aaargh! head gasket?

[Moxwell]

hello
Lucky me, I just found a new to me 94' 80 for $3,000.00, bought it with funds from the sale of my 92 fj80 ($5,000), long story short the day before they pick up the 92 the engine starts stumbling. almost like it has bad gas, I take it to my local indi who says no comp in cylinders 1 and 2, possible head gasket or bad valves. I had been reading some posts about bad gas and I had thought that is what it was as I let it run almost to fumes before I filled up, the problems started immediately after that. Now I have to repay the buyer of the 92 and fix the 92. Faced with the repairs I don't want to do it blindly, so asking for advice. As far as it being a head gasket I have read the posts on that and no symptoms have been present or experienced, so rebuild the engine, buy a rebuilt, or just get it opened up and hope for the best. Can it be driven this way without damaging the engine, say in case I want to park it a few months? It currently makes no odd noises, does not overheat, only acts as if a spark plug wire or two is not firing. I even drove it to the shop which is around 20 miles from where it started to act up. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[tarbe]

Have you ever changed the fuel filter?

 

[Moxwell]

I was hoping that is all it was, I have not had it done. I had been leaning towards a plugged "sock" in the pick up from the pump. but after the diagnosis came in? don't know now anymore.

 

[CJF]

You either trust your mechanic or you don't.

If you're going to start trying things on your own, you need to do a compression test for yourself first, period.

Two cylinders with no compression = end of story. Well, start of a new one anyway.

Good luck,

Curtis

 

[firetruck41]

I was under the impression tht the "common" HG failure was on 1FZ-FE (93+). Sorry to hear about your engine.

 

[Moxwell]

I trust the mechanic, have known him over 20 years, he is excellent and very honest, if he thinks the car is not worth fixing he tells me right away, I had an 86 mercedes with the cosworth engine develop a bad head gasket, he told me to not bother on it, on the 92 land cruiser he made no such suggestion. thanks for the sympathy.

 

[CJF]

Okey dokey.

How many miles on the motor?

 

[Moxwell]

motor has 234,000, I had been reading about the dreaded HG ever since I joined this forum, thought myself immune due to the year. I still got that 94 coming in though, now I am worried, that LC has slightly more miles and according to the forum more of a likelihood of it happening.

 

[CJF]

As for the 94, I think there's actually some consensus that the longer they go without a HG problem, the less likely it is that they'll ever have one.

Ok, so back on topic: You're just wondering how to deal with the 3FE, right? I.e., just replace the headgasket, or rebuild the whole motor, or ditch the thing, or whatever. Is that correct?

Also you're wondering if it will matter if you let it sit indefinitely before dealing with it; why would you do that? Short on funds?

Hang in there,

Curtis

P.S. Actually, I'm kind of surprised you got 5k for it...

 

[Moxwell]

the truck is immaculate, new 33" geos at+, black rock crawlers, new paint, small lift, excellent ice cold air recently converted, loads and loads of maintenance records. Drove the guy around and that sealed the deal. I talked to him today, he still wants the truck but I am out the repair. Oh well. I was honest with him about it and my indi is going to give me a fair deal on account of our 20 year friendship. and I got some money left for some goodies on the 94. Thanks for the help. Kind of feel like the old girl got jealous on account of the new one coming in.

 

[psfpilot]

At 234,000, you might want to change the sock first since it's a low-dollar repair. The dirty sock caused some severe stumbling and stalling for me.

 

[Moxwell]

will definitely change the sock, I was almost certain that was the cause of my troubles, other than the stumbling I am experiencing I did not have any other symptoms, no odd noises, no over heating etc. other than the head gasket, what would cause low to no compression? stuck and open valves?

 

[CJF]

At 234,000, you might want to change the sock first since it's a low-dollar repair. The dirty sock caused some severe stumbling and stalling for me.

Forgive me for what I'm about to say, but...

That's just stupid.

IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE YOUR MECHANIC, DO A COMPRESSION TEST YOURSELF OR GET A SECOND OPINION!!

Why the **** would you start throwing parts (even "low-dollar ones) at an engine that's been diagnosed as having no compression in two cylinders???????

 

[Moxwell]

I believe my mechanic, just some PM I had considered before this happened. I have seen some pics on this thread that were, well frightening.

 

[CJF]

I give up...

 

[snowwolf]

whats a sock?

I know the Englisg are a bit dumb, but whats a sock?, I would guess its a filter, but unsure

 

[Rookie2]

I know the Englisg are a bit dumb, but whats a sock?, I would guess its a filter, but unsure

Bag or sock looking filter that goes on the fuel pump at the pick-up.

 

[IdahoDoug]

Agree with Curtis. Doing things like the fuel sock when there's "no compression" on a couple cylinders is like putting lipstick on a pig and hoping to pass it off as a healthy date. Don't waste your time - not another dime into it until you know what's responsible for the compression issue. And no, it's not a fuel sock, a fuel filter, or any fuel system component issue. It's also not an electrical issue. It's also not a starter, radiator, charger, oil system, steering system, suspension, tranny, or broken antenna. Enough of a box for you?

Identify the zero compression issue and THEN decide what to do or Curtis and I are going to do something we'll regret. Later, of course - but eventually regret can take its toll ......

DougM

 

[Moxwell]

the low compression issue is what is currently getting looked into and no other work is planned until that is taken cared of. Maybe I was not clear, until I got the diagnosis in on low to no compression I had assumed it was the fuel pump pick up filter as I had searched the forum for all instances of my symptoms all of which pointed to that filter. None of my head gasket hits provided any of the symptoms, except for one which was a hardly noticeable reduction in coolant which according to some posts could be attributable to atmospheric loss. Again, I trust my mechanic, known him for over 20 years, as such he has begun the work on the engine, upon completion of the engine work and if I am happy with the results I do plan on keeping this truck for a very long time and the fuel pump filter is one PM item I do plan on doing in the near future. I never planned on buying feed for a dead pig, nor on lipstick. So if I was misunderstood I apologyze. Kinda hard to sneak in a clear email while at work.