Head Gasket Popped

Well Lads,
I just got back from delivering my grandparents a new TV for Christmas and when I pulled back into my driveway I smelled burning coolant and saw little bits of smoke off the exhaust manifold. I looked around the head and it was moist, and the manifold shroud had a small puddle in it. I'm really bummed, but I figured it was on its way out anyway when the heater core was bubbling.

Now to my question, who has found a good mechanic in the Seattle area? I need someone who would be comfortable doing a head gasket on a 3RZ. I will probably buy a cometic gasket and ARP studs and bring them to whoever does it.

Any suggestions on who is good would be welcomed, thanks and Merry Christmas!

 

its hard to say but this thread might be worth reading, she also was looking for a good mechanic in seattle and it sounds like she found a good one she can trust

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1s...-vs-spark-plug-electrode-bouncing-around.html

shouldn't be too bad to have someone pull and redo the head and you should be good to go for many years to come as long as you didn't warp or crack the head

 

How many miles on it?
Ever have the valves adjusted?
Alot of times the blown headgasket on them is actually a crack in the head due to a valve tightening up.

 

It has 183,xxx mi. and to my knowledge has never had the valves adjusted. I really don't have the funds to do anything but change the head gasket, if it turns out that the head is cracked then I'm so fucked it's not even funny. In that case I would probably have to pull a head from a junker motor and have it serviced, I cannot afford a new or reman head.

I've read about the 3RZ and 2RZ having valve adjustments go wrong and I hope it isn't the case because I'll just have to drive our other junker.

 

well you could just pull the head, make sure its not warped, then replace the head gasket, but to be honest, to do all that work and not have the head reworked for a few hundred bucks before you put it back on doesn't make a lot of sense but you could do it.

the thing is, you have to just about strip it down to just the block to replace the head gasket so at that point getting the head reworked is only and extra $200-$300 when you are already spending $200-$300 on gaskets, new head bolts, timing chain, water pump, and thermostat.

if you do a half azzed job your going to end up with a half azzed engine and maybe most likely more trouble from the very things you are trying to avoid doing so if you cant do it right it might be better to put it aside until you can afford to do it right. things like burnt valves, leaking valves, oil leaks from valve seals, poor compression, all caused by not getting the head reworked properly. its like putting a rusty fender on your car and then just painting over the rust, it makes no sense.

 

I could probably have my head serviced but not in the time constraint I have right now. Believe me, of all the people in the world I would be the one to try to get it right and all happy the first time, but it just isn't financially possible and I have to have my truck. Honestly, at 183,xxx I bet it just finally shit the bed because it has had 19yrs. of heating and cooling holding back explosions.

I will have the head inspected while it is being serviced, if it turns out to be cracked or have some valve issues, I'll go get a loan from a family member to have it fixed, but I can't afford to fix things that aren't definitively broken right now.

I am going to try my hardest to at least get the valve clearances done.

 

If you didnt get it hot chances are it isnt warped. You can check an aluminum head yourself if you have a machinists straight edge to lay on the surface. You have to look thorougly and check inside each and every runner for cracks- if you have never done it before it would be highly advisable to just pay to have it checked. Burnt valves, leaking valve seals etc. can all be seen visibly by just looking at the head. Your gasket set will come with new valve stem seals and I would absolutly have them installed as well as buy new head bolts.
If everything checks out as far as no cracks or warping id skip having the head machined and valves done- this- from my experiance is rarely necessary if the engine wasnt overheated.
While the work is being done make sure you do a valve adjustment.
No need to do a timing chain- they last forever on these. The water pump, can if you want but its easy enough to do that I would probably just wait til it starts leaking. Fwiw I had 317k on my old truck on the factory water pump. If you had a 3.4 id say go ahead and do a timing belt/ h2o pump while its apart but like I said the chains on these last a long time and the h2o pump is right there on the front of the motor.
Valve adjustments going wrong isnt the problem, its not doing them period that causes the head to crack in most cases. The head on a 3rz is different from say a 22re that has adjustable rocker arms. When a 3rz gets out of spec on valve lash they tighten up because the cam and adjustment shim wear vs a motor with adjustable rocker arms the get loose and tend to chatter which usually doesnt hurt the motor unless its left that way for a long period.

 

That's some good information knuckleduster. I'm thinking of hiring a local shade tree mechanic and having him do it, I'll see about having the valve clearances done while he's here as well. I knew they gradually wore until they were tight, but what's the issue with tight valves. I guess I just don't get how that causes a crack.

 

If you get a chance PM Bama Toy1997. He is a welth of good info and has helped many along with 1st gen head issues and is always cheerful to help.
The best of luck

 

That's a good idea, I think I'll send him a pm right now

 

After going exactly what you are going thru, don't use any other head gasket other than Toyota's. I had my head reworked at 284,000 and used a aftermarket head gasket. It lasted less than 50,000 miles. After doing much more research, the advice that I found was to use OEM. Pricey yes, but do you want to do it again?

 

Little late on that, I just bought a Felpro gasket set for the head. Should do okay though, they have good reviews.

 

100% true, i usually get a cheapo ebay gasket set for everything EXCEPT the hg- spend the $50 for a oem headgasket.

 

Well, gents I have a mechanic lined up to do the job at my house come Monday. He's gonna do all of the head seals and even agreed to do the heater core for a reasonable price. Gonna be fun, I don't really know where to get valve shims quickly, so prolly won't be able to get that done.

 

At your house??
Id be a little weary of that....
Seriously, do yourself a huge favor an have the head looked over by a competent machine shop.
With 180k and never having a valve adjustment the chances of the head being cracked are pretty good. I don't mean to throw a turd in the punch bowl but just going by what I have read in the past on numerous forums it is very likely that your head has cracks. do a quick Google search on it you'll see what I'm talking about.
and I would make sure that you trust the guy -I don't know a whole lot of mobile mechanics that would do a head job, most of them just do minor repairs on the side of the road.. It really takes a shop full of tools to do a head gasket efficiently. if I were you even if it cost you a couple hundred dollars more I would take it to a shop that has experience doing this.
As far as shims go, a lot of times you can swap them from one valve to another to make the right clearances.

 

Well, there ain't too much I can really do about a cracked head. I'm sure as hell gonna look it over with him. If it is cracked I'll be very strongly considering swapping to a better motor with a less pathetic head design (2 and 3RZs are a pretty weak headed engine), think 1KZ-TE or 5VZ-FE. I have to be back on the road come Jan 4th and really cannot do anything else. This guy I hired does engine swaps, works on Toyotas and is actually a mechanic with a shop but also does mobile repairs (think large shop truck). I have no idea what the previous owner of my truck did to it so I hope he had the valves done at some point, he owned it up until 172,xxx mi.

I love my truck and would love to have everything done perfectly in an Intel clean room with Mr. Akiyo Toyoda watching over but I cannot afford the time or overall cost to have it all done.

I can have the valves done at a later point but I cannot take the head to anyone else while the dude is on the clock.

 

Also my engine runs like new despite the coolant pissing all over the exhaust manifold, so I'm more worried about the coolant leak than cracks that aren't affecting my driving.

 

180k and you think the head is poorly designed? The reason it potentially is pissing coolant is because of you and the previous owners negligence.. Following recommended service intervals on coolant flushes and valve adjustments will all but guarantee over 200k+ out of damn near anything toyota has ever produced..
I had over 300k on a 3rz that ran like a top until it was bought back due to the frame recall. I did my hg at 242k just for peace of mind.
Hairline cracks in aluminum a very hard to see-you cant magniflux aluminum- the head will need hot tanked to clean all the carbon and deposits from it so you can see everything... If a head cracks that also breaches the seal of the hg.
If you can visibly see coolant "pissing" out of you motor then id bet its not just a gasket leak, could be something as simple as a freeze plug or you have a crack in the head casting.
If you miss one crack in the casting your new gasket wont seal, you will have the exact same issues, be out $500 dollars and not repair anything.
You cant afford to take the proper steps to ensure you are not wasting money on this repair but you can afford an engine swap??
Doesnt make much sense to me- especially if the truck runs great aside from the hg.. Even IF you bought a new head and everything you needed to do it parts would total less than a grand- you could find an indy shop to do it for $500-600-
Hardly worth writing the truck off over imo.

 

hate to pee in your punch bowl but swapping to a v6 engine is not very realistic. along with just the engine you need the computers for engine and cruise control and wiring harness for the v6 as well as dash plus motor mounts and exhaust systems and brackets as well as radiator and belts and pulleys. short answer is, have to have a donor truck to replace everything under the hood and truck including larger fuel lines to gas tank so you cant just "swap" to a v6 like that without "massive" work involved. either way you have to buy a v6 "donor" truck to get all the stuff you need for the swap over so its easier to buy a ready to use v6 truck and sell your truck for parts or drop in a running salvage yard engine for $800-$1000 and sell it.

many have thought its no big deal to swap to a v6 when our 4 bangers fail but the reality is its just not very realistic to do it unless you have your own shop and endless spare time for a big project like that

 

^yup
Engine, transmission, ecm's for both, new exhaust, radiator, air box all of it...
Look at some build threads on here where an engine swap was done.
You would be lucky to find a mechanic willing to take it on.