Head Gasket went out Twice in one year!!

[ddy95123]

Hey guys,

IDK what the hell is going on. My 97 limited runner had a leak head gasket not too long ago and it hasnt even been a year yet and the head gasket went out again on me yesterday! No sign of over heating or anything. Came back from work and it sat all night til the next morning and * pOOf * white sweet smoke out of my tail pipe.

I bought the car stock and never did anything to it besides major tune up when the first head gasket went out and I only had the truck for 1 month before the 1st time it went out. 14k miles Later, It went out again. When it resurface by a shop he mention nothing and said the heads was clean and no need to do a valve adjustment. Replace it with Okibono gasket kit.

my wife took it for an oil change 2 weeks ago and they mention something about the transmission cooler and something is block off and should connect it back to the engine? Sorry she said she didn't understand the guy and I'm not so sure about tranny cooler much either.

The truck is very clean and i'm not sure what to do now. add another 2K or just sell it like that but I love the damn thing it's just I don't like driving a car that I'm worried about.

 

[02SE]

Sorry to hear it. Not all Mechanics are created equal. Some so-called mechanics are barely qualified to do an oil change.

A Headgasket that fails again within 14k miles, was not repaired correctly the first time.

Did the Mechanic check to make sure the block and head(s) were within spec for flatness? What type of headgasket was used? What was the RA finish on the block and head(s)? Were new headbolts used? Were the threads in the block for the headbolts cleaned up with a tap? What tightening technique did the Mechanic use when installing the Head(s)?

There are more variables, but you get the point.

I don't expect the average customer that goes to a Mechanic to know the answers to those questions, but a competent Mechanic would.

I would look for a competent Mechanic with a proven record, and get it repaired properly.


Good luck.

 

[mikebontoft]

doesn't surprise me one bit. May seem like an excuse but parts quality the past year or two has been horrible.

I read correctly that the head was resurfaced, yes?

 

[jakknz]

What's the warranty like for the guys work? To me, it reeks like it wasn't put back together properly. I'd take it back and make them do it again - if it's still in warranty.

The only thing worse than doing a job once is having to do it all over again because it wasn't done right the first time...

 

[mikebontoft]

Worse than that is having to do the job all over again because the part you just put in correctly has failed due to poor quality. By the third time, it gets ugly.

I can name several occasions where this has happened, and not just to myself. Just last week, my friend has had to replace three NEW distributors because they wouldn't hold timing properly. The store ran out of them and now they want him to pay for another replacement.

 

[jakknz]

^^^I hear you. I'd definitely use OEM headgaskets if doing the job. There are some (probably more than some) parts I don't get OEM for, engine internals is one area where you should probably go with the best you can.