Head gasket, What to do?

Some of you guys may remember from my posts a few months back that I blew a head gasket back. It had the symptoms for a while (rough start after sitting for a few days). Then back in November there was an intermittent knocking noise after leaving work one day, that appeared to be the supercharger. I immediately stop the truck and haven’t started it since. The truck was my daily driver and I was driving it pretty far to work. Anyways I got a new commuter car for work and planned to remove the supercharger and try to repair the head gasket (or atleast tear it down to assess the damage). I removed the supercharger and found bad bearings. Over the last few months I slowly tore down the engine. Everything seemed fine until I got to removing the head with the blown gasket. After I pulled the head there was a ton of crud in the cylinder and on the heads (I’m assuming carbon). It just seems VERY odd and like way too much. Not sure how it’s literally piled up in the cylinders, maybe I disturbed it when I pulled the head and it all crumbled down??




Anyways I was hoping things would look much better and I was going to just swap the gasket and see how it goes. Not really sure what to do now. Also I did not see anything obvious as far as a break in the gasket or a crack in the head etc..

Has anyone ever seen this much crap inside of the cylinders? The truck ran fine, other than the head gasket problem. Also, are the exhaust valves supposed to look white? Or is this considered burnt?



I’m not a big engine guy, so looking for some advice.

The truck is a 1997 5VZ with about 220k on it. Was supercharged for the last 100K.

I don’t need the truck ASAP as I have a new car and my wife has an SUV that can fit some large things. This was my first truck ever so it does have some sentimental value. However I am considering throwing all the parts I have (including aftermarket) in the bed and selling it. Don’t really have much space or time these days for this kind of work.

What do you guys think?

 

I am by no means an engine expert either, but I know one question some of the more knowledgeable people might want to know is, did you check compression on all the cylinders before you tore it down? That might help answer your question.

 

Unfortunately I didn’t. Thought about that once I had most of it apart... I did decide to borescope the cylinders to see if I could find the problem area and sure enough found the puddle of coolant in the back passenger side cylinder.

 

Considering how many miles are on it I would expect to see some crud, obviously the loose stuff got disturbed during disassembly. Personally I would clean it all up w/ vac and brass scraper and scrubby, put a precision scale across the head and block to make sure nothings warped and reassemble. Makes you wonder if there is a fuel additive that would burn that junk out, one that really works. I drive like a little old lady, rarely does my truck see +50 mph and has 200k.... I can only imagine what mine looks like. Good luck

 

I know it's a pain, but since the truck is not running you are going to get peanuts by trying to sell it. You took it apart so you already know what needs to go back together. I'm assuming you took off only one head. Take it to a machine shop and have them inspect it and clean it up. Tell them about the leak in that particular cylinder so that can inspect it really well. Water leaks can be hard to find if it's in the metal (and not the gasket) as it might only be evident when the engine heats up, but a machine shop can usually detect it. It's less likely that the block cracked unless it severely overheated. Since you don't have time but seem to be willing to a take a several thousand dollar loss on a parts sale, the machine shop fees will be cheap compared to that. Or if you community doesn't have a decent machine shop, I'm assuming you can probably find a reasonably priced rebuilt head online with all new parts (and it's already been tested). The machine shop can also advise you on the exhaust valves. The color doesn't seem too bad, but you can't tell the condition of the valves unless they are disassembled and you can inspect the seats (the surface where they close).

I saw the 2018 photo of your truck with new tires. Looks pretty good. It would be a shame to see it go. At least spend the time to get it back together and running, then make the decision to sell. Just keep telling yourself that this is the last time. After that, send it to a shop for repairs. Or you can find a shop who will install the head for you. Saves time and will be less than the bath you will take for selling it as a non-running basket case.

 

This was Why I decided to post this on here before making any irrational decisions. Thank you.

I do love this truck and have put lots of time and money into it. And It basically costs me nothing to own. Its just frustrating dealing with these kind of issues. They make you re think everything. I’m all for working on my truck, but tearing the engine apart just wasn’t something I pictured myself ever doing or having to do.

I do not know of a good machine shop in my area, but I’ll check around. I may go the route of a remanufactured head and try to get it back running. It is also due for a timing belt and water pump. Radiator weeps from the top and needs to be replaced. Also a bunch of minor things I probably should do while it’s this far torn down. I just worry I will spend a bunch of money on parts (usually always go oem) and end up having something else screw up. But again as you mentioned the cost of parts will be much less than my loss from selling a broken truck.

Now the question is: what should I do about the other side (considering all the crap I found on this side)? I have not taken the other head or anything off.

Or should I just swap the engine with a jdm or other low miles used engine?

 

Usually if you had been running the engine with water getting into the chamber, yes it would be spotless clean. Steam cleaned, in fact.

So what was the determination that it was a head gasket leaking it?

How much water were you losing, say...per week?

 

I’m for replacing the motor, do the radiator too. That truck is good for another 20 yrs, or if you decide to sell it down the road you’re gonna get top dollar. Monthly payments suck. Fix it, drive it and smile at the guys driving the 2020’s knowing yours just might be on the road longer than theirs

 

I'm not a big fan of jdm replacements unless you know your engine is totally gone. Since you were driving it up until you shut it off I'm not sure of the extent of the problem(s). I've probably been negatively influenced by my first (and only) jdm replacement on a 90's Camry. Although they are generally "guaranteed" for a period of time, it's a hassle to remove,replace if it's not good. And you usually end up doing a new timing belt and other regular maintenance as part of the replacement. Some people have had good luck with jdm's. I just was not impressed with the replacement engine as I spent a lot of time chasing down low torque, sluggish performance issues and ended up selling the car as it wasn't clear if they would cover it under the terms of the warranty. You'll have to decide just how much you ignored/abused the current engine. The supercharger puts more stress on the engine and that's one reason to consider a replacement.

 

And is the frame in good condition? It should be considered in any scenario when thinking about big $$ repair/replacement/sell decision.

 

That’s the other thing. I was meticulous about maintaining the truck. Never missed oil changes. Always used oem filters. Did everything myself and tracked it in a spreadsheet. Used premium fuel always (required for SC). Plugs etc...

No neglect or abuse. Really never hammered it with the SC. I did not rebuild the SC, but also had not reached the recommended frequency as far as I know.

Thats why I was not expecting so see all that crud when I opened it up.

 

Frame is in good condition. The truck was always in the south.

 

Hey there, I feel for you, I was in your same situation 4 years ago,
My head gasket popped at 480,000 and it’s been superchargered it’s whole life when I bought it new.

I have a lot of sentimental value as this was the first brand new vehicle I had bought off the Car lot.

I was on the fence too, dealer wanted 3200 to fix the head gaskets hoping that the heads were not cracked, if so that would be a lot more.

I decided to keep it and that was the best decision I made for myself at that time.

BUT that’s because I spend a month looking for a low mileage engine that was in the truck and
could verify it’s condition and carfax. Was the best 1500.00 Inhave spent for a motor that had 90k
on it.
Was a 2004 3.4, 90k miles for 1500.00

4 years later I’ve added 125,000 miles and I run the shit out of this motor with 12 pounds of
boost on my supercharger and it’s running fantastic still.

I look back at my situation and it was just a blimp of a month that has faded out of the 22 years
that I have had this truck.

My truck now at 620,000 miles runs the best it has ever run in the 22 years I’ve owned it.

DEFINITELY GET A LOW MILEAGE MOTOR THAT YOUR CAN SEE AND HEAR RUNNING

 

You do have a ton of carbon,

One thing I found out is if you were to add a methonal kit with your 7th injection the methonal would clean and eliminate your carbon issues.

Here is a photo of my valves and throttle body.

Squeaky clean, zero carbon because of the methanol that I use, just an idea for u.

 

Maybe look at this motor with 96k for 600.00


https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/97-tacoma-3-4l.658829/

 

Here’s another one with 36k rolled.
If you had the extra money this would be my choice and would probably last you 10 years Easy.

2004 3,4, 36,000 miles in the truck to verify for 2200
You could probably offer less
And you would know exactly what your getting

 

@1997tacomav6 , who are you kidding. Those pics are photo shopped. but seriously, I can't believe how clean it is. Learn something new all the time here TW. Dam shame I can't run methanol in my stock 3.4L if it would keep the insides that clean. That looks like a brand new engine that's never been run.

 

Yea, it’s pretty amazing and I wasn’t aware of this original.

Here is a good video that explains it and how it eliminates the carbon from your engine and helps cool down the intake temperatures

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HkPFZWd8wj4

 

clean it up and slap a new headgasket on it. There's nothing scary about that crud. It all came from shitty combustion from the leaking headgasket. shop-vac, scotch brite, brake clean. Send it.

If you suspect a crack in the head- machine shop to check.

Do the other headgasket too.

 

I agree 100%, This is the cheapest route to take, replace both head gaskets, new head bolts. I don't know what a machine shop will charge to check the heads, but it may be worth it, especially for this one, just too make sure it hasn't warped. If this fixes the truck, your back in business for the least amount of money. Otherwise, do like the others have stated and buy a low milage 3.4L engine. The one thing, I wish Toyota had done a better job on these trucks is the lower ball joints. Otherwise, these trucks are "almost" bombproof.