hmmwv15

My grandfather's 87 pickup might have a blown hg. The truck has been over heating and losing water, but there was no evidence of water leakage on the outside of the engine. It seemed to be overheating the other day and he barely made it home so we changed the thermostat. The water was again low. We checked the oil and it was way up on the stick and looked like it had antifreeze in it. Any ideas on what we should do to repair this? Thanks

SCYOTA

I would check to see if your timing chain ate through the cover. Is the truck making a lot of noise on start up and idle? Pull your valve cover and look at the guides that the chain is supposed to rub on. You will probably find that one or both of the guides are broken off and the chain is rubbing on the cover. If not, you may have a blown head gasket, cracked head, or cracked block.

n4ynu1010

With no evidence of leaks and coolant in the oil I would suspect a HG , do a compression check on it and do not run it with coolant in the oil
If t-stat got stuck and overheated motor bad that my have blown the gasket but may have just blown gasket and then overheated as well .

hmmwv15

hmmmm, I asked my auto teacher about it and he's betting that the hg isn't blown. He says to check my timing chain guides to see if one is broken and rubbing on the tube that runs through and cools something or another.

Anywho, if it is a blown hg, my grandpa is going to give the truck to me. in a way, I hope that it's not the hg, so he can drive his truck more. He bought it new in 87 and has kept it in tip-top shape. The thing is super clean and has been towed to Alaska and back. But I also really want the truck because it's so nice. If I do end up getting it, it's staying in the garage until I can get a new engine or whatever for it.

n4ynu1010

Well sounds like he knows a bit more about the motor than I so I hope that is the case , keep us posted

Mr_Martinez1982

should a compression check show signs of a HG problem? Before i tore into mine, i did the test, an they all came out about the same... i did a few months before i actually did the HG though, maybe it wasnt as bad then. But for sure a leak down test would show it!

hmmwv15

Gonna get it into auto shop because we have more tools there. I only have a little craftsman 137 or so piece tool kit. It got me through the cab swap, but I don't have any of the technical tools for the engine. I guess within the next couple of weeks it will be in there so we can just try everything to figure out what the problem is. I think the same thing happened to the little 2wd of mine, I just didn't have the knowledge to diagnose it back then. So if it is a blown hg, I may have another engine that just needs a front cover.

n4ynu1010

Compression test is kinda general because it could be valves leaking down or it could be a bad HG and affect each cylinder almost equally , it will tell you if the HG is really bad but by that time most peeps have water in the oil or vice versa , some of the shops do have some nice sniffing equipment that will without a doubt find exhaust gas in the cooling system and or coolant traces in exhaust that you can not see or smell .
Bottom line is a head gasket can be bad and motor still run fine for a long time until it really blows and you have indisputable signs

hmmwv15

Gettin it towed into auto shop tomorrow!

hmmwv15

Looks like the timing chain has eaten through the front cover. I guess I won't get the truck after all.... I guess when he gets the parts we are going to attempt to replace the front cover in auto shop.

n4ynu1010

Sorry to hear that but at least you found the problem

hmmwv15

yep, I guess I will be the one to fix it too. I don't really want to, but I need the experience!

hmmwv15

Looks like the truck is mine! He found an '04 tacoma prerunner. He called me today and told me that the truck was mine! Schweeet! I guess I'll try to get it going sometime. It will be my dd if we do get it running. I will take pics of my new/used truck!

hmmwv15

Finally got some pics! It has had only one owner since it was purchased new in '87 with a mere 20 miles on it, by my Grandpa. I should be getting parts from the engnbldr site tomorrow, so I will hopefully start on it friday. I have thanksgiving break wed.-thurs. next week, so hopefully I can have it done by tuesday afternoon when we are let out. I can't wait to drive it!



Pretty good shape except the bed and camper shell are a lighter shade of yellow for some odd reason, and there are small rust holes in front of and behind the rear wheel wells.



Interior is just about flawless with no cracks in the dash and no fading. I still have to clean it up.



Amazing that the stock radio still works and is still in it! It won't play tapes though...

Pretty sweet truck to get for free right?!

superscreenname

Cool, nice and clean. Just gotta turn them wrenches now.

billmaness

I had the same thing happen to me. Had my timing cover welded to fill in the chain tracks. Got it re-running yesterday. Good luck.

hmmwv15

SWEET!! I cranked it up today! Got everything put back on, and once the engine was well lubricated and carb primed it wouldn't start. We kept trying, and eventually with a little help it started! We shut it off and started it again, flawlessly. I just hope that it keeps running for another 20 years! Looks like I get to drive it home between mon-wed next week.

lagarto

Great story, brought a smile to my face.