Daughter's '97 SR5 blew the head gasket

[alia176]

The heads are out, and I will reassemble them so that they can be taken to the local engine rebuilding shop. They will do pressure test, and other stuff. They'll let me know if I need any new valves or anything, but at the least I will provide them with valve stem seals which comes with the head gasket kit.

 

[alia176]

The driver side camshafts have these weird marks on them, but the corresponding shims have no marks on them. I'm not sure what to think about this.

 

[alia176]

I think cyl 6 was the culprit as the exhaust valves look to be lighter than the other valves.

 

[pappy]

I think cyl 6 was the culprit as the exhaust valves look to be lighter than the other valves.

What does the gasket look like on that cylinder? Can you see a failure?

 

[alia176]

This is the spot where the combustion ring blew out and the gas escaped into the nearest coolant passage.

I will have empire engine shop do a quick pressure test just to confirm my theory, but I don't see any cracks between the valves inside the combustion chamber. But this is only a preliminary guess, as it is super hard to see the bare metal through all this carbon deposit.

 

[alia176]

Here is a side-by-side comparison with the opposite head gasket, the same exact area.

 

[reklund5]

Cams look about normal to me given the age and mileage. I wouldn’t sweat it at all- run ‘em!

Clean the block thoroughly and get a straightedge on it. Be sure it’s not pitted where the HG let go on cyl 6. It’s likely just fine but check to be sure. As we discussed, I’m sure the boys at Empire will take good care of you on the heads. You should have it up and running in no time!

 

[alia176]

Cams look about normal to me given the age and mileage. I wouldn’t sweat it at all- run ‘em!

Clean the block thoroughly and get a straightedge on it. Be sure it’s not pitted where the HG let go on cyl 6. It’s likely just fine but check to be sure. As we discussed, I’m sure the boys at Empire will take good care of you on the heads. You should have it up and running in no time!

Thanks Ryan for the sage advice. The spawn has a lot of work ahead of her and she isn't getting to it. I bet the heads will be ready to go and they'll sit and wait until spring. Lazy teenagers

 

[pappy]

Thanks Ryan for the sage advice. The spawn has a lot of work ahead of her and she isn't getting to it. I bet the heads will be ready to go and they'll sit and wait until spring. Lazy teenagers

Do you want me to have a chat with her? Ask her how much she enjoys driving the boring car.

 

[reklund5]

Thanks Ryan for the sage advice. The spawn has a lot of work ahead of her and she isn't getting to it. I bet the heads will be ready to go and they'll sit and wait until spring. Lazy teenagers

The last thing she should do is let that engine sit open without heads on it until spring. Given the winter weather and propensity for condensation and such, that thing should get reassembled ASAP.

 

[OGBeno]

I'd save some money and pass on the knock sensors.

They very rarely go bad (unless they are damaged somehow).

And agree with Jon on the Amazon parts. We have been burned way too many times with counterfeit parts.

 

[alia176]

I'd save some money and pass on the knock sensors.

They very rarely go bad (unless they are damaged somehow).

And agree with Jon on the Amazon parts. We have been burned way too many times with counterfeit parts.

Given how difficult it is to get to the two knock sensors and the wiring harness, theyre coming from Japan .

I showed Jon the timing belt kit from Amazon, and it came in an Aisin box with the Toyota brand scratched out . You can't beat the Koyo bearings with Mitsubishi timing belt.

 

[OGBeno]

Given how difficult it is to get to the two knock sensors and the wiring harness, theyre coming from Japan .

I showed Jon the timing belt kit from Amazon, and it came in an Aisin box with the Toyota brand scratched out . You can't beat the Koyo bearings with Mitsubishi timing belt.

Mitsuboshi.

 

[alia176]

Mitsuboshi.

s***e, that's right.

 

[pappy]

Given how difficult it is to get to the two knock sensors and the wiring harness, theyre coming from Japan .

I showed Jon the timing belt kit from Amazon, and it came in an Aisin box with the Toyota brand scratched out . You can't beat the Koyo bearings with Mitsubishi timing belt.

Ya, that kit looked like the real deal. Ryan and Onur are giving good advice. Daughter-dear should listen to them.

 

[alia176]

Ya, that kit looked like the real deal. Ryan and Onur are giving good advice. Daughter-dear should listen to them.

Let's see how much of this sinks into her.

 

[alia176]

Engine shop did the first round of cleaning, then disassembled everything. The heads were pressure tested and revealed no cracks. Also a vac test was done to check the valve seats and that came out good too. The tech checked the valve lash and wrote down the numbers with a sharpie. Looks like one of the head has a tad higher lash on the exhaust side than the other head. He said he'll look for couple of shims to tighten up couple of the worst offenders. Another cleaning will be taking place next before the head machining takes place. The tech's work space is tidy and organized which made me quite happy. He explained things to me that I'd not have know otherwise so I appreciated that very much.

I dropped off the valve stem seals this morning and took this shot:

 

[Wildcat Walker]

What is the history of coolant maintenance on this engine? I see some deposits in the water jackets and other places, appears to be from traditional green IAT antifreeze. For reference, Toyota Long Life Antifreeze/Coolant is OAT an the Super Long Life is HOAT. It's hard to know what the root cause was in your case, but I do think regular coolant services goes a long way in preventing HG failures.

 

[alia176]

What is the history of coolant maintenance on this engine? I see some deposits in the water jackets and other places, appears to be from traditional green IAT antifreeze. For reference, Toyota Long Life Antifreeze/Coolant is OAT an the Super Long Life is HOAT. It's hard to know what the root cause was in your case, but I do think regular coolant services goes a long way in preventing HG failures.

I think the first post mentions me putting Barr's radiator stop leak to temp stop the HG leak so that contributed to the "crud". The original owner switched to green so we stayed with that. Now is the time when we can switch back to red if we want, not sure what the daughter wants.

The root cause has been explained/shown in detail if you scroll up! The fire ring on the HG seems to be the culprit.

 

[alia176]

So, I found a Taco with a blown HG for daughter's roommate since she's looking for a beater truck. I texted them both with a link to the Taco, and here's her response