engine coolant leak help

[tootsie]

I thought i had a head gasket leak or a cracked head on a 1997 4runner so proceeded to tear into the engine. Upon getting the heads off, I did find a crack in the 3rd cylinder between the valves but not sure if that wouldve caused coolant to leak. The pistons also looked mostly normal -- maybe a tiny bit cleaner. The head gasket also seemed okay besides a little rusty area.

I did notice coolant sort of pooling around the engine coolant bypass pipe in the valley. Would this have caused coolant leak -- main symptoms were white smoke blowing out of tailpipe?

Just unsure how to proceed with this repair -- maybe getting a new head and gasket and replacing that pipe or redoing the gasket beneath the pipe? or new engine?

 

[Malcolm99]

how much coolant where you loosing, did you look in the cylinder for coolant or evidence of steam cleaned cylinder before removal of both heads?, compression or leak down test?, did the exhaust gases smell sweet like rad fluid, white smoke could also be cooler weather, was it hydro locking while sitting?. The coolant bypass pipe is defiantly leaking externally, I think it is a o-ring sealing it to the block. I would have identified the location of the leak before disassembly as it may not be a head gasket, or only one head gasket typically, was it overheated at any point.