Running warm, looking for theories

[LTrain]

**UPDATE WITH BLACKSTONE RESULTS**

I have attached the Blackstone Report. I'm hoping for someone to help me interpret it.

• I know a head gasket is for sure.
• The rep made me very concerned about the amount of fuel in oil and threw out two possible ideas; worn cylinders or leaking fuel injectors. Is there a way to have the cylinders checked before I would decide to do/not to do the HG job? How concerned are Mud members about the possibility of worn cylinders? I haven't seen it really come up as a topic on the forum.
• Any other thoughts or things I should be concerned about (as if that wasn't enough)?

These next few questions aren't tech, so I hope I don't get into trouble with posting them here:

• Would anyone in this situation try to get money back from the seller? I have put maybe 100 or so miles on it since taking possession.
• Can anyone speculate as to what this vehicle might bring if it were put up for sale? It's factory locked but no other mods have been done.
• What would be the general consensus: Repair, or sell at a deep loss and look for another? I am torn on this because any vehicle I get could potentially have an issue.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate it.

 

[scottryana]

Pretty sure the seller knew. That is why it is always buy at your own risk. You could ask them, but I would be really surprised if they offer to do anything for you.

Selling in current condition if you do the right thing and let the buyer know would probably be about $2.8-3k I would guess not having pics etc that is a wild guess.

 

[inkpot]

I would strongly suggest finding a good lower mileage engine to swap in. They ARE out there, but it can take some work to find one. Just did this for a local with 370000 miles. Developed a bad knock but still ran ok. Swapped in a lower mileage engine and replaced head gasket while it was easy. Runs good and quiet now. John

 

[Mighty690]

Well, Blackstone is cheap information.
My two cents: if you do the work yourself, do the HG job and have the injectors serviced/checked. These are tough engines. Keep the costs down, but go OEM.

 

[BILT4ME]

Wow! Sorry to hear that. For this area a locked truck with a bad engine will be more like $2k. Let me know if you need help. I look at the results and there is a lot of copper and lead. That would concern me for bearings. Did you pull a sample from the oil that was in it when you bought it? If so, the fuel could be directly related to what the seller did to get it ready to sell. May be an injector hanging open. I'd keep it and do it but I don't know your situation.

 

[LTrain]

The oil sample was taken from what the seller had in it, and I took it while still having the overheating issues in the truck so it only ran for about 5 minutes before I drew the oil. Does anyone thing that not having the oil up to temp could have resulted in the higher fuel %?

 

[scottryana]

Yes cold engine runs richer than 10:1, very possible you had some cylinder wash.

 

[Howard705]

There's always Bar's Leak...

 

[OffGridOverland]

Get a leakdown done asap. This will give you information on internal engine seal. I bet you have a dirty injector.

 

[LTrain]

Sorry to revive an old thread guys. I'm still trying to figure out my next step with this truck. Since this happened during the winter someone recently brought up with me the possibility of the block having potentially cracked. Would anyone on here be concerned with this? Is there a way to distinguish between a blown HG and a cracked block without tearing into the engine?

 

[sbman]

I don't think there is a way to differentiate. However, the head gasket is a really well known failure for these trucks and it seems reasonable to think that it is the problem. You could evaluate the spark plugs by looking at them or do a leak down test to see which cylinder is leaking and what systems are leaking. If the truck is still running smoothly, it must not be too bad. Mine was missing on at least one cylinder due to low compression. At this point you know that it has a sealing issue, replacing the block and/or head with used during a rebuild doesn't add that much to the cost all things considered. Personally I wouldn't spend time or money on additional analysis, but decide if you want to rebuild/replace the motor or sell the truck as-is. An overhaul is not a cheap thing to do, (I am doing it myself on the truck I just purchased) but once you are done, you will know what you've got. If you want an 80 series, you could sell it and buy another and be in the same situation in weeks or months, or live happily ever after, it's a gamble. When I bought my truck, I was OK with buying one that already had a blown head-gasket so that I could get it cheaper, overhaul it and then have a known quantity to work with. If you decided to try to have the head gasket fixed in place, you do run the risk that you'll get into it and find the whole engine has to come out. That was my theory so i went ahead and pulled the whole motor so I could go through it all and replace all the coolant hoses and be sure that the cooling system in in top condition.

 

[Stylo07]

I'd say a cracked or warped head is much more likely than a cracked block. Anything is possible, though.

 

[BILT4ME]

If you read in this forum, the number of cracked blocks is very minimal (unless you count the ones that threw a rod through the side of the block). I don't think I've read about even one. If it was a bored out SBC, then I would consider the cracked block, but not these.

Odds are, it's the head gasket. I thought you got this all done and were getting ready to use it. Sorry I've been out of touch for a while.

If you rebuild motorcycles, you can do a HG on this. The biggest expense will be having the head checked out and reworked. I have not had to do this myself locally, so I can't give you a local machine shop reputable for Toyota heads. Check with your closest Toyota Dealer and ask the service guys who they send the heads out to for rebuild.

If you start getting into the "while I'm in there." part, the $$$ will add up quick. The HG can be done in the $2k range with gaskets, head rebuild, and the NECESSARY while I'm in there things. Then, you can do the fuel injector rebuild, all hoses, all vacuum lines, oil pump seals, dizzy o-ring, the valve cover seals and spark plug tube seals will be a "requirement", new plugs, wires, cap, rotor. The list can go on.

I still need to see if I can get headed up to see you at some point.

 

[sbman]

I have a thread going on doing 'a head gasket' my self right now. I'm looking at something around $1500-$2000 in parts and machining. This includes overhaul gasket kit, valve job, block deck surfaced, water pump, new timing chain, main and rod bearings, and all coolant hoses replaced. I'm considering that the minimum stuff to do to make it reliable. I pulled the entire motor because I was concerned that the block might have been scored by operating with the blown head gasket (and i was correct) so the block does need some machining services.

I'll actually be spending more because I am also replacing the A/C compressor and other A/C parts, flushing the radiator and the entire A/C system, servicing the injectors, various tune up items (spark plugs, fuel filters, etc...). The cost may go up still if the block ends up needing to have the cylinders bored and new pistons installed, I'm hoping to have the machine shop put a crosshatch on the cylinders and just put new rings but re-use the pistons, rods and wrist pins. On top of that I'm putting at least 40 hours labor into it myself, and getting help for several hours from buddies to the the removal/install. All in, around $3K in parts and machine shop type services. More than I paid for the truck in the first place, and then I'll start on the interior. I could have just bought one of the nice trucks for $10K

If you take your time, follow the FSM and have some background with wrenching and building engines/cars, it's not a difficult job, but it is time consuming.