Blown head-gasket, help needed

[scrapper]

02 w/ 290k mi. Overheated on Hwy, I pulled over and after letting it cool off it didn’t start. Engine turned but nothing more. Had it towed to a shop I trust and they tell me the head-gasket is blown and heads could be warped. The estimate is $2500. I’d appreciate your input. I’m looking at a major decision here and I would really appreciate your help.
Thank you

 

[Coward]

02 w/ 290k mi. Overheated on Hwy, I pulled over and after letting it cool off it didn’t start. Engine turned but nothing more. Had it towed to a shop I trust and they tell me the head-gasket is blown and heads could be warped. The estimate is $2500. I’d appreciate your input. I’m looking at a major decision here and I would really appreciate your help.
Thank you

If you like your truck and it was running fine before, I say rebuild it. Why give up on it for $2500. And/or why buy a used motor when you already have one. Just my two cents. I rebuilt my heads a few years ago. Around $1,000 for parts and the machine work was $550 I think? I did all the other work myself. I was at 370,000 miles at the time. I have put 50,000 miles on it with no issues.

 

[plcfcng]

do a compression test wet and dry the results will give you an idea of the condition of the engine. How bad you let it get can give you an idea if the block is worth saving.:yo:

 

[Joelzy]

If you like your truck and it was running fine before, I say rebuild it. Why give up on it for $2500. And/or why buy a used motor when you already have one. Just my two cents.

^ I agree, a lot will say to replace the motor with a lowish mileage motor but i'd rebuild.
When i got my 4runner it had a "60k mile" JDM motor in it with a halfdone swap and i quickly realized that they never finished the swap because they took off a valve cover and the head was solid sludge. Ended up getting the factory motor and rebuilding it. :nod:

 

[scrapper]

Thanks guys. I appreciate your replies.

I'm going to get it done.

 

[spartacus]

Thanks guys. I appreciate your replies.

I'm going to get it done.

Did the shop do a compression test? If not before you drop $ 2500 do a compression test like [MENTION=163346]plcfcng[/MENTION] suggested. Some times the shops see the milage and assume.

 

[plcfcng]

A badly overheated engine can cause a loss of piston ring tension. What you don't want to have is them just replace the head gaskets to find out the compression is low and the engine doesn't run well after wards. I have done head gaskets on 3 of these engines one I had to re-ring the pistons. If this is where the engine is your better off with a used engine for the cost.
:snacker:

 

[gamefreakgc]

A badly overheated engine can cause a loss of piston ring tension. What you don't want to have is them just replace the head gaskets to find out the compression is low and the engine doesn't run well after wards. I have done head gaskets on 3 of these engines one I had to re-ring the pistons. If this is where the engine is your better off with a used engine for the cost.
:snacker:

This is good advice. Can't assume that just replacing the gaskets will get your your old engine back. I'm also in the rebuild/replace camp, how much longer until your almost 300K engine has something else go wrong? I bought a blown 5VZ with a tick over 300K miles and it had cracked a piston out of the blue. No warning signs at all.

A rebuild or replace does take a lot of time and effort (or in your case more money) but will give you a better running and longer lasting vehicle in return.

 

[thennen]

I'm no engine-rebuild guy, but are you pretty sure you didn't severely overheat the engine? Did you pull over and stop immediately upon seeing the overheat indication? If so, maybe your engine is still solid. Engine guys, thoughts here? Does an initial overheat point to likely damage? If the driver shuts off right away, is he likely ok on the big parts?

 

[gamefreakgc]

I'm no engine-rebuild guy, but are you pretty sure you didn't severely overheat the engine? Did you pull over and stop immediately upon seeing the overheat indication? If so, maybe your engine is still solid. Engine guys, thoughts here? Does an initial overheat point to likely damage? If the driver shuts off right away, is he likely ok on the big parts?

Hard to say without seeing the engine. If it did blow it'll be obvious, smoke out the exhaust, coolant on the plugs, or coolant in the oil/oil in coolant. Compression test might also read low pressure in 1-2 cylinders.

 

[scrapper]

I did pull over immediately upon seeing it. No smoke from the exhaust. My mechanic did a compression test, wet and dry and assured me he felt confident in going this route.

Thanks for all of your replies. I've been using the information from here
and it's greatly appreciated.

 

[Formidable]

Grab a bottle of blue devil head gasket sealer. Give that a go first. Worked on my 99 4runner. That thing was spewing white smoke. Ran a bottle of blue devil and problem solved. $20 ended up saving me a major repair bill. Interesting stuff. Polymerizes at the site of maximum temperature discrepancy to produce a seal. Essentially repairs the hole or tear in your head gasket.

 

[Thebeastlives]

Grab a bottle of blue devil head gasket sealer. Give that a go first. Worked on my 99 4runner. That thing was spewing white smoke. Ran a bottle of blue devil and problem solved. $20 ended up saving me a major repair bill. Interesting stuff. Polymerizes at the site of maximum temperature discrepancy to produce a seal. Essentially repairs the hole or tear in your head gasket.

The problem is that sealant never last. It will eventually need to have the gasket replaced and it can fail at any time. I fixed my head gasket issue recently and yes with a vehicle 20 years old something new could go around the corner. You could have the transmission go next. Damn you could rebuild the motor and it could throw a rod. These vehicles are reliable but being so old they do break

 

[Formidable]

No problems another 30k miles before it sold. In my case blue devil did it’s job. And for a whopping $20.

I’m not sure what the OP’s financial situation is. But what I have suggested here is a potentially cheap solution to a major problem, (albeit maybe temporary for some looking to get 100k out of it). If anything it may buy some time to recover from this Covid situation and allow for a more extensive repair at a later time when cash flow allows.

The problem is that sealant never last. It will eventually need to have the gasket replaced and it can fail at any time. I fixed my head gasket issue recently and yes with a vehicle 20 years old something it might go just around the corner. You could have the transmission go next. Damn you could rebuild the motor and it could throw a rod. These vehicles are reliable but being so old they do break

 

[Takeo77]

Same thing

Had the same thing happen. Both heads were cracked. I opted for an engine transplant.

 

[scrapper]

No problems another 30k miles before it sold. In my case blue devil did it’s job. And for a whopping $20.

I’m not sure what the OP’s financial situation is. But what I have suggested here is a potentially cheap solution to a major problem, (albeit maybe temporary for some looking to get 100k out of it). If anything it may buy some time to recover from this Covid situation and allow for a more extensive repair at a later time when cash flow allows.

I will remember this and I thank you for the reply. I didn’t know about that product. It is definitely a good idea to have cheap, alternative solutions to just buy a little more time in times like these.
Thank you

 

[plcfcng]

spend the extra money to have the valves cut it's worth the money:artist2:

 

[19963.4lsr5]

When the head gasket went on the 258,000 engine in the 97 I bought I had by friend rebuild it.

The heads needed decked a few thou to make them flat, and there was no ridge in the cylinders.

It was new rings and bearings , cylinder honing and major decarboning. The amount of coked oil i got out of the oil cooler was impressive. I forget exactly but bottom end cost me around 1500-1800. The heads were around 600.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[3bears]

I would think...if the rest of the 4runner is super good..Id rebuild the engine. Well maybe...if I could find a super good used one with guaranteed no issues...and I had the shop space and tools to swap..id go that route and then keep my old one and tear it down in spare time and see what its like and then proceed on a rebuild and swap back and know it might be good for another 200k unless you throw in cheap parts and take short cuts. then sell off the "replacement"
I have only been deep into one of these motors and was impressed. it too was an overheated motor...the heads were the main issue

 

[plcfcng]

If the compression test wet and dry turn out ok then pull the heads. When you look into the cylinder bore and there are no streaks down the cylinder walls then just replace the head gaskets. If there are streaks down the walls try to scratch them with your finger nail if you can catch them with your finger nails then you can try to hone them if they are to deep then replace the engine.

Doing rings is the tipping point where you should really consider doing a engine swap. I did it on one of my engines it had to bad pistons but I had access to a old block that I robbed the pistons out of. One step at a time do the compression tests and let us know what the readings are.:caked: