NEWBIE


My 86 YOTA WITH 297,283 miles just started idling rough, losing coolant and overheating . I parked it and have yet to pull the valve cover or even the oil cap to check for a damaged timing cover or gravy under the oil cap.

I can get a remanufactured head here locally for $327 out the door with a one year warranty.

My brother n law works for a dealership so I get all OEM Toyota Parts at his price.

My question is this:

What are the PRO's and CON's of just replacing the head with a remanufactured head and not rebuilding the bottom end?? I am on a tight budget and would rather just replace the head along with the parts listed below. If I could just drop in a new rebuilt I would but I can't afford it now.

I will also be replacing the following:

head gasket,
head bolts,
fuel pump,
front main oil seal
water pump
timing cover
timing chain tensioner
timing chain
timing chain sprocket
METAL timing chain rail
valve cover gasket

ALL PARTS WILL BE OEM


By only swapping the head and leaving the bottom end untouched am I setting myself up for a complete blown out engine in the very near future?

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks !

 

This is a common repair/ light rebuild. I have done many how you want to with no issues.

However, all the cylinders looked good still with cross hatching on them, and have good compression.

I would say of they look good with ring to piston wall clearance. You should be fine.

 

I think it's completely fine to do just the head job. If your bottom end is still good you'll be fine.

But I had a bad experience with a head job gone wrong. I threw a rod, really bad the rod went through the engine block. I got pictures to prove it. BUT I think that was mainly because of shady work during the headgasket job. If I could have done it over I would've done the work myself and saved myself time an money.

It's your rig and your money. If you tear into it and feel the bottom end doesn't look good then rethink your plans. If it's good, do the head and call er good.

 

Thing is with out pulling the head you don`t know what you have.

Almost 300,000 miles I bet you could turn the engine over by hand

How do you know the head is bad and needs to be replaced.

Put it together the most that can happen is the bottom end goes out.

Only you know what your budget and bottom line is so if the bottom end goes out in a few weeks few thousand miles??

Are you the type to get a gas can and flare or just say things happen.

I have no clue where you are but I think I used engine could be found about what rebuilt head.

I am curious just how do you collect on the head warranty no doubt a whole book of reasons to void a claim.

Good luck no matter what way you go.

 

my 0.02

if you're going to go to all the trouble of rebuilding it, get a NEW head. i just did this myself, and used a new itm head from rock auto with oem toyota master gasket set and osk timing kit. haven't looked back, she runs beauty and doesn't leak a drop. This way, you know you have a proper surface to seal against the oem head gasket and you havent bastardized the original geometry. plus, the cam and valve train is brand new, running smooth, no compression issues, no burnt valves, no problems. hard to beat for under $400

 

Thanks guys for all your input.
Right now I am collecting as much information as possible in order to determine what direction to take.
A new engine is out of the question and it seems like replacing only the head without rebuilding the bottom end is an acceptable practice according to the replies I received so far.

So, here's the plan:

Check Compression
Open her up and see what I find.
Order up a new head for $327
Order up all necessary parts as listed.

I've done a front end rebuild on a '97 4runner with a V6, I took it slow and double checked my work making sure I didn't skip anything. 4runner still running strong!
Pulling a head off is more work but I'm in no rush so I'll work on it slowly taking my time
and making sure I don't miss anything.

Here are some pics of my truck when I got her, and how she looks now.

Day One


After Tons of Body Work and Mechanical Work


Current

 

Cosmetically looking good.
Just tagged onto this page from your part 1. I'm researching my next head job as well. Overheating, losing coolant, rough idle and stalling out on me. I saw an ad somewhere for a performance had for 500. Going to continue to look around. Good luck.