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Have an '82 Toyota pickup with the 22r, carbureted. It now has 130,000 miles. I've had it about 10,000 miles. I have quite a few old maintenance documents from the previous owner. At 105,000 miles it had a head gasket replacement two years ago and the service documents state that there was a pressure test and the head was milled. I'm wondering if milling or a leak test was actually done. I have had intermittent performance issues with the truck the past couple thousand miles. At first the vehicle was driving fine but would have difficulty starting when it sat warm these past couple thousand miles. Had to put the gas pedal to the floor to start and rev it for a while or it would die at idle. It would start fine if it was left overnight which made me think it was a choke issue. Here is the old thread that I thought fixed it for a week. I also replaced all the vacuum lines.
However, after about a week or so the truck would have this intermittent performance issue where it felt like a vacuum leak and would die if it got below 1,200 rpms even going down the road, and it would happen at random down the road, not depending on length of time. Some times it would recover while driving, sometimes I would need to park and let it set until it got cold again. It has been extra weird as it seems the problem snaps on and off, it doesn't slowly happen. Now, today when I started it up in the parking lot after it was driven for a while (let it set 30 minutes after driving 15 miles), there was billowing white, sweet/burnt, smoke came from the tailpipe - which indicates to me a blown head gasket. The engine missed and shook and lacked power. I was able to get it out of the parking lot and the billowing smoke continued to billow. However, upon getting on the entry ramp on the highway, like a drop of a hat, the performance regained and the smoke stopped. I was able to drive it back home fine about 10 miles away without issue. I let it idle in the driveway for a while, couple minutes, and then all of a sudden the idle got rough, engine smoked, and it died. I started again and it again had the terrible miss with billowing white smoke. I checked the oil and it looks like chocolate milk. The radiator seemed to have air bubbles and brown.
I have never had a head gasket or head issue that was intermittent like this, and it worries me that it happened 25,000 miles after a previous head gasket failure. Anybody else have similar issues? Is there more to this that I should be looking for? I didn't think 22r's dad head/gasket problems. Also, while I am in there to replace the gasket and mill the head, is there anything else to replace while everything is apart on the top end?
I went through this too with mine. A lot more miles though. Mine has 270,000. I would bet your timing chain is shot too. When you pull the head if the top of the block is all black and discolored in areas then the block will need to be milled. They had to take off 11 thousands off of mine. Where are you located? Is this a California slogged vehicle? I enclosed a picture of what mine looked like.
really doesn't look all that bad but when measured it was. Those darker looking areas were deep.
I think first thing is to stop driving it before you do more damage. If you ask some people (typically non-Toyota people), there is common view that those engines had head gasket problems. That's because of the aluminum head/cast iron block. Everything is fine, unless you overheat the engine. If you do overheat, aluminum and cast iron expand/contract at different rates. You get warping between the two, and so no seal, or head gasket failure. Same with Subarus. At least that's how it was explained to me. They don't have head gasket issues, necessarily...it's more accurate to say they're very unforgiving of overheating.
Continuing to drive it isn't doing good things for your engine.
The problem with repairs if of course whether they were done well, or even at all right. Could be a totally botched job.
Not sure all your symptoms make sense to me, but I'm not a great mechanic. It makes perfect sense for head gasket issue to only happen when cold, since if there's just a small leak, it can easily be sealed when the engine heats up and expands. Beyond that I'm not experienced enough. I will say that with billowing white smoke and brown coolant, you've definitely got oil in your coolant and coolant in your oil. Oil in coolant coats and plugs things and doesn't cool well. Coolant, not being a good lubricator, will keep your engine oil from properly lubricating bearings, and will also start corroding things. Burning coolant doesn't necessarily mean you've got it dumping into your oil, but there's a good chance...
Good catch. Your probably correct that it was not a quality repair job. If it were mine I would pull the engine. There is really no way to properly clean out the water jacket and oil passages without a thorough cleaning in something like a hot tank. Hopefully your crank is ok .
Well, I'm going to try and get into it this weekend, weather permitting. Parts stores around here only have Fel-Pro head gaskets. I can't find any head bolts close by either. Fel-Pro gaskets good enough? It was mentioned to probably replace the timing set while I was there, anything else while I am in there? I thought perhaps a valve job too while I have the head off too.
It depends on the condition and how much money you're willing to spend. These things can domino...You can either take the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" approach, or decide to just rebuild the entire engine since you're taking it apart anyway. It's up to you.
If you're going to do the job, unless you really can't be without your truck for a few extra days, just get the parts from Toyota or another OEM equivalent maker. Don't mess with cheap parts.
Pulled off the head this weekend. The back cylinder, no. 4, had antifreeze in it. I found no break in the gasket anywhere from a water passage to piston no. 4. Wonder if I need to inspect the head for cracks. Anybody have the best shade tree mechanic way to check this? I don't have a shop, just my basement and a harbor freight 30 minutes away. I have yet to get out the straight edge and feeler gauge to check for flatness/warping. I will update when I do that.
I was hoping to see a clear blown head gasket to pin the problem, but perhaps there's something more treacherous afoot.
Check with straight edge, and check for corrosion/pitting on both surfaces that might be keeping the gasket from getting a good seal. But also remember that when you pull the head, antifreeze will run all sorts of places. It isn't necessarily there because of a failure. Could just be there because you pulled the head.
But obviously you've been burning antifreeze, so give it a good look.
I won't be much help here. I'm alright at fixing something once I've been told "this is what's wrong". But not so experienced at looking at something and knowing what's wrong...
Like stated above use a straight edge and use a feeler gauge I would try a .002 gauge first. If it goes in anywhere then try a thicker one. Don't just do the head but do the block too. The shop removed 5 thousands from my head and 11 from my block. Take some pictures and post them .
I'll post some pictures when I get back to the house. Measured the head, have not measured the block. I got .007 gap in the center and about .004-5 between 1 and 2, and 3 and 4 straight across. Diagonally it is still .007 in the center and .002-3 between 1 and 2, and 3 and 4. So it looks like I have some warping. Not as bad as I thought.
Time to rebuild the head. Or purchase a complete new head. If you do go for a new head stay away from eBay or China stuff. Most is no good. There are bargains out there.
Yes. If you don't pull that engine and have the block milled flat it will never seal. That's why that last head gasket blew. When your done you will have a fresh new engine.
Have the shop measure the cylinders too. If the cylinders and pistons are still ok you will save a bunch. If you need a cam pick one up from Redline while that are on sale. He even let's you pay with PayPal. If your head needs new valves you can get OEM from Toyota on line cheaper than your local dealer. Or show the dealer the price he may match it.
10-02-2019, 08:48 PM
