BHG! Now that I have that off my chest...

[buldozr]

Hello everyone, I bought my supra last year and the second day I had it I registered here and have learned alot, thanks guys. The past month I have had to top off the radiator and I automatically assumed BHG, no signs of water in oil or vise versa, runs like a top. Overflow bottle was overfilling, tested radiator cap and the cap only held 5psi. Replaced and kept my eye open. A week later, noticed getting low on fluid again, topped off and checked the oil, FOUND MILKY OIL CAP! So I am relieved to have found the problem(my 3000gt friends thought I was crazy). So, here is the dilemma, I can just do the topend or I can do a full build. I know I have the money for a topend, but to do the bottom will cost me. Mileage is 170K but I have a suspicion that the motor is not original. I did a compression test recently, 155 across the board +/- 3psi. What would you do in my shoes guys?

 

[TurboStreetCar]

Just because the oil cap is a little milky doesnt mean it has a blown head gasket. it could just be condensation forming on the cap

Does it smoke? if yes, what color? How much do you have to add every week? are you positive there are no leaks?

 

[buldozr]

Just because the oil cap is a little milky doesnt mean it has a blown head gasket. it could just be condensation forming on the cap

Does it smoke? if yes, what color? How much do you have to add every week? are you positive there are no leaks?

The cap wasnt milky a week ago FOR SURE. NO smoke. Not every week, more like every morning, probably 1/2 a gallon or less, I have checked for leaks, I raced the car up and down the road to get it nice and hot and got a nice fresh piece of cardboard out and not one drop<except for overflow bottle trying to drip>. Although I have the new radiator cap, the overflow bottle keeps bubbling. Im pretty certain its BHG, I just want to know if others got away with just a HG or is a rebuild in order. The reason I ask is that a good friend had a 7mgte with BHG, toyota dealership fixed it and charged him 2300 bucks, 3 months later rodknock... He ran out of money and was forced to sell it. I feel I have caught it quick enough to save the bottom end.

 

[skim1040]

2300 to fix a HG...ouch

To me it sounds like your bottom end is pretty solid.
If your short on cash, then just replace/deck the head now. Then down the road, you can build up the bottom.

 

[bozosoku]

Are you going to do it yourself or by a shop ? Parts for the bottom end, bushings, piston rings, gasket kit etc are not that expensive (less than $200) if no machining is required. If you are doing it yourself you may as well pull the motor and do the bottom end. If you are paying someone, well, just fix what's broken. Mine just had a BHG, lost coolant but no milky oil, no bubble in the radiator, no lost in compression, runs fine, pulled the plug and the top of #3 piston is wet, plug color is greenish-gray......now I am a true supra owner.

 

[7MGTEsup]

Best to pull the whole engine and check it out, pop the caps off the rods and mains and check the bearings. If your loosing water into the cylinders the tops of the piston/s will be clean and shiny. Sounds like you might be lucky and caught it at a very early stage so the amount of work required to fix should be minimal.

 

[buldozr]

thanks guys, sounds like im yanking that bad boy out, does anyone have any qualms with turning the 7m crank??? If the crank isnt gouged, im just going to get some clevites, arp rod bolts and call the bottom end done, i dont even want to do a ring job cause the compression is just too darn good (mentioned before, 155 across the board, I have a funny feeling the previous owner had work done, compression seems too good to be 170k mile motor...). Who knows, if i have the funds, I will just take it somewhere and tell them mhg, heres the arp's, go to town. But thanks for the replys guys(by the way, I totally whooped that '03 Rustang with a bhg, woot!)