Head Gasket Checklist, things to consider replacing as long as I am in there. (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

I decided to get started. I got my area prepped and got the hood off. I also drained the coolant and changed the oil.

The coolant looked rough and it had an alarming amount of rust flakes in it. Should I flush the system before I start removing everything? It seems like I would want to get as much of that crud out of there before I change the HG.

P1000338.JPG
 
I also have a hose to nowhere and a pipe with no hose attached down by where the radiator petcock is. I can't really see yet where these go, but I can't imagine this is proper. It sorta looks like where the oil cooler hose in the FSM is located on page EG-338. It looks like it attaches to the frame as shown in the photo. Anyone know what this thing does, or is supposed to do? The PO had a new radiator put in last fall, if that helps. I don't know what brand it is and haven't seen any markings yet.

I will fix this if I can.

P1000346.JPG


P1000347.JPG


P1000348.JPG
 
Red Merle said:
I also have a hose to nowhere and a pipe with no hose attached down by where the radiator petcock is. I can't really see yet where these go, but I can't imagine this is proper. It sorta looks like where the oil cooler hose in the FSM is located on page EG-338. It looks like it attaches to the frame as shown in the photo. Anyone know what this thing does, or is supposed to do? The PO had a new radiator put in last fall, if that helps. I don't know what brand it is and haven't seen any markings yet.

I will fix this if I can.

View attachment 1331781

View attachment 1331782

View attachment 1331783
Click to expand...
Do you have the original charcoal canister with three ports (third port is on the bottom of the canister)? A lot of people replace the Toyota canister with a GM with only two ports. This might be your third line. This line just brings in fresh air from further back on the truck. The new canister brings in air from the engine bay at the base of the canister.
 
bmorgan said:
Do you have the original charcoal canister with three ports (third port is on the bottom of the canister)? A lot of people replace the Toyota canister with a GM with only two ports. This might be your third line. This line just brings in fresh air from further back on the truck. The new canister brings in air from the engine bay at the base of the canister.
Click to expand...
I am not sure what I have. I don't know if the PO replaced that, but I don't think there is a record of it in his file. I will take a look and snap a few pics when I get home to post here. Would you be able to tell by the pic if this was the issue?
 
Red Merle said:
I am not sure what I have. I don't know if the PO replaced that, but I don't think there is a record of it in his file. I will take a look and snap a few pics when I get home to post here. Would you be able to tell by the pic if this was the issue?
Click to expand...
OH yeah- it's pretty easy to tell. The tops look completely different. The original one has a block looking piece that comes up with the two nipples coming out of it to hook the hoses to and then has a third nipple is under it (and the third hose). The replacement is much larger in diameter, so the bracket doesn't fit correctly around it. Someone either put longer bolts or put zip ties to tighten it up. The aftermarket one will not have the block on top. It will be flat with only the nipples coming out.

Original top (ignore the arrows - those are not mine.)

Aftermarket top

So just to be clear, if you have an aftermarket canister, that hose is likely the third hose that is not needed anymore.
 
bmorgan said:
OH yeah- it's pretty easy to tell. The tops look completely different. The original one has a block looking piece that comes up with the two nipples coming out of it to hook the hoses to and then has a third nipple is under it (and the third hose). The replacement is much larger in diameter, so the bracket doesn't fit correctly around it. Someone either put longer bolts or put zip ties to tighten it up. The aftermarket one will not have the block on top. It will be flat with only the nipples coming out.

Original top (ignore the arrows - those are not mine.)

Aftermarket top

So just to be clear, if you have an aftermarket canister, that hose is likely the third hose that is not needed anymore.
Click to expand...

I don't have that part at all. My truck was sold in MN, so I think it was exempt for that according to what i have read. It was only for vehicles sold in NY and CA.

I think these are for the transmission oil cooler. I have to take a closer look once I can get under there again, but it does seem like that that is what they are for. Do you happen to have a pic of those? I am not sure what the deal here is. The FSM is kinda hazy as to how these are connected and my truck seemed to run fine before the HG blew as far as the trans went. Maybe they aren't necessary?
 
I can't tell for sure from the pics, but I'm pretty sure that the hose that's in the brake line coil goes on the nipple that is coming out of the radiator. I just removed mine when I pulled my radiator. Unless it's not connected on the other side of the hose, I can't see how the transmission has any oil. What's odd is that the inside of the hose is dry. When I pulled my hoses (one on each side of the radiator), trans fluid came pouring out. I had to cap the radiator and elevate the hoses to stop/reduce leakage.
 
kletzenklueffer said:
I can't tell for sure from the pics, but I'm pretty sure that the hose that's in the brake line coil goes on the nipple that is coming out of the radiator. I just removed mine when I pulled my radiator. Unless it's not connected on the other side of the hose, I can't see how the transmission has any oil. What's odd is that the inside of the hose is dry. When I pulled my hoses (one on each side of the radiator), trans fluid came pouring out. I had to cap the radiator and elevate the hoses to stop/reduce leakage.
Click to expand...
That's why I am confused as well. The trans has plenty of oil and and it had no notable issues before. I am wondering if the new radiator that the PO had installed is missing the nipples that these connect to and somehow deleted the need for them? BTW, these are both on the same side, attached to the inside of frame on the driver's side.

I am really trying to focus on getting the head off and keeping that project moving, but this is a concern for sure, and I will fix it if need be, even if it means I need to buy a new radiator. I will try to hunt around a bit more either tonight or tomorrow to see if I can figure out what the heck is going on here and at least take some "better" pics of where these are and where they go.

The trouble with the FSM is that the drawings they have of this area are really basic and I can't say for sure that these are even the oil cooler lines, but what else would they be?
 
Red Merle said:
I don't have that part at all. My truck was sold in MN, so I think it was exempt for that according to what i have read. It was only for vehicles sold in NY and CA.

I think these are for the transmission oil cooler. I have to take a closer look once I can get under there again, but it does seem like that that is what they are for. Do you happen to have a pic of those? I am not sure what the deal here is. The FSM is kinda hazy as to how these are connected and my truck seemed to run fine before the HG blew as far as the trans went. Maybe they aren't necessary?
Click to expand...

My truck is original to Louisiana and I have one. I'm not aware that anyone was exempt from having a charcoal canister. Even my '72 Spitfire has one. But got me. If I come across another suspect, I'll pass it on. Sorry I was no help.

I see now that this hose does come far too forward to be the vent for the charcoal canister.
 
Alright, I crawled under there again and I don't think these are for the tranny. Those appear to be intact and go into the radiator.

Here are a few more pics of where these go. This thing is in front of the radiator and it's attached to the front cross member of the frame The hose outlets don't appear to correspond with anything within sight on the back side. This thing is connected to anything and if I can live without it, I will just remove the whole thing as it looks to be in rough shape.

Anyone know what this is?

P1000361.JPG


P1000361.JPG


P1000360.JPG
 
bmorgan said:
My truck is original to Louisiana and I have one. I'm not aware that anyone was exempt from having a charcoal canister. Even my '72 Spitfire has one. But got me. If I come across another suspect, I'll pass it on. Sorry I was no help.

I see now that this hose does come far too forward to be the vent for the charcoal canister.
Click to expand...


I am just going by what the manual says. Mine is a 1994, so maybe that changed later? At any rate, your response was helpful because it helped eliminate one suspect. I appreciate your efforts along with everyone else's here, you guys don't have to do this, but the fact that you do is immensely helpful to those of trying to keep their junk on the road!
 
The nipple coming up looks like the fresh air intake coming off the axle vent mounted to the inside of the frame going to the charcoal canister. If your canister was removed, the line was likely removed.
 
I would definitely flush your rusty block out until the water runs clear. Mine was rusty too and the flush took a while. I installed a prestone flush kit in the heater hose leading from the firewall to the water pump.
 
baldilocks said:
I would definitely flush your rusty block out until the water runs clear. Mine was rusty too and the flush took a while. I installed a prestone flush kit in the heater hose leading from the firewall to the water pump.
Click to expand...
I did the same thing. Seemed good and clear after about ten minutes of flushing.
 
I need a pic of what the power steering mechanism is supposed to look like. I think someone just hot routed mine and I can't make dollars nor sense of what I have going on there.

On another note, I think I found a pro jock way to keep your socket on those toughy nuts on the intake manifold. I just lashed my socket to a piece of screen door ribbing. It has enough elasticity to pull the socket up against the bolt or nut while you crawl underneath to pull on the lever. This made quick work of things. I just pulled it tight and wrapped it around the spot where the EGR was on the top.

To the right is up in the pic.

P1000372.JPG
 
Last edited:
Everything came apart as planned. Holy cow are the head bolts tight! I had to use my big boy 3/4" drive breaker bar, just to get them started. After that, I am going to just buy the new bolts from Beno. I am no weakling but both those bolts and the ones that hold the y-pipes to the exhaust manifolds were a test. I had to heat the snot out of the exhaust studs and nuts to get them off.

As it turned out, the HG wasn't blown. It was the rear heater pipes that failed. Those things pretty much suck. Not sure if Mr. T made those out of specially sourced metal that was invented to rust quickly, but I can't say I have ever seen anything that corrodes like that. People in the back are just going to have to suffer. I may throw them a blanket if need be. I probably won't though. They can experience the Iron Range the way the old timers did and be glad they aren't mushing a dog sled.

P1000381.JPG


P1000387.JPG
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

G
Things to consider after long-term storage
Replies
13
Views
1K
Tachycardic
Tachycardic
Cruisin94
Head Gasket
Replies
14
Views
1K
Marvelicious
M
StaticTorque
Is this a reasonable price to replace a head gasket?
3 4 5
Replies
91
Views
6K
CJF
CJF
toyfj80dude
  • Question
Fj80 blown head gasket
Replies
6
Views
1K
zapatius
zapatius

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom