Blown head gasket

[HerbertFJ55]

I have a 1998 Land cruiser (160K) with a blown head gasket. How much am I looking at in repairs cost? Thanks everyone

 

[Junglejack]

Sorry to read that. Do you see water in the oil? These engines are quite stout, but if the engine continued to run in the red zone, there could be issues. If not wanting to take it to a dealer, look for an independent shop ideally specializing in Yotas.

 

[Sandroad]

That's an extremely rare failure on the 4.7L, based on a quick search of MUD. I doubt anyone will have a cost to repair. Something must have caused it, so factor fixing that into the price.

 

[APKhaos]

Blown head gasket? Are you 100% certain?
What evidence do you have that shows the head gasket failure:
- Great billowing plumes of white smoke [coolant being burnt off in one or more cylinders]
- Water in the oil [may be a catastrophic water pump failure]
- Other?
Only asking because you need to be 100% sure before embarking on what is going to be a very expensive repair. May be better to find an engine you can swap in to replace yours.

 

[e9999]

I have an 80 so I am paranoically atuned to the words "blown gasket" and yet I have to say I have no recollection of ever seeing those in the context of a 100... I am blown aw... errr... never mind...

anyway good luck with that. and yes, this deserves further investigation.

 

[TXLX100]

Wow, was it run without coolant? Its going to require removing and machining the heads. Probably not less than a few thousand I would guess at an independent shop.

 

[jgray]

I just did head gaskets on mine after my timing belt broke. No machine shop work was necessary. I used Victor Reinz complete gasket set and replaced everything I could while the heads were off.

 

[HerbertFJ55]

Wow, was it run without coolant? Its going to require removing and machining the heads. Probably not less than a few thousand I would guess at an independent shop.

I was driving down the freeway and just glanced down to my gages, Temp was redlining. I pulled over and noticed a high pitched whistle sound. Not sure how long it was red lining for. sucks...

 

[ENGINE er]

Even still...HGmay be fine. Get the car running cool again and see if your fluids are swapping or cooling system pressurized at start up.

 

[APKhaos]

- Check the oil on the dipstick. Does it look like oil, or more like a chocolate milkshake? If the oil looks normal...
- Refill the coolant. Does it start and idle smoothly? Is it blowing white smoke? If yes, and no, then you may have dodged a bullet.
At very least you need to find why you coolant temp was red lined. A failed water pump will do it. The high pitched whistle is a good thing if it shows that the coolant pressure was bleeding off rather than having a hose fail and dump the coolant.

The point there is that an overtemp event may have damaged the head gasket/s but that's not a given. If it runs and idles normally, and no white smoke, the next step is a simple compression test. If all cylinders show normal compression numbers and there's no water in the oil its possible that the heads and gaskets are fine.

 

[TXLX100]

^Thermostat is a common failure over 100k. Don't be afraid to replace it as preventative maintaine, it's easy to do at the time of coolant replacement.

 

[HerbertFJ55]

Thanks EVERYONE. Lots of good advice!