post-HG questions (1 Viewer)

[MoJ]

Picking up the 80 from the shop (dealer) tomorrow - fresh from a preemptive head gasket change.

A few questions-

First, the tech recommended waiting 300-400 miles before changing the oil - To me it seems to make more sense changing it right away followed by a change in 300-400 miles - thoughts?

Second, I assume I need to "take it easy" for X amount of miles. What am I trying to take it easy on? No highway speeds? Vary the speed? Short trips?

 

[turbocruiser]

FWIW, I changed my oil at one hundred miles, then I will want to change that again at 750 or 1000 and then go with the regular routine of 3000 mile intervals. I think that is probably pretty excessive but for an added 75 dollars it definitely gives me alotta peace of mind. I also changed my coolant within fifty miles, flushed everything with hot water, filled and drained about five times with distilled and then filled with 50/50 Toyota Red and distilled. I'll probably change the coolant at 1000, again its excessive but the peace of mind is priceless.

As far as going gently, in my case I did do that mostly for the head work and valve work. AFAIK the HG itself does not need a gentle go but just to make sure that the head and valves were good to go I was gentle for a few hundred miles. HTH.

 

[whodat]

How much $$ did it run at the dealer? I think I've heard estimates in the $1500 range?
wd

 

[MoJ]

How much $$ did it run at the dealer? I think I've heard estimates in the $1500 range?
wd

They quoted me $1210 for labor only. I ordered parts from C-Dan - the basic HG kit is $180 or so. I ended up spending more for a lot of "might as well replace it while I'm at it" parts - all hoses, water pump, alternator brushes, belts, fan clutch, idler puller, t-stat, etc. Parts ended up closer to $500. On the labor side, having them do the idler pulley, fan clutch, and water pump added about $160. Probably could of saved a few bucks by doing the clutch and pulley myself but there was so much labor overlap on the job it was only marginally more to let them go ahead and do it.

 

[IdahoDoug]

The oil's full of grit and crap. I'd change it after an hour of running - no sense waiting longer. Heck, 10 minutes is enough really.

Agree on changing the coolant also after a couple good flushes. The coolant is also going to have grit and crap in it. I did all this within a few hours.

DougM

 

[Rookie2]

Moj:

Did you pretty much just do a straight HG R&R, or did you have them check and do any head work, milling, valve grinding etc..


Rookie2

 

[MoJ]

Moj:

Did you pretty much just do a straight HG R&R, or did you have them check and do any head work, milling, valve grinding etc..


Rookie2

No head work - just valve grind, HG replacement, check for flatness - per the FSM. I had not overheated or had any other massive failure or sudden loss of coolant. I did see a slight coolant loss over time - perhaps an inch in the overflow bottle over several months - but was not able to determine if it was due to normal operation (HG paranoia) or an internal/external gasket failure.


Jason

 

[Rookie2]

No head work - just valve grind, HG replacement, check for flatness - per the FSM. I had not overheated or had any other massive failure or sudden loss of coolant. I did see a slight coolant loss over time - perhaps an inch in the overflow bottle over several months - but was not able to determine if it was due to normal operation (HG paranoia) or an internal/external gasket failure.


Jason

Sounds good. Let us know if you notice any improvement in how she runs when you get it back. I know you not milling the head, but hopefully just the process of changing the gasket and cleaning the insides up, will give you some improvement.


Rookie2

 

[Rookie2]

No head work - just valve grind, HG replacement, check for flatness - per the FSM. I had not overheated or had any other massive failure or sudden loss of coolant. I did see a slight coolant loss over time - perhaps an inch in the overflow bottle over several months - but was not able to determine if it was due to normal operation (HG paranoia) or an internal/external gasket failure.


Jason

Sounds good. Let us know if you notice any improvement in how she runs when you get it back. I know you're not milling the head, but hopefully just the process of changing the gasket and cleaning the insides up, will give you some improvement.

BTW, how many miles do you have on it?


Rookie2