Coolant in Cylinder 1! What are my Options?

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rusty904

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So I got some bad news today. My 22re with 248K on it has coolant in the number 1 cylinder. Could be a warped or damaged head, could just be the gasket but it will cost me at least $300 just to find out and best case scenario is $800-900 if it is a gasket (incl the $300 tear down).

At this point, I'm not sure what I want to do. Even if it is just the headgasket and I get it fixed, I'm still left with a 248k motor that may or may not have had a rebuild 190k. Previous owner said that's what the original owner told him so take that with a grain of salt.

I'm not sure if I should continue on this road and hope for a headgasket fix or if I should just look into a new head from a company like this or even a replacement motor.

I'd like to keep this truck long term and have already taken care of a lot of major issues with it. I've given it a paint job, partially re-done the interior, and fixed a lot of electrical issues. I've got about $5k in it at this point.

I have access to a lift at work and have done a few minor repair jobs on my own but I can only use the lift after business hours and by no means can I leave the truck there overnight. Honestly I'd want someone experienced looking over my shoulder anyway and unfortunately, I have no such friend!

Anyone have any suggestions for what course to take?
 
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I would get it looked at to at least find out if a HG is all it needs and make sure if that's the case to get the head to a cylinder head service shop and they can check and plane it for $80-100. I wouldn't worry too much about the 248k mi, I have had them hit over 300 no problem, and my buddy's shop car 83 celica ran over 500k mi on original eng and trans with no rebuild. 22re is a tough little motor when taken care of. If you like it and want to keep it then get her fixed. I have luck in that dept since I have a friend that's a toyota ase master tech who helps with most of the big stuff
 
Pull the head, get it checked out at a machine shop for cracks, bad valves, etc. (check the block mating surface too). If it's good, slap a new gasket on there and drive away. If the head is bad, you could get it reconditioned but I'd take the opportunity to upgrade to the engnbldr street RV head with a 261 cam. If the block is bad that's another story, you need to pull it and strip it down to have the machinist repair it and then you have to deal with an off-size head gasket, might be worth a new short block at that point.

What sort of compression do you have on the other cylinders? If they're marginal, it's probably rebuild time anyway.
 
I'd like to keep this truck long term

I'd go with a fully rebuilt engine, probably with a cam. The 22RE is very easy to swap out.
 
3RZ or 5VZ swap. Unless it is a turbo, I would not be dumping much more into one of those gutless wonders.
 
Does his pricing for a head gasket sound reasonable? Never priced one out before.

He also told me labor to swap an engine would be about $1,000-$1200.
 
Also, what's a good source for a rebuilt engine? Seen quite a few online. Lots on ebay and 22reperformance.com. VERY different in price but I'm not sure who's reputable.
 
It sounds high, but I dunno what The Book says about hours for a head gasket on a 22RE. In my head I think I could have the head off, gasket replaced, and head reinstalled in about six hours, but I'm not a mechanic. Is that $900 just his labor?

Putneys/22REperformance has a great rep. I've heard good things about Yotashop, APR Auto, Sunwest, and Oregon Engine Rebuilders.

Stay away from Raptor or CHS Machine or anybody else in the Portland area unless you do your research - that guy likes to rip off customers until his rep gets too bad, and then he changes his business name and starts over.
 
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I just did the head gasket on mine, similar situation to you with previous owner claiming on overhaul about 50,000 miles ago.

I'd suggest opening it up and checking it. We discovered the bottom end looked good and the head wasn't warped so we just put it back together. On disassembly, one of the head bolts was not torqued correctly, that may have been the cause of the head gasket failing. The loose bolt was between the two cylinders that had coolant in them.

It's very labor intensive, I'm not surprised at the $900-1000 quote. I did it myself with the help of a friend and it took us 2 days of all day working to complete it. Since it was apart we also replaced the hoses, belts, water pump and thermostat. I think I spend about $300 on parts, but it takes a lot of time to pull the head and reassemble.
 
KidVermicious said:
It sounds high, but I dunno what The Book says about hours for a head gasket on a 22RE. In my head I think I could have the head off, gasket replaced, and head reinstalled in about six hours, but I'm not a mechanic. Is that $900 just his labor?

Putneys/22REperformance has a great rep. I've heard good things about Yotashop, APR Auto, Sunwest, and Oregon Engine Rebuilders.

Stay away from Raptor or CHS Machine or anybody else in the Portland area unless you do your research - that guy likes to rip off customers until his rep gets too bad, and then he changes his business name and starts over.
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I'm pretty sure the $8-900 was all in on the headgasket. Oregon Engine rebuilders seem to be best from a price standpoint on ebay but I've read a couple threads yotatech and such that say they are kinda shady. Granted the threads are 7-8yrs old but still. They seem to offer really competitive pricing. 22repreformance looks sweet but the engine+swap from them would probably end up being more than I have in the truck.
 
rusty904 said:
I'm pretty sure the $8-900 was all in on the headgasket. Oregon Engine rebuilders seem to be best from a price standpoint on ebay but I've read a couple threads yotatech and such that say they are kinda shady. Granted the threads are 7-8yrs old but still. They seem to offer really competitive pricing. 22repreformance looks sweet but the engine+swap from them would probably end up being more than I have in the truck.
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If you want another 250,000 miles it might be worth the investment? Buy once cry once.

What I hear about ORE is the owner was out with medical issues for a while and their quality dropped. He's been back for a bit and the complaints appear to have stopped? I dunno. If I wasn't going to do the rebuild myself I'd want to get the motor from somewhere stellar or have somebody local do the work, because warranteeing a mail-order long block that you've already installed has got to be a PITA. And if you're planning on having a mechanic do the install, you'd probably do best to let him order the motor or that's a whole extra layer of hassle if something goes wrong.
 
Yeah good points. My ideal scenario would be to do the install alongside someone. I've got some mechanical savvy but not enough to attempt a full swap on my lonesome.

I'll give oregon engine rebuilders a call and see what kind of vibe I get from them. Price is right for sure but dunno the quality of the parts they use.
 
Most importantly, whether intend keeping the vehicle for the long term. Do not have a clue on what it would cost to have a shop rebuild the top end, imagine it would come to at least $1000? Having said that, with 248K I would probly put the money into an engine rebuild, or purchase a long block replacement. Finding a reputable shop can be difficult; i.e., how long the shop has been in business, customer reviews, or complaints, etc.; most importantly, length of warranty and any disclaimers, especially if decide on a 'do it yourselfer'.

Few years back cracked cylinder wall and needed a quick fix, had to get the truck on the road and found a reputable shop who could rebuild in 2-3 weeks but only offered a 1 year warranty. Checked with ebay and found a seller, located in the state of Washington, who offered a 7 year warranty on a rebuilt long block, since I decided on doing it myself, had it delivered to my home, which arrived in approx. 1 week, engine and shipping came to approx. $1800, this was 8 years ago.
 
So I found an engine shop about 20minutes away from me that will swap in a rebuilt 22re or rebuild my 22re for $1825. They will even put in a new clutch for no charge if I supply it. Seems like a solid deal. They are endorsed by a few people I trust and have been around for quite a while.

They sell rebuilt motors on their own for $1195. I'd like to install myself with a mechanic friend of mine just for the learning experience but there's not much of an economic reason to do so as he'd charge me just about the same for labor.

Glad I held off on the headgasket, this makes a lot more sense. Any performance upgrades/maintenance items I should consider while I have the engine out of my vehicle? Clutch seems ok at the moment but I'm going to go ahead and replace it now. No idea when it was replaced last.
 
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Sounds like a plan!! Imagine it goes without saying, just in case new belts and rad. hoses are NOT included then suggest replace.
 
I actually just found a better deal. Fully rebuilt motor for $900 including a brand new head. Here's what they list as part of it.

"They come with NEW head casting, new sivolite pistons, hastings/mahle rings, clevite p grade bearings, SA Gear HD timing, melling oil pumps, and a complete victor reinz gasket set. All machine work done in house, which includes boring and honing the the block. We have a new SV-10 sunnen hone, a new rottler F9A boring machine to give you the best block finish possible. All other machine work is done and engine will be assembled and SIM tested before it goes to you. If you have any questions please give us a call. Thanks for looking"

I talked to the guy over the phone and got a pretty good impression that he knew what he was talking about and their reputation checks out online. Honestly I have not looked into the parts he listed but a new head is something the other companies were not doing.

It also comes with a 2year warranty which is nice.

I think I'm going to go that route and pay my mechanic friend to do the install with me. Hopefully I can save a little money and learn something in the process. My radiator was replaced about 11k miles ago as was my water pump so I may just examine those and leave them alone if they look good.
 
Suggest confirm the 2 year warranty does not have any disclaimers for a 'self install'. Not familiar with the components mentioned, perhaps more knowledgeable member can provide advice. I went with a long block so the installation was not that involved. I would not want to go beyond building up from a long block unless I had an experienced and knowledgeable friend I could rely on. $900 Hmmm??
 
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