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Head gasket

O

Oatmeal

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Cedar City, UT
Okay, this isn't Jeep related. I have all the indications of a blown head gasket in my Toyota's 22RE, this a 68,000 mile $1700 "blueprinted" motor(....yeah), by the way (not installed), it runs real strong but, has developed a rough idle, an appetite for coolant and tested positive for hydrocarbons in the coolant. I can pull the head and do all the work but......I really don't want to (it's my daily driver) so....I found this: http://www.steelseal.com/eng/home.html what do you think? I'm a total skeptic but, after reading through the whole site (especially the testimonials) I'm seriously considering it--------Hans
 
If it isn't installed, I would go ahead and do the gasket. You want to check how flat the head is anyway.

I would think a couple of hours could change the head gasket.
 
I don't trust any of that "magic in a bottle" stuff. Nothing can really take the place of the right parts.....well, not for long anyway. It would be very temporary in my opinion. Good if you were selling it but not if you have to count on it. I'm sure a bunch of us would come lend a hand, or at least stand around and be distracting.haha
 
Concur, just do the head gasket.

If your head gasket is burning through, you're likely to have other problems that the snake oil won't fix, and you'll end up doing the job anyhow.

Just do the head gasket. You'll thank yourself in the long run, believe me. I've made a few bucks fixing after the snake oil treatments.

Besides, if it's designed to coat a place and harden, what's to keep it from doing it anywhere you don't want it to? Seems to me that's likely, and that would seriously degrade the effectiveness of the cooling system...

5-90
 
old_man said:
If it isn't installed, I would go ahead and do the gasket. You want to check how flat the head is anyway.

I would think a couple of hours could change the head gasket.
Click to expand...
What I meant by "not installed" was I paid $1700 to have the motor built only. It's in my truck now and I drive it everyday. I was thinking of using this product to hold me over until I can put another motor together as, I can't afford the down time. I'll have the machine work done but, I think I'll do my own assembly. Seriously, though Toyota motors don't seem to hold up after being rebuilt (many of my Toyota buddies have similar testimonies) but, seem to run forever in their original state.....WTF! And BTW, I've done several Toyota H/Gs and they're a real pain in the ass to do. I always have the head checked out by a reputable machine shop because, if they're warped they'll cause the cam to bind and break the timing chain.....you don't want that to happen!---------Hans
 
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$1700 isn't all that much for a motor. I spent almost that on parts to rebuild mine stock, just buying all quality parts.

The headgasket on a 22RE is pretty easy to do, but you can be pretty sure you will have to resurface the head. Best to just bite the bullet and do it, or find a local head swap shop and pickup a new head built, so you can do the swap in one day.
 
cal said:
$1700 isn't all that much for a motor. I spent almost that on parts to rebuild mine stock, just buying all quality parts.

The headgasket on a 22RE is pretty easy to do, but you can be pretty sure you will have to resurface the head. Best to just bite the bullet and do it, or find a local head swap shop and pickup a new head built, so you can do the swap in one day.
Click to expand...
Well, it's not really hard to do, just time consuming and I'm just so tired of wrenching on crap. One thing I didn't mention is that it also developed piston slap and a thirst for oil, about 1 1/2 qts between oil changes so, I'm looking at new pistons (they've been known to crack the skirts) as well as a head gasket. $1700 isn't pocket change either when you consider you're dealing with only 4 cylinders and a complete engine kit, using all OEM quality parts, is about $300 (retail) so, we're looking at over $1400 dollars to machine and assemble it and you know they didn't pay retail for the parts! All of these problems developed in a span of 68,000 miles and I'm real anal about maitainance so, you can understand my frustration. Hell, I could have swapped in a GM 4.3 if it wasn't my daily driver---------Hans
 
bubbajeeper said:
Check in the Recycler, there are those low mileage Japanese motors for less then $1000. Drop one of those in and be done.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but they're not 22REs I looked into that once, they're a 21RU (or something like that) and are smaller displacement (2.0 or 2.2L IIRC), all my injection stuff will bolt on but, these things are sluggish enough with a 2.4L! Thanks, though--------Hans
 
Get ahold of Rick at Valley Engine and Machine in Fountain Valley.. He has been doing my machine work for 20+ years. He currently has my 4.slo doing machine work on.. I agree the yota's don't seem to hold up from rebuild unless you pony up for factory parts.. If it was me and a daily I would just slip the head gasket and call it good till the pin falls out... but what do I know, Im driving around on 5 and 1/2 cylinders right now... waiting for my new motor to be done...
 
Well, doing nothing won't fix it so, I'm calling in sick....cough, cough.....and getting out the tools. I hate HAVING TO work on stuff------Hans
 
jeeperjohn said:
You can either do it right, or do it again. Pull the head and check it out. It could be cracked.
Click to expand...

Yep. And we all know it's more headache & $$$ to do it again. Might as well just throw your $$$ away if you use that liquid rebuild snake oil, not to mention the mess of cleaning it up.

Rob $.02
 
I had a 85 toyota that had constant headgasket failures, so I ended up swapping in a jap spec, 18RGU, twin cam, twin sidedraft carbs, I robbed it from a celica at the junkyard, and it had a hell of a lot more power than the 22r.

But i'd just yank the head, get it checked, and go from there.
 
Got the head off and to the machine shop (I'll get the news tomorrow). There was water in cylinders 2,3 and 4, it looks as if the gasket breeched at those areas. When I had the motor built I asked for an OEM Toyota head gasket.....it didn't look like it when I tore it down and I even paid extra for it, I'm a little miffed. Damn, every time I have anything done by others, so I won't have to.....I get burned! The old adage "if you want something done right, do it yourself" holds true.........Hans
 
Well, I've been elbow deep into my head gasket replacement. I sent the the head out to be checked out and it received a clean bill of health but, I think I might have found the reasons for the premature gasket failure 1) I asked for an original Toyota head gasket.....it wasn't :mad: 2) the front dowel pin wasn't seated all the way down and might have prevented the head from compressing the gasket fully and that was the cylinder with coolant in it! I swear everytime I have something done by "others" (instead of me doing it myself), I get burned! I'll have it running tomorrow.....I hope!---------Hans
 
silverslk said:
Damn, that sucks. Hope it goes together well.
Click to expand...
Got it all done (what a pain in the ass!) and swapped out the cam for a more computer friendly one at the same time and it runs awsome......better than when I picked the motor up from the machine shop! I'm glad you guys talked me out of the "snake oil" fix--------Hans
 
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