I'm almost positive my headgasket blew. But as always nobody knowsmore than you guys so i'd like your input on the subject.

I was driving down the highway doing about 65-70 when all of a sudden a ton of steam started pouring out of the coolant resevoir. as soon as i saw it i put it I pulled over and shut it down. the coolant in the resevoir was boiling and there was so much steam you couldn't see anything on the highway. I had it towed to the shop where I work(detailing). and replaced the thermostat in hope of that was all that was wrong. when i started it up for a few seconds its fine for a second or two then a ton of white smoke starts pouring out and i have a light ticking noise. like i said it sounds like a head gasket to me. could the ticking be a compression leak because of it?

any input would be much appreciated.

 

Sounds like headgasket to me. Drain the oil and look for coolant and foamy crud. Best of luck!

 

Uh, yeah -- bad news. I'm way too familiar with blowing head gaskets, and you my friend have likely joined the dubious club. I'm assuming the temp gauge went to the red?

Ed

 

yea. but it shot up extremely quick. it was fine and then boom red and steam pouring out of the engine. at first i just thought my thermostat went but apparently its alot more than that. is there anything else i should get done while they're fixing the HG if thats the problem?

 

Bummer, man. When you change the gasket - make sure you check for any cracks in the head. When my gasket blew on my 86 (22RE), it cracked the head between the water jacket and the combustion chamber... When it blew, I had a grip of water come out of my exhaust!

 

Depends on how long its been since the top end was serviced. Your budget will dictate how much maintenance you do, but it's a good time to have the valves done if possible and if necessary (visual inspection by a mechanic will let you know). If you're planning to open up the air flow through out the engine with headers and exhaust this would be a good time to get the heads ported and polished, too.

The 3.0 is a sensitive lil beeotch when it comes to temperature. I blew the gasket on the left-side head once when it hadn't even gone to the red -- it only heated up about 3/4. Fun times.

Ed

 

Have your head(s) (What motor do you have?) pressure tested & milled. Pay the money for the gasket set from Toyota. Change all your Fuel Injector o-rings, etc. (Those should come with your gasket set). Also, buy the $11 Knock sensor wire (if you have the 3VZ-E, it's under the intake manifold mounted on the top of the block). You definitely want to change that wire when you have everything apart. And get a new timing belt. Make sure you spend the money for new head bolts. The douchebag at the Toyota dealership told me I didn't need to replace mine, but everyone else here says they NEED to be replaced. That's all I can think of at the time.

 

thanks guys. yea i took it to the mechanic this morning because i can only do so much( im not going to tinker with stuff i can't handle) ill give him my intel that ive gathered from you guys when i get home. thanks.

 

Sounds like you have the same thing i had. I had an external leak on the driver side at the back of the engine. I also got the billowing steam like you described. It was from coolant leaking out onto the crossoverpipe at the back of the engine. I had the same thing with my temp gauge too.

If you have an internal HG leak, your oil will be milky. On an external like mine, my oil was normal.

x2 on new headbolts. Those are a 1 time use item. For piece of mind, you might want to get ARP headbolts from DOA.

 

I know I am asking an obvious question. But maybe not? Did it ever have the head gasket recall done?

 

yea the recall was done back in 1996 by the original owner. i tried pullin one over on the dealership saying the one they did was defective but that didn't go very well

 

All I have to say is:
Crap.

 

you're not alone; my HG gave way -- with a bang -- last week.
:cry:

 

Maybe I missed something. When you last mentioned 'White smoke everywhere' are you talking about the reservoir again or the tailpipe ?
Tailpipe = headgasket problem Reservoir = something way less $
?

 

I was hoping not to have the same problem but after reading this i'm convinced it's the head gasket.

Thanks

 

Welcome to the club. My HG went yesterday. Does anybody know how to check the mill on the head or should i take it in. Are the Toyota gaskets better than say FelPro. How much should be expected to pay for the mill job?

 

another member of the 3.slow HG club! congrats! (sarcasm)

check with engbldr.com http://engnbldr.com/ToyotaHotLicks.htm

i used his master gasket kit, rings, bearings, head bolts. I was very happy with the stuff i got. (that was when i rebuilt mine)

 

Static---my highway prob was like yours.....most of the time it was highway related. It generally didn't overheat around town. It turned out to be a bad radiator.

 

Mine went and hyrdrolocked no.6 threw a right outta the side of my block. Good luck

 

DO NOT USE FELPRO. You'll be right back doing the HG again soon. Rock, Nitroseal, Toyota Parts, or engnbldr are all good sources for the RIGHT gasket.

Mike in AR