1989 Toyota Pickup DLX 3.0 5spd
I have been working on a compete rebuild on my trucks motor the 3vze. I had the block bored .5mm over (.020”), heads milled, valve job and adjusted

Anyways I am at the part where I am putting the heads on and I have read the Fel-Pro Gaskets are not the best for this motor and will blow around 15-20k. At this point I have mounted and torqued the bolts to one of the heads before reading up on these gaskets.

I am at the point now where I wouldn’t mind taking the head back off and purchasing an oem gasket from toyota, and getting new head bolts for the one side if it was strongly advised. I’d rather not go through the hassle of doing it again with the motor being in the truck the second time.

I was wondering if people over-exaggerated the reliability on these gaskets and if I would be okay. I prepped the surface on both the head and the block very well and made sure of no residue on either surface.

Thanks,
Max

 

I've never done a Toyota 22RE head gasket, and I specifically did the timing chain replacement w/o disturbing the head or pan, because I know that you'll nevr get as good an installation as the factory did. What follows is personal opinion fwiw. You have a cast iron block and an aluminum alloy head. They have different expansion rates when heated. That can cause problems. You prepared the surfaces. Are you sure they are that they are dead flat, smooth, and clean? They must be to give you the best chance of a successful installation. If you're replacing the gasket on account of an overheat or other failure, I'd say that you definitely need to have the head re-machined by a qualty machine shop, as well as have the block surfac checked for distortion. Take a look on utube for many other other infos.

Fel-Pro is in the gasket business forever. They should know as well as anybody what is required of the gasket and how to make it so. That said, you can't beat factory parts for quality. There are many other posts here regarding the subject.

If it was me, and I ensured that the surfaces were prepared correctly, I'd leave the FelPro on. If it might not have been prepared correctly, I'd take it apart and do it again with a Toyota gasket. If I'd be sure of the surfaces, and couldn't obtain or afford the Toyota gasket, I wouldn't worry about using the best FelPro gasket. My $0.02

 

I used FelPro head gasket when I replaced the head in my 22RE 4Runner. My "friend" broke the water pump belt driving it one day, and let it overheat, cool down, overheat, cool down...as he drove it back. I had spare belts and hoses in the back. He could have fixed it in minutes.
Anywho, the head was visibly cracked when I looked closely, so away I went. I got the head replaced, found out it was cracked from the factory they got it from. Got another one, it was checked, decked, all that.
Anywho, I replaced the head, believe it or not using the same head bolts, and a Fel-Pro gasket. All torqued according to the book, did the valve alignment, the whole nine. It's been working fine since '03 or so. Re-torqued the head bolts according to the FSM, too.

So, the whole point is that MY Fel-Pro head gasket hasn't had any problems since 03. I do the valves etc according to the FSM, and all the rest. Just had the timing chain and guides done last year (it was still factory), along with the water pump, oil pump, and all the gaskets involved. It runs like a new truck now

Answer your question? Yeah, it's only one guy's experience, but there it is, for what it's worth.
Pat☺

 

I appreciate your guys advice and experience on the topic. I have decide to continue on with the Fel-Pro gaskets, I torqued the other head on today. I assume what problems most people had with these gaskets would be improper preparation such as milling the heads.

Ill try to remember to post an update when the mileage goes up with the gasket!

 

If the Fel-Pro kit included a oil pan gasket I’d recommend using fipg instead. Done right that’ll never leak.

 

Yeah it included the cork gaskets, I already used the toyota rtv on the pan. Never using a cork gasket again! 😂