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Brentbba

Brentbba

Former Golfer
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Mar 27, 2003
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OC, CA
Retrieving daughters things from her apartment in Santa Rosa. Notice on the way up my temp guage near the red line. Fortunately I was in Vallejo and pulled into Toyota Vallejo. Coolant reservoir was empty! I bought a gallon of Yota Red and a gallon of distilled water from CVS accross the street. Put the entire gallon of Red and 1/2 gallon of water in. Both FIL and the parts manager had me check my oil to see if it looked 'buttery'. I did big time. Result - verbal diagnosis from Parts manager and FIL is that the head gasket is probably toast.

Drove on up to Santa Rosa, got the trailer and drove back to Walnut Creek with temp guage solid as a rock where it usually is...but coolant reservoir was dead empty again.

I've topped of the coolant again and changed the oil and filter. Stopped at Yota Vallejo again for the filter and an insurance gallon of Yota Red.

I've got a 430 mile drive home tomorrow. I've got the insurance gallon of Yota red and 5 gallons of water with me.

BIG QUESTION - for added insurance, I'm going to get a couple of gallons of the regular green type coolant tonight as added insurance figuring it would be better than plain water.

IS IT OK TO MIX YOTA RED and THE GREEN STUFF? Even just for an emergency trip tomorrow.

HELP!!! I'm just praying that I can get home safely w/o toasting the engine. I don't have a lot of choice in the matter. Will be driving no more than 55 and stopping at every rest stop to check the coolant level.

Brent
 
No. Red and green will make sludge.

I would also not drive it with a blown HG. Rent a tow vehicle, or have it shipped, or pay to have it towed. Even flat tow it or use a tow dolly if you have to (pull the DS). If you drive it home my guess is that there is a very good chance of writing off that engine. What's it worth to you?
 
I had a small leak threw in some bars stop leak and it stopped it completely.


just a band aid. Flat bedding its probably the best though.
 
I second the stop leak if you are dead set on driving, Blowing the head gasket and having to get towed costs more than renting a truck and towing. Stop leak has extended the life on more than one of my vehicles.
 
don't do it.

use plain water and keep it topped off if you "must" continue with the madness- keep the oil flushed too- every time you add water add oil and hope.

I suspect if you do continue you will be rebuilding your entire engine if you don't put a hole in the block first. water and coolant are not lubricants, and the level of mixing you are doing in the areas where you need oil (main and rod bearings, cylinder walls, etc, etc..) are running metal on metal. for 10 hours towing a trailer tomorrow. don't do it. "buttery" oil is not flowing, if you get enough water/coolant in the oil pump and journals I can only imagine the damage.

surely there are 'mudders in the area who can lend a hand?

good luck man; as if a daughter rescue were not stressful enough, sheesh...
 
What is Bars? I stopped at a Pep Boys looking for an additive for the coolant to 'stop' the leak even temporarily to get home and they all had instructions to flush the coolant, put the stuff in, run the engine, flush it out and put coolant back in.

I've got a U-haul trailer full of daughter's stuff. Renting a truck to tow the trailer would certainly be less than replacing an engine for sure. Yota dealers here in the Bay area are nortiously expensive. Hell, they wanted $350 for a scion 15K service to give you an example. It'd probably be $3K for a damn head gasket.
 
You can get HG leak stop, not radiator leak stop. If you're hell bent on driving it, I would stop every hundred miles and change the oil. Plain water should be fine, actually, I think plain water would work better than anti-freeze. There is no way a running engine will freeze up and plain water will provide much better cooling. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Wow.

I would not drive it.

If you are determined to drive it, I agree with the distilled water only.

Check the oil and coolant every 50-100 miles. Change the oil if it looks milky.

Once home, do not drive it and get the HG fixed.
 
Well, going to rent a truck to get daughter and belongings home. Penske won't allow the 80 to be towed with their equipment. U-haul has a 5300 lb limit and 7500 max gross weight. I know the width is ok as their max is 79 inches. Caveat is tires over 30 inches and their tire straps are a problem. Regardless, I'm going to see when their phone lines open and I can see what availability is here in either Concord or Pleasanton.

At this point truck rental is a definite. Flat towing the 80 behind the truck is a maybe. If I can't tow the 80 home, I'll leave it with the inlaws and find a vehicle transport firm that can take it to SoCal. Labor rates are double that of SoCal here in the bay area around Walnut Creek, so I think it'll be less expensive to have the truck transported home than worked on up here

Thanks for all the advice guys. I really don't want to destroy the engine and hope I haven't already.
 
Brentbba said:
Well, going to rent a truck to get daughter and belongings home. Penske won't allow the 80 to be towed with their equipment. U-haul has a 5300 lb limit and 7500 max gross weight. I know the width is ok as their max is 79 inches. Caveat is tires over 30 inches and their tire straps are a problem. Regardless, I'm going to see when their phone lines open and I can see what availability is here in either Concord or Pleasanton.

At this point truck rental is a definite. Flat towing the 80 behind the truck is a maybe. If I can't tow the 80 home, I'll leave it with the inlaws and find a vehicle transport firm that can take it to SoCal. Labor rates are double that of SoCal here in the bay area around Walnut Creek, so I think it'll be less expensive to have the truck transported home than worked on up here

Thanks for all the advice guys. I really don't want to destroy the engine and hope I haven't already.
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You could take it to Mudrak in Sonoma. he tends to be busy but if he could fit it in, I'll bet he'd take good care of you. In my experience, his pricing is fair. Not cheap, but fair.

Or you could do it yourself.

Good luck what ever you do.
 
Cruiserdrew said:
You could take it to Mudrak in Sonoma. he tends to be busy but if he could fit it in, I'll bet he'd take good care of you. In my experience, his pricing is fair. Not cheap, but fair.

Or you could do it yourself.

Good luck what ever you do.
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Me...you know me better than that Andy! I may be up to a 1 1/2 :banana::wrench:, but not a HG.

Mudrak is a good suggestion. Drove right past there today! Not thinking real straight righ now. Mentally and physically exhausted.
 
I put over a 1500 miles on mine after I noticed the failure. It started with lots of bubbles in the overflow (from the typical #6 fire ring failure) I rigged up a double overflow with a gallon jug and some tubing so I did not lose the coolant that was being purged from the bottle. I got to finish my trip and get home, but by the time I was in my driveway 6-7 days later it was consuming a 2-3 liters of coolant with a tank of fuel (you cant use straight water, it gets consumed way to fast for some reason) The cold starts in the morning had steam for 2-3 minutes from the coolant getting sucked into the cylinder and a miss/rough idle. The temp gauge only spiked on mine once when i was stuck in traffic.

I thought about leaving the rad cap off so there would be no pressure in the system but figured it would effect flow too much.

I was taking a chance finishing my trip but figured what ever happened (quit or kill it, without really killing it) I was going home on a deck-truck so I just babied it, kept my left eye on the temp gauge and my trusty cruiser got me home.

I would not bother with bars or stop-leak, simply because I wouldn't want that stuff left behind after you do your head gasket, just keep adding water/coolant mix, if your oil is clean and your overflow is getting purged and there are no signs of coolant leaking from the sides of your block it sounds like your standard no6 firering failure and the "rad repair" stuff wont cut it.
 
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Brentbba said:
Well, going to rent a truck to get daughter and belongings home. Penske won't allow the 80 to be towed with their equipment. U-haul has a 5300 lb limit and 7500 max gross weight. I know the width is ok as their max is 79 inches. Caveat is tires over 30 inches and their tire straps are a problem. Regardless, I'm going to see when their phone lines open and I can see what availability is here in either Concord or Pleasanton.

At this point truck rental is a definite. Flat towing the 80 behind the truck is a maybe. If I can't tow the 80 home, I'll leave it with the inlaws and find a vehicle transport firm that can take it to SoCal. Labor rates are double that of SoCal here in the bay area around Walnut Creek, so I think it'll be less expensive to have the truck transported home than worked on up here

Thanks for all the advice guys. I really don't want to destroy the engine and hope I haven't already.
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You're making the right choice, I'm glad things are working out, and you've got family to leave your Cruiser with, so you can know it's safe. I'll be praying for you tomorrow.
 
I 2nd Cruiserdrew's suggestion for Mudrak.

sorry to hear about your woes Brent.


towing a trailer up the Grapevine?
I don't think I'd want to risk it with a sketchy HG...
 
Brentbba said:
Well, going to rent a truck to get daughter and belongings home. Penske won't allow the 80 to be towed with their equipment. U-haul has a 5300 lb limit and 7500 max gross weight. I know the width is ok as their max is 79 inches. Caveat is tires over 30 inches and their tire straps are a problem. Regardless, I'm going to see when their phone lines open and I can see what availability is here in either Concord or Pleasanton.

At this point truck rental is a definite. Flat towing the 80 behind the truck is a maybe. If I can't tow the 80 home, I'll leave it with the inlaws and find a vehicle transport firm that can take it to SoCal. Labor rates are double that of SoCal here in the bay area around Walnut Creek, so I think it'll be less expensive to have the truck transported home than worked on up here

Thanks for all the advice guys. I really don't want to destroy the engine and hope I haven't already.
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Just tell uhaul/penske that you are towing a civic or something. I did that with my wifes buick a long time ago and no issue.

Good luck getting home. Sorry to hear of your misfortune. I think you are best towing or having the cruiser repaired. If you don't you will most likely have to buy a new motor like others said.

Keep us posted.
 
x3 on Mudrak, Brent. You'd know your truck would be in good hands that way.

Crossing the grapevine with a 80 in tow and rental truck loaded with furniture would not be something I looked forward to. And I certainly wouldn't consider driving the 80 with a blown HG over the grapevine.
 
No good story w/o pics! Took everyone's advice. I wasn't thinking real clearly Saturday evening. I just wanted to get my daughter home safely with her possessions. Did rent a 14' U-haul truck and car transport. U-haul 'did not recommend' use of their car transport trailer with a Landcruiser, but didn't say no. I just had to initial a waiver acknowledging that I was accepting risk. 33" tires had about 1/2" to spare on each side of the rails on the transport, but she fit! First use of the winch to secure the front end. U-haul tire straps fit a max tire of 30". Bought four (used two) extra heavy duty 27' rachet straps from Home Depot to secure the rear quite nicely. Tossed the excess strap into the rear of the truck. 55mph all the way home made a 6-7 hour trip a solid 9 hours, but we rolled in last night about 10:30 safe and sound. Pics:
Tow Pics 001a.webp
Tow Pics 002a.webp
Tow Pics 003a.webp
 
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