Head gasket ? (1 Viewer)

[scoba]

Hello. I am new to the club.
Here is my story:
This summer bought a 97 LX450 from Toyota dealership. Was in a spotless condition, not a drip of oil, very clean inside with a 213 km(Canada). But I constantly had to add a coolant. I thought it was just evaporation. Recently I had a Check Engine light coming on twice, but it was gone by itself after a trip. Meanwhile I was reading different stories from the club members about head gasket failure. I checked myself the engine leaks – found nothing, not even a vapor shade. There is no evidence of oil presence in the coolant. Oil level and color (I am not sure what is the milky look of the oil) is normal (somehow after 4000km it looks very bright) except a little foamy deposit on the oil cap. I have no concerns about vehicle performance. There is no vibration or malfunctioning at all while starting or driving. I booked an appointment with Lexus within a week. But to make sure I do not ruin the engine I went to the mechanic I know. He did the pressure test for the cooling system (pressure did not drop within an hour test), also chemical test for coolant, found no leak in cooling system, checked spark plugs- they all had even color. He had a little concern about engine oil it was too bright for him but not? So I am waiting for a Lexus appointment.
I would appreciate any advice if you have.
Roman (scoba).

 

[elmariachi]

I would not mess with the Lexus dealership. They will have nowhere near as much insight into the issue as members here and will ask for your AMEX so they can search for the problem at your expense. My advice would be to have a quick Blackstone report done on an oil sample (http://www.blackstone-labs.com/). That coupled with the leakdown test will all but rule the HG in/out. Lastly, I would buy a $50 Scangauge of some sort and read those codes you are getting as soon as they appear. With all these items combined, you can report back here for sage, affordable advice from the members.

 

[LINUS]

First - Welcome. You found the best 80 series forum on the intarwebz - attaboy. Sit back with a cold #6 & just do some searching & reading for at least 3 hours. You'll learn so much it will blow your brain.

Really sounds like headgasket to me - and unless you have had a replaced headgasket (and I doubt it with ~100K miles) - you just made the average of where all us 1FZ-FE motor guys just need a new one.

It's such a common issue that some here have made it a PM (preventative maint.) item, but you'll see that when you sit back & do some reading.

Also, that bit of foaming at the oil cap is normal condensation in winter on a motor that sees nothing but short stop & go trips - but it should burn off with a good long road trip. Personally I think you found where your coolant is going, despite this being winter in the Northern half of North America.

I don't post too often, but yours was one that stood out to me since I've "walked a mile in your shoes".

Contact C-Dan (Cruiserdan) when you verify this is a headgasket issue - he saves us all crazy amounts of money & will be able to set you up with the exact parts you need, the 1st time & for the right price. We all take turns feeding his dogs, and it sounds like your time.

I fed the dogs last year with my headgasket BTW. It's just how it is with the 1FZ-FE motor.

 

[scoba]

HG feedback

So today I have a feedback from Toyota and Lexus, I visited both. (And yesterday the check engine light came on again.) First I went to Lexus. The mechanic told me that there is a presents of coolant in oil, and he reading of the codes are: Cause: PO133 O2 sensor slow response B1S1, Correction: PO116 Engine coolant temp. circuit range performance response problem. I explained to him the story behind everything, and he suggested to me to go to the Toyota dealership that I bought my LX from (4 months ago). So they may stand behind the vehicle they sold. So I got there. The result was: failed gasket (respond within half an hour) and repair estimate: 2275+ taxes (O2 sensorB1 and S1 temp. sensor included).
A little more details about pre purchase test. I asked dealership to do the compression test on my expenses. The results were: 155/155/160/155/155/160 and compression even and good. I spent a lot of time reading about similar situations and if there is a coolant presents in the combustion chamber it would be clean as after a sand blast. The same my mechanic told me when he checked the spark plugs. Mine were all the same color. This is a puzzle for me. I wonder if a tiny amount of coolant will do the same affect.
So I have to face the challenge. I am going to negotiate with Toyota service manager tomorrow. I hope they will take a little of responsibility for it. Probably I could do it myself (I rebuilt couple of small 4 cylinders years back) but right now is not a right timing for me. Holidays are coming. It is winter outside. I plan to move in the beginning of the next year and so on.
Roman

This is the story so far.

 

[scoba]

What is the average cost for a head gasket repair job (parts and labor)?

 

[scoba]

Engine head cracked

I started this thread a while ago but did not post the cause of a trouble. Trouble was caused by a crack in the head between plugged hole and mount hole. I made picture and saved it on a disk but since I moved to a new place I could not find it. So I gave up on finishing the thread. But recently I was going through all my CD's and I found it. So I will try to post it right now if I can make it as an attachment or insert . I've never done it yet. If it does not work i would need help to figure how to do it.

 

[IdahoDoug]

Interesting. I had the exact crack - exhaust side, right? Which cylinders is the crack between?

DougM