Blown head gasket have a few questions

[bubb rubb]

Well i think i will start it all off by saying i have been referencing this website for info and purchasing a part here and there for a while now. Now i am completely lost, i will start by saying my experience is limited and my mechanic will be doing most of the work.

first i bought my 89 supra t 5speed about a year ago lasted to 175000 miles and had every problem under the sun and it ended with rod knock. no suprise

so my dad agreed we'd keep the car and buy a jdm motor for it, so we paid 1,500$ for the motor and a turbo with supposedly 40,000 miles from new york some website. I read alot of posts saying if you buy a jdm motor to just rebuild it and get it overwith, i told my dad that and he said nah this one will be fine. :3d_frown:

Well now not a month later engine installed, ran great, until it started leaking coolant. I noticed one day my temp was on h so i stopped right there and let it cool off, my radiator was empty. I filled it and drove it to my house. Long story short it ended up at the shop where we found a hole in my radiator so we replaced it.

We started it up, and low and behold bluish smoke is flying out of the exaust pipe. Great. we check the spark plugs and number six has fuel in it. obviously my HG is at least leaking/blown and/or my rings are done.

So now heres my question.

With a completely stock motor ( i do want to boost it in the future anyway) where do i go from here? my mechanic can do just about anything he wants to know what the best way to go about this is, so he doesnt have to keep fixing it.

I have heard the general consensus to get a MHG and machine the head. Arps and whatnot but i need to know what would be the best way to keep it running and get stuff out of the way if i want to run 12lbs on this motor in the future.

Any help would be greatly appreciated sorry for the long read, but i do need some guidence here. Any existing writeups would also be great. I spent a long time looking and nothing really matched my needs. If this is repetative i am sorry.
thanks
ryan

 

[eman2289]

I was a little confused on what you were asking, but I think i got it. You want to know the most reliable way to fix the bhg. Well the answer would be to get the head and block cleaned and machined. Then get an HKS stopper MHG. With arp head studs.

What i didnt understand was this part: "and get stuff out of the way". Get what out of the way?

 

[gsmokez]

maybe hes talking about parts to replace to avoid problems like the ones his previous engine had( rod knock, leaks shit like that) I don't know just my guess.

 

[bubb rubb]

Oh well yes the best way to fix the Bhg

as far as getting stuff out of the way, like while i am in the motor what should i do in reguards to raising boost if anything? while we have the engine apart. injectors valves? hell fuel pump? idk you tell me hahah thats the less important of the two questions obviously :icon_surp

 

[suprafanatic]

i think he means get other problems out of the way while they have it torn down

 

[eman2289]

Oh, okay. Well it all depends on how much boost you want to run.
What turbo?
Do you want cams? If so, which ones? 264s?
If you are staying with the ct26 for now, will you want to upgrade later?
What is your budget?

Edit:
After reading suprafanatics post, it came to mind. You should pick up a complete engine gasket kit from the dealership. You might as well change everything that you can. But then again, this all depends on your budget.

 

[suprafanatic]

replace cracked and worn hoses, a good one to check is the coolant line that goes to the back of the motor,, its easier to do when the head is off.. so if it needs replaced do that. i would also check the intake manifold gaskets, and exhaust manifold gasket. those tend to go out and you'll have a boost leak then. mine did anyway. for running 12psi there really isn't alot you need to do, i would get a wideband and safc so you can tune and keep an eye on the car to make sure its running how it should be.

 

[suprafanatic]

but ya as eman said, if your planning on upgrading anything nows the time to do it, that is if you have the money to do it now.

 

[Poodles]

woo woo

 

[suprafanatic]

lol, you deffinitly need to do that mod for sure..

 

[bubb rubb]

woo woo

i was waiting for that :biglaugh: And off topic for just a sec bubb rubb drives a supra mk3! watch the video on youtube

Anyway back to the matter. Thank you for the help so far i just talked to my mechanic and he thinks that there was/is a prexisting problem with the motor like too much compression or something that made my radiator leak. if that is the case then what should we do to check or fix this problem? (Maybe tell the people who sold me the motor to F*ck themselves?)

I would like to just buy a boost controller so i can run 5 city and 12 for fun every now and then, and my budget right now is low but then again i might just do a quick fix and sell the car if i cant get the damn thing to run for me. First and foremost i would appreciate peoples opinion on what to do with the HG situation

 

[suprafanatic]

the BHG is what caused the radiator to leak. get the HG fixed and you'll be good

 

[suprafanatic]

then again it could be a bad turbo.. my turbo just went bad and i had most of the BHG signs. but its just the turbo. i have great compression and everything.

 

[bubb rubb]

thats what my mechanic said also. he said that about my old turbo and the new one was possible. but it seemed to be working fine.

 

[suprafanatic]

ya, i had a ct 60-1.. seemed fine to me to.. i had no idea it was bad untill my mechanic checked the car over.. i wouldnt rule it out till you check it.. i would have the mechanic do a compression test real quick

 

[bubb rubb]

I was a little confused on what you were asking, but I think i got it. You want to know the most reliable way to fix the bhg. Well the answer would be to get the head and block cleaned and machined. Then get an HKS stopper MHG. With arp head studs.

Can someone give me a ball park on how much that might cost?^^^^

 

[eman2289]

7MGTE Head Gasket Replacement Kit (Toyota) $320.00
ARP Head Studs 5M 6M 7M $121.00
HKS Metal Head Gasket 2MM Stopper $375.00
Machining the head and block (not sure but prob around$200.00)

Prices from 935 motorsports.

And then labor if you aren't doing it yourself. Which you should, thats how you learn. I did mine in 3 nights with a few friends just for a little more knowlege. Its not hard at all just a bit time consuming.

 

[Who]

My first suggestion would be to dump "The Mechanic" You made no mention of any diagnostic test that the mechanic might have done. Did "The Mechanic" do any of the basic, BHG, overheating, pressure test, compression, oil, pull codes testing on the engine.? "The mechanic wants you to tell him "whats the best way to go about it so he doesn't have to keep fixing it". What the F__k! Would you go the the doctor and have him ask you how to fix your ailment?
Boost Controllers, 12lbs, ARP's, MHG, , bad turbos, Blah, blah, blah. You seem to be all over the board. No disrespect but you need to start from the beginning.

It sounds to me like the same old JDM engine story. A beat to hell, no history available engine, and no warranty. If your supra isn't a daily driver take your time and reason it out.

Haste makes waste. Trust me the info is here.

 

[bubb rubb]

My first suggestion would be to dump "The Mechanic" You made no mention of any diagnostic test that the mechanic might have done. Did "The Mechanic" do any of the basic, BHG, overheating, pressure test, compression, oil, pull codes testing on the engine.? "The mechanic wants you to tell him "whats the best way to go about it so he doesn't have to keep fixing it". What the F__k! Would you go the the doctor and have him ask you how to fix your ailment?
Boost Controllers, 12lbs, ARP's, MHG, , bad turbos, Blah, blah, blah. You seem to be all over the board. No disrespect but you need to start from the beginning.

It sounds to me like the same old JDM engine story. A beat to hell, no history available engine, and no warranty. If your supra isn't a daily driver take your time and reason it out.

Haste makes waste. Trust me the info is here.

well as much as i hate to say it dumping the mechanic has been on the table but the only reason why we dont is he owes my dad a shitload of cash because of all the legal work he has done so we get paid back this way. he is a great mechanic but he isnt familiar with the supras because there arent hardly any in wichita plus he is a honda sepcialist. he didnt do any diagnostics cause he is lazy i know i know ive delt with this crap for the longest time. All i was asking was for some advice on the best way to do it the guy can take that entire engine apart and put it back together if he wants but remember hes not getting paid cash haha. so that is why and thanks to the others for the advice if there is anything else that i should know let me know

 

[jgcable]

Regarding your "budget", you keep referring to "your mechanic". If you have your own mechanic it shouldn't matter what it costs. You shouldn't even have to tell him what to do.
If you want an estimate.. here it is..
BHG repair with no head work (not even a resurface)... just gaskets, oil and coolant should run you around $1700.00
If you need head work and resurface add an additional $1500.00 for the mechanic to strip the head, send it out for resurfacing and reassembling it.
If you need the block surfaced it will have to be removed.
My best guess is the entire job will run you around $4000.00 if you don't have to remove the block. Doing a head gasket on your car is around 17 hours labor. Multiply that by how much your mechanic gets per hour and thats your labor cost alone. In Connecticut that translates to around $1000.00 labor only. Parts will run you an additional $750.00 if you do it the right way.