Water out the tail pipe (steam)

[fireballbrady]

Well, It can't be good, but I have a ton of steam coming out my tail pipe.

I know this is a bad sign. I don't have any oil in the water nor vice versa.

Well, It is a 1985 22RE 4x4 4Runner. I love it. It is my dream rig.

Any thoughts? I have talked with several shops and they all hit the cost of repair at about $2300. That is to rebuild the engine.

The rig still drives fine, it just loses water out of the radiator.

When I popped the hood, it looked like steam was coming out of a spot just beneath the exhaust manifold.

 

[Even Steven]

Sounds like you may have a blown head gasket. That will usually cause billowing white smoke to come out of your tailpipe when it gets bad.

 

[fireballbrady]

head gasket

I thought it was the head gasket, but i am leaning more towards a cracked block/water jacket.

Or maybe i am wrong. Where under the hood would steam come from if it was the head gasket (i am not mechanically minded, if that wasn't obvious).

Also the last 2 times I have blown a head gasket I ended up with water in the oil.

There is no water in the oil.

 

[Even Steven]

Re: head gasket

Where under the hood would steam come from if it was the head gasket (i am not mechanically minded, if that wasn't obvious).

.

That depends... the head gasket can blow anywhere (inside or outside), on either head, so it would be impossible to pinpoint an exact location.

If your block is cracked, you're pretty much screwed. You'll need a new block...

 

[fireballbrady]

Screwed by the Block

So, anyone have an easy (read cheap) way of figuring out if it was the block or the head gasket?

 

[Even Steven]

I don't know how mechanically inclined you are, but you could always pull off the heads and check it out. That's probably the only way you'll know for sure.

 

[fireballbrady]

Thank God for Craigslist

Well, I was surfing the web and stumbled across a guy who specializes in head gaskets and shot him off an email.

He is going to charge me $380 for labor and $60 for a new head gasket. There may be a $40 charge to remachine the head if it is warped.

The lowest amount i was quoted from about 12 other shops was averaging $2000 out the door.

We shall see how this hammers out, because if he does the job, I have an 85 Celica that has the same problem.

I will keep you posted!