2nd blown head gasket on 1 year old rebuilt 22re
 

hey guys, so she's running on water again. i should register is as a hydro powered vehicle. 4th head gasket in 2 years. this is the second 1 for the year old rebuilt engine. why does this keep happening?
the 1st one was about due at 175k and the 2nd maybe because use of felpro instead of toyota gasket and i think the 3rd because of no head retorqe.

but this last one....
the shop said they used the best gasket (some fancy brand and it's more rubbery than metal? ????? that's what i said...), the head and blocked were machined/rebuilt. they said they also adjusted my tps.

they said it might be because it's too hot in one of the cylinders, or too rich.
the only engine mods i have done are k&n and adjust the maf a couple teeth richer.

luckily it's under warrenty, but this is a pain in the butt! they say it's my bad driving habits, i drive like a grandpa!

maybe some of you toyota guys know what i could check on it. the mechanics at the shop aren't toyota pros. and they actually don't do the engine building, it goes to local engine rebuilder. either shop didn't tell me i need to retorque the head (idiots.) you should do it twice right? one at like 500 and one at around 2000-3000..??

i'm thinking it could be: injectors (shop probably didn't clean them or test them), tps, cheap gasket, cheap/reused headbolts, or because head was only retorqured once....

and just when i'm actually making enough money to start building it up, this happens!

well thanks guys! adam.

Use only OEM parts (gaskets, head bolts, etc.). Nothing else comes close. And yes the headbolts should be replaced. They should also be retorqued after 500-1000 miles. I've never heard of retorquing twice, but perhaps Toyotas are different. I'd recommend getting the Toyota maintenance manual for your truck (no Chilton or other knockoffs) and following the procedures for rebuilding the cylinder head. I would also take it to a machine shop that actually does the work rather than a mechanic who's going to farm it out to someone else. HTH

anyone???
 

does anyone else have any input? i'm sure someone out there's a 22re techy!

Is there a crack in the timing chain cover? It is common on the 22r, and will let coolant in to the oil.

are you sure the head isnt slightly warped?

Well I don't think it's the timing chain cover because I'm sure the coolant is leaking into a cylinder-hence running on water- but it might be cracked, I'll check.

I darn well hope the head isn't warped! The goons at the machine shop said they machined it and the block.

I'm more leaning toward that the shop used the same old head bolts and they are streched out.
Well lemme me know if anyone else has any ideas. Thanks.
Adam.

JW, but how come you rebuilt your motor? How many miles were on it?

Are they using the toyota torque pattern to torque the head?
Are the head and block machined withn tolerances to match?
I used a fel-pro gasket when I replaced the head on mine and it blew out within 100,000 miles. (not really the gaskets fault, more my overheating it that blew it)
The 22-re is a very reliable motor, so I cant see that it needs a lot of attention, much less a head gasket every year or so. Did you take it to the same people for repair every time? that possibly is the problem. If not then it could be just a streak of bad luck. I have over 250,000 miles on mine and it is still going strong. I have at least 100,000 miles on 33" tires and a lot of abuse. although I wont win any races, I know I will alway get ther and have totalconfidence in my little motor! :laugh:

head gasket
 

I got it rebuilt at about 185k, which was after the 2nd blown head gasket. I probably woulda been better off doing it myself or not even doing a rebuild!!

I dunno if they're doing it to Toyota specs, probably not. It is the same shop my family has been going to for years, but they actually didn't do the rebuild. But I would think [and HOPE] the machine/rebuild shop would do work to factory specs!!!

Well I talked to a guy today and I'm leaning to think it's the injectors [well one of them] because I think it keeps happening in the 4th cylinder. Like it's running too lean and overheating.
The first thing I'm gonna do is get the injectors tested and rebuilt if necessary.

What do you guys think? Thanks so much for your input so far.

Oh, and while I do the head gasket, I think I might do a cam. What are your thoughts on that? There's a guy in my great state of Oregon, engnbldr, who does a lot of business on eBay and his stuff is good quality. I want a torquey cam and not have to use too many new parts [keep springs, rockers, etc...]

Thanks again. Adam.

Did they replace or mach. down the Dowel Pins after shaving the block and head? If not they could be too long, the HB's will Tq down fine BUT the head will not seat properly on the block.

Jake.

Ding, ding, ding! Could have a winner here especially if both the block and head were machined. While you're at it, ditch the factory bolts and put some ARP studs in there making sure they are torqued to stud specs and not bolt specs (something like 25ftlbs more for studs I think??).
Going strictly from limited knowledge and poor memory, their is an alignment pin on the back of the block behind the #4 cylinder. Add to that a pretty minimal contact area behind #4 and it is a good place for things to go bad. Also, it is a good spot for a mechanic to damage the headgasket if they angle the head when setting it on the block.

See this post for a look at the Toyota factory head gasket

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...502#post458502

What conditions precede the head gasket going? Does the engine run hot/overheat? Have you checked/replaced everything in the cooling system? I blew througha few HGs on my 22RE until I finally tracked down the cause of the problem to a partially clogged/undersized radiator. Swapped that out for a new 3-row GoDan radiator and its been running nice and tight and cool since then.

EXACTLY what I was thinking too.... While you are at it definately have the injectors checked/cleaned/rebuilt. Might take a look at the whole fuel delivery system as well...

I don't have a whole lot of experience...but I did just replace the head gasket on my 22re. I used a felpro, and upon comparison I found it to be quite similar in thickness and reinforcement to the oem model. On a seperate note, this is probably just a stab in the dark, but does having your head machined all of those times affect the compression? And if so does that put more stress on components (ie the head gasket)?

Engnbldr is in Oregon, and he is HIGHLY recommended for anything 22R related by other people on 4x4wire. Perhaps he can bolt that thing together for the last time. Dunno how close he is to you, but you can check out www.engnbldr.com and find out. At least you could get your gasket and head bolts from him, he has pretty good prices on good stuff. There are some issues after decking the head and block that might need to be addressed as it will retard the cam timing some.

It does raise the CR, but only a tiny bit. Probably not enough to cause HG failure.

Although there is a chance that you can only machine the cylinder head so many times...I know that is the case with engine blocks.

i have used fel-pro gaskets alot, its my opinion and other people i know that thier gaskets are top quality, never had a problem with them.