What should I do while the head is off to prevent more problems??

[Figit090]

allright! thanks. and i accidentally probably forgot to ask about cleaning the BLOCK! i think i totally forgot that...i asked about the head which can just be handed over for the hot bath but I need tips on a good tool for cleaning the block if anyone has tips on that.

Supramacist - man that sucks...winter? best of luck, i hope you can get it done sooner!

Here are some pics of the gasket alone...i tried my best to keep it intact but the #6 is obviously very bad. I was told by hobbes that my gasket appears to be a fel-pro and that brand is crap...at least in this type of gasket. i cant speak for their other gaskets but this one didnt make it.


anyway...here we go, dont forget to read the individual comments. By the way, there are LOTS of pics of everything on page 9 for those of you that missed them with the page change.:naughty:

1st cylinder - notice the large amounts of warpage on the exaust side

2nd cylinder - also some warpage but not so bad i guess.

3rd cylinder - minor distorion compareitively...

4th cylinder - I have to say this one is the best...and i think its the only one!

5th cylinder - caught some of the heat from the #6 and well... you see it.

6th cylinder - blown to shit. i stuck the pieces where they were before it desintegrated

6th cylinder showing the broken pieces detatched...

It's suprising how much the front end got after the weight change... its officially got rally car ground clearance in the front if it didn't already :nono: uke:

 

[supramacist]

head bolts not removed yet... i think i said exaust studs. It's a common issue as i understand it, relatively easy fix, just annoying. so to get my exaust to bolt up again i have to fix that.

I am sorry i must have misred, all apologies.

 

[supramacist]

Fig ......, your hg is alot worse shape tham mine, A 3 inch brass wire wheel for you drill and alot of tape. DON"T forget tdc.

 

[Figit090]

Fig ......, your hg is alot worse shape tham mine, A 3 inch brass wire wheel for you drill and alot of tape. DON"T forget tdc.

top dead center? what will that matter when i clean the block? rotate until the pistons i'm cleaning or cleaning around are at tdc, or some other reason? i never thought of that. i guess if i scraped the cylinder i'd be in trouble. Oh, and whats the tape for? taping off the holes so i dont get shavings in the block? thats another thing i was a bit concerned about...getting depris in the collant holes, i think getting it out of the cylinders is easy enough but once its down in the block...yikes.

I agree on the shape this thing is in...its like i was running on one, maybe two good un-BHG cylinders. no wonder i had jerky acceleration sometimes... 4 cylinders were taking a break!!!:3d_frown:

with my loose sparkplug in one cylinder, old sparkplugs in the 4 rear cylinders, and a bad blown headgasket... can i expect significant power gains with a new gasket and fresh plugs?? seems like my compression must have been crap...:aigo:

 

[supramacist]

roll up some of your moms kitchen towels and soak the in gas and let the marinate. then just give the rag a turn everyknow and agin, keep it wet with gas. Your larger prolem is removing BHG residue. Bras 3inch wire brush. masking tape and lots of it. Trim it smooth with a razor blade. a flat scraper one. YOU cover the wholes because you wanr as little debree inside the cylinder walls. It's just going to get processed through the engine and this alone could possibley cause catastrophic failure,

 

[Figit090]

soak the head with gas you mean? ok. it didnt look to bad on visual inspection and i'll get at it more the day after tomorrow. sadly i have lots of work to do tomorrow and then family stuff right after. i'll keep posting though.

to everyone that has helped me thus far, and those who continue, thank you and you have my sincere appriciation (spelling...it's late). I couldnt have gotten here without you all!! i'm hoping to get a video of the first startup if i can get a friend to lend me a camera.

 

[supramacist]

roll the rags asshole tight and make them big enough t just pore gas down the center. This pistons will come a cit cleaner. you could spray some carb cleaner, castrol superclean.

 

[3p141592654]

I recommend using Mopar Combustion Chamber Cleaner from any Dodge / Chrysler dealer. Spray it on an let it sit for a night. That black stuff will just wipe off. Rinse and Repeat. The smell is really bad though (but better than gas)!

 

[Figit090]

Thanks guys. i'll probably end up trying the MCCC idea because my dad might not like the idea of a big towel of gas lying around. even if everything i'm using is flammable. and i also dont want the smell of gass around... when i removed the fuel rail it was bad enough. i had two fans going just to get fresh air in the garage. so anything less smelly is a plus. i'm going near a dodge dealer later today so i might be able to pick some up there. thanks!

 

[Hobbes992]

About the coolant passages possibly having debris in them, maybe if you sealed off the oil galleys and cylinder chambers you could run a hose directly into each coolant passage and flush everything out through the bottom water inlet/outlet. as long as they all run down/up wouldn't that work? then maybe also pour some 50/50 mix through it so that none of the mineral water stays in there longer then it needs to be. I've never done it but it seems like a possible idea.

 

[Hobbes992]

Oh yeah, when you do get this thing put back together, remember remember remember after it's running for 5 -10 minutes shut it down and do an oil change pronto! That should take care of anything that fell into the oil galleys

 

[Figit090]

I need to know which passages are for oil...i wasnt sure and i'm still not. some smaller triangle shaped ones were clogged as i think i posted a picture of... and i have a feeling that was the sometimes-apparent thumping on startup...my oil pump trying to bypass the clogs in the headgasket area... i hope.

I will definatly change the oil that quick and probably several times depending on how dirty the first time is. i'll probably change it once at 5 minutes and then another after another 5 minutes of warmup and then once more if practical after 10-15 minutes of idle. I'll look into heat cycling later on and take that into account as well.

since i'm ordering seals now, it doesnt hurt the new seals i'll be purchasing when the heat cycling is done does it? i figured not, but just incase you HAVE to replace some seals nomatter how long they've been on, i'd get extras.

 

[mickyg]

Figit:

To the best of my knowledge, the oil and water passages are like I've got in the pics (red = oil and blue = water).

Someone PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong! It's possible the small round holes between the cylinders are coolant and not oil...

 

[mickyg]

Sorry, I just checked my engine pieces and the holes between the cylinders are definitely coolant and not oil. I would edit the pic but I'm off to work.

Apologies for any confusion!

 

[Figit090]

no problem. thanks!!

I have been looking around and i was wondering if anyone can tell me who makes the gaskets for toyota...i figured that SOME company has to make gaskets for them and i've seen some auto parts sites sticking the little "OEM" next to this one brand: Ishino

I was wondering if they are any good...they are priced cheap but maybe the quality is low as well. just thought i'd get a bit more info on whats good before i call the auto shops for pricing. that way i can ask better questions. here is a picture of the Full set i'm planning to get.

Here is the set of Ishino gaskets I was looking at

If not those i'll just order toyota's set, but the OEM label next to it and not the fel-pro gaskets made me curious why it has that label and the others don't?:icon_conf

 

[mickyg]

To the best of my knowledge, Ishino are OEM in Europe but not in the states. I'm not sure if that's a bad thing or not though.

Also, I've seen some side by side shots of the Ishino vs OEM (US) gaskets and apparently there's a bit more coating on the gasket (they're a blacker color vs the Ishinos) and potentially a bit beefier around the water jackets. I saw this on a cressida site if memory serves. I'll see if I can dig up the link.

Either way, I wasn't convinced the Ishinos are crap just from the pics. If it were me, I'd wait for a few more replies before I made a firm decision. I hope mine at least helps a small bit!

 

[Figit090]

it does, thanks. i'm going to do some price checking but i was hoping to take the head in for a checkup and needed repairs, but only if i can purchase a head gasket kit because i'll probably get a valve job and the set has seals - it will save me some money and they wont go to waiste.

i hope i can get some seals today w/out waiting for shipping or i'll be waiting longer!:cry: i want her back!

 

[Figit090]

Does anyone know if i'm supposed to purchase the exaust studs on my own if i'm having them redone, or if i can? or should i leave that to the machine shop?? i have to get new ones and heli-coil them. one stripped out so i'm doing them all.

i thought i'd price check those, especially if they are expensive... so i need to know.

I also need help on this stud, it wiggles and i havent' tried to remove it yet but its all coroded and i think i need to replace it? any thoughts? I'm not sure if i should have the machine shop figure it out or buy a new one and have them stick it in. I can go try and remove it in a minute. it's the stud that hold on the water inlet. I dont know if it would need helicoiled or not...my guess is no and i hope its just loose.

 

[mickyg]

Not sure on that one. You can definitely redo all the studs yourself but it might be piece of mind to just have the machine shop do it for you. It'd be a trivial bit of work for them and I'm sure getting the studs would be no big deal either. Depending on how close the machine shop is, it might be a good idea to just bring the whole thing down to them and get an estimate in person. Tell 'em you're happy to do the studs yourself but wanted to see how much extra it'd be, just in case.

By the way, the link I mentioned is here.

 

[Figit090]

ok well i checked that stud and it was loose but i took some vice grips and a towel and tightened it...doesnt seem to wobble so i'll see if the engine/machine shop can check it and let me know later.

i priced some things w/my local toyota dealer and;

head gasket set - 344.15
head gasket alone - 114.56
exaust studs and nuts - 21.84

total for obviously needed parts - 366 dollars...not bad i guess. i can add 60 dollars and get new head bolts but at 425 dollars i'm sticking with the ones i have. i think that any bolt that hefty can hold up to a lot...they have some clogged threads with some relatively hard material but i can clean the threads and they should be fine.

I checked the exaust manifold and it's pretty straight, and the intake is perfect. I checked the head with a straightedge and it looks pretty straight...but it's dirty and i dont know how tight the tolerances are so i dont know for sure what it will need....hopefully a 40 dollar resurfacing and that's it!

I'm going to call and get estimates for the stud/heli install and the head work.

why is it the head should always be resurfaced but the block doesnt? is it because aluminum is soft enough to form imperfections and the cast iron keeps a nice surface?


------EDIT-----

By the way, the link I mentioned is here........

Many many thanks!!!! definatly sold me there. i wasnt sure but i guess you do get what you pay for. toyota all the way! albeit expensive, the insurance against second thoughts afterward about the gasket is worth it! i'll probably buy that whole set.

and i'm going to ask the shop that very question about the helicoiling...much rather have a pro do it and save some enrgy for the triumphant assumbly of the 7m.

Did i mention this is my first car, first major engine work, and first time doing anything more than an oil change? hehe....this is fun stuff.

---EDIT #2------
I found out via a PM from jazzsaxman that the toyota head gasket set only comes with what you need to replace and not all the upper seals...but i'm afraid some seals i might need wont be in it. does anyone have a picture of the actual toyota head gasket set or have a list with the parts in it?