Ive always wanted a toyota but was always stuck with my beater. I recently found a 1990 toyota cressida with a bad head gasket for $300. Rusty with a cracked windshield, and flat tire. After doin a bit of research on the engine from what ive heard they are very tough and will last a long time after new gaskets and higher torque specs.
With about a year of mechanical expirience under my belt i took apart the motor, ended up finding a horribly burnt head gasket, my head looked really good, no cracks at all, and my cylinders and and block looked great, no scratches at all. It has 183,000 miles on it and i assume a girl owned it before me. The interior looks brand new, but the water pump was broke when i ended up takin it apart, there was a steady drip in the engine, and when i took out the radiator there was nothing but liquid brown sludge rust inside, and i bet somone was not paying attention to the oil temp and burn the crap out of the gasket. The car was also sitting for 2 years before i bought it
I was always told toyotas were tough, and when i bought this one it proved them right. After puttin in the new gasket i started it up but it didnt seem to want to hold rpm's. i figured out the problem which was that my catalytic converter was plugged. when i took off the exhaust it wasnt very loud at all, after i drove the car about 100 miles and stopped, it was about 4 times as loud and it sounds like a beast. I put the exhaust back on and everything in the car works fine. I only have one problem after the rebuild, and that is i think my cam timing is off, i bought a timing light and got my distributor right. The the car has no power at all except when on the highway goin about 70 mph, the car also doesnt idle right when and low rpms, and i cant rev my engine above 4k and if i let go of the gas pedal it will die. i think my cam might of skipped a tooth. and im not quite sure how to check cam timing. And i assume i may need a new timing belt. Sorry for the long post im new to forums, and i appreciate all the info this website has offered and any input on how to time my camshafts with the distributor would be great. Thanks!!!
With about a year of mechanical expirience under my belt i took apart the motor, ended up finding a horribly burnt head gasket, my head looked really good, no cracks at all, and my cylinders and and block looked great, no scratches at all. It has 183,000 miles on it and i assume a girl owned it before me. The interior looks brand new, but the water pump was broke when i ended up takin it apart, there was a steady drip in the engine, and when i took out the radiator there was nothing but liquid brown sludge rust inside, and i bet somone was not paying attention to the oil temp and burn the crap out of the gasket. The car was also sitting for 2 years before i bought it
I was always told toyotas were tough, and when i bought this one it proved them right. After puttin in the new gasket i started it up but it didnt seem to want to hold rpm's. i figured out the problem which was that my catalytic converter was plugged. when i took off the exhaust it wasnt very loud at all, after i drove the car about 100 miles and stopped, it was about 4 times as loud and it sounds like a beast. I put the exhaust back on and everything in the car works fine. I only have one problem after the rebuild, and that is i think my cam timing is off, i bought a timing light and got my distributor right. The the car has no power at all except when on the highway goin about 70 mph, the car also doesnt idle right when and low rpms, and i cant rev my engine above 4k and if i let go of the gas pedal it will die. i think my cam might of skipped a tooth. and im not quite sure how to check cam timing. And i assume i may need a new timing belt. Sorry for the long post im new to forums, and i appreciate all the info this website has offered and any input on how to time my camshafts with the distributor would be great. Thanks!!!
Its not that hard to do just no fun either 
