2005 build

I have a one-piece DS with a double cardon up front. I got it off FB after breaking my other 1 piece and mangling the 2 piece mounting brackets. I had pretty terrible vibrations and put a 2.5* shim in place to line up the pinion with the DS.

The shim worked perfectly as shown. I do still have some vibrations above 40 that ease a bit around 55. It's slightly thicker than my old TW and might be out of balance a bit. I'm hoping it will do over the winter and I may re-assess in April haha as it won't be going over 40 through the winter.

 

Well .. the gods are against me. Starting a head gasket job #2 - replaced the engine last summer and this 'new' one is definitely leaking:
- I have to fill coolant each week.
- starting to get misfires in the morning P0304 and P0306
- pressure test radiator and I can see fluid (coolant) pooling in cylinders 4 and 6
- block test is more green than yellow but definitely not blue

Ordered OEM head gasket. Aisin Water pump and thermostat. 10mm double hex socket and some new head bolts.
Plan to disassemble starting Sunday. get heads to shop this week. Re-assemble when ready.


cylinder 4 after 5 minutes of the radiator pressure. 6 looks similar.

the block test

 

started the teardown.



All set. 1 more bolt in the back of the coolant bypass (?) - impossible to get to so I can remove the coolant pipe running down the middle. The head socket arrives Wednesday. I hope to remove Wed or Thursday and get to the gasket.


heads are off -- need to get these packed up and over to the machine shop for a review. questionable whether I get this back together


heads are at the machine shop. I think I have all the gaskets and tools and parts for re-assembly. Now onto cleaning the block and all the mating surfaces.

 

Onto the assembly. The heads are looking good. new gasket installed. Head bolts in place and tightened. Exhaust in place. Coolant bypass pipe back together. Onto the cams and timing chain tomorrow ...

 

Damn man that’s some bad luck with that 08 engine. I’m picking up my heads tomorrow. How much did they take off of yours? They look nice and clean

 

Yeah - been a run of luck but hopefully this gets me in the clear. They took 0.007 off each. He could see where it was leaking. Lots of info on the dos/donts of milling these but I’ve found enough that I think it’s OK. Really hoping to get this rolling Friday and hoping for no bubbling coolant — then Moab haha! Keep me posted on how yours works out. Good luck!

 

That’s what I was worried about too. I believe they took 0.003 off mine.

did you add the RTV to the front of the block/head?

 

I did -- followed this guidance from the FSM -- still not 100% sure I did it right as this is the most damn confusing picture I've come across. I put a really small dab on the corners where the head meets the block.

I also put the exhaust on before dropping the heads onto the block - I thought it would be a nightmare to get it installed after and it was pretty easy to drop right down.

 

I believe similar to this pic on top and bottom of gasket

 

cams and timing chain installed. 90% sure the chain is set correctly when I added the tensioner the bottom crank skipped a tooth so I had to redo that. For my lost memory when I have to do this again you can rotate the cams to loosen the chain tension ... 10mm Allen for that middle sprocket to make it easy to get the chain on and maneuver cogs on the sprocket.



the camera distorts the view on this next pic. The indented line on the right of the cam bolt (less paint) is lined up DIRECLY with the line on the cam timing indented line.




I think I'm doing nothing Thursday. but Friday the timing cover ... then getting everything back on. Saturday we run this thing!

 

It’s super hard to get down and see this timing mark on the reluctor wheel. Gonna use my camera or something when I re assemble lol

 

Agree - drop some paint on there. Mine was all set - realized I didnt have those 2 middle tensioner plates — had to loosen and add and it then skipped a tooth. Always easier the 2nd or 3rd time but still. Good luck!

 

well -- coming back together really well. BUT my nightmare came true. I have a leak in that coolant bypass in the back of the engine. Racking my brain to see if I can get this dealt with without taking at least one of the heads back off to make room. so close! going to take the intake / fuel rails and water pump off and HOPE I can figure outa way to get back there and see what's going on.



reference for pics and inspiration
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...utlet-pipe-tacoma.696557/page-3#post-24683044

 

that was my biggest nightmare as well.

you can 100% remove the coolant outlet with the heads on. For the tube you would have to cut the bracket I think.

Is it leaking from the outlet? I pried on mine to get it off so kinda worried too

 

yeah thx- was just in there. I verified it's leaking from the outlet where the gaskets mate vs the tube itself. So I'm good. I was able to get it off - so much easier the 2nd (or 3rd) time. I might have had a bonehead move but not certain. the bypass is held by 2 nuts and a bolt so the gasket goes around 2 nuts. I MIGHT have not had the gasket across the 2 nuts so it was misaligned. But I'm not 100% certain. I'm leaning towards a very small amount of rtv to help keep the bind in place in addition to the gasket.

 

I saw the thread you linked above and it looks like he used RTV as well. Did you have any gouges in the surface from removal? New gaskets?

 

new gaskets and yes I had some gouges. the marks on the circle where the water pipe comes in are mine but that oring sits in further so that's not a problem. but you can see plenty of scratches in the triangles.

this was a used engine and the guy at the head shop said it had been taken apart before. I didn't take a pic but there are these bug nuts / plugs on the back of the engine. he said usually people that rebuild put these plugs in that mine had that have an inner circle that warps out if the engine overheats ... as a way in the future to know if it's overheated. Mine had these aftermarket plugs ... but the good news is that it hadn't overheated. Who knows? \

Either way -- I either had the gasket on wrong or those scrapers in the triangle are a problem. If this doesn't work I'll order a new bypass and try that. Letting it cure now.

 

Was the cylinder head side gouged as well? I believe my water outlet has similar scratches too

 

I think it's all sealed up. I pressure tested the radiator -- holding great. filled with coolant - no leaks. I think I'm ready to start this up. going back through my notes and poking around to make sure all is good.

 

Very nice. Don’t forget to prime the oil pump