New head gasket, now truck overheats

Yes, I'm aware of the face palm. Unaware of issues related to prolonged sitting of engines.

Is it hopeless?

 

Maybe, maybe not. If this was a BMW, id say get ready to pull the engine for a rebuild. I would run the car around, let it heatup, then park it and start taking parts off to do a compression check. Lets see first if its sealing properly. Have access to the proper kit and a compressor? Do a leakdown test. Lets just see if it can hold pressure first before anything else.

If theres is a leak between an oiled area and the cooling passages, you can use a coolant test (buy one on Amazon) to check for contaminants.

Really, youre biggest foe is going to be internal rust on frictional components. Think cylinder walls, piston rings, camshaft and bearings, rod bearings, etc, etc.

 

Fair enough, I'll see what I can do. How's about the original issue of overheating after the headgasket was changed?

 

Okay i apologize for the dick comment...

I worded my question kinda funny. When you said "would not matter" i was just trying to confirm that you meant it wouldnt matter which hose the stat was on..as in the stat would trap the same amount of air if it were on the bottom or the top hose. Seems like since its on the bottom it wouldnt trap as much air as easily as it would when its on the top of the system. Thats all.

Also cant speak for the 3.4 but on our 2.7's the stat is on the bottom hose, through bottom hose to stat to water pump then through the system. So as usuall toyota has it opposite of the norm...

 

You know this forum is starting to fuck with you when you wake up at 3am thinking about a thread.

So im thinking, and im wondering, is this 'mechanic' related to you in some way or another? Im getting the impression that there is a lot of slack being cut for this person who obviously was not competent in what he did with your truck...

Did you get a copy of the invoice form the machine shop that surfaced and pressure checked the head?
(he never checked the heads, did he)

Also you keep saying youre seeing coolant leaks, but not specifically from where.

Also 4 years later, i think in every state youve given up your rights to expect this guy to rectify the situation. Much like it doesnt matter which way the coolant is flowing as you are not going to change the direction, it doesnt matter about looking to the HG job as you are going to be stuck with the repairs either way. Just do diagnostics 101 and eliminate everything else. An optical scope would help to check cylinder condition.

You have the FSM, and lots of resources here. Probably the most expensive thing you need to do the heads yourself is a quality pair of torque wrenches. Unlike a inline 6 or V8, the cam removal is fairly straightforward, just follow the FSM. If all else fails and you have another car as a DD, get a cherry picker and a engine stand and rebuild it with new bearings.

 

Probably a air bubble trapped in the system. It happens,,more frequent than one would think. A new Tstat should be installed with new head gaskets. Not alot of people follow that idea, and to each his own. I like to bore a 1/8" hole (or two) in the flange of the thermostat to allow those bubbles to vent to the other side quickly,,and it also allows a tiny bit of positive flow whenever the engine is started,,,with NO ill effects. Those little jiggle pins are pretty tiny. A good sized bubble would take some time to vent thru that. Flush out that green and get some of the red OEM coolant that is posted. Select full hot on your climate controls as you bleed it out.

 

Just to follow up, we replaced the thermostat with a new one that we tested. I also replaced the radiator cap as we noticed it was leaking.

When burping the system with the radiator cap off the truck warms up and the engine runs at normal operating temp per my gauge with the heater on full. The coolant appears to be flowing but occasionally there is the odd bubble that comes out the uncapped radiator. It maintained this temperature when the heater was turned off but it started erupting coolant out of the radiator. Turning on the heater and topping off lost coolant settled that issue. With the radiator cap back on and still idling at normal operating temperatures the engine does not overheat, but as soon as I turn the heater off the temperature of the engine starts to climb and I can't get it back down with acceleration or turning the heater back off.

Thanks for the help so far, I appreciate all the replies.

 

Almost seems like a restricted radiator at this point...especially since it sat so long..

 

Would a fan clutch failing to engage cause similar issues? At 200k it's never been replaced and after the engine is turned off hot it spins freely for several seconds.

Edit: would I be able to test the radiator flow by removing both hoses and running water through it? Doing this I should see the water coming out as fast as I put it in unless it's restricted.

 

Its a possibility, does it have resistance when its cold?

When my rad became restricted i did the hose trick and it gushed out as fast as it would go in. That resulted in me changing everything out in the system before coming back around to the rad, changed it out and it was the problem the whole time.

 

Very little, I can spin it easily cold but it won't continue to spin. Also, I don't have much to compare it to, I've never spun a fresh fan clutch.

Edit: I can hear the fan clutch at start up when it's cold, it roars for half a minute then quiets down. But I never hear it roaring while it's hot

 

When cold if you cant spin it but only half to 3/4 of as revolution its pry okay. It does have alot of miles on it and wouldnt hurt to get a new one, but with the symtoms youve got and the long term setting the truck experienced a restricted rad is very probable..

I edited my last post to include rad info incase u didnt catch that!

 

Would happily replace radiator, recommendations on aftermarket online purchase?

Also, I did not install but the truck has a transmission radiator as well (smaller radiator in front of large radiator). Will I be able to replace the radiator without screwing that up?

 

FYI, new thermostat installed with jiggle valve at 6 o'clock.

 

On Amazon there are all aluminum rads for like $140, id recomend those, there was just a thread about them on here a couple weeks ago. So youve got an auto tranny? If so its cooler will be integrated into the main radiator. The little radiator in front of the big one will be your a/c condenser. In the case the previous owner installed a secondary tranny cooler you will see three radiators up front there. If just two, its your a/c and main rad with tranny cooler inside main radiator,

 

No I'm ignorant, I have a manual transmission. So the little radiator is an a/c condenser? I've swapped out a radiator before but don't recall having one of those to contend with. I haven't checked the manual but assume it's fairly straight forward.

So the chances are good that I will get the right radiator if I order from Amazon? If I get the wrong one does amazon let you return radiators like they do everything else?

 

When i looked at the rads on Amazon their fitment deal sucks! That was talked about on that recent thread i mentioned too. It will say it wont fit but does. You gotta measure yours to make sure youve got the correct one. Dont disconnect the a/c condenser (yes thats what the smaller rad is) itll let out all your refrigerant! The radiator cannbe swapped out without removing the condenser. Just unbolt your fan thatll give you the room for removal. Youll pry want to take the grille off to, its easy, just held on by a handfull of easy to release clips, youll c em when ya wiggle it around to figure out where it mounted.

Since youve got a manual not a auto pay attention to get the non auto radiator without the tranny cooler. One like that can still be used just cap the two holes, but might aswell get the right one without that feature.

Also if you get a new fan clutch either get one from the dealer (more $) or get the aisin!! They are the maker of the oem ones. The other brands can be kinda...well, just shitty and dont work the same...stay on too long, stuff like that.

 

Grill is wire tied on from previous accident, so removal should be simple.

It's good to know that I can just slide the old one out, while it's out then I can replace the fan clutch easily.

Thanks for the info, I'll update this thread when I'm done with the swap.

Edit: reread your post , ok so fan clutch has to go in after radiator oh well.

 

No problem! Ask away if ya need anymore info!

The hardest part and it wasnt hard at all was wedging a pry bar or whatever on the fan studs to keep the fan from spinning while removing those four nuts. Then remove shroud and your to the radiator!

 

You didn't get a head gasket for a 3.0 did you ?? (not even a 100% if configed the same)