Ilovemountains

Well, today at lunch I walked out to the parking garage and took a look, my coolant is down in the radiator and there is a little bit of white sludge under the oil fill cap and it was missing and sputtering like crazy again... I think its safe to assume that Ive got a head gasket failing. I found the following parts and was wondering if these are all Id need to change the gaskets myself.

04112-65018 Toyota Valve Grind Kit
1356869055 Toyota Timing Belt
9091002075 Toyota head bolts X16

If I buy the parts online Im looking at about $500.... Does anyone know just how many hours I could expect an honest shop to charge for labor to do the job for me if I dont do it myself? This sucks!! But then again, 180,000 miles and this is the first thing to go wrong with the truck, I guess it could be worse!

my-4x4

I've read on several occasions on these forums about a white sludge buildup on the oil filler cap, I honestly couldn't tell you how many hours you could expect, but I would say before purchasing these, do a search on the forums, you may find an easy fix or maybe the exact problem and how to fix it....good luck

clkinaz

Be sure to check with your friendly Toyota dealer to confirm that the head gaskets were indeed replaced on your truck. He'll be able to query your VIN number. If they have not been done and he's in a really good mood, he might honor the campaign. (Hey, the Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl, so it could happen.) Even though the campaign was supposed to be good for 8 yrs or 100,000 miles, a dealer might be willing to honor it. Make every effort to work with the dealer first. They are graded on customer satisfaction and would rather a problem be resolved at that level rather than higher-up in the organization. He doesn't necessarily need to know that you have no plan to purchase a new truck anytime soon.

If you are going to do the work yourself, consider replacing the timing belt, water pump, and idler pulleys while you're in there. They all have to come off anyway. And, they typically don't last 180k miles.

An "honest" shop will charge the same hours for the job as a dishonest shop. I would guess this to be >10 hrs. (A lot of shop time.) The difference from one shop to another might be in the quality of parts, thoroughness of the work, and the patience they use when putting everything back together. I'd expect a 3 to 6 month P&L warranty on the work. But if a reputable shop offered that warranty, they would want to ensure that they were not going to have to open it up again. In order to do that, they would want to replace a lot of stuff and do a lot of work that you might deem unnecessary. (Planing the heads, etc.)

abecedarian

If it's colder than normal out and you take short trips around town, it's somewhat normal to get some white sludge in the top of the engine. Short trips do not give enough time for the moisture that will condense in the valve cover to evaporate and get sucked in through the PCV valve. I get that in California during the winter if I only make trips to the local convenience store for smokes and cola.

That's not to say you don't have a head gasket issue though.... However, the cold rough idle could be because of the head gasket, OR could be because of several other issues such as an inoperative auxilary air valve, a faulty cold start injector time switch, incorrect TPS adjustment, vacuum leaks....

algranger

3 main signs of the head gasket are burnt coolant coming out the exhaust which is white, oil in your coolant/coolant in your oil and obviously coolant loss.
if it is your head gasket and you have a socket set, i would recommend doing it yourself, its a lot easier than it sounds. just geat a head set from your parts store it will have everything you need. also get a chilton/haynes manual it will telll you how to do it

MudHippy

I wouldn't call that too safe an assumption, if it were mine...I guess that is.

Ya see, I just had the same deal with the crud under the oil fill cap. Also had the same stuff in both PCV hoses.

Solved by puttin' some RTV under the oil cap gasket and 4 new hose clamps for the PCV hoses(2).

I actually have blown the HG in my 88. And believe you me...you'll know for sure when she goes. White smoke(mostly steam really)out tail-pipe, with the familiar smell of coolant, engine no want to run at all.

You cool there(pardon pun), that's my assumption.

Try new cap...I believe part# in stamped on under side IIRC.

algranger

what does IIRC mean

MudHippy

If
I
Remember
Correctly

IIRC...SORRY!

Na funny.