Is my head gasket blown?

It is so easy to blow it on these trucks because the heads are aluminum but the block is iron.

 

It's got 125k miles. And it hasn't over heated at all.

 

Yeah, Fuck Ill drop my other engine in before i re-do the HG

 

strange, if it does end up being the HG, make sure they check if the heads are warped.

 

Its your HG or heads then... I just replaced my whole engine cause it had 200k in it ... so might as well.

 

I went and talked to a mechanic and he was unsure but doesn't think it's the head. Shes going in on monday for a pressure test so hopefully I'll find out then.

Thanks for everyones help.

 

Thats the thing to do, let us know how it goes.
FYI its actually called a leak down test

 

Just got the verdict. Gasket is toast. I havent had a chance to talk to the mechanic as I'm working out of town, but he quoted $2450 to do it. Seemed a little steep to me, but looks like I might be looking into getting a whole engine after all any sugestions on how/where to find a decent one?

 

That sucks man.

It shouldnt be too hard to find a 5vz-fe around BC. I have a spare one but im not willing to part with it now. I would check all the local scrap yards for the recalled Tacomas. Maybe even call your Toyota dealership and ask where they send the recalled Tacomas or where you might find one.

Im sure you could also find one in the states but it might be a hassle to get it across the line. Good luck!

 

Talk about getting raped with no lube!

that is way steep.

It's really not that much work unless the head is warped which it likely is. I would call around.

 

Probly not worth tearing apart if theres chance the heads were warped which they likely are

 

pretty sure you can just get the heads resurfaced by a machine shop.

 

Wayyy to much... i got quoted 500 for everything .... and a new engine is bou 700-1200.

 

Tell your "mechanic" he's out of his fuckin' mind, it wouldn't cost that much even with 2 new heads & yeah if i spent that much , i'd throw another $500 at it & get a completely rebuilt engine...

 

Just a heads up:
Check for coolant leaks with a coolant system pressure tester: Checking for bad valves, rings, or gaskets can be done with this tool and an air compressor:
It is more comprehensive than a compression test. It will tell you not only the health of the engine, but also where a problem is.
Bubbles of air coming out in the radiator=bad gasket/cracked coolant passage. Excessive air coming from PCV line=bad rings. Air coming from intake=bad intake valve. Air from exhaust=bad exhaust valve.

A coolant pressure test will tell you for sure you have a leak, but you'll have to hunt for it. The proof you have an engine problem comes from a leak down test.

 

unless you're trucks doing this, it's most likely a leak. They can be very hard to find sometimes. Take it to a shop that does a free pressure test and go from there.

 

I would use a set up that determines if you have exhaust gases in the cooling system. It takes about a minute to see and most shops have them around. It's a chemical that when you pull air from the radiator thru the chemical, will change color when exhaust is present. very cheap. Nothing to do with pressure test, or leak down as those things have "other" causes as well.
If the heads are warped they can just be planed. I would search for a used motor before doing a HG job at that price.

 

this not always true you can have oil in water, water in oil, exhaust bubbles in water, water out the tailpipe, one of these, all, or a combination

 

Yep. I have ~110psi on 5 cylinders and ~90psi on cyl 3 on my engine. No leaking anywhere and had some white smoke from the exhaust after the truck sat for a few weeks between running.

I used Bar's Leak 1111 and that seemed to fix the leak as I haven't seen any white smoke or have any measurable coolant loss in 6+ months. It's worth the $20 investment to try to see if that solves your problem.

I assume my problem was a small head gasket leak between the COOLANT and cylinder 3 part of the gasket and nothing else, since my oil is fine, the radiator pressure test is fine and so on...