Blownchevelle68

Last week I noticed on cold starts my truck would stumble and sound like it was only running on 3 cylinders for about 30 seconds, then it would go into high idle and run good. I was leaning towards an issue with the IAC valve but last night I checked the overflow tank and it was bone dry. Now I just changed the oil last Friday and had topped it off (uh oh!) Opened radiator cap and it was low there as well.

Truck has not been overheating, antifreeze was not in the oil change from last week either. Dipstick shows oil appears clear, however just a small amount of white sludge on bottom of valve cover oil cap.

I added antifreeze and started truck up-It billowed white exhaust (inside a garage with ambient temp of 55 degs). So it appears either the head gasket has blown or maybe I'll be lucky and just the intake gasket?

Anyrate....This is a great running little engine that only has 147k miles. I know it has the factory timing chain and guide, so If the head comes off, I will replace that. But is there anything else that would be a recommended replacement while I'm there? Head bolts I'm assuming? Anything else?

Also if the head does come off, I can't see any reason not to buy a reman head and have it all done and out of the way. Has to be cheaper than running mine through the machine shop. Thoughts?

ev13wt

If you get a reman head, get it from lce or 22reperformance. Not Ebay. Ask me how I know.

Get the block decked. Head too, unless its "new". I recommend OEM gaskets.
Get all new coolant hoses everywhere, especially under the intake. But look if the ones under your intake aren't infact leaking. You'd never really see it, but are loosing coolant.
New or flush radiator and flush heater cores.
Get new head screws. ARP studs or OEM.
Toyota red coolant after the flushing.

Paul22RE

Don't forget the o-ring for the water heater pipe and other gaskets like the egr plate, cold start injector, crush washers, etc. I found a reputable shop that rebuilds heads and just gave them 8 valve seals since valves and springs were fine. Head looked brand new when I got it back, cost was $175. I know it may be a myth, but having a tight top end with new springs on a high-mileage bottom end can possibly lead to trouble.

snippits

Buy the Toyota head gasket kit. It's called Engine Valve Grind. Lots of cheaper kits available if you are on a budget. I would be OK with the Fel-Pro improved design kit even though it's not a slipper plate design. I do like the Fel-Pro lower intake gasket with the rubber sealing beads around the coolant ports.

Osk timing chain kit made in Japan. Osk is same company that made the original. Personally, I installed a Cloyes HD kit with driver side steel guide because I did not have the extra money for the Osk kit, and then on top of that order a driver side steel guide. The Osk kit comes with plastic guides.

My local automotive machine shop that I trust was real busy when I needed head work done 1.5 years ago. It was going to be like six weeks before they could even work on the head. I bought an Enginetech new complete cylinder head with cam for about $250 shipped from RockAuto. Also, bought a new set of Enginetech head bolts. Round about 15,000 miles later, and it's still doing fine.

I installed a new Denso oil and water pump.

Get the fuel injectors cleaned and tested for flow. Cold start injector can get really dirty too, and gunked up with carbon. You might want to send it off for cleaning along with the fuel injectors.

Inspect the rocker assembly for excessive wear. My assembly looked OK to me, and it's still doing good. If I would had enough money at the time, I would have rebuilt it myself with new tubes and new rockers.

Inspect and clean EGR valve. Mine had about 189,000 miles on it, and it was at least half way clogged with hard carbon. Carb cleaner, flat head screwdriver, wire brush, and elbow grease cleaned it up.

Replace the three hoses under the intake. You can get all three Gates hoses cheaper than what Toyota wants for one hose. It was about $40 for one dinky hose last time I looked which is a rip off. Gates 18222, Gates 18223, Gates 18400

Change the fuel filter when you have it apart because it will be way easier to do with the lower intake out of the way. Remember which way it installs because it can be installed backwards very easily. Fuel filters should come with new crush washers.

gsp4life

+1 Good post, snippits

wallytoo

iTrader: (1)

Blownchevelle68

Thanks for all the replies everyone, been super busy at work and have not had a chance to reply. Friday I got the head off (wow, what a mess of wiring!) and dropped it off Saturday morning to my machine shop. The gasket looked fine and I could not tell where the coolant had been slipping past. The shop called yesterday and said once the head was tanked, you could see the discoloration where it leaked into Cyl #2.

All of the cylinder walls look great and there isn't a ridge near the top of cylinders. Top of pistons although a little discolored, were free of carbon buildup (with the exception of piston #2 which looks brand new after it's steam cleaning!)

I've started cleaning the deck up and will get the factory head gasket and all the little ones as well. Thanks for the recommendation on the fuel filter, as I saw that and thought if I'm ever going to replace it, now is the time. The water pump has something funky going on as when I turn the shaft I'm getting a grinding noise, so it's going to be replaced as well, along with the timing chain set and possibly the oil pump.

Couple of times I thought this is so tore apart that I might as well pull the engine and just rebuild the whole thing, but I feel there is alot of life left in the bottom end.

Blownchevelle68

Just a follow up to this in case anyone later searching comes across this.

I ended up putting a new water pump, thermostat, timing chain and gears and all gaskets/o rings associated. Good time to send the injectors out which I did to have them serviced which made a nice improvement. The small O-ring for the water pipe that goes under the intake--just replace it now. Trust me it sucks having to take the EFI manifold back off and try to fish a new one on.

Flush the radiator out good, plan on a oil change just a short time later as well after finishing the project, just to clean the remaining gunk out.

I only took the front oil pan bolts out to help get the timing cover back on. Black Ultra RTV is what I used for the front rail and it's hold up well.

Take the oil pump apart, clean it out well and reassemble with a new front oil seal and rubber gasket. This solved a small oil leak for me but also improved my oil pressure.

Sand the surfaces for all flat gaskets with a sanding block and 100 grit sandpaper to make sure it's level but also clean. Check with a straight edge as well.

snippits

Yes it's a mess of wiring. Some guys are pulling the wires through the firewall to speed it up.

Yes that water pipe o-ring can be a PITA if not changed when stuff is apart. Fuel filter too!

If you do have any leaks from the front oil seal, Toyota makes a Type-T seal that is thinner than the stock seal. Rides on a different spot once it is installed, and will seal it good. No sleeves needed.



Who did the injectors, and how much did it cost? I still have mine from back in 2017 that I need gone through. Been running Bosch type 4-hole Hyundai injectors ever since I did head gasket/timing kit about 19 months ago.

Blownchevelle68

Witchunter performance took care of the injectors. I had the cold start injector services as well. Cost right around $120 shipped.

toyodabro

If you have to take it off, I'd recommend replacing it. I replaced all the vacuum tubing when I did mine as well. Glad I did that. Water pump as well. Other's have suggested coolant hoses, those you cold skip (in my opinion) if they're still in good shape. Oil pump could also be replaced if you wish. I'd go with head studs as opposed to bolts. New intake and exhaust studs as well. LCE sells all of that stuff and they're good quality.

beef tits

Timing kit - get metal backed guides
Deck timing cover to match block, if you deck block, will leak otherwise
Use AISIN / Toyota / JDM parts everywhere you can. The Chinese engine parts (Engnbldr) are junk in my experience