shwuz

I've gotten my 22re hot a few times, but never so hot it shut down or anything. Most I ever saw was a singing radiator cap when I blew a belt. Under normal operation (99% of the time) the temp never gets over %50 on the temp sensor. But whenever I stop, at least most of the time, I can hear my coolant gurgling in the overflow tank. Then it can take some coolant (maybe a quart) every fill-up.

I don't burn ANY oil, and I'm not seeing any other symptoms of a BHG (milky oil, oily water, watery exhaust)... The radiator is newish, only about 15k miles, and the thermostat and rad cap are of the same vintage.

So, waddaya figure? Is the gurgling normal? Am I maybe just not sucking the coolant back in when it cools? Thoughts?

ZUK

iTrader: (1)

I think you have a BHG.....so why was it getting hot in the first place or are you still working on that?

RustBucket

iTrader: (1)

Yep, exhaust in the coolant is a BHG. It happened to me and my oil didn't look milky until I actually drained it, and even so it was barely noticeable.

surf4runner

BHG X3

shwuz

I don't think I have exhaust in the coolant, just continued bubbling (boiling?) after shutting down. The times it got hot before were from a bad radiator, lost coolant from leaking waterpump, and that one time from the blown belt. Other than the blown belt, all the other "hot" (and I didn't let it get that hot) episodes were probably 15k miles ago.

It isn't getting anywhere near the red zone now (or even over the halfway mark) as long as it has a bit of coolant in it... It just fills that overflow tank every time I drive it and bubbles at me as I'm walking away in the parking lots.

86_runner

BHG x4 Take a collant pressure tester and put it on the radiator with the truck off crank it up and see how long it takes it to build up pressure. If it gets to 10/15 psi pretty quick you have a BHG or warped the head.

shwuz

Well, my new cam is on the way from EB, along with the new headgasket set. So, if that is indeed the problem, it will be solved soon enough.

I just hopes it does something about my tap-tap-tapping!


Now all I have to do is JB-weld that broken (and $$) headlight assembly so it doesn't point at the ground, check and probably replace my whiny AC compressor, buy a new battery, replace the battery and finally replace the missing bolt in the battery hold-down, replace the grommets in my windshield washer reservior so it doesn't leak, replace my bent and rattling skid plate, full new front-end, get new front-end aligned, rear main seal, check out what is causing that occasional vibration while braking, fix that, get a new cat-back exhaust system, and figure out how to lower my spare tire so I can check its condition (can't believe I haven't done that in the 3 years I've had this truck).

Not necessarily in that order, of course.

Oh, and all this before august 31, because this 4runner needs to make its fourth 1000-mile non-stop trip from south texas to the west coast of mexico so it can take me surfing.

ZUK

iTrader: (1)

Just for the fun of it......why not try the condom test? Remove the radiator cap and place NEW condom over orfice.....make sure to plug the line going to the overflow tank. Now start the engine......if the condom grows and grows then you will knows.

surf4runner

^

well hurry up! dont ruin a good mexico session by not being able to get there!

Compressed

Whats the status on this?

I have a pickup with the exact same behaviour, I think my head gasket is dead too. Now I need to figure out if I should rebuild the engine at 212k or try and just replace the HG.

shwuz

Update:

Going to try the condom tomorrow, definitely better (cheaper) than a pressure tester.

Took it on a 60 mile highway trip to the lake, towing my 1200lb sailboat, just to see if it would make it, and at the end of each trip (there and back) it did the same thing. After parking it at the campsite, the radiator was blowing steam into the full reservior for a good 15 minutes at least. Afterwards it sucked most of it back into the radiator again.

I drove home without a refill, just to see how much I was losing, and it took about a quart after that 120 miles of abuse.

Never once on this trip did it falter or rise above about 40% on the temp gauge, but it sure was bubbling upon arrival!

I have a EB cam and headgasket kit on the way, so I'll post an update as soon as I have the gasket exposed, see if it is blown somewhere.

ovrrdrive

You could do a compression test to rule out the HG...

I wouldn't necesarrily think that just because you run a little hot you have a BHG, but I would venture to say that since you've run it hot so many times you probably have one now or will soon.

Make sure that when the head is off you take it down and get it resurfaced and pressure tested.

A compression test isn't a 100% catch all for the BHG, but it's a 99.0%.

subliminaltrips

or you can use compressed air into the spark plug hole... with the rubber.

shwuz

Ok, tried the condom test... Don't reall know how to interpret the results, however.

The engine was warm, about 1 hour after driving all over town (returning home with the bubbling, again).

I topped off the radiator, maybe a couple of cups, then applied the condom and started the truck. The condom immedietely began to fill with water/coolant as the coolant level began to rise, so I allowed it to drain out as it flowed in, trying to keep the coolant level with the top of the radiator. After a couple of minutes of this, I'm assuming the t-stat opened, and the condom was jerked from my hands and turned inside out inside of the radiator so forcefully that it popped.

I scratched my head and got another condom.

Now I topped off the radiator again (this time it took quite a bit), with the engine running, and put the condom back on. Now, the condom did begin to fill will gas as the bubbles worked their way from the system, but I'm not sure they were exhaust gasses. After a couple of minutes of this, the coolant started to flow out into the condom again, and I decided to bag the whole experiment. The second time the coolant was coming out, it was obviously well-mixed and red, so I'm sure the tstat was open at that point.

I have a feeling the data collected are pretty much meaningless. Anyone have any interpretation of this?

shwuz

Head came off today. Well, it didn't just come off. It had to be persuaded. Took about 6 hours since I was moving slow and taking my time in labling everything.

Anyway, points to everyone who guessed BHG. It was blowing exhaust into the coolant for sure in #4, and possibly #2 as well. I know the metal ring sprung apart on both those cylinders when the head came off.

So, now the mystery isn't why it was acting the way it was. The mystery now is how it managed to keep running so damned well in that condition! I'm blown away that could have had BHG in two holes, and not even really know about it.

Say what you will about the 22re, but don't say it doesn't have some serious heart!

mastacox

LOL, results or not, it was worth it for the visuals

UncleT

What did the cylinders look like and what spring came apart ? As in piston ring or?

scope103

I'm guessing he's referring to the metal ring that is part of the head gasket. It's a slightly out-of-round piece of metal right at the edge of the cylinder. If the head gasket loses "squeeze," the power stroke can push the metal ring away from the cylinder.

Co_94_PU

iTrader: (-1)

It's called a fire ring. It's the metal ring around the combustion chamber area of a head gasket. It keeps the fire front from shreding/penetrating the gasket layers.
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