This is a bad headgasket right?

gamefreakgc said:
You do have smoke upon startup. It's not a lot, but that initial start in your video does shows some lingering smoke. You most likely have a very small leak that pools up as the engine sits hot overnight. I would start buying the parts now if you intend to keep driving it as that leak will only get larger over time. I do not recommend any sort of head gasket stop leak product as it clogs up the radiator fins as well.
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Hypothetically speaking what if a PO already put stop leak into the radiator?


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Mine had the same symptoms, but ended up being a cracked head between the valves on cyl #3. Very slow loss of coolant, but nothing external, and smoke on startup that would go away within 5 seconds or so. Pull the spark plugs and look into the cylinder to see if there’s any moisture or if any of the pistons look pressure washed- a good indicator that coolant is seeping into the combustion chamber. Either way, you won’t know if it’s a cracked head until you pull the heads and have them inspected/resurfaced.
 
CoCoCo4Runner said:
PO did, what should I expect? New radiator too?


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Take off the radiator cap and take a gander down the top of the radiator. If you still see mostly shiny aluminum you are ok. If it looks dirty, rusty or even blocked, replace it. Flashlight helps.
 
CoCoCo4Runner said:
PO did, what should I expect? New radiator too?


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Click to expand...

I would do what gamefreakgc suggested. If that radiator is a mess inside replace it.

I know we cant control what others did. It's a shame as the stop leak does not work on head gaskets its just a waste of time and money. :-(
 
brillo_76 said:
I would do what gamefreakgc suggested. If that radiator is a mess inside replace it.

I know we cant control what others did. It's a shame as the stop leak does not work on head gaskets its just a waste of time and money. :-(
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What about/why not stuff like Blue Devil?
 
Devbot said:
What about/why not stuff like Blue Devil?
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Last year I rebuilt an engine that had been ruined by Blue Devil stop leak. The owner had a head gasket leak in cylinders 5 and 6 so put a bottle in. The product will harden anywhere it comes in contact with air. Problem was, there was air bubbles trapped in the coolant system. Some of it made it into the combustion chamber like it was supposed to and created a quarter size welt inside the chamber. Not so good for the spark plug or the cylinder head. The rest solidified in the cylinder heat passageways completely blocking the coolant passages on the passenger's side head, and in the radiator clogging it up so it couldn't cool off. So it went from just a head gasket leak to severe overheating issues and needed new hoses and radiator.

Long story short, don't use it. Fix the problem.
 
gamefreakgc said:
Last year I rebuilt an engine that had been ruined by Blue Devil stop leak. The owner had a head gasket leak in cylinders 5 and 6 so put a bottle in. The product will harden anywhere it comes in contact with air. Problem was, there was air bubbles trapped in the coolant system. Some of it made it into the combustion chamber like it was supposed to and created a quarter size welt inside the chamber. Not so good for the spark plug or the cylinder head. The rest solidified in the cylinder heat passageways completely blocking the coolant passages on the passenger's side head, and in the radiator clogging it up so it couldn't cool off. So it went from just a head gasket leak to severe overheating issues and needed new hoses and radiator.

Long story short, don't use it. Fix the problem.
Click to expand...

Knew I was in for a good answer. I've never used the stuff or known anybody that has, just something I see every time I'm in Napa and the like and always wondered what the deal is. Must be why the same 5 bottles never get moved or picked up :laugh:
 
gamefreakgc said:
Last year I rebuilt an engine that had been ruined by Blue Devil stop leak. The owner had a head gasket leak in cylinders 5 and 6 so put a bottle in. The product will harden anywhere it comes in contact with air. Problem was, there was air bubbles trapped in the coolant system. Some of it made it into the combustion chamber like it was supposed to and created a quarter size welt inside the chamber. Not so good for the spark plug or the cylinder head. The rest solidified in the cylinder heat passageways completely blocking the coolant passages on the passenger's side head, and in the radiator clogging it up so it couldn't cool off. So it went from just a head gasket leak to severe overheating issues and needed new hoses and radiator.



Long story short, don't use it. Fix the problem.
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Great explanation gamefreak if it's used in an engine, the engine is either parts or a major rebuld to clean it out. I would suspect deposits in the radiator cooling tubes as well...:(



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brillo_76 said:
I know my one 4 runner has a bad head gasket. It smokes white smoke that lingers like fog when I fire it up. Its poor engine was really beat and I plan to swap its engine and transmission when I fix it.

The white smoke is like a fog machine on that one. I suspect warped heads on my issue.

On mine that smoke never stops.

So some good test especially a leak down test should help you find the location of the leak. :)

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Click to expand...

Same here - I have a small leak and I talked myself up from doing the gasket alone to "why not do heads" to "why not replace motor" to "why not do transmission too" haha. Oh well, buying myself another 20+ years with it if I'm lucky.
 
Devbot said:
What about/why not stuff like Blue Devil?
Click to expand...


Like the others stated snake oil.. Not only will not not work a pile of times. It makes you one heck of a mess ...:-(


I think my bad head gasket engine had the old Blue Devil treatment too it..
Down the road i will pull it apart to see what it looks like.. ;-)

Its low in the priority list at the moment. :-)
 
Here are cold compression numbers

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Updated to hot. Can any 3rd gen experts help interpret the numbers? The cold numbers are all over the place but the hot numbers are pretty consistent.

Another issue that I wasn’t expecting, the intake hose was FULL of oil it was spilling out as I removed it.

ec03385b69240fe42af67beaa2cd5e8c.jpg



f20fa12d34c320b2af37c9c8bba97bdf.jpg



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Are you sure your compression tester works properly?
Is it the screw in type?

Should be tested with the motor warm, all plugs removed, the throttle wide open and a fully charged battery.

Crank it and count to 6 for each test.
 
alumarine said:
Are you sure your compression tester works properly?
Is it the screw in type?

Should be tested with the motor warm, all plugs removed, the throttle wide open and a fully charged battery.

Crank it and count to 6 for each test.
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Yes, screw in type, and the tester hasn’t given us any issues before. And that is how we tested it, first we did it cold, WOT, no plugs, but we cranked the engine until the tester stopped rising, probably about 5-6 seconds. Then we repeated the test, same procedure with the engine warm after running for 10 min.

The exhaust smells really rich, I didn’t notice this before but after idling it indoors it’s pretty smelly.


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Might be time for a valve adjustment job. If that doesn't fix it, it might be a head gasket which is the worst that can happen. I have seen some instances where a valve job fixes bad or low compression.

Thing that sucks about a valve job is that Toyota's use shims instead of the classic crack the nut loose and screw in/out the tappet screw.
 
FD7683 said:
Might be time for a valve adjustment job. If that doesn't fix it, it might be a head gasket which is the worst that can happen. I have seen some instances where a valve job fixes bad or low compression.



Thing that sucks about a valve job is that Toyota's use shims instead of the classic crack the nut loose and screw in/out the tappet screw.
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Yup the nut and screw went away in the late 80's. Older 22R engines had that for valve adjustment. Gosh I wish they stuck with it as that was my favorite way to adjust too..:)

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Another concern is where this oil is coming from in your intake. Your PCV valve not gummed up and working properly? As if it stuck open I am wondering if your sucking some oil into it via that hose.

How does your throttle body butterfly look? Really carboned up and nasty? I am thinking that pcv valve hose hooks into near or right after the throttle body.

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