Hey guys, i got an 84 pickup. Basically the truck is burning coolant. I have NO LEAKS, and i performed an oil change two days ago. There is no coolant in the oil, i repeat NONE lol...buuut my trucks using coolant. A friend of mine said i have consumation of water vapor coming out of my exhaust. Does anyone know of a home diagnostic to tell if its the HG, water jacket, or a cracked head? I def do not feels its a cracked block ive still got tons of power, and she starts great. Any help would be awsome!!

 

Out of curiosity, how's your coolant overflow? Is it full?

How much coolant are you losing? How often are you topping up the coolant?

 

Yes my overflow is full. Actually a little too full, the topping off really goes by the miles driven. The less i drive the less often i top off. It runs about consistant as the gas tank. After i use about 1 1/3 tank of gas, one day she'll run a lil hot and ill pull over turn the heater on, pop the top and giver a little more than 1/2 gallon.

 

sometimes it will be less say if it was a cool week and i ran the heater a lot then maybe 1 litre. Im currently running a mixture of mostly water, with a bottle and a half of water wetter, and a dash of coolant. Idk i might have made a newb move its my first yota, buts its what i ran in all my previous vehicles and it was awsome mixture. BTW im in Florida, mostly heat, hardly ever have to worry about it freezing

 

your cooling system will build pressure as it heats up. Once your cooling system reaches a certain pressure (usually about 13psi), the radiator cap lifts and can bleed excess pressure and coolant into the overflow. If your overflow is really full, that's happening a lot. Your radiator cap is probably not holding the pressure that it's supposed to. First try buying a new cap from Toyota. It's not that much money.

 

If your not inspecting for the leak... then you will never find it...

There could be a very small pin hole in one of the Thottle body cooler hoses or one of the various hoses on the intake...

Intake manifold Gasket could be defective allowing coolant to enter the combustion chamber...

External head gasket leak?

Radiator... Cap?

Theres alot of places... one just has to look.

Have a shop pressure test the system and look for leaks.

Water pump?

 

ok so i just popped the top and checked, everthing was fine. Thn i put it back on and let the truck idle for about 5 minutes. I popped the top again, put my nose to it, and smelt exhaust fumes! Needless to say im not thrilled. I wish someone could tell me this is an easy fix but i dont think so. Anyone know what could cause exhaust fumes in the radiator? prolly a crack right?

 

When you start it in the mornings do you get a small white cloud burst for a few secs then its gone?

If so and you say your smelling exhaust in the coolant then i would have to say yes you have minor crack in the cylinder head or cylinder block or a head gasket failure. Time to start taking it apart ^_^

 

No white plume, and i leave in the early morning so i would surely notice a white cloud. Especially since the previous owner shorted the exhaust to just behind the cab.

 

Just a qick update....Something finally gave out. After coming home from work, about two hours later. I had went out and topped off the radiator, about 10 seconds after overflow it took a huge gulp of water. I topped it off again, and started i up for a drive. For the first 2 miles it ran like crap. Spitting and sputtering, then all of a sudden cleared up to its normal self. I drove it home parked it and checked the oil dipstick. No oil there. I then went and checked the oil cap, which i found to have a slight cream on it, offwhite in color. So it looks like im hoping for a blown haed gasket, but planning for a cracked head...Sounds like the right assumption?

 

either way youd need head work, if it turns out to be a head gasket, get the head machined. alot of people dont realize that a headgasket can actually cause the surface of the head to warp. get it machined flat before you reinstall it. and if its a new head, i hear engnbldr is a good place to get one. good luck!

 

Yodafan93 thank you for the advice! I got a buddy whos gonna start taking her apart tomorrow. And i found a machine shop that will resurface for 100 bux soo thats not too too horrible. Does anyone know of anything else i should fix or replace while the head is pulled?

 

Yeah, you might as well spend a hundred bucks for a performance cam while you're in there.

A new timing chain assembly is a pretty good idea too. I recommend a metal-backed timing chain kit.

True. I believe it's actually by design that the head warps to conform to the gasket, creating a tight seal. You CAN get away with not machining it assuming an identical gasket is installed, and a little luck, but for 100 bucks you might as well machine it. Personally, I've replaced head gaskets several times without machining the heads, but it's going to come back to bite me in the arse one day.

 

Thanks fellas, i decided not to use my friend since its usually takes 2 weeks for him to fix stuff haha, oh well he's a working man. But i did find a good ol boy that said he'll pull the head machine it and replace the gasket for 275 OTD...Annoyinggrob, do you think a cam will do much benefit with stock carb, and exhaust?

 

cant you use a 20r head and get more power out of his motor? just curious. ive heard its the case. might be something worth researching.

 

also call the guys at engnbldr, ive heard nothing but good things about them.

 

I do. The engnbldr RV cam ( or torkr cam, whatever they call it) gives noticeable increases in power between 2k-3k RPM. I ran one on stock exhaust (on my EFI), and for me it made a whole gear difference when driving.

20R heads can give you increases, but it's only suited for early model 22Rs. 84 was the year when they transitioned between the old 22R design and the new 22R design, so you could have either an early 22R, or a late 22R. The simplest way to check is your valve cover. Early model covers were very rounded, where late model covers were much more squared off.

Early:


Late:

 

cool. thanks for the info rob. its worth mentioning if you go with a new cam, it would be wise to run appropriate springs with it. and of course either get your valves machined or get new ones. be sure you get a warranty or a good shop to do this though. its important to get the valves seated correctly. it all depends on how much you want to spend though. if you dont mind me asking, what IS your budget?

 

My budget is what ever i can spare on saturday after the bills are paid, the fridge, and gas tank are full. Im really just trying to bring her back to a DD at this point. At some point in the future i will rebuild the engine. I plan on looking at the RV cam, as well as changing the compression, and adding a ported and polished head, along with a bigger carb.

 

Also grob thank you for that advice on the valve cover. Looks like i have the earlier model 22r.