I blew the head gasket on my ’97 FZJ80 on Wednesday.
The family was on our way back home from a few days skiing up at Squaw Valley. During our stay in Tahoe, I noticed a couple times when the heater wasn’t working well and the engine temperature began to rise slightly above normal. I attributed this symptom to a thermostat that was slow to open due to the freezing temps, but something didn’t seem normal to me so I double-checked the coolant level. It was normal. On the way home, everything was normal for first 100 miles or so. We stopped briefly and when I started the truck again I noticed a slight rough idle for a few seconds. I shut it down again and checked the engine bay, water and oil levels.
Everything seemed normal so off we went… started fine this time. Drove another 40 miles or so and my wife noticed a slight puff of steam from under the hood. I immediately looked at the temp gauge which was climbing rapidly toward the red. I pulled over, and limped down the shoulder to a safe spot and shut her down. I let it cool for a while, then checked the coolant level again. It was low. I added another gallon of water. Upon start up, I noticed condensation on my glasses when I checked the tailpipe and bubbles in the overflow bottle. Time to call AAA. I pulled the #5 and 6 plugs while we waited for the tow. Both were normal. Next call was to CDan to order parts. I wanted to get moving on the head gasket as soon as possible because my other ride, the FJ40 was down also.
The family was on our way back home from a few days skiing up at Squaw Valley. During our stay in Tahoe, I noticed a couple times when the heater wasn’t working well and the engine temperature began to rise slightly above normal. I attributed this symptom to a thermostat that was slow to open due to the freezing temps, but something didn’t seem normal to me so I double-checked the coolant level. It was normal. On the way home, everything was normal for first 100 miles or so. We stopped briefly and when I started the truck again I noticed a slight rough idle for a few seconds. I shut it down again and checked the engine bay, water and oil levels.
Everything seemed normal so off we went… started fine this time. Drove another 40 miles or so and my wife noticed a slight puff of steam from under the hood. I immediately looked at the temp gauge which was climbing rapidly toward the red. I pulled over, and limped down the shoulder to a safe spot and shut her down. I let it cool for a while, then checked the coolant level again. It was low. I added another gallon of water. Upon start up, I noticed condensation on my glasses when I checked the tailpipe and bubbles in the overflow bottle. Time to call AAA. I pulled the #5 and 6 plugs while we waited for the tow. Both were normal. Next call was to CDan to order parts. I wanted to get moving on the head gasket as soon as possible because my other ride, the FJ40 was down also.