Hey all. I've been a long-time lurker on the boards here, and have found the wealth of knowledge found here extremely useful. The hook was set about 2 years ago when I first started looking at these trucks, and stumbled across this site. Soon after, I pulled the trigger on a 1 owner, low mileage 2000 in Champagne Pearl. I immediately baselined everything, replaced the timing belt, pulled off the running boards, added spring spacers to the rear and cranked my t-bars to level it out. 285 Duratracs replaced the tar babies and voila- it looked more like a Toyota truck than a Toyota Camry.
Head Gasket Failure (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Bikepro
- Start date
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- Thread starter
- #2
oops...
Sorry, I accidentally hit post somehow before I was finished. Continuing on, about 6 months ago I started smelling coolant, but could not track it down, and the level never went down more than a drop or two over those 6 months. Last week it finally gave itself up as an external coolant leak in the head gasket between cylinders 3 and 5. Needless to say I was quite surprised. I decided to tackle this myself and it really wasnt that bad. It took about 8 hours to get it apart, 3 hours or so cleaning gasket surfaces, and about 6 hours to put it all back together. I had the head checked out and pressure-tested, and It it was good so it went back in with no machining. The only thing I can find to explain this leak is that on the gasket where the coolant was leaking by, the metal seemed rough and corroded. I've since learned that this could be explained by the coolant degrading and becoming acidic enough to corrode the steel gasket, but the old coolant is long gone and can't be tested... I guess the purpose of this post is to hopefully save someone from this fate. Test your coolant I guess- there is an easy way to do this using test- strips you can buy at the auto parts store. Or just change it out if it's time. I'll try to post a pic of the hundy here too. Thanks again all of you- more in the future
Sorry, I accidentally hit post somehow before I was finished. Continuing on, about 6 months ago I started smelling coolant, but could not track it down, and the level never went down more than a drop or two over those 6 months. Last week it finally gave itself up as an external coolant leak in the head gasket between cylinders 3 and 5. Needless to say I was quite surprised. I decided to tackle this myself and it really wasnt that bad. It took about 8 hours to get it apart, 3 hours or so cleaning gasket surfaces, and about 6 hours to put it all back together. I had the head checked out and pressure-tested, and It it was good so it went back in with no machining. The only thing I can find to explain this leak is that on the gasket where the coolant was leaking by, the metal seemed rough and corroded. I've since learned that this could be explained by the coolant degrading and becoming acidic enough to corrode the steel gasket, but the old coolant is long gone and can't be tested... I guess the purpose of this post is to hopefully save someone from this fate. Test your coolant I guess- there is an easy way to do this using test- strips you can buy at the auto parts store. Or just change it out if it's time. I'll try to post a pic of the hundy here too. Thanks again all of you- more in the future
Agree with the 'change it' philosophy... however I gotta believe that if it's a low mileage 2000 that it was just a manufacturer defect in the gasket or maybe contamination at build. There's probably a ton in the wild that have gone longer without a fluid change and this is only the 2nd HG fail that we've seen.
If you have anything you can write up on the head R&R I'd be interested to see what all is involved.
If you have anything you can write up on the head R&R I'd be interested to see what all is involved.
That truck looks awesome!
- Thread starter
- #5
First off I'll say that the truck has almost 160k on it- it had relative low mileage 2 years ago when I bought it with 90k, so its not really a low mileage truck anymore, but certainly not high mileage for this engine. I'd like to agree that it must have been a defect of some sort- I think I'd feel better if I knew that was the case. I can't ignore the gasket corrosion at the site of the leak, but that was the only part of the gasket that had been corroded so who really knows. Maybe someone with more experience with head gaskets will chime in... As for the job itself, It's basically a timing belt job plus the intake manifold and cylinder head. I did the starter contacts while I had the manifold off which added about 30 minutes and 20 bucks to the job. The cylinder head came out with the exhaust manifold attached which save much time over trying to remove it on the vehicle. I'd say one of the trickier parts of this job, where I really slowed down and payed attention to the FSM involved the removal and reinstall of the cams. The exhaust cam is gear-driven by the intake cam, and it actually has 2 thinner gears side-by-side that mesh with the single gear on the intake cam. One of those gears is fixed to the camshaft, and the other is spring loaded tortionally and under quite a bit of tension. Its necessary to temporarily install a service bolt between the 2 gears, essentially connecting them together before removal or the whole thing would go boing. Its really important to follow these steps along with turning the crank off of TDC in order to prevent the pistons and valves from meeting eachother. I really dirtied up those pages in the FSM getting it right, as well as the wifes ipad referencing the timing belt thread in the FAQ. Thanks spressomon- that really came in handy! I'll just say I'm really happy I decided to do this job- I wish it could have been the sliders or the bumpers or the headers or the roof rack or pretty much anything else, but what do you do?...
I think you're right. That the corrosion wasn't universal across gasket probably indicates some type of local defect, either a metallurical flaw in the gasket or residual chemical from the manufacturing process. Heck, maybe the assembler had some left over spicy bento sauce on his paws after lunch.
Any pics of the corrosion?
Your mention of the exhaust manifold coming out with the head makes me wonder if the DT headers would do the same or if the would need to be removed ahead of time. Not a likely event for me so not too worried about it either way.
Good comment about the 'service bolt' locking the gears. Sound like you did a thorough job.
Any pics of the corrosion?
Your mention of the exhaust manifold coming out with the head makes me wonder if the DT headers would do the same or if the would need to be removed ahead of time. Not a likely event for me so not too worried about it either way.
Good comment about the 'service bolt' locking the gears. Sound like you did a thorough job.
- Thread starter
- #7
No pics of the corrsion. The gasket went in the trash immediately- almost like I was trying to forget it ever happened. The best way I can describe it is that the corroded patch resembled a half-moon with the round side connected to one of the water jackets, and the flat side ending at the outside of the head. The pitting was more pronounced nearest the water jacket, and not as bad toward the outside. Im guessing that the DT headers would clear just fine as there was a ton of room. I wish I could have tested that theory going back in. They are on the my short list along with some sort of cat-back system. The ticking from the passenger side manifold drives me nuts, and I'd really like to hear the v8 without it being loud- I need to research that a bit more... It killed me putting that stock manifold back in there. If I had a second vehicle, I think I would have tried to score a set of DT's before putting it back together.
They are on the my short list along with some sort of cat-back system. The ticking from the passenger side manifold drives me nuts, and I'd really like to hear the v8 without it being loud- I need to research that a bit more... It killed me putting that stock manifold back in there. If I had a second vehicle, I think I would have tried to score a set of DT's before putting it back together.- Thread starter
- #8
No pics of the corrosion. The gasket want straight in the garbage- almost like I was trying to forget it ever happened. The corroded patck resemble a half-moon, with the rounded side starting at a water jacket, and the flat side ending at the outside edge of the cylinder head. The pitting was more pronounced nearest the water jacket, and not so much at the outside edge. Also, this pitting was only on the bottom (block side) of the gasket. As for the headers clearing, Im guessing they would- once the head popped off the studs, there was a ton of room coming out. I wish I could have tested the theory on the way back in. Those are on my short list as the ticking from the passenger side manifold drives me nuts. It sounds like an old John Deere when its cold, and like a Cadillac when its warmed up. Some kind of cat back system is in order for that too. I'd really like to be able to hear the V8 without it being too loud.
Those are on my short list as the ticking from the passenger side manifold drives me nuts. It sounds like an old John Deere when its cold, and like a Cadillac when its warmed up. Some kind of cat back system is in order for that too. I'd really like to be able to hear the V8 without it being too loud.- Thread starter
- #9
I apologize for the double post- I got an error the first time I submitted it so redid it. Now my rookie status won't let me delete it. argh 
