FJ40 broke my heart yesterday (2 Viewers)

[YOTA4X4]

Hello all!

This is my first day, first post on this forum and unfortunately it's a sad one. I confirmed yesterday my 1978 FJ40 has a blown head gasket and to be honest I came here with the intention on posting in the classifieds to sell it. Like many forums you can't do that with your first post so instead i'll just whine about it here for a bit.

Truth be told I love my 40, it's been a weekend cruiser for my wife and I for a few years now but after sinking well over $30K into it, given the current economy we have decided to sell it. I'll save those details for later when i'm allowed, but suffice to say we've enjoyed our time with it. I MAY change my mind and just keep in in the garage for a few years and do a Cummins re-Power down the road since that was always my intention but that will be a few years off. Anyway i'll post up a picture and just consider this my hello, nice to meet you all thread, I have used this site as a resource for a number of years and always found excellent knowledge on here!

We're a very Toyota family, I have a 2017 TRD Off-Road Tacoma, and my wife drives a 2019 Rav4 Adventure so the FJ40 has always fit right in. I look forward to being on here and maybe I'll change my mind and end up keeping and rebuilding or re-powering but for now i'm just feeling a little gloomy and broke.

My FJ40, 1978 with 2F and 4spd manual. Aluminum Tub, 4 wheel disc conversion, nice driver quality vehicle/ resto-mod that we have always enjoyed.

What's the general thought on selling it? vs a rebuild? vs a re-power? Keep in mind if I re-Power or rebuild it'll have to sit for at least a year or two in my garage before we work on it again, thoughts? Thank you all in advance for the hopefully warm welcome I have always found Toyota people to be the very best people

-YOTA

 

[JohnnyC]

It’s going to be a much harder sell with a blown head gasket

Does it run now? Positive it’s a bhg? I hope your now just confusing milky valve cover cap as bhg

Most valve cover milky issues are not an issue

Post up your issue to confirm it’s a bhg

Btw a bhg is not too bad to do

 

[YOTA4X4]

Ok, so I’m 99% sure it’s a head gasket. I’m loosing coolant and when the truck starts up it blows white smoke out the tail pipe.
Engine actually stills runs great, fires right up and doesn’t over heat. Yesterday i noticed the overflow tank was brown-ish after the engine ran. I’m fairly certain that has to be what it is, however there really isn’t any issues with the motor starting or running.
If it could be something else I’m all ears. And yes i know it’s a tough sell with a blown gasket but i don’t know what else to do. Right now it can still fire up and drive onto a trailer. If i sit on it for a year or two who knows.
I’d welcome any other advice.

 

[dad4x4]

I agree with Johnny. Blown head gasket isn't a big deal definitely not a reason to sell. Don't sit on it for a year, get it back up a running.

 

[White Stripe]

A head gasket job should not cost too much to do yourself. You cant let it sit for a year or two though with coolant in the oil. Coolant is acidic to engine bearings.

 

[KRGfab]

Fix the head gasket. Pretty straight forward fix especially if there's no damage to the engine.

 

[YOTA4X4]

so what’s the best plan of action than? Drain the oil and coolant right away? Or get it to an engine/ machine shop? Any idea round about how much that should/ might cost to have done??

 

[dmaddox]

I'm in NY - I'll get this FJ40 off your hands! I'll also be upstate weekend of the 4th. A head gasket isn't the end of the world, but if coolant worked its way through the system, and it's been running like this for awhile, there could be other issues.

 

[dmaddox]

Pull the plugs, do a compression test, verify head gasket (or cracked block/head hopefully not). Then, write the numbers down.

Buy a head gasket kit pull the head, investigate/clean. If the block and head are ok, replace the gaskets after cleaning it all up, buckle it all back together and off to the races.

 

[YOTA4X4]

I'm in NY - I'll get this FJ40 off your hands! I'll also be upstate weekend of the 4th. A head gasket isn't the end of the world, but if coolant worked its way through the system, and it's been running like this for awhile, there could be other issues.

so i can’t say exactly when it began, coolant level just began lowering and became noticeable within the last 50 miles or so (maybe a week) i keep it in a garage on a tender so i always notice coolant level. It runs and starts up like it always has but obviously i can’t see what’s inside the engine going on. Hence my thinking of selling. We’re not really in a place to funnel endless money into it... idk :-(

 

[matzell]

$1000-$1500 to repair depending on who does it and how far you go.

 

[dmaddox]

Sent you a message

 

[Nottajeep]

Blown hg is a great time for a valve job and replace the other gaskets around the engine.
Really a straight forward project that is 2F fun.

 

[JohnnyC]

Were abouts upstate ny

I am in EGreenbush

X2 do compression test... how much white smoke?

 

[imyahucklbrry]

I, once upon a time, also believed my HG had blown (white smoke & odd looking oil)..... It turned out to be a flawed carb (Aisan knock off that I replaced with the real thing). Yours may well be what you fear but you really should follow above advice first before trying to sell...... I kinda think that seeing your 40 loaded up on a trailer heading to a new owner —— THAT will be what truly breaks your heart!

 

[Tancruiser]

Parts should not be more than $400.00 plus an excuse to buy a few new tools go for it. It’s just nuts and bolts.

 

[YOTA4X4]

Were abouts upstate ny

I am in EGreenbush

X2 do compression test... how much white smoke?

white smoke is mostly at start up/ warm up and mostly goes away once it’s running. My fear is the coolant is going somewhere... so it almost has to be leaving the tailpipe...

I will call a few engine shops in the vicinity and see if anyone has experience with older motors.

 

[Cromagnon]

You have a 40 so you should at least be able to change a tire...right? The head gasket isn't that much more difficult. Like @Tancruiser said a few new tools and a lot of really good Land Cruiser bonding time. Get a Factory Service Manual and ask a lot of questions here. Like @imyahucklbrry has said " I kinda think that seeing your 40 loaded up on a trailer heading to a new owner —— THAT will be what truly breaks your heart!" Ask me how I know!!

 

[FJBen]

Fix it or get it fixed. Your value doubles or more with a running engine. Dont consider selling with a bad headgasket.

The 2F is very simple to fix a headgasket. Usually there aren't any warping issues. Takes an hour or so to pull the head and you will know a lot at that point. Parts aren't that expensive for this repair.

Thats a lot of money and time in a rig to ditch for cheap because of a headgasket.

 

[YOTA4X4]

Ok... wow this forum is pretty amazing with responses. So i am fairly mechanically inclined so if the job isn’t bad I am sure I can tackle it. To be honest my thoughts when talking engine work immediately went to a full rebuild because if i was going to pay a shop i would just do the whole thing. Rings, pistons, valves ect and have a like new engine for years to come. I guess just putting in the gasket alone wouldn’t be all that bad and if it ups the value that much it might be worth it. Maybe my reaction was knee jerk but my wife was not thrilled with more money going into it right now at all, and truth be told we had been considering selling it, or repowering (with an Auto) for her to be able to drive. This was just kind of a major stressor at a bad time but maybe i will sleep on it before making any huge decisions. I do appreciate all the feedback, again I’m stunned how active this forum is. TY