work) but luckily I got the engine torn apart during spring break and now I'm waiting on parts and the machine shop. Dunno when I'm gonna be able to button it all back up, but I sure am glad the HG didn't blow while it was cold out.

Squiddy

92 Toy -- yes, getting to the valve cover gaskets is a PITA. Witness my earlier posting: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...92-3vz-178831/
The issue is, to do it right you really need to pull the intake plenum.

Flash -- yes, if I had a place other than the parking lot...

92 TOY

thanks...i just read that thread. i know somewhere else on yotatech somebody posted step by step pictures of the passenger side, so that with those pics from the driver's side should cover most of it.
took the radiator out, took pics of it, it's amazingly bad.got the fan off, not hard to do, took what i thought was the water-neck off when i took the radiator off (located lust above and towards the engine of the radiator) but it wasn't it. found the water neck and got 2 of 3 bolts out but need to get a deep socket for the one closest to the engine...tomorrow.

Squiddy

OK, so now I reaaaalllly need solid advice. I talked to shop (Toyota dealership in Boston) and they are obviously loathe to do this. Saying "well, with engines this age..." etc and are saying at least 3 grand, and then if they do it maybe the engine will blow out somewhere else due to newly increased compression. Other option being putting in a rebuilt, and with that they are talking somewhere over $6000. Given what I see people do here, well, none of these options seem to good. So, give me some ideas!

PlugItIn

that is waaaay to much...i would call around to different shops around you, and not go to the stealership...

Squiddy

OK, just to make this thread run forever: The engine has 146k on it. Truck with a ton of mods and redos including new radiator, redone AC, new OME suspension, Budbuilt skid, etc. Plus a new badlands bumper for front ordered. Thus loathe to heave it. Options seem to be: take chance on head redo, get rebuilt, or give up. Wadda you all think it is worth spending? How much do you think is reasonable to spend, either for head gasket or rebuilt install? How much would you spend on a rebuilt and who sells good ones?