Momentary Sputtering 3RZ

I was in denial that my head gasket blew, its a royal pain in the ass but I pulled my exhaust manifold off and this was the icing on the cake that made me sick. The #1 cylinder exhaust port was almost white from the coolants flowing through it.

 

sounds the hg ....I just had the same thing water out the exhaust.......it will get worse.....I added blue devil.......... fixed the massive amounts of coolant pumping out......but clogged my radiator and made me overheat. now Im fixing that after doing HG.... Buy a good HeadGasket new bolts..... IfI had it to do over,,,,,Id buy a motor....alot les work and time......money depends on what and where you get a motor

 

Yeah I looked into that head gasket repair stuff. I am looking to use the Fel-Pro Head gasket set and replace everthing that it comes with except valve guide seals. The guy at the Machine shop says the factory ones are Vyton (not sure how to spell that) and they don't go bad for a long time. Mine aren't leaking and it's a few hundred more to replace them and have the valves adjusted. I will have the head planed and pressure tested. I plan to use the ITM timing kit to replace my chain, guides, tensioner, gears, etc. My chain is pretty loud. It's only 120 ish to replace everything, I figure I might as well.

I have looked into getting a new motor. Mine only has 128k. I think It will be fine to just do the head gasket.

 

Head gasket fix in a can is for used car lots. A convenient and easy way to plug your system up. Radiators, heater cores,,control valves,,the list goes on.

Do it right,,or don't do it.

 

For the head gasket, use OEM only. Toyota gaskets are vastly superior to FelPro, at least for Toyotas (according to a local independent mechanic). Years ago, I used a FelPro HG for a rebuilt I did on an old 22R. It only lasted about 4 years. Won't make that mistake again.

 

^^^Good info......was JUST about to re-install my 2.7 cylinder head with a Fel-Pro permatorque gasket. Will definitely reconsider this. Anyone else have an opinion of Fel-Pro vs. OEM head gaskets?

(Sorry TacoRojo, not trying to hijack your thread....just want to make sure everyone interested chooses their HG replacement correctly.)

 

If it's not an OEMS gasket, then it should be a performance gasket that's better. That goes with any motor and any make. Just saying.

 

Its not my thread, just trying to help the guy out. He asked for OPINIONS so I told him mine, I never told him he HAD to use what I did. You are going off of someone else's experience with FEL-PRO gaskets from years ago in a 22R (no offense or fowl intended to you tan4x4). Who are you to tell me I didn't make the correct decision to use FEL-PRO? I've always used FEL-PRO gaskets on everything from my motorcycles and my race boat, and I have never had any problems! This is my first used vehicle I have ever owned and also my first foreign engineered vehicle, so I called my nice friends at my local Toyota dealership and In the exact words from the service manager and mechanic which I personally know, "this is the kit we recommend over OEM, FEL-PRO HS 9465 PT-3. So guess what, if it blows again I'm not going to blame them or FEL-PRO, I'm going to blame myself and retrace my foot steps and do it again. Its a long drawn out job to do the head gasket and if one little mistake is made then everything I did could be another excuse to spend my nights in my garage with my dog rebuilding it again.
There is no doubt that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but when you call someone out like you just did, you need to choose your wording a little better.

 

Stephen, My comment in parentheses above was respectfully for the OP TacoRojo.....just accidentally put your username in there from top of page 2 instead of the OP from top of page 1(now corrected). My post has absolutely nothing to do with you, and perhaps I did word the post incorrectly as well.

Regarding replacement head gaskets, I'm not giving opinions....I was asking for others opinions on which HG would be the better replacement whether it be OEM, Fel-Pro, LCE, Victor Reinz, Evergreen, Cometic, etc..

 

Zen1102, sorry about that I thought you were just being a smartass. People are just so quick to jump and ridicule what other people use. My bad man, and sorry OP.

 

Stephen, Thanks man, absolutely no worries at all. My apologies to you as well as I did word the post wrong.

Unfortunately both you and I are going through the exact same issue with a blown head gasket, cylinder 1. Was just inquiring/requesting opinions on replacements gaskets as I'm no parts specialist at all, but definitely want to replace this head gasket one time only.

Best of luck to you and TacoRojo with your trucks.

 

Sounds like the head gasket. How many miles? My 3rz did the exact same thing only on startup when the engine was cold. Coolant overflow tank was low. The 3rz kind of notorious around 200k for head gaskets.

 

I'm not biased,,I don't trust any head gasket. All of them get a thick double coat of spray can K&W Copper Coat then a couple days to gas off the solvents as far as they will. Have never had one leak after this application,,from the cheapie gaskets to the top dollar "never leak" ones. I take it a step further to insure they "never leak".

Inspecting, prepping and inspecting again all contact surfaces is key as well.

 

@98tacoma3rz, it has 128 ish miles. Service records, 3 owners. I thought it was well taken care of and would not expect this issue so early in it's life. Oh well. The PO did have some large hills to climb in the area he lived in and when I bought it I later found out the air filter was trashed. So I don't know what the cause is. I'm surprised this truck is already having a problem this serious.

 

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I haven't posted in my own thread lately as I just finished this semester of school and have had no time to investigate my issue further. Finally I can deal with this.

I have read a lot about OEM vs. Fel-Pro or VR. I think OEM would be the best choice but it's also more for the OEM gasket than it is for the entire VR or Fel-Pro kit. I think in the end I think I'll go the VR or Fel-Pro and shoot to do the job as best as I possibly can, following the manual as strictly as possible. I like the idea of the K&W Copper Coat that @Mod mentioned. Has anyone else had any luck with this product?

 

One other thing I forgot to add, the whole point of my intentions to update this tonight...

I borrowed a product that one of my friends bought, originally to test the head gasket on his 97 Land Cruiser. It is a UV chemical test kit. You run the engine, suck enough coolant out of the engine to create an air pocket in the top of the radiator, then suck the air up through a few one way valves and the chemical in the tubes changes color if there are exhaust gasses present in the cooling system which indicates a leak. They claim the test is very accurate and will indicate the slightest leak that will not need immediate attention. They even have a test where you breathe into your hand and suck that air out of your hand to show that the CO2 is reacting with the fluid to ensure it is not contaminated. I did that just to check and it worked, then changed to new fluid and proceeded to test my engine 4 times (twice for both the "recommended maintenance test" and the "severe issue test" which is recommended after a positive reading on the maintenance test.

Of the 4 times I tried this, I could not get a Positive reading at all. I made sure to follow instructions exactly and tried twice on each test, both times with new fluid. Just wondering if anyone has an idea why that didn't work when I'm going through coolant like crazy. I add a 1/3 rd gallon every other day. My engine is running worse upon startup than it has in the past and my CEL came on last week which I have not had time to read the code on yet, but i would assume it is a misfire as it feels like I have 2 out of 4 cylinders firing on initial start up.

I want to just buy the HG kit/ parts and go for it this weekend but I thought for sure with the symptoms I have that UView head gasket test kit would show a positive reading that my HG was fried. It threw me a curve ball that I don't know how to take. Is the kit bogus or just not as accurate as they claim it is? I'm also blowing white smoke after the engine runs for about a minute in the morning. The smoke has been less lately but that may be due to my mainly adding water lately instead of coolant/water mix or full strength coolant.

On top of all this, my engine has always been a little louder than other 4 banger Tacoma's I've heard and known people to own. I think I have a loose valve or something. Originally I thought it was my timing chain, but now after listening to it closely under the hood it sounds like a top-end issue farther back in the head.

1. Does this sound more like the head is cracked instead of HG?

2. Are their any further diagnostics I can perform before taking the head off? I cant afford to get a new head at this point and need to consider all options.

Thanks again for all the help/opinions and suggestions.

 

In case anyone is interested, here is the link to the test kit I used.

http://www.amazon.com/Combustion-Le...00+combustion+leak+tester&wb48617274=CE70C7E6

 

Sorry about the latent reply. These new email notify's are only occasionally now. The chemical test are usually pretty accurate. So long as you performed the other head gasket and cooling system tests, hot or cold, and all those show up negative along with your chemical negative test, then you might not have a blown head gasket. A exterior leak in the system somewhere would puke the fluid out to make one think the engine is consuming the coolant.

 

@Mod no worries, thanks for the reply. Could a cracked head have anything to do with the chemical test not working as it should? I'm going to start taking it apart today. I have seen the chemical test work for many people I can't understand why it wouldn't show some sort of leak for me. I want to do a leakdown test today before I tear it apart. Aside from that, can you recommend anything else to check the head/head gasket? The truck has been running progressively worse lately. I stopped driving it and out of necessity need to get it fixed soon. I plan to pull plugs first, examine them to see if there is anything I missed last time I pulled them, then do a leakdown test. If the leakdown is showing something wrong, I will pull the head this afternoon. I also wanted to do what @Stephen1231 mentioned and pull my manifolds to look at the deposits.

 

I was going to suggest pulling the exhaust manifold and looking in those ports before yanking the head off the motor. But it looks like you are on the ball.