Hi there guys...
Loving the information on this forum so far, been mighty useful in stripping down my 4runner motor for HG replacement.

So here's the situation so far, Head removed and in shop being pressure tested reconn'd etc. Block has had a thorough cleaning ready for shiny head to be fitted next week, and then I look at my head gasket which was ordered online and it looks like its missing some coolant holes when compared up against the old. Looks like there are 8 holes missing, 2 between each cylinder and 2 between cylinder 1 and the timing chain?

Here's a pic of the old knackered HG...



And here's the new....



And here are my block and head....





So as you can imagine I'm a bit concerned about dropping in this new gasket even though it says it's for a 22r engine, which is what I should have. Looking at pics of 22re gaskets online they appear to be the same ie. no extra holes.
Does anybody have any ideas or come across this before? Would buying OEM from toyota solve this or do I just not have a 22r engine at all and therefore have the wrong gasket? I'm confused, a lot confused, anybody who can shed light on this deserves beer tokens!

This place has been awesome help getting me this far, everyone who contributes I thankyou, you've probably saved me many $$ and wasted hours!

 

Yeah somethings not right there, the holes that are there are also smaller than the OEM one. Go oem, you won't regret it.

 

You're doing all that work on your engine and then want to use a hg from some random company called cada eristic? Confused...

 

Well gasket came as part of a set ordered online on the advice of a colleague. Being in regional Western Australia kinda puts shopping around for this sort of thing out of the question. Even if I do go to the nearest toyota dealership which is about 3 hours away, I'd still need to know if this is definetly a 22r block and head. I know from previous owner that recon engine was fitted question is what do I order gasket for? Nearly all the gaskets I see online for 22r's don't have the extra holes in the pics

 

The block should be "branded" with the make along with the serial number. Located right behind the alternator.

There is a sticky over on the newbie tech section for block and head ID. Think it has pictures also.

Pear shaped exhaust ports are the newest model head.

Not real sure whats going on with the block. You cleaned up the passages in the water jacket already I assume, it doesn look like the port size match the head.

Here is some more R series change info.. http://www.enginebuildermag.com/Arti...__rseries.aspx

 

So had an interesting chat with the machining guy who's refurbishing and checking the head for me... he assures me all is fine with the lack of holes on the new gasket, and it is purely a case of keeping coolant travel in the correct directions / pressures etc.

Also got hold of a couple of threads on pirate4x4 which have explained the issue a bit further...
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/toyot...ket-issue.html
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/toyot...orts-22re.html

apparently they're just casting holes and a means of reducing mass and heat buildup. Puts my mind at rest, hopefully this information helps someone else one day!

Cheers for the responses guys!