Blown Head Gasket!? Or paranoid?

Hey everyone, I need some head gasket specialists to help me brain storm what’s going on!!

Background:
2007 tacoma 213,000 miles.
6in lift, 35s, fresh fluids all around except coolant.

So I got this truck about a month ago and did some maintenance. I’ve driven all around and haven’t had any issues with start up, noises, smoke or anything.

This last Monday, I picked the truck up from the body shop. It sat for 3 days and when I started the truck, it took a sec to start and slightly bogged. My heart drops, worst case scenario goes through my head and I wait for it to warm up and look for white smoke. Low and behold, white smoke is blowing out and the oil cap has white gunk on it. Ohhhh shit!!! Blown head gasket.

I expect the worst and start looking up used motors to do a replacement, but I come across a thread that says that it could just be condensation since we’re up in the mountains and it gets cold. Since then, I’ve wiped the oil cap and no white gunk has come back, no cel has ever came on since I’ve had it, no issues with rough idle, no more white smoke on start up. Changed the oil again and no white colors. Wtf is going on!!!? Small head gasket leak that only shows up after it gets cold and has sat for a while or am I just paranoid.

Sorry about the novel! But wtf is going on? Please help!!

 

you said changed the oil again? what did it look like before?

 

What did the oil look like and what does the oil look like on the dipstick now? If you are paranoid, go take it to a shop and get a cylinder leakage test done on it. That will tell you the integrity of the head gaskets.

 

@wilcam47 well I said again because I changed it about a thousand miles ago. But it’s always been clean, no metal shavings, no weird colors and I was paranoid and thought I had water in the cylinder so I changed it again.

 

@12TRDTacoma that’s another thing I forgot to mention. Today I did a block test, one of the chemical ones that you hook up to the radiator, I pumped it for about 10 min and no color changes. To me that sounds like I’m safe but then why would it blow white smoke and why would there be white gunk on the oil cap? You get what I’m saying?

 

pressure check. if its severe your oil will be noticeably not oil color. May be just starting to be a headgasket going, if your coolant is disappearing thats what might be happening.

 

wh

white smoke isnt necessarily a clear indication of a problem. in the winter/colder months it could just be temp difference.

 

Bad piston ring?

 

@wilcam47 right, I know that some white smoke in the colder months are normal but I’ve had a 4Runner blow a head gasket in the past and another 1st gen taco blow One. This was like a good amount of smoke, very similar to those other times, but with the others it happened every morning, started to have a rough idle, threw cels etc. with this one absolutely no other symptoms except that slight sputter when I first started it after it sat

 

@Boyk1182 I considered that, but wouldn’t that show other symptoms? I’ve had little to no oil consumption, no power loss, etc.

 

no CEL?

 

Saw this after changing my oil last week. I was told it is condensation. The oil from the pan and filter looked normal.

 

@wilcam47 nope, no CEL. Plus it passed smog a week ago.

 

@replica9000 thats what mine looked like but maybe a tiny bit more. If it was just that I wouldn’t be worried, but the smokes in addition to that is what worries me

 

When you bought the truck did the previous owner have maintenance records? I want to say you are being paranoid and I could be wrong but my work truck is an 05 tundra it has a 1gr-fe and it’s got 350,000 miles on the original head gasket still going strong *knock on wood*
I think by 07 the taco had an updated headgasket design so I think you should be fine. Your best bet might be to have a EDIT: leak down test done or drive it for a bit and send a sample of the oil to blackstone labs. They send you the test kit for free and then you pay like $28 when you send it in, they will be able to see if coolant is in the oil.

 

White smoke may be nothing more than condensation due to the temperature difference during this time of the year. Especially considering how cold out it is.

Gunk on the oil cap is in no way an accurate gauge of whether or not a cylinder head gasket is blown. Neither are whatever those chemical tests you are referring to.

Cylinder leakage test. The only way to know if your head gaskets are blown or not, and SOMETIMES not even THAT will tell you the full story!

A pressure check is a WAY different test than what I am referring to. That may confuse the OP to do a cooling system pressure test. A cylinder leakage test is what is supposed to be done.

 

I think you’d consume a considerable amount of oil if this was the case.

 

@Murphinator thats kind of what I was hoping to hear. I know the 07s have solid motors, but the thing that worried me is that the previous owner was a fat stoner that didn’t seem to know anything about the truck. Normally I’d back away but it was a freakin steal so I took the risk. He’s also only had it for a year and bought it from the dealership. I guess I could try doing that, but I’ve heard mixed opinions about those tests. I was just hoping that someone would say that it’s pretty normal, I’m just being paranoid and just keep enjoying the truck haha. But at the same time if someone really knew their tacomas and have had a similar deal, I’d rather be prepared to buy another motor

 

If your vehicle is parked outside in winter you will get condensation in the exhaust system, and our stupid gasohol contributes to it too. This condensation comes out of the exhaust as white smoke when you start it from cold. On cold days you may notice some cars dripping water from the exhaust pipe at the redlight. If it goes away after the engine warms up you don't have a problem.

Milky gunk inside the oil cap is common. The engine has a breather that sucks in outside air to compensate for the changing volume in the crankcase as the cylinders go up and down. This moisture combines with the oil to form the milky residue. Again, not a problem.

If you're really worried about it get a cylinder pressure gauge from AutoZone and test each cylinder. I forget what the pressure is supposed to be, maybe 125 PSI, but a low reading could indicate a burned valve or worn rings as well as a problem with the head gasket.

Bottom line: If your oil isn't milky, and there's not oil in your radiator, you don't have a head gasket problem.

Charlie

 

Also correction on my last post, do a leak down test not a pressure test.