Blown Head Gasket repair w/pics
 

It finally happened. Car ran fine for a few months never overheated or blew coolant out of the overflow. I ran a compression test and got 180psi on cyl 1, 2, 3, and 6. Cyls 4 and 5 had 170psi. Ran a block test and the test fluid turned green (no I didnt suck up coolant). Then one day Im just driving not even making boost and stock temp gauge pegs past H and I glance at my aftermarket one and see it reading 230 degrees so I immediatly shut the engine off and pull over. Pop the hood and the coolant overflow is filled to the top and the intercooler is all wet (from coolant pissing out of the overflow) so I limp it home and start ripping it apart. Started today, only got 3 hours of work done, planning on working on it tomarrow and monday. Hopefully Ill have the head off by then. I will be posting my progress when I can. I know its not much but heres where Im at so far. The order Im doing it in is intake manifold, timing belt, exhaust manifold.

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I need a little help. I have every single sensor connector disconnected except one. It is the one that goes to the top of the R154 trans. There is no way a I can get to it. Its a 2 wire connector and its white. I think the wires are yellow and red, but I can't remember. It's not the speed sensor. I think it is the backup light switch. How do I disconnect it? Drop the trans? Anyone ever have this problem when doing a head gasket on a manual turbo car?

Also I ran into a problem with the crank pulley. I already took the starter out so I can't do the starter method (even though I can technically put it back in for this reason). Already tried my 1/2" impact gun, no luck. Getting a friend to bring home from work a snap-on impact gun tomarrow and will try again. TSRM says its torqued to 195 ft-lbs, and the only way to torque the bolt by hand is with the 2 SST's they list. I dont even own a torque wrench that goes up that high so buying the tools without the proper torque wrench is useless. I just would like to know what all the people here do when they install their crank pulley. Do you use the SST's and a 200+ftlbs torque wrench or impact gun?

What i did in that situation was simply cut the wires and splice them back when you're done.....make sure you use weather ticght butt connectors...

Thanks for the reply. I thought my supra was special or something, turns out Toyota is just as bad as Chevy when it comes to the details. I was going to cut them and solder but using connectors sounds better just in case this job has to be done again in the future.

Here's where I'm at. Its hard to get things done working out in the cold when the sun goes down at 4pm let alone doing this between my regular job and working out at the gym.

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I'm torn between getting a dealer head gasket or getting a metal HKS 1.2mm one. I'm also contemplating upgrading the stock turbo with maybe different compressor and turbine housings or maybe getting a whole new one. The more and more I pull parts off the more I realize everything is in need of either rebuilding or upgrading. Next pic will be with the head off.

why do you need to pull the crank pulley ? you can release the tension and slip the timing belt right off .

get the head off and look at the condition of the block and the head to help decide on the gasket you are going to go for .i'd say you need metal

i sent my turbo out for an upgrade while it was off , it was back the next day

now would be a good time to think about the downpipe too

I need the crank pulley off because I am replacing the timing belt also. So far I tried a craftsman 1/2", a snap on 1/2", and an IR 1/2" impact gun and it still hasn't budged yet. Trying a black series IR gun tonight. I might just have to break down and buy the SST's.

Why do you think I'll need a metal one? Which one needs better/smoother surfaces metal or stock?

I had you in mind when I was thinking about upgrading my turbo. I liked what you had done to it.

That downpipe is as good as gone. I'm also looking for a better O2 housing.

If you go to a mhg you need to have the head and block preped or it won't seal right. This means taking the head and block to a machinest who can smooth it out, most machine shops can't get it smooth enough and you'll need to hand lap it.

For a stock gasket its a good idea to have the head checked and shaved if its not flat, check the block with a machinest straight edge. The stock gasket is much more forgiving when it comes to imperfections. Use ARP bolts or studs and follow the manufactures instructions for torque. Follow the TRSM for torque sequence.

As for the tranny connector, put the car on jack stands. put a floor jack under the trans crossmember and unbolt it. Now lower the tranny until you can reach the connector. You'll have to get under there and bear hug the tranny.

Then it looks like I'm using a stock gasket.

I was going to check both the block and the head with a straight edge myself and if they were not warped then I was just going to clean it up myself. If the head surface is bad then I was going to send it out to get machined. If the block surface is bad then I'm going to buy a JDM 7M from osaka.

I am buying ARP head bolts. TSRM says 58 ft-lbs but everyone here says that is too low. Any suggestion on torque specs with a stock gasket.

The arp bolts will come with instructions, follow them for torque specs. Yes 58 is way too low.

Just tried using a 1/2" IR titanium series impact and it still won't come off. This has got to be a joke. Tomarrow morning I'm using a 120psi (instead of 90psi) 750 ft/lbs rated impact gun. All of the other guns were rated up to 90psi max. If that doesn't work I'll have to bite the bullet and buy the SST's. I wasted too much time and effort trying to save a few bucks.

Except for the starter method, how does everyone else loosen their crank bolt?

And don't gimme the put in gear ebrake on stand on the brakes either because yea that doesn't work at all. Crank still spins.