deprivation

Hey, kids. I am replacing the head gasket on my 22re with 60k miles. I had to replace the valve stem seals and I upgraded the cam. The chain and guides look new, so I've decided to leave that alone for now.

Anyway, I have everything cleaned up, the head has been skimmed and lapped and my last bit of business was to clean the block. The old gasket is coming off fairly easily but I have noticed some pitting around the coolant passages.

Am I looking to having to pull the block and re-surface this thing? Please tell me I'm not.

Have a look:

snobdds

I think you will be ok. I would scrub everything down with a 3M green pad and see what it looks like then.

I would use an OEM head gasket to be sure eveything seals up.

corax

You'll be fine. Just for peace of mind you might want to pick up a can of copper coat and spray both sides of the head gasket - this is one of the VERY FEW instances that I'll ever advocate putting something on a gasket.

James Woods

iTrader: (1)

I have seen worse than that put back together and be fine, just make sure to clean it real good and like already stated, take a 3m pad to it.

tlrskunk

That copper spray gasket is the ˟˟˟˟. I have seen people spray that on headgaskets the slap a car back together and it fix a leak. and actually seal for a few years. He was a broke mechanic and someone jokingly suggested it. he said as long as it holds at least a month then i can fix it right. as far as I know he is still driving that neon...

deprivation

Thanks for all the quick replies!

Okay - I've spent most of the day cleaning the block with a razor, lots of PB Blaster and Brakleen and ScotchBrite. I only managed to get about half of it cleaned.

I used a brass brush wigged back and forth on the areas of pitting to clean out the stuff in there as best I can. No matter what, I just can't seem to get all of the little pits cleaned up - and I've been going at it all day. Will that prevent the gasket from sealing properly?

Also, now that I have it cleaned I can see that the pitting isn't just confined to the coolant passages, it's elsewhere. Part of me wants to be optomistic and proceed and part of me thinks I shouldn't half-ass this and I should go ahead and yank the block and get it done right.

Here is the block surface cleaned up:

874runnersr5

i did the exact same thing on my 22re couple weeks ago, i wasnt sure the condition of my 400,000 km 22re, so my boss said a little trick is jb weld if you need to fill in the pits.. when i removed my head it was all clean and perfect so i never had to use it.. just giving ya an idea.

deprivation

Oh, yes! I have used the JB Weld trick on the water jacket seal on my VW Vanagon - I supposed it could work here as well. Why not? I think JB Weld can go 600 degrees which is well past what your head should ever experience.

I'm wondering if I can ever get all them little pits cleaned up enough for the JB Weld to stick properly, though.

Anyway, that's a good tip worth mentioning for sure.

A

874runnersr5

Yeah no doubt figured it was worth mentioning.

deprivation

As you can see from the "cleaned up" pictures, there is some pitting along the combustion sealing surface, which bothers me. But I don't know if this is normal and nothing to worry about or whether I should just bite it and pull the block.

I would definitely not worry about the coolant passages. I think some JB Weld and copper stuff would take care of that, but the fire ring is a different beast.

Anyone have experience along these lines?

snobdds

Again, you will be fine. Again, use a OEM head gasket.

Furthermore, don't use JB Weld to try and smooth out the imperfections. That stuff gets brittle after prolong use and will come off...clogging oil journals etc.

If it was me, I would use an OEM gasket and ARP head studs. Never to worry about it again.

deprivation

Sorry, man. I know you are sincere and your advice is solid - I really appreciate it. This engine is in our camper which we will be driving across the desert in two months so I am really sweating this.

I wasn't sure how much pitting is acceptable or just how clean I need to get this so please don't think I am discounting your help. Like I said, I truly appreciate it.

Anyway, picked up a Toyota HG this morning at the dealership. Fifty bucks!! Seems like a good deal for some peace of mind, though.

Thanks!

snobdds

I know your just trying to do it right the first time, and I commend that.

If you have the OEM gasket, then you’re good to go. OEM gaskets have metal rings around every hole, which will seal great, regardless of small pitting.

Just FYI for people considering decking their block:

By decking the block, it lowers the compression ratio. In order to bring it back to "stock" either of two things will have to happen.

1. A head gasket shim to bring it back to the proper thickness. Never have liked these. With the block being steel, the head aluminum, and the shims I've seen some hybrid steel...all three have different expansion and contraction proprieties, the head never seems to fully seal for a prolong time.
2. An adjustable cam gear to put the timing back to where it needs to be.

Having the block decked creates a whole lot of problems (issues)...a lot more than a little pitting on the block.

874runnersr5

Oem hg for sure, arp headstuds if your feeling like dropping 130$ish for head bolts..

deprivation

Okay, then.

Ordered the ARP studs and ARP lube from Headbolts.com. An extra 22 ft-lbs of torque (over the spec 58 lbs) on each bolt is definite peace of mind and a bargain at 140 bucks. I don't mind spending money but I hate wasting money.

You know, I think the reason I thought the pitting was bad news was because on my VW Waterboxer, pitting is super-bad, especially on the heads. When I rebuilt my engine a few years ago I had to toss the heads because of relatively minor pitting. VW made some crap heads and made matters worse by coming up with a design that all but guaranteed a head failure.

The uber-engineered 22re is completely new territory for me.

I think I'm going to skip the Permatex copper spray, in spite of the recommendations here. I am concerned that it would interfere with the intended sealing properties of the Toyota gasket.

I did a little online looking about repairing pitting with JB Weld and, for the most part, it seems it is considered a temporary fix, although not the end of the world. In same cases it's quite valid. SAAB actually has a TSB that outlines the use of JB Weld to fix pitting on their crappy 4-cyl. But that's SAAB.

Anywho, thanks for all the great replies and I will definitely post my own head-gasket thread when I am done.

After all, doesn't everyone deserved their own head-gasket thread?

Thanks!

A