Over heating after new head gaskets

D

Draayer

New member
My head gaskets blew and I had my mechanic install new ones along with a new water pump, timing belt thermostat and all other parts that should be changed while in there. When I got it back it ran much hotter so I took it back to the mechanic. He changed out the thermostat for a Toyota one but no change and felt it was air in the system. He ended up adding more coolant from it being topped off before so maybe it's air. If I'm driving and have the heat on, it runs about in the middle of the temp gauge, as soon as I put the cool air on, within seconds the temp starts to rise, if I put the heat back on, it cools right back down. Whats up with that? How do i fix this?
Thanks,
 
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When you say cool air do you mean A/C? or just outside air. I've heard that if you put the head gaskets on the wrong side ( left on right side and right on left side) that it blocks the coolant passages.
 
Not AC

I'm not turning the AC on I'm just turning the lever from hot to cool outside air. If they put the gaskets on the wrong side, wouldn't the mechanic notice that it's blocking passages? Thats kind of a big deal, I hope they wouldn't mess that up.
 
How hot is hot?

Sorry to force this but you have to understand that the temperature gauge covers a wide range of tempuratures and is designed to show in the middle as long as it is in this wide range.

I'd suggest getting a OBDII BlueTooth transmitter from Amazon for $30 and using the Torque app $5 to see the temps in real time.
 
BrianSD_42 said:
How hot is hot?

Sorry to force this but you have to understand that the temperature gauge covers a wide range of tempuratures and is designed to show in the middle as long as it is in this wide range.

I'd suggest getting a OBDII BlueTooth transmitter from Amazon for $30 and using the Torque app $5 to see the temps in real time.
Click to expand...

I would also add that if you can get the vehicle to overheat when idling, you may also want to double check what the coolant temperature sensor is seeing against a IR Thermometer on various points.
 
When I did mine, it drove fine until we had a hot day in the Bay Area that is... While driving, I made it to Gilroy and the gauge was climbing, I had to pull over. I still think my mechanic is a piece of sh!t... But beside from that... I went along and see what he thinks about what could be the reasoning. Leads back to my radiator... So I had a bad radiator, I double checked and it was... BUT when I drove back from LA, on the 5 before grapevine, stuck in traffic it heated up on me with the AC on, I was like WTF! Now I'm thinking it could be my fan clutch failing slowly, gotta check on that... So double check on the cooling systems just incase too as well. I still think my mechanic put it in wrong... but until I can prove it, I'm going to have to go down this route...
 
KimIsAGuy said:
I replaced the radiator with a Koyo and I put in an external transmission cooler as well. I'm narrowing the problem slowly, money is an issue for me right now.
Click to expand...

I had a similar issue, never thought the new radiator wasn't flowing so I didn't check that. my koyo failed inside of a few months.
 
Brilliant said:
I had a similar issue, never thought the new radiator wasn't flowing so I didn't check that. my koyo failed inside of a few months.
Click to expand...

I will definitely double check that just incase its a failed new part. Which in that cause, I'd be very angry, and Koyo better have a manufacture warrantee for defective parts. Thanks!
 
i had a very similar issue on my 3rd gen and never did figure out what the issue was. I had to drive around with the heat blasting all of the time to keep it from over heating. I replaced every part short of the radiator and the needle would always get to the point of kissing the red.
I ended up trading it in for a new one (and super happy I did for more than that reason)
sorry im no help, just offering sympathy. hope you figure yours out
 
wrong size head gaskets

I called the mechanic that installed the head gaskets and he said they both gaskets looked the same and he didn't realize that there was a left and right, He's wondering if he needs to take it all apart and do new head gaskets.
Not a good deal.
 
I went through the exact same thing just this past march with the exact same symptoms and it turned out to be that the head gaskets were swapped... fML, I know... Got new ones, tore it back down and it runs like new now
 
Draayer said:
I called the mechanic that installed the head gaskets and he said they both gaskets looked the same and he didn't realize that there was a left and right, He's wondering if he needs to take it all apart and do new head gaskets.
Not a good deal.
Click to expand...

They are not the same. He needs to look at them more closely. There have been some incorrectly made cheap counterfeit Headgaskets floating around out there, for years. Make sure you are getting genuine OEM or a quality aftermarket Headgasket.

Not all 'Mechanics', are created equal. If he is capable of ruling out all other possibilities, then he does need to take it apart, and install another set of new Headgaskets, in their proper locations.
 
Update

I took my 4runner back to the mechanic and numerous things were changed, tried and bottom line to it all is, it looks like the temp. gauge is bad or maybe has a bad ground but either way, it's not working. Any ideas on how to fix the existing one? How about a gauge that will really tell me the true temp rather than hot to cold?
Thanks
 
Is this a new problem because the way you described what it was doing before, it sounded like it was working fine? Does it still overheat?
 
Clarification

When I first got the 4runner back it ran fine but the gauge would start to head to the red line so I would shut it down to not hurt anything. When I would lift the hood, the motor didn't seem hot but I didn't check the temp with anything. The mechanic used one of those temp gun things and said it read about 180. He also put on a mechanical temp gauge and it read about 180 so I think everything is good except for the gauge. I believe he even said he replaced the sending unit but that didn't fix it. So what are the recommendations?
Thanks,
 
Draayer said:
I took my 4runner back to the mechanic and numerous things were changed, tried and bottom line to it all is, it looks like the temp. gauge is bad or maybe has a bad ground but either way, it's not working. Any ideas on how to fix the existing one? How about a gauge that will really tell me the true temp rather than hot to cold?
Thanks
Click to expand...

The first thing is connect a live scanner that will give you the digital temp read by the ECU--different sensor, different location, different technology. If you want a permanent display, consider a Scanguage or Ultraguage. These will also read a lot of other info including CEL/DTC codes. Dash temp gauge is pretty worthless, anyway.

Some of the headgasket makers put an L or R on the little tabs that stick out from under the head. Worth taking a look, anyway.
 
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