I had a head gasket failure on my truck yesterday and was wondering if any body has any tips on replacing it. Do you have to remove the cam to take off the timing chain.

 

seriously man. Google is your friend. There is tons of info out there about it. And no you do not have to remove the cam there is a big bolt that lets you remove the timing chain sprocket from the cam. I would replace the timing chain, water pump, oil pump, and all of that while you have everything apart.

 

The po did all that when hi replaced the head

 

lot of good info here on yt as well. look up the right section and search head gasket. the 22r is pretty easy. replacing t/chain, pumps, and all is up to you. if theyre bad replace them. if you dont enjoy working on your truck then replace them while your in there and get it over with. i like to do things on my truck and i dont like spending money on parts that arent worn out yet. just a few things to watch for; there is the hidden bolt in the front of head under the puddle of oil. rusty and soft metal bolts/nuts that break off. (if its rusty, spray it in advance). digital camera or even camera phone pics are great for remembering what was what and where what is suppose to go. get a head gasket kit not just the head gasket. think ahead, take notes and label things. its pretty straight forward.

 

find out why the gasket blew. ie; wrong torque , warped/cracked head , cheap or even reused gasket? if the head was just done then why did it blow?

 

Most importantly have the head checked out and resurfaced (even if it's a "NEW" head!!!). If you don't know the history of the truck or suspect things weren't done right you may want to have the head reworked. That would either be another head, or have yours checked out and that means guides measured, valves checked and lapped or recut, plus valve stem seals. It all depends on what you KNOW about the head!!! Have proof don't take the person's word for it!!! Unless you know the guy...people lie. If I didn't know the history of the truck or suspect a half ass job then I'd get the head reworked!!! If you don't know for sure the timing gears, chain and guides (you need steel guides) were replaced...REPLACE!!! Again I'd want proof!!!! receipts!!! Remember there are tons of half ass mechanics!! be sure you truck wasn't fixed by one!!! You can usually tell by how well things have been done on the truck.

Use a Toyota head gasket at least, or buy a Toyota gasket set if you don't mind dropping the extra money (<$200). Get new head bolts. Take pictures and buy some zip lock bags, and bag parts in groups. Ex- 1 bag intake upper, 2nd bag intake lower, 3rd bag Timing cover,,etc.

You may want to measure and draw where the Timing cover bolts go. They are all different sizes.

Take your time and pay particular attention to dissassembly (make drawings if needed) and reassembly, clean parts before reassembly.

FIND THE CAUSE OF THE HG FAILURE!!!!!! Is it a bad gasket, warped or cracked head, or even worse damaged block. You want to know the cause of the failure don't just assume something. As you need to know that it's been fixed!!! Do it once and do it right.....or you will be right back where you are now 6 months from now. You want the repair to last 100, 000 miles, not 15,000 miles or less.

 

Would a back fire cause a gasket failure

 

Thank for all the tips it will help a lot

 

I just did mine, and was expecting the timing chain guides to be the cause....well it wasn't and I was very concerned as to the cause as I didn't "See" the cause, but finally saw it was the HG. I was very relieved as I would have hated to put it all together and not really know if I had fixed the problem. It was a separated fire ring on #1.
I Had the head resurfaced (cam in place) would have done this if it was warped or not. Just cleaned the head though, but I've had the truck since new, so I know the history and how it's been maintained.


I think mine was caused by revving the engine at little high one day at idle as there was an "exhaust leak sound" after that. But you can't be for sure.

If you got lots of water in the oil, you will want to at the very least flush the oil pan to get all the water and sludge oil out. Even better...if you are anal, drop the oil pan, but that is a real PITA..well not to bad on a IFS.

If you drop the oil pan, I have a good tip for putting it back on without getting gasket sealer all over your hands...and use the grey permatex RTV silicone and not black.

Ding your distributor and head with a sharp pointed chisel to mark the distributor location

A tell tale sign of where the HG might fail is a very clean piston..i.e. steam cleaned. if it failed like mine did....of course yours might be different.

here's my link https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...d-22re-275982/

there are better write ups here though.

 

would a back fire cause a failure? possibly but unlikely. unless there was another issue going on as well. the only red flag here is why did this new gasket that was recently put in fail. if it was a decent quality gasket done correctly that failed in what seems to be a short time then you probably have a bigger issue. hopefully you can narrow this down to just a bad installation or a cheap or defective gasket. on a used block and head (no fresh machine work) i use standard felpro head gasket.

 

The head was replaced because it shote a spark plug have you ever heard of that before.

 

yes but not personally seen it on a toyota. usually caused by damaged threads or mixed up plug wires. common on fords, they even had a recall for it at one point.

 

there are places that require silicone or lock tight on bolts, so make sure to get a service manual as you don't want to miss them.

ERG, water pump and oil pump....just certain bolts not all of them.

 

So you have a tip on putting the oil pan on

 

Don't over tighten the oil pan bolts.
You can use silicone gasket and/or a rubber gasket.
I usually start from the middle bolts and work out towards the ends.

 

i use the permatex rtv that says maximum oil resistance on the label and follow the instructions on the back with no gasket. ive never had a failure using this procedure. dont forget to clean the pick up screen while your in there.

 

Can i reuse my old head bolts is the fel pro hard gasket a good one

 

You CAN reuse your head bolts but i definitely would not. They stretch once theyre used and can throw off your torque specs when you put the head back on. Like i said before i would get a gasket from toyota, but someone said they had good luck with the felpro gaskets. It comes down to your preference and the money you have to spend.

 

you dont have to take off the timing chain cover to replace the head gasket.

but if youre already down there.....

fuel pump also very accessible with the head off

 

*i meant filter