i pulled up to a stop sign, and noticed steam coming from the engine compartment. i only lived a block away, so i drove it home. i checked under the hood, and there was coolant everywhere. the coolant overflow cap was blown off, and it was boiling like crazy. i let it cool down... and filled up the radiator and started her back up.
she took awhile to start, and it seemed like coolant was being burned in the exhaust. i checked the oil, but no coolant that i could see in it.


so did i blow a gasket?
and how much is it gonna cost me if i have a shop do it? if i do it?

thanks,
mike.

 

If you can smell coolant in your exhaust, then I would say yes. It has a sweet smell to it. Do an oil change, and check the color of the oil. Also, see if there is any discoloration of the coolant.

 

what motor?

 

it's the 3vze... which is why i asked. this is my first yota, it's a 91 pickup 4x4, and i haven't even owned it for 2 months. it supposedly had a recall motor put in 100,000 miles ago. i don't want to have to work on this thing already...

i'm really kinda scared to dive into this thing, bc i'm so used to working on stupid ford rangers, and the yota has vacuum lines coming out of every corner. i've done many things on the ford ranger, including helping with a motor swap. so is it really hard to do this HG replacement? how long does it take? how much money will i spend? and where is the BEST write up on how to do it?

any help would be appreciated...
thanks again.

 

There is a chemical test that I believe most large parts stores sell that will detect exhaust gas in the coolant. Widely used in the heavy equipment industry whenever those things are sold.

A blown gasket doesn't necessarily pump water into the oil. Appears yours blew between a cylinder and a water jacket hole. Its pumping pressure into the radiator and causing it to hurl.

You can change the gasket by searching this site. Lots of photos of changing head gaskets. Usually the rear driver side cylinder blows the gasket. I strongly urge you to freshen up the valves when the heads are removed. Do not bother with the cam sprockets. Pull the head and take it all to the shop so they can grind the valve stems to set the clearances correctly.

LABEL WHERE EVERY VACUUM AND FUEL LINE IS REMOVED. CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH.

Take your time and clean out the block threaded holes where the head bolts go to prevent the oil, water and junk from causing the bolt to prematurely bottom out and give a false torque.

My $0.02

 

ok..
i just went out and started it up.

it was idling very rough, kinda like there was water or something in one of the cylinders. i checked under the truck. sure enough, coolant was leaking from the exhaust. i looked in the coolant overflow, and it looked somewhat dark.

so i guess it's official.
i blew a headgasket. (right???)
i guess this will give me the chance to learn about toyotas.

where's the best place to get a new headgasket? autozone, kragen, napa, or online?
and i only need the headgasket itself, right? i was looking online and there were some with just the headgasket, and some with a whole crapload of gaskets that costs 300+ dollars.
please tell me i don't need the 300+ dollar set.


thanks again for the help

 

one more question...
i did some reading, and i was wondering if i should use an MLS gasket...

would that last longer and be worth it?

 

My .02 is that (as ive read) the cause of headgasket failure is weak head studs on the 3VZ that yeild too much play. So when you replace the gasket make sure you replace it with stronger aftermarket studs. I beleive AARP sells a kit for this. Also i would upgrade to a more durable metal headgasket while your at it.

Doing a good repair to anything mechanical in a car means not only fixing the problem, but fixing what caused the problem in the first place

 

how hard is it to replace the studs?

 

Any knocking? Running the truck with coolant in the cylinders can bend rods. Not a good idea to keep running the motor when you suspect headgasket issues. Should have pulled the spark plugs and turned it over.

 

Make sure that you take the head to a machine shop and have it checked to make sure it's not warped and/or cracked.
Have them do the valves while they have it.

It would be really stupid to go through all the work of replacing the head gasket and not have the head checked and the valves done.





Fred

 

i don't think i heard any knocking. it didn't really want to start when i tried, and when it did, it didn't sound like it was firing on all 6.

i'm probably going to start on it either this week or next week.
for now i guess i'm stuck driving the ranger.

i'm going to order the stuff from engnbldr.com

it looks like i'm gonna get:
full gasket set- $119
head bolt set- $39
and while i'm in there i'll replace the timing belt- $30

are these the right parts?
anything else you guys can think of?
i know i should replace a whole buttload of stuff while i have the engine apart, but i'm on a REALLY tight budget. tuition is coming up soon and i have to pay for it on my own.

 

what kind of shop does that kind of work?
how much does it normally run?

 

Any machine shop should be able to or at least point you to shop that can.
Cost, you'll have to call around and check.




Fred

 

enginebuilder does all that stuff ted is a great guy and since your buying all your parts from him you should have him do your head work too.

 

yeah sounds like the hg alright. just pray you didnt crack the block. as long as your engine compartment doesnt look like a milkshake exploded, i think you're fine.

 

Replace water pump, and possibly the tensioner and idler pulley if they are worn. Replace crank and camshaft seals if they are leaking. Drive belts if they are worn. Flush the block, heater core(s) and radiator and use new coolant. Buy lots of cheap motor oil and filters beacuse you'll be changing it a few times if you got coolant in the oil. Also, you want to replace the PCV valve and grommet. And most mechanics will say to replace the knock sensor wire while you have it apart because you have a 1 in 3 chance that the check engine light will go off once you put it back together due to a fried knock sensor wire and you will have to tear it back down to the intake manifold.

 

Mmmmm, who compiled that stat




Fred