Felpro Head Gasket Blown after 20,000 miles???

[pizzabob]

Hey, folks, on my '96 3.4L 5VZFE I've got coolant pooling up in cyl 4. It leaks in there continuously and if I don't start my 4Runner up every day it gets enough in there to lock the engine. If I pull the plug and rotate the crank coolant flies out of the hole!

I just replaced both head gaskets two years ago at a little over 400K miles due to a valve job needed as a result of a chip burning off an exhaust valve. I bought a set of Felpro gaskets and installed with new T2Y bolts, following all service manual instructions pertaining to torque, tightening order, etc., to the letter.

Anyone else have similar experiences with Felpro? Should I have gone with the dealer on this? One new right-side head gasket at Toyota runs $79, and I'm probably going to face the music and pay it. I don't want to pull these heads every two years.

One other thing -- I'm the original owner and the engine has never overheated. When I pulled the heads two years ago they were flat as could be.

All thoughts appreciated!

 

[LittleCaesar]

Offhand, no. But I have always been in the corner to use OEM baskets on Asian autos except when they aren’t made (like the gasket FP makes for the A340 trans).

Pull the heads and have them checked. I am guessing you may have missed something. Otherwise it sounds as if you did everything to the “T”.

 

[3bears]

what cylinder had the bad valve ? you say the heads were flat...according to a machine shop or whom. Did machine shop flow test....pressure test ? Just asking

 

[MaineRunna]

Over the years I have replaced hundreds of head gaskets and used mostly Felpro gasket sets with no problems. One thing I always do no matter what is have the heads crack checked and resurfaced. I got burned once about 20 years ago by not planing a Camry 2.2L head because it only had a small external leak. Had to do the whole job over. It sounds like you did everything right, but I doubt the Felpro gasket is the cause of the failure.

 

[Thebeastlives]

These motors can go 300k plus miles without a head gasket issue. I would replace everything with oem and while it is apart have the heads checked and machined if necessary.

 

[19963.4lsr5]

Did you chase the head bolt threads in the block with a tap before you installed the new head gaskets?

I used YotaShop for their head gasket kit. It included all seals and head bolts required to replace heads. Was worth the money.

If you didn’t pull a nut doing the final torque to yield sequence your threads in the block were not cleaned and lubed properly.


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[Dieselchessy]

Used Felpro gaskets many times. Back in the day I'd buy them specifically.

The heads on these things can crack between the valves, rust pitting of the sealing surface, surface texture, having the surface true on the block and head, proper torque sequence, retorque if specified, ect…….

There are many variables that can cause a premature head gasket failure that are unrelated to the gasket used.

 

[pizzabob]

what cylinder had the bad valve ? you say the heads were flat...according to a machine shop or whom. Did machine shop flow test....pressure test ? Just asking

It was cylinder 4. I just did a compression test and all are normal except #4 is zero and #2, right next to it, pegged the gauge(?). I don't believe the shop did the tests you mentioned and have since just recently gone out of business. That's not a good sign...

 

[pizzabob]

Did you chase the head bolt threads in the block with a tap before you installed the new head gaskets?

I used YotaShop for their head gasket kit. It included all seals and head bolts required to replace heads. Was worth the money.

If you didn’t pull a nut doing the final torque to yield sequence your threads in the block were not cleaned and lubed properly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No, I didn't use a tap, didn't even think of that. I do remember exerting some considerable force on those final tightenings and no particular bolt seemed to behave differently from the others.

But I will definitely tap 'em this time, based on your post. Thanks!

 

[pizzabob]

Used Felpro gaskets many times. Back in the day I'd buy them specifically.

The heads on these things can crack between the valves, rust pitting of the sealing surface, surface texture, having the surface true on the block and head, proper torque sequence, retorque if specified, ect…….

There are many variables that can cause a premature head gasket failure that are unrelated to the gasket used.

DC, are these cracks you refer to visible on the surface, or internal inside the head?

What I'm hearing loudly and clearly from you guys is that it probably wasn't the gasket. That's unfortunate. I will definitely take the head to a shop again and have all this checked.

Appreciate all the replies!! You guys are awesome.

 

[Dieselchessy]

They crack between the valves. You can see it once the heads are removed and cleaned up.

If you google “5vz cylinder head crack” you should pull up plenty of examples.

 

[T4R2014]

I bet the head is cracked. That said, I highly recommend you use OEM head gaskets this time. Felpro is cool on American stuff but Japanese... no way.

 

[pizzabob]

I bet the head is cracked. That said, I highly recommend you use OEM head gaskets this time. Felpro is cool on American stuff but Japanese... no way.

Yeah I bet you're right, should know in next several days when I get time to pull the head off.

Shouldn't be hard to find. After sitting 18 hours, there was enough coolant in the cylinder to shoot 5-6 feet out of the engine when I cranked it to do the compression test I mentioned earlier. That's likely to be a pretty good-sized crack!

Again, appreciate the info from all you guys.

 

[Dieselchessy]

Be careful cranking the engine if you suspect water in cylinders. If you hydro-lock it you can damage stuff.

 

[pizzabob]

Be careful cranking the engine if you suspect water in cylinders. If you hydro-lock it you can damage stuff.

Thank you, good advice!