When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
My question is in regards to the intake manifold gasket on a 1981 22R California edition engine. The engine has 165K miles on it and runs strong, no lag in power or hesitations of any kind. The coolant is always full and no leaks have been detected on either the block, timing cover or head gasket. The oil is clean and free of any coolant. The cylinder compression was tested and they were all reading at 160psi, +/- 2psi. The other morning, I noticed a cloud of white smoke coming from the exhaust during the engine warm up and initial drive. My initial though was that the head gasket was going bad. Though with the above observations mentioned I was wondering how possible is it for the intake manifold gasket to fail resulting in coolant to enter the combustion chamber? I pulled the plugs and only cylinder number two show signs of being clean, i.e. steam cleaning from the coolant. Is this possible or should I concede that my head gasket is blown?
Plug 2 actually looks pretty good in your picture. Plugs 1, 3, and 4 look like they're rich or fouled. And they all look wet and oily around the threads and even onto the diode. So unless your valve cover is leaking oil down on to the outside of your plugs you're getting excessive oil into your combustion chambers. Maybe blow-by?
I know your compression test checked out so that would kind of go against that idea.
You've got all of the factory California emissions equipment? You could be venting oil from your valve cover back into the motor more than usual. I don't know I'm just spitballing.
The truck does have all of the California emissions equipment installed and it is working. I did have the carburetor rebuilt by National Carburetors (they did a great job), and they tuned it for my altitude of use here in Utah. The truck is completely stock and I have restored it using only oem parts from Toyota. I believe that the truck does run a bit rich and I have yet to adjust the carburetor, thus resulting in three of the four plugs being fouled. As a result of the number two plug being relatively clean, leads me to believe that I have a developing head gasket failure or a potential leak at the union of the intake manifold and engine block. There are no oil leaks that I can see, even the back of the valve cover is dry. Prior to this white smoke, I did do a valve adjustment, though I doubt that this has anything to do with the excessive white smoke that is emitted from the tail pipe upon start up. Otherwise, the truck runs great! So, I’m at a loss. I just apprehensive about changing the head gasket, since it’s a lot of work when I can just change the intake gasket and be done with much less trauma.
Oil smoke on startup would more likely be valve seals. Do the carb adjustment to lean it out some.
agree 2 is the normal looking plug.
i am not sure if you can replace valve seals without pulling the rocker girdle, maybe.
which means head bolts and at the same time head gasket. Somebody else can confirm.
once you have the intake gasket off, may as well pull the head for a valve job. Unless it's recently had one...
also if you do get into it, change the thermostat if you don't know it's history. They don't last more than approx 115k and take the head gasket with them/warp the head when they go.
It’s definitely white smoke when I start and drive the truck initially. My guess that I have a leak around the number two cylinder because that plug looks so clean. I agree that the truck is running rich and I will adjust that once I have this white smoke issue resolved. I am planning on replacing the entire coolant system with new parts just in case. I hope that the head is not warped, and so far, I have no indications of that yet, the truck runs quite cool. I ordered a new head, intake and timing cover gaskets, as well as new timing chain guides and more.
White smoke is defiantly some sort of water vapour. You indicated this is at start up and initial drive and the engine runs quite cool. To me this sounds simply like condensation build up being 'burned off' as it goes away when warmed up. When exactly did this start and what were the circumstances? I would think if its burning coolant from a bad head gasket it would do this all the time and your compression test indicates its O/K. (Get a vacuum gauge and do the engine condition tests with it too) In cold (and/or humid) climates its not unusual to have this white smoke all the time when its cold. A cheap quick fix my be a new thermostat that gets it to the proper operating temperature.
Watch the smoke colour from the tailpipe when you shift gears. A puff of white smoke when cold is normal.(Cold is relative here...cold in Los Angeles is a heat wave in Fort MacMurrey, and you don't want to know what cold is there!) Blue smoke when shifting after warm up indicates worn valve stem seals, which really isn't a big problem unless its fouling the plugs. Worn stem seals really wont show much oil consumption on the dip stick.
Oil in the coolant?
Reading between the lines I get the sense you've not had this truck long?
I noticed it first after I adjusted the valves while waiting on the drive shaft to be balanced. I be it was a coincidence though because from the picture you can see a lot of smoke be emitted just after startup and the initial drive. The smoke stops after the engine is at operating temperature. I do not have any coolant in the oil yet, I keep checking religiously. I am going to do a leak down test in the next couple of days to help narrow down the issue. I have had the truck for over a year and have been restoring each of the major systems slowly. This water vapor issue caught me off guard.
It could be the intake gasket. I just pulled a 22r that developed a bad case of smoke and after pulling the intake manifold it’s clear it was leaking. Look at the 1&2 passages (on the right in the pic) for evidence of water ingestion. The 3&4 intake runners are super clean. Haven’t pulled the head yet but it’s possible the head gasket is bad in either or both of those cylinders too.
Yeah what I'm seeing in that photo is concerning. I don't know how that kind of moisture is going to get in your engine aside from coolant, unless you're pouring water in the gas tank. If you just noticed this it probably just started happening. I'm not sure how much coolant it takes to create that much smoke, but it could just be you haven't noticed the level drop yet because it's not leaking much. Burn a little until warm then stop, so you aren't going through a noticeable amount of coolant. So yeah...probably once the engine warms and expands, the leak seals itself.
I drive it a couple times a week and no more than twenty miles at a time. Whatever the problem is, I caught it quickly so that’s a plus. I did receive the parts from Toyota to work on the top end and purchased two intake manifold gaskets. I’m going to pull the intake manifold and check for a leak their first. Worst case is that I’m out an intake gasket and the bolts holding the intake manifold will be easier to remove the second time around. I have not done a leak down test, but that is on the agenda for the weekend.
If the smoke stops after the engine is at operating temperature and the coolant's always full, could be condensation. But if you don't drive it often and if it's leaking coolant you don't notice it or it's not obvious, and as @83 mencioned above, how much coolant it takes to create that much smoke.
I have been placing card board under the truck when it's parked in the garage to check for any drips from the cooling system, none have been found. My first guess is that coolant is weeping in some crack in the intake or head gasket, and when it reaches operating temperature, the crack shrinks closed. If it were condensation, that would intense to say the least. I’m going to take the truck for a spin, and see what it does again.
You probably have a cracked head or a corroded head that is leaking into cylinder #2. White smoke is water and that much smoke cannot be just condensation, so I bet you are losing water / coolant. Based on the age and driving style I am pretty sure your cylinder head is shot. Poor choices in anti-freeze or none will corrode the head into Swiss cheese over that amount of time.
My suggestion is to pull the head and front cover and get a good head, stainless valves, Viton seals, 75lb springs and re-ground camshaft from Delta in Tacoma WA. Basically a half rebuild, 165k on the bottom leaves you about 150k max life left YMMV in the bottom.
Any recommendations on a complete head? LCE engineering did not list any 22R heads for a 1981 engine. The timing chain is a double row unit and the timing chain guides are the original metal ones. I plan on pulling the front cover to inspect and replace the front oil seal. As for the coolant. I was planning on replacing it with Toyota Red coolant for that truck.
Do a leakdown test before you start shotgunning parts. You’ll then know if you should be looking closely at a certain cylinder, headgasket, valve etc.
the coolant system is pressurized when hot, and remains pressurized after shutdown for some time. Any crack or passageway out will allow the coolant to seep during the cooldown period until the pressure gets to ambient. My guess this is why you’re seeing excessive white smoke at startup. If the problem is at the intake side, at this point there may not be enough coolant seeping past while running to notice any smoke. If the problem gets bad enough, you will notice. If it’s the head gasket... well the cylinder pressure keeps the water out while running.
I agree with Skypilot’s first paragraph. internal corrosion is a problem, but it could also be the intake manifold itself. In my case, the intake to head mating surfaces (both) were corroded and pitted, and given the above pic, certainly allowing water past the gasket. However the wrong antifreeze (or lack of) can cause other issues, namely what looks like calcium buildup. Inspect for this while you have it apart. Mine ended up having calcification balls all through the water passages including the block which later plugged the radiator.
I’ve read that improper grounding (head to block to body to frame to batt neg) can exacerbate corrosion because the charges ground through the water passageways and cause the white buildup. So check & clean all your grounds if corrosion is found. Anyway, corrosion sucks.
Since nobody makes a pre-84 head casting, it’s difficult to find a correct rebuilt head. And they’re not interchangeable (to 84+) from everything Ive read. So if your head isn’t cracked, you may need to just have it rebuilt.
If you do the leakdown and the intake gasket area indicates an issue, inspect both head and intake surfaces closely. Both may need surfacing to clean them up. That’s a step I did not take and later regretted.
Did I miss where you said you were actually loosing coolant? have you had to refill the overflow or the radiator?
Why is it that nobody recommends cooling system pressure tests on this forum? Pumping the system up to around 12 psi and watching for pressure drop will tell you a lot.
If that indicates a leak you can leave the pressure on it (in some cases repeatedly pumping the pressure back up) and see what fills up with coolant (or where it leaks out on the ground).
acthally that’s a good point. Thinking further, a cylinder leakdown test wouldn’t indicate if the intake-to-head gasket area was an issue, but the coolant pressure check could. Would be wise to do both, IMO.
I have not seen a loss of coolant yet; my guess is that I caught this issue quickly before it has had a chance to develop. I will see if Harbor Freight has that coolant system check tool in stock, unfortunately with Easter I have not had a chance to the leak down test. If the cylinder head is indeed bad and not serviceable, I will replace it with a "new" to me unit. Has anyone had any luck with the "Yotashop" engine products? They seem to be the only one to offer a 1981 22R cylinder head. Happy Easter!
03-22-2018, 06:04 PM
