So I just had my head gasket replaced last week. Yesterday I was driving in the highway going about 120km/h. I started hearing this banging sound and I quickly noticed loss of power and my engine gaining temperature. I quickly pull over and I shut off the engine right when I come to a stop. I get out of the vehicle and I notice coolant just getting all over the road. Turns out a clamp from the radiator to a hose came off (due to high pressure since I had the water pump replaced as well). So I get it towed to my mechanic and he tells me that it was just the clamp. After a few minutes he fixes that and tells me its good to go. So I take it out for a spin around his shop, and everything seems fine. I tell my girlfriend that everything looks good and lets go. So I leave, and a few minutes later I notice that my car is shaking when idling, and it has very little power until it gets up to speed. So I turn around and head back to the mechanic. Suddenly white smoke starts to come out of the exhaust. He tells me it looks like the head gasket went bad. So now I'm stuck waiting for him to change the gasket again (thank god for warranty) and also stuck taking crappy public transportation.

Long story short:
What could have caused the gasket to blow?
Something that I should keep an eye or do during the first few km's in order to make it last long i.e don't go over certain speed.. etc

 

i'd say the head is toast. It may be warped now. Have the mechanic send the head out to get checked by a machine shop. Ask him to use a toyota head gasket. And making sure the rest of your cooling system is up to par, fan clutch, thermostat, coolant mix.

 

Funny thing is that the heads were actually machined so that it would be a flat smooth surface. Forgot to mention it was 3vze. I have no way of knowing if the headgaskets were toyota but my mechanic is pretty trustable and wouldn't use crappy parts. Specially since he gave me a year warranty

 

well whatever it is i hope its corrected.. I also hear that getting some aftermarket headers that ditch the crossover right behind the motor keep the heat away from the heads and also help prevent burnt valves on that motor. my head gasket on a rebuilt motor failed after 20k miles so i swapped in a 3.4 . Now i dont' worry.