08 4.0 fresh rebuild with coolant in exhaust

Hi new member here. So here’s what I got going on. I blew the head gaskets on my 08 Tacoma 4.0 from overheating. Block and heads were completely rebuilt by a reputable machine/motor shop and everything was carefully installed back in truck by me. I am not a pro and this was probably the biggest fox I’ve attempted but I’m pretty mechanically inclined. Electrician by trade worked in a machine shop for 7 years. Everything went back together smoothly but on initial start up had tons of white smoke from exhaust. I’m assuming it’s just from when I blew the gaskets initially? Did do a compression test numbers ranging from 175 to 190. Ok heres the other thing trucks been sitting for almost three years so would the coolant stay in exhaust for that long or it would have evaporated by now. I just let it idle for a bit and shut it off. I was gonna try and drive it but I think the e brake is stuck on. At least that’s what I hope. When I release the pedal the light stays on and it didn’t want to move to easy. Or sorry if this is a stupid question but could the transmission have been damaged when it overheated and how would I be able to tell. Also I just added about 5 gallons of 91 and a bottle of octane booster to the little bit of 3 year old gas that was in the tank. Not sure if that was a good idea or not. Sorry this is so long just wanted to be thorough. Any info is greatly appreciated. I’m just wondering how I should proceed from here. I was gonna just run it for a bit and see if it would go away? Go easy on me

 

Antifreeze doesn't evaporate well so if you had some in the exhaust system it would, once heated, begin to evaporate. Also, if it's colder, you could just be getting the typical ''white smoke'' from normal condensation as fossil fuel engines create a lot of water when combustion occurs.

Hopefully you didn't let antifreeze or water sit in the cylinders or in the oil if mixed for those 3 years.

 

1. It is normal for all kinds of smoke to develop after this type of job. You can check coolant for oil residue, and the oil for coolant residue to be sure.

2. Ebrake and rotors could be seized due to rust. Gonna have to remove each one. You can try going forward/reverse gently several times to see if anything dislodges.

3. Transmission should be ok, it is probably the least affected component.

Good luck, hope you get the truck running soon.

 

It sat for 3 years and then you pulled it and had it rebuilt?

yes parking brake could be stuck. Jack up rear, put truck in neutral and try spinning the tires

 

No I pulled the motor out of truck before it sat for that long. I will check out the brake further. Thanks for your responses much appreciated. I will let you know how it goes for anyone interested.

 

I'm not following completely, is it still smoking badly? I don't think antifreeze in an exhaust will smoke. Not like I'm envisioning to be 'tons' anyway. I'd be suspecting a cracked head. Shit happens. It's happened to most of us that have dealt with 'reman' or 'rebuilt'. Don't fret too much if the case.

 

I only ran it for about maybe 5 min or so, but yeah it was smoking pretty badly. Maybe there could be old oil in there as well? When I blew the gaskets it got really hot and the oil inside was burnt so bad. All the intervals were coated with a layer of burnt oil. I’ll never forget that smell. It was terrible! But now that I think of it I could smell that oil smell as well. Everything in the motor was cleaned except probably the exhaust. I could tell the bit of liquid that came out was definitely coolant though. Also when I checked the oil the level seemed unchanged and not contaminated. I realize if it only ran for five min it probably couldn’t have burned that much oil and I know that doesn’t mean it can’t be cracked I’m just really hoping it’s not. I’ve never done it but it sounds like I might need to do a leak down test? Or should I run the motor some more and just make sure it doesn’t get too hot and see what happens?? Thanks

 

When the exhaust gets full of coolant and/or oil/unburned fuel from a blown engine they will smoke alot for quite awhile as the catyletic converters burn it off, I wouldn't be too concerned about it.

 

That’s kind of what I was thinking and hoping. Hearing it from someone else is making me feel a lot better about it though. I was concerned if I possibly didn’t get something sealed up properly when I put the timing cover back on, but then wouldn’t I be seeing coolant mixed in with the oil? I was very careful when I did it and went over the instructions a bunch, but still my first time doing it…

 

Fire it up and lay that mother down!

 

If you are worried, do a leakdown test both cold and warm. If it holds, I'd just drive carefully for a bit and keep an eye on the temps and coolant level.