Hey guys,i woke this morning and started my truck to let it warm, i noticed lots of white smoke and it kinda smelled sweet. I drove to work(4miles) and checked the fluids. I found no antifreeze in oil but milky crap was in my oil cap and my coolant level dropped slightly. Damn I had it towed to local shop and found that head gasket is leaking. That ticked me off because it is NEW. But it has 16,000 miles and was only under warranty 12,000 miles so i am gonna eat $1147.00(new head) repair bill. My question is do I need to rebuild bottom end even though it didn't run hot or dump water in oil, mechanic said I was lucky what do you guys think?

 

16,000 isn't new. That's a lot of miles. A lot of miles for a headgasket? maybe not, but there's probably a reason it blew so soon. I'd go for a full rebuild.

 

mechanic said it could of been a ground and welded head. He said remanufactured heads are crap, is that true or is this guy taking me for a ride?

 

Could be one of a handful of things: head isn't flat enough, block deck isn't flat enough, head gasket was weak/cheap, head wasn't properly torqued.

First, have the head checked, if it is warped, see if you can get it milled flat. That's far cheaper than footing $1100+ for a new head.

If the head isn't warped, check the block deck. If that's flat (to spec), you shouldn't have to touch the bottom of the engine. If you didn't get water in the oil, I wouldn't jump into a full teardown.

If neither are warped, someone didn't properly torque the head down during the installation or the head gasket was weak to start with. This would be the cheapest option, as you only need to replace the head gasket.

My $0.02 worth.

 

Well..... 22R engines are prone to electrolysis at the coolant ports of the head at the exhaust side. Most engines have the issue if it has time and mileage on it.

Poor engine grounds do actually accelerate the problem, fo' real. We have found most machine shops (if they are not Toyota-centric) do not look for the corrosion at the exhaust side coolant ports.

The ports can be welded up and then ground/machined "close" to stock, but we haven't seen any that last as long as you'd think. (this is one of the reasons we will never use a 'rebuilt head' on our engines, just can't rely on them).

The combination of a 20+ year old chunk of aluminum, poor cooling system maintenance (by the PO) and poor engine grounds never helps.

Inferior head gaskets and poor machining and block prep can lead to a quick failure too. Old head bolts can cause some issues too.....

It's no fun, and it's never a cheap fix, but it can happen.
Sad, but all too true.

 

Thanks guys

 

yaaa knoww..ya might try to get a head online..like maayybbee Attarco??>.im running there head..had trouble with the first one (ate up the cam in 3000 miles) but the second one is doing fine..and the replaced the screwed up one for free, got close to about 8000 miles on it..

 

just got a call from shop, cam eat slap up and lost gasket between cylinder 3 and 4, brand new head and bolt being installed hooray my ride is getting hooked up

 

Well finally got the runner back late friday night, I didn't rebuild just put a new head on and gasket and my mechanic fixed other various small problems. All runs well i drove about 75 miles on saturday and sunday and no problems !!!!!!!! It runs like a new truck again.

 

what did that cost you at the shop?

 

$1100.00 i'm broke again

 

Did the head come with a warranty?