I helped replace the head gasket on my brothers supra and while doing it i noticed the block had some pitting around the number 5 cylinder. I tried convincing him to wait until I found some info out but he wouldn't. Has anyone ever seen the block actually pitted from a blown head gasket? Also he drove the car to work the other day and parked it that night and a bunch of the coolant leaked out of the overflow tube any ideas if hes still having head gasket problems or if he just has a bunch of air in the system?
noticed block pitted while doing head gasket change?
- Thread starter suprafan1993
- Start date
No it was just outside of the cylinder between the coolant ports and the cylinder wall. I just did a search and found that it does happen. I know you should get the block resurfaced as well as the head and that's why I tried convincing him to wait but hes a budget guy because of his wife.
I guess now the question is if the gasket is going to hold and how long he used a fel pro head gasket kit. I'm pretty sure they say if you are not going to do any machining that this is the way to go is this correct.
The Felpro may seal, you'll have to keep an eye on it for a while.
Did you torque the head bolts to 72 foot pounds, or did you use the (wrong) rating of 58 that's in the manual?
Did you torque the head bolts to 72 foot pounds, or did you use the (wrong) rating of 58 that's in the manual?
No we torqued the head to 72 lbs like recommended. Is the coolant flowing out of the overfill tube something to worry about or might it just be that there is still air in the lines.
Also my brother said the car is making bubbling sounds again like it did before the head gasket went. Is that a common sign or should we just keep and eye on the oil and the coolant to make sure neither is in the other?
You definitely have air in the system, probably due to insufficient burping after filling the cooling system, and this could lead to your coolant coming out, and definitely causes the waterfall sound in the dash. Park the car on a steep hill, or jack up the front of the car until the radiator top is higher than the top of the firewall. Run the car with the heat on it's highest temp, for a good forty five minutes or so, and this will force the trapped air out of the heatercore, and burp the system. Most people say to take the radiator cap off when doing this, but I usually just overfill the reservoir and leave the cap on. Air will make it's way to the top of the radiator, and when the engine cools, the system will replace the missing coolant with the excess from the reservoir. When it's stone cold, top of your radiator if needed, and you should be all set.
my guess is the block deck is warped and he blew the hg again. it shouldnt take 45 min to get air out of the system. the rad cap is supposed to be the highest point in the system.
One very quick way to check for a bhg is just remove the rad cap and start the car. If coolant starts being pushed out of the rad you have a bhg. Be weary, if its a large leak in hg coolant will literally shoot out.
hvyman;1336530 said:
45 minutes is being extra safe, and if you do it with the cap on, like I do, it could potentially take a little longer. That's why I said 45 minutes. Also, if you put the top of the radiator higher than the top of the firewall, then by default, the cap will be the highest point in the system.
It's worth trying to burp the car, but I did exactly the same thing once with exactly the same result. It was another BHG. It doesn't pay to be cheap with these motors.
My block was pitted when I changed by HG as well. I was planning to just do the gasket, but decided to pull the motor when I saw that I had pitting around my water passages, and between my water passages and cylinders 5&6. The comment from the machinist was "Those damn 22R's like to do the same thing... Must be how Toyota makes 'em. Hmph." (By the way - If you don't have a machinist who is an old guy that makes bitter comments under his breath, he might be just as good... But it's not nearly as entertaining. It's just not the right "atmosphere" without those comments, you know?)
Sorry I don't have pictures, but my block needed to have .007" taken off to get all of the pitting out. I don't know if it would or wouldn't have leaked, but I wasn't willing to take the chance. Do it once, the right way, or do it again, right?
Sorry I don't have pictures, but my block needed to have .007" taken off to get all of the pitting out. I don't know if it would or wouldn't have leaked, but I wasn't willing to take the chance. Do it once, the right way, or do it again, right?
Update: I gave my brother a couple of the tips you guys suggested and he tried taking the cap off the radiator and letting it run and it did start to over flow. But he says he hasn't noticed any of the other signs no white smoke no sweet smelling exhaust no oil in the coolant no coolant on the oil cap. Is there any chance that it still might not be the headgasket or is it a for sure thing? UPDATE UPDATE!: I just received a phone call from him again and he said that after about 5 minutes the coolant stopped spilling over. Is this a good sign or is there just not enough coolant to spill over now he said he is still able to see the coolant in the radiator.
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suprafan1993;1337541 said:
I have ran into this before with blow head gaskets. there was no coolant in the oil or oil in coolant but the headgasket WAS blown.
There was a small break inbetween the C chamber and the water jacket. When the car was running the compression in cylinder #3 was pushed into the water jacket, inturn pressureizing the coolant system more then it should be. (when you removed rad cap coolant was pushed out of the rad by cylinder compression)
Regarding the circumstances on your bro's car im sure its a bhg. either find a good motor or rebuild the current one w/out cutting corners.
alright well then its probably going to be for sale 
wish i had the money its clean. Thanks guys for everything.
wish i had the money its clean. Thanks guys for everything.
gtsfirefighter
SM Expert on White trash
ChrisC;1336534 said:
Sorry, but that's not really good advice. As the coolant temperature rises it is going to push coolant out until the thermostat opens anyway, bhg or not.
Leakdown, compression test. Check for exhaust gases in the coolant. Napa sells a kit that will detect it. Also check under the oil cap for milkiness.
When my hg went, it went slowly over time. It would slowly push all the coolant out through the overflow bottle. My block has significant pitting between cylinders 1-2 and 5-6. Pics of it are in my 91 Jay Blue thread. I had the head resurfaced, installed a new Toyota HG, ARP bolts to 82 ft/lbs (misread torque wrench) and it's been good for the last 10k miles. The only thing I did with the block was clean as good as I possibly could. To be honest, I got lucky.
gtsfirefighter;1337558 said:
Yes it is actually good advice, if coolant is being instantly pumped out when the engine is first started cold its a BHG. The coolant isnt even going to heat up at all in 10 seconds of running time and neither will the thermostat open.
It is VERY obvious to be a BHG when coolant its literally pumping its self out of the rad at a progressive rate.