I have an 86 toyota pickup with a 22r. it runs hot very quickly at an idle, when you first crank it up it skips for a few seconds, it will also blow out white smoke for a few seconds, and has recently started building up an insane amount of water pressure, enough to blow 2 radiators. it has no oil in water or water in oil but it runs a little rough. There is also a visible spot on the side of the engine were water USE to leak out past the head gasket... my thinking is that the previous owner used some miracle claiming gasket seal because i seen some gold metallic flakes in my radiator.

Am i right in thinking this is a head gasket problem? thanks

 

Yes. I just went through this. Head gasket was not blown, but some gasket material between #4 cylinder and an adjacent water jacket hole was disintegrating and allowed cylinder gases under pressure to push through. Rock Auto head gasket with only 13k BTW. When you shut off the engine, some coolant is sucked back into the cylinder and causes the white smoke on startup. Initial misfiring due to the water also till it burns it out. You can prove it with a leakdown test and the radiator cap off. Pump up the cylinder and watch coolant push out the radiator.
While the head if off, have it checked for level at the machine shop. Mine was only running for 1 day when this started and my head was still good.

 

how much did getting the new one put in cost you? if you did it yourself then how much work was it? and thanks