My 93 22re had been burning coolant and surging idle for a while. Compression tests were inconclusive since all three gauges i tried gave very different numbers... Been tearing it apart and finally got the head off yesterday. Head gasket looked alright though plugged up a bit i think. This is my first look at a head gasket, mind you.

Is this a cracked head then??











Am i totally ***ed or just mostly ***ed?

thank you for any help

 

What does the head look like??

Remove the gasket from the block

I remember back in the day Felpro Gaskets used a blue coating that made a mess like that .

I can`t tell is it blue Silicone someone went crazy with??

You have no more problems then any other head gasket replacement .

Did you not drain the coolant out of the block??

With all that is on the top of the pistons ??

 

Its totally coolant on top of the cylinders. Yes i drained the coolant first thing. Imagine if i hadnt.

There is an unusual amount of gunk on this gasket, not sure which holes are supposed to be open.

Im just really hoping my problems were due to the gasket and not a crack somewhere....

 

Did you do a BLOCK test before tearing it apart?? That would have confirmed your HG.
http://www.blockchek.com

 

I thought about it but i figured burning a quart of coolant every 40 miles was evidence enough. Plus w poor idle and random overheats. Too late now init?

 

More pics

 

is that an exhaust leak on one of the inside cylinders? in the head pic.

take it to the machine shop, see what they say.

 

Ahhhhh....now I see it!

Not "blown" per se. But significantly leaking coolant into the #4 cylinder. By the looks of it. The white color on the #4 intake valve is the real giveaway. But you can also see the path the coolant was taking into that cylinder on the last pic of the HG(upper right corner near 2 or 3 o'clock on the fire ring). #3 looks a little suspect to me too. Definitely #4 though.

That's my take on it. I'd be doing a HG job and calling it good. But I guess you could take it to someone for another opinion.

 

Thanks for your analysis-- youre like a doctor looking at xrays. I dont see it but youre the expert. You really think thats what was making it burn so much coolant?

Its at the machine shop now so we'll see.

 

It's gotta go somewhere. The coolant that is. It'd be hard to not notice that much leaking externally. And it's got almost nowhere else to go. Besides the oil pan. And that would be even more obvious.


I was totally stumped on the first pics. Didn't really see anything too weird. And I was kinda doubting it was the HG too. But I checked back today and seen the ones you put up later. Then it made a lot more sense.


You wanna see a "blown" HG?



Now THAT'S a blown HG!

 

I wish it was that simple! I still wouldnt have ruled out cracks in the head though.

The machine shop called and said it pressure tested fine but all the valves were leaking. That shouldnt explain coolant in the oil, oil in the coolant, and coolant being burned up. Right? Im going to investigate the gasket more tonight.

Next question will be how to test the block without putting it all back together and running with the dye...

 

they need to check it for warping.

if it's not warped, it'll need a valve job.

 

They said they ground 8/1000 or 9/1000. Should i worry about testing the block for cracks at this point or do the valves and possibly hg explain my original issues?

 

Check the head and block for warpage. If both check out buy a factory Toyota or DNJ head gasket with new head bolts and run it. No one with a Toyota should ever ever every use Felpro gaskets on these engines. They do not work well at all. If your going to spend the time to do this kind of work on your engine use QUALITY gaskets. CrAzY not too!!!!! I would also drop your oil pan and clean the pan and oil strainer really good

 

Absolutely going with OE head gasket, from what i read. It just makes sense. And yea, i was trying to devise a scheme to heat up the oil pan from below and rotate the crank by hand, drop some engine flusher/kerosene in.... but yea ill just drop the oil pan and do it better that way.

Thanks! Ordering parts today and sent injectors away to be cleaned. What color should i paint the plenum and valve cover to make it go the absolute fastest? I have a dark blue enamel which i think will work with the gray exterior of the truck. Im just not sure.

 

I went with this blue.



I got an extra 100 hp by powder coating my valve cover, oil pan and a few other parts blue. Just beat a Lamborghini by 2 4Runner lengths the other day!!!

 

Holy ****nuts! Thats a really fast blue. Surprised your drivetrain can handle it, though maybe you painted them too.

ps. The plenum doesnt need to be painted right? Because thats not where the magic happens?

 

Ya its the fastest blue available. I had it specially made for my rig by the guys at Gas Monkey from the T.V. show Fast and Loud. It will probably be on an upcoming episode but I guess its kind of a secret so Rick and Aaron said they many pull the episode. Either way its fast and as far as the drive trains concerned I just doubled all the torque specs on every nut and bolt. So if the FSM called for 20ft lbs I simple snugged it up to a nice 40ft lbs. Keeps things tight and snug. As you said the plenum does NOT need to be painted. Just be sure to sprinkle some sugar inside before start up. Gives it that sweat torque your lookin for.