Blown head gasket, cracked head or both?

[wileetoyote]

So I was towing my camper 75 miles outside of Phx (trying to go camping) when i noticed my temp going up after being rock solid until then... pulled off at the next exit and LC was idling rough, over-heated and blowing white smoke out the exhaust and evaporating so I'm thinking blown HG

So I let it cool down, top off with water and decide to crawl it home at 2k rpm (~50mph)... so far so good, no overheating and pretty smooth. I get 30 miles before temp starts to go up so I pull over, let it cool down and added ~3/4 gallon of purified drinking water... did this 2 more times before getting home.

I stripped it down to the block looking for the blown HG and find two things... puddle of water on a sparkling clean #1 Piston but no sign of a blown gasket there and then the most subtle, maybe a sign of a blown HG at #6 piston where the valve chamber indicated a leak.

So was the #1 Piston steam cleaned by a cracked head? I cant tell yet as I have taken off the intake manifold. Or is the culprit #6 or both... I'm perplexed to say the least.

Any thoughts?

#1 Piston...

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#1 Piston Chamber (right)...

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#6 piston...

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#6 Valve Chamber (you can see a stain/trail in the upper left quadrant)...

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My 1 man HG gasket repair job helper...

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Any help/opinions would be appreciated (with the piston analysis, not my decision to tow my camper home instead of having it towed )

WET

 

[Paul_L]

Looks like a major leak in the #1 cylinder between 8 & 9 O' clock in the 1st pic & a minor leak in the #6 cylinder where you pointed out. I'd probably get the head checked at a machine shop.

It amazes me how deformed the fire rings get on these gaskets.

 

[wileetoyote]

Looks like a major leak in the #1 cylinder between 8 & 9 O' clock in the 1st pic...

I hope your right on the HG on #1... looking at it, sure the ring is warped and there's some missing gasket material but I thought it just came off when I separated the head. I wouldn't have thought that section was 'blown' per say.

I've replaced a couple head gaskets on my '89 4Runner before and it was easy to see the blown section of the HG.

Thanks for the input.

 

[scottryana]

The firerings start off that shape...

Looks like a major leak in the #1 cylinder between 8 & 9 O' clock in the 1st pic & a minor leak in the #6 cylinder where you pointed out. I'd probably get the head checked at a machine shop.

It amazes me how deformed the fire rings get on these gaskets.

...via IH8MUD app

 

[oilbrnr]

I'm in the same boat, about to tear into my '97. I'm curious as to your method of head removal. I also have a two post lift and am wondering if that might be a much quicker method to remove and install the head assembly almost as a complete unit.

 

[wileetoyote]

I'm in the same boat, about to tear into my '97. I'm curious as to your method of head removal. I also have a two post lift and am wondering if that might be a much quicker method to remove and install the head assembly almost as a complete unit.

The FSM has it being removed as I did it and disassembled on a bench afterwards. I didn't have a chance to borrow my buddies engine hoist so i decided to use the lift instead... super easy.

This is my 3rd HG job (2 prior on 3.0 4Rnrs) so my 1st time on an FJ80... so far I'm in about 15hrs using the lift and taking my time. I removed the front drivers side tire to get to the stuff behind it and it sure makes getting to all the underside work that much easier.

The hardest part of the whole thing is disconnecting all the plugs on the wire harness. the FSM could be clearer in this area as it says to remove the two transmission cables but there's 3... ones an extension cable but its hard to tell which is which as it runs over the top of the tranny so sure enough I inadvertently disconnected the extension cable when I didn't have to and wasted about an hours time after putting it all back on... what a PITA )

here's a couple more pics just before I raised it...

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[CruiseOrlando]

Wow... pulling the motor w/o taking out the radiator?

Do you have issues using the lift since you really don't have any back-and-forth movement?

 

[Delancy]

Wow... pulling the motor w/o taking out the radiator?

Thinking he only pulled the head.

 

[wileetoyote]

yep, only pulled the head and intake assy...

So I disassembled the intake Manifold and was able to get a better look at #1 valve chamber and am now sure it was a blown HG there as well. The #1 Piston pic at the top of the thread showed a piece missing that I thought came off with the head... turns out the head was missing that section as well so there was definitely an opening/runner going towards that warped ring section at 8 o'clock that was pointed out.