I am yet again bringing you a Head-gasket rebuild thread (2 Viewers)

[JM74]

Update: have a lead on a 1994 engine I can pull from a truck nearish to me and keep the unit for parts. Truck is just under 300,000 and has had minor cooling issues before with bad radiators but never has had the headgasket done or popped. What are people’s thoughts on risking it and going up there to pull the engine and head and pray that it’s not warped out of spec? Or risk it and buy a used head from the states? Or final option pay now cry later and get a new head from Toyota and some valve shims...

 

[SteelHunterFJ80]

Thanks man, honestly I let them soak in a little engine cleaner and the carbon buildup just flaked off now!

Did you move your #1 piston from TDC to clean the surfaces of them each?

If remember correctly no, but I did carefully vacuum up all the debrie with a shop vac.

 

[SteelHunterFJ80]

Update: have a lead on a 1994 engine I can pull from a truck nearish to me and keep the unit for parts. Truck is just under 300,000 and has had minor cooling issues before with bad radiators but never has had the headgasket done or popped. What are people’s thoughts on risking it and going up there to pull the engine and head and pray that it’s not warped out of spec? Or risk it and buy a used head from the states? Or final option pay now cry later and get a new head from Toyota and some valve shims...

How much do they want for the engine?

 

[JM74]

How much do they want for the engine?

Engine from the 1994 would be free... but I don’t really have a good spot to keep it... plus I’d be out of work for a week as I need to travel there and pull the engine and then the head off

 

[SteelHunterFJ80]

Engine from the 1994 would be free... but I don’t really have a good spot to keep it... plus I’d be out of work for a week as I need to travel there and pull the engine and then the head off

Free is a good price but time is always worth something. Had a employer who once said I've had money and free time but never bith at the same time. What's your time at work worth? That is now the price of the engine.

Seriously though if you could get a lot of the parts that you might need for the future it might be worth it.

 

[Tachycardic]

I

Update: have a lead on a 1994 engine I can pull from a truck nearish to me and keep the unit for parts. Truck is just under 300,000 and has had minor cooling issues before with bad radiators but never has had the headgasket done or popped. What are people’s thoughts on risking it and going up there to pull the engine and head and pray that it’s not warped out of spec? Or risk it and buy a used head from the states? Or final option pay now cry later and get a new head from Toyota and some valve shims...

It's a gamble. The mileage is higher than yours (300k vs 260k), but I'm most concerned about the "minor cooling issues before with bad radiators" plural. To me, that's a lot of cooling issues. Aluminum heads + iron blocks + bad cooling for who knows how long = wasted time.

I totally understand that aluminum head/iron block construction has been around for ages, and Toyota makes some of the most robust engines out there, but that's under the preconception that the cooling system has been up to snuff.

 

[JM74]

Free is a good price but time is always worth something. Had a employer who once said I've had money and free time but never bith at the same time. What's your time at work worth? That is now the price of the engine.

Seriously though if you could get a lot of the parts that you might need for the future it might be worth it.

Yes exactly so it works out as the engine is going to be a weeks worth of wages almost plus travel expenses and such... ill try and get up there to get it soon but for now I think my best option is to just order a new cylinder head in Canada...

It's a gamble. The mileage is higher than yours (300k vs 260k), but I'm most concerned about the "minor cooling issues before with bad radiators" plural. To me, that's a lot of cooling issues. Aluminum heads + iron blocks + bad cooling for who knows how long = wasted time.

I totally understand that aluminium head/iron block construction has been around for ages, and Toyota makes some of the most robust engines out there, but that's under the preconception that the cooling system has been up to snuff.

Exactly my thought process at this point.. this is my daily driver and I need it going into winter soon! I've been without a car for over a month and a half now and i dont want to travel and pull and engine then bring that head back with me and to the machine shop just for them to tell me its bad and im at square one again and I'm out a week's wages and machine shop fee... I think I'm going to order a new head and some valve shims and just have the peace of mind that is all good to go and won't even have to deal with an out of town machine shop anymore... just receive the new head, install valves and seals, set clearances and voila good to go! ... at least that the plan

Still plan to go get the engine at some point but I need to figure out where to store it for a future project!

 

[JM74]

Scraping Away old gasket and cleaning off piston carbon buildup, about hour and half into it and almost done. Scrape a little vacuum, repeat. Just have around cylinder 6 and timing chain to finish up tomorrow, giving my back a break for the night... slow tedious job... I think there may be some very very minor pitting but I’m not sure at the moment... will try and get better pictures of it tomorrow and once fully done cleaning will check block with straight edge and feeler gauge!

 

[Nframe]

Familiar looking perch.

 

[JM74]

Cleaned oil cooler and finished up cleaning the block of headgasket residue. So my finding from doing this are there seems to be a little bump in the deck of the block not sure it’ll show on camera but I tired to take a photo of it, it’s between the alignment dowel and water jacket towards the timing chain, here:

Also a little worried about some of the pitting or something I am finding, the deck overall came out very smooth but there’s these few blackish spots that you can just barely feel with a finger nail... not sure it’s just old gasket but it seems to be concave not convex :

Also checked for warp spec... I wiped the block down with a blue shop towel but haven’t blown it off with air or anything like @OTRAMM suggests in his so ever handy YouTube videos. Seriously his channel is a blessing! But with the straight edge I am able to slide .0020 feeler gauge in the middle bridge between cylinder 3-4 but when bumped to .0025 it starts to catch the straight edge... also between 4-5 cylinder .0020 can just barely go under the straight edge... so it seems the block is just on the edge of FSM warp spec... I think I’ll clean this deck up some more and check again but for now I think it should be in the clear...???

 

[JM74]

0.0020 feeler:

 

[BILT4ME]

0.0020 feeler:
View attachment 2477420
View attachment 2477424

Flip over the bar you are checking with and see if it reads the same. Mill spec tolerances are not that tight on a piece of flat bar. When the pro's do this they have a bar that is certified to 0.0001"

 

[JM74]

Flip over the bar you are checking with and see if it reads the same. Mill spec tolerances are not that tight on a piece of flat bar. When the pro's do this they have a bar that is certified to 0.0001"

Will do! The straight edge I’m using is an OEM tools 24inch edge... the add for it states “* Precision ground edge to +/- 0.001 in.” But I honestly highly doubt that at its 59.99$ price tag... almost looks like it has burs on the ends out of the box

 

[JM74]

Ok so with the edges of either end hanging off the deck I can just ever so barely Get .002 though the bridge on cylinder 3-4 there’s quite a lot of resistance and it doesn’t slide through anywhere else... .0025 will not slide under at all.

Checked on the other side of the bar @BILT4ME and it’s coming out worse on the non machined edge

 

[tacocat]

Have a local machine shop check and mill your straightedge if necessary.

I wish I could say you’re fine with confidence, but I’m inexperienced in this department. However, I believe you are fine. The 1FZ strikes me as the AK-74 of DOHC engines.

 

[BILT4ME]

Ok so with the edges of either end hanging off the deck I can just ever so barely Get .002 though the bridge on cylinder 3-4 there’s quite a lot of resistance and it doesn’t slide through anywhere else... .0025 will not slide under at all.

Checked on the other side of the bar @BILT4ME and it’s coming out worse on the non machined edge

View attachment 2477456

So, if one edge is machined for straightness, then only use that side.

What that means is the BAR tolerance is +/- 0.001". If you are measuring 0.002", then your actual range is 0.001" to 0.003" due to the tolerance on the bar. The only REAL way to check your bar is is to use a certified granite checking table and check the bar to know if it is +0.001" or -0.001" or perfectly straight. in the middle of the bar.

Also go diagonally from corner of block to corner of block both directions to see if it is consistent.

If you have a guitar string (super fine one) you can stretch the string from one the to the other of you bar (don't bend it over the edge, just lightly clamp it) and visually check to see if the bar is warped away from the wire or towards the wire and that may give you more or less confidence in the measurement. If it's away, then your real measurement is tighter. If it's tight, then it may be too much and that's not good.

The tight tolerance bars are in the $250 range for the highly accurate ones, and they come in their own plastic carrying case. They are also usually round bars.

 

[JM74]

Have a local machine shop check and mill your straightedge if necessary.

I wish I had a local machine shop! Everything is out of town unfortunately, but this is a good idea

 

[BILT4ME]

Have a local machine shop check and mill your straightedge if necessary.

Will need to ask what tolerance they can machine to.

 

[tacocat]

Will need to ask what tolerance they can machine to.

Is ad infinitum a tolerance?

 

[JM74]

So, if one edge is machined for straightness, then only use that side.

What that means is the BAR tolerance is +/- 0.001". If you are measuring 0.002", then your actual range is 0.001" to 0.003" due to the tolerance on the bar. The only REAL way to check your bar is is to use a certified granite checking table and check the bar to know if it is +0.001" or -0.001" or perfectly straight. in the middle of the bar.

Also go diagonally from corner of block to corner of block both directions to see if it is consistent.

If you have a guitar string (super fine one) you can stretch the string from one the to the other of you bar (don't bend it over the edge, just lightly clamp it) and visually check to see if the bar is warped away from the wire or towards the wire and that may give you more or less confidence in the measurement. If it's away, then your real measurement is tighter. If it's tight, then it may be too much and that's not good.

Thanks! This is great info!! So you reckon check the bar, clean the block again and come back and check the deck, cleaned what seemed to be some glue residue off the machine edge of the straight edge and I’m still just barely able to slide 0.002 between bridge 3-4 with the straight edge diagonal both ways. Not able to get 0.002 underneath anywhere else really...