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.

Well, since you have the head off, I'd put a top dead center detector on the engine, then put a short 2x2 (wood) in the cylinder and turn it until the piston pushes the piece of wood up to the detector and that will stop it from moving. Then just keep applying pressure until the bolt comes loose.

Good luck

Russ

Find someone with a 1/2" ELECTRIC impact. (not the 12Volt kind either) May sound foolish, but that was the ONLY way to remove a stripped/cross threaded harmonic balancer bolt from the kid's V6 Rodeo!

Since I "inherited" a 1/2 electric impact, I don't even use the air one anymore.

Well I finally got the crank bolt off. To anyone that wants to know how to do it I will tell you. First though, I would like to say what did not do it. 5 different impact guns-nope. Car in gear, ebrake on, someone standing on the brakes-nope. Did not get the chance to use the starter bump method. This is what works and what will work every single time-crowbar in the flywheel through the starter hole. Worked so good I think Im going to patent that procedure. Walked the crank pulley off with 2 flathead screw drivers. Had timing belt off in less than 5 minutes after that. I was messing with this crank bolt for 4 days, but now that its off the head is ready to be lifted off. I just don't have someone to help me lift it. I can do it myself, I bench over 205lbs atm, I just don't want to risk banging it into something like the radiator support or the fender. Loosened head bolts in the order shown in the TSRM and did it in 3 passes. Did not need the SST for the head bolts, a NAPA 10mm allen head socket worked just fine for $4.65. Will have pictures in 2 hours.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Edit: And yea Toyota of Wallingford (yet again) sucks bad. Walked into the parts department, asked if they could get SST's and all I got was a bunch of BS. First I got "No, nope." Then I got, "AHHH Toyota is closed today I can't do anything." Then it was, "They are so much money you won't want to buy them" Then I got, "Gimme your name and number and I'll get back to you" Yeah right. Does anyone else have a problem with buying SST's from their dealership?

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I've decided to send the head to a machine shop. I've gone this far I might as well go all the way. Cylinder walls still have crosshatch marks on them so it is a safe bet that this engine was rebuilt at some time. I've also determined my BHG was in cylinder 6. Spark plug insulator in cyl 6 was brown. All of the other spark plugs were normal. All of the valves looked the same in cylinders 1-5, cylinder 6 looked totally different. If you look closely at the last picture of the head gasket, look at the last cylinder to the right and look at the top, it is oval shaped. So it is determined that when this engine was rebuilt the HACK that put it back together hacked it up. Either overtorqued or did not torque in the right sequence.

Yeah, you CAN do it that way, but if you want to make sure you have everything lined up properly, then you want the crank pulley and lower timing cover off to line up the timing marks, properly. One tooth off may not do any damage, but it will damn sure make it run like ass. Better to be safe than sorry. Believe me. I'm a mechanic. I don't play around when it comes to doing timing belts. I'm not about to buy someone a new engine because i didn't do a timing belt job properly. Funk that.

No offense, IHateHacks, but apparently the 5 impacts that you were using to get the crank pulley bolt off were shit. I have an Ingersol Rand 1/2 inch impact, and i have NO problem getting crank bolts off with it. If it wont fit because of space constraints, an extra long 1/2 inch drive ratchet with the appropriate socket will get it off, just as well. By the way, the pry bar in the starter is nothing new. I've been doing that for years, when i get a stubborn crank bolt that won't work with the impact or just ratchet method. It's my last resort when the first two options fail. It hardly ever comes to that option, though. Then again, i'm accustomed to doing things to get the job done, that most of you probably haven't done or seen, before. When you do it long enough, you tend to learn easier ways to do it and short cuts. Time is money, in my line of work. That's why i hate having to wait around for parts. It kills me.

"No offense, IHateHacks, but apparently the 5 impacts that you were using to get the crank pulley bolt off were shit."

Yes I agree the craftsman was a POS, but the titanium series IR and the last one I used that required 120psi were definitely not junk. I talked to some other professional mechanics and they said that I should have used a 3/4" impact gun. And I was just being sarcastic about patenting that little trick. It says it right in the TSRM. I just didnt want to f-up one of the teeth on the flywheel, but when there is no other choice, I quickly overcame my fear.

"By the way, the pry bar in the starter is nothing new."

It wasn't in the starter, it was in the starter hole in the bellhousing. And if you were doing it for years why didnt you drop a dime and help me out before when I was asking- "Except for the starter method, how does everyone else loosen their crank bolt?"

No offense but it seems that most (not all) people here are more about 1-uping each other and claiming that they are superior, then about helping each other. To be frank I really dont care how long you say you've been a mechanic or about how you brag you've done something before. I respect someone much much more when they just drop a hint about what Im having trouble with. Those are the people that make me say damn that guy knows his stuff. Sorry, you just made me mad claiming all 5 of the guns were junk when you've never even seen them, you just make a blind assumption. The guns werent even mine so I dont know why Im even mad. Its the fact that you just come to a conclusion with no information other than they didn't get off the crank bolt. Remember a properly torqued 7M crank bolt is torqued to 195 ft-lbs. Most other manufacturers only require around 100 ft-lbs. Those guns take off crank bolts everyday at a BMW dealership because the crank bolts aren't torqued to 195 ft-lbs. All crank bolts are not created equal, but you should have known that.

I stripped the head of everything but the cams. I'll have a picture up tomarrow. I'm doing all of this to show all the people who aren't mechanics that anyone can do a head gasket job. You don't have to be superman. You just need the knowledge. Speaking of which, to anyone who wants to know how to get the heater union off (that fitting that the heater hose goes on on the top back of the engine) you'll need a 32mm deep socket.

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Sending it out today. Next picture will be it looking brand new. Here's a picture of the good ol' EGR cooler. I can see this being the source of a mysterious coolant leak via that big stupid plug Toyota felt the need for putting in there. Ill ask it again (just like the 4 plugs that hold on the no. 3 cylinder head cover) Why did Toyota just throw plugs (at rediculous sizes) in various areas throughout the 7M? Its not like they serve any purpose on planet earth. Why didn't they just cast it over like the rest of the head? I think its pay back for buying a car just because its turbocharged. Compared to other manufacturers Toyota design sucks dick.

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Does this surface look good enough for a metal head gasket?

it doesn't look good in the picture.
it needs to be smoother than a babies ass .
the metal is not forgiving where as the carbon or whatever the stock is made from is forgiving.
you might want to re-think it . i put a metal gasket on a block that looked good enough to me once and it lasted about 10k miles . once you do put a metal gasket on it's not likely that you are gonna start boosting less . no infact you'll probably start pushing more into the cylinders to really test the
smooth theory .. you know . i have a lapping tool over here
you've seen some of my bhg footage ?
http://www.ddmcse.com/turbo/bhg_2003.htm

The picture really doesnt do it justice. It is really smooth, and looks like a f-in mirror. But I'm gonna play it safe and use a dealer head gasket. Please forgive my inexperience but what is a lapping tool? I used a whiz wheel with very fine grit Scotch 3M on the block, which made it look all swirlly, like it polished the metal. I really never knew cast iron could look like that. But what do I know this is my first head gasket job ever.

Im not liking the idea of it blowing again after 10,000 miles so stock it is.

Still haven't gotten the head back yet. I'm very anxious to put her back together.

Just for those who want to know I've decided to use ARP studs instead of bolts. Do the cams have to be out to torque the ARP nuts?

u can see the lapping tool on my website, it's sitting on the block a round disc

OK so did you use a metal head gasket on that block that you lapped?

What's all that gray slime that's all in the coolant passages?

I'm beginning to think I used the wrong thing on my block, but a mechanic friend that works at Mauro Motors BMW of North Haven uses the same thing on aluminum blocks and says it's fine. He actually supplied the equipment and did the work to my block.

I'm going to get a close up pic of my block tomarrow morning.

yeah i have a metal gasket the gray stuff is lapping compound , a paste with grit
i lapped the block for hours and then lapped the head after it was done by a machine. you could see the grooves left by the machine but the grooves were gone after lapping the head . lapping the alu head took seconds compared to the block
i think i have about 30k miles on this gasket

Thank you for all the input ddmcse, it's people like you that make this a great forum.

How much is a lapping tool and compound?

Well i've thought about it and I've come all this way, sent out the head (before I thought I was gonna do all the check and servicing to the head myself, yea wrong!) I might as well lap the block. Im stubborn, I dont like to do things but once I start I'm glad I did. I've determined the whiz wheel is to remove stuck on gasket material only, not for resurfacing. The block, with my finger, feels smooth as ice everywhere. Here's some pics.


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^ Worst area on the block. ^

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^ I'm a crappy photographer. ^

Now for the fun part, head gasket its blown in 2 different places.

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^ That's cylinder 6. ^

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^ That's cylinder 2 ^

looks yummy, cant waitto see what mine looks liek when i pull it.

Well just got the verdict from the machine shop.

Cleaned, checked for cracks, checked for warpage, planed, valve lash set, new exhaust studs welded in place (I helicoiled 3 previously and 1 more was on its way to be, ditched that!). Complete head gasket set included. $425+tax!!!

Will have pic up tomarrow.

Just have to order my ARP studs, and downpipe!! I'm very excited if you haven't noticed.

I need help from someone who has done this with ARP studs before.

Do you cams need to be out to torque the nuts? I'm thinking that a deep socket won't fit by the cams. So has anyone here actually put ARP head studs in their engine themselves?

How about with ARP bolts, do the cams need to be out to torque them?

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Gasket kit came with everything but the turbo oil line gaskets and sealing washers, fuel line sealing washers, heater union sealing washers or cold start injector gasket and sealing washers.

No matter what I do, something always seems to go wrong. First it was the crank bolt deal. Then it was the block surface not being optimum. Now I get my head back from the machine shop and the sealing surface has this shit all over it-

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Those are little flakes of aluminum that are stuck on the mating surface. I can chip them off with my fingernails but I don't have too much of my fingernails left. I'm scared shitless about touching it with anything but my fingernails. The rest of the surface looks and feels very good. I've come to a conclusion, nothing will ever go smoothly when working on a 20 yr old supra.

use a verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry high grit sand paper, or steel wool.

I use these products on rebuild, the Holts fire gum for turbo to exhaust manifold and turbo elbow to exhaust down pipe. The loctite 5926 is fuel, oil and water resistance at high temperature I've used this in the absence of the odd missing gasket for years, highly recommended products. I also use the Loctite 5926 as a replacement for Part No 08826-00080 packing seal. If you need to use old fuel line washers and they are made of copper, heat them up (red hot) immediately quench them in water to anneal them. Aluminium is annealed by heating to 550? C and air cool. Couple of quick questions; have you replaced the oil seals on the front cam journals and oil seals for the valves.

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The cam seals were replaced I don't know if the valve seals were replaced, I haven't gotten my receipt yet. The shop resealed the No.1 cam bearing caps with packing material. The valve seals didn't leak anyways. The engine hardly used any oil maybe .25 quart every 3000 miles and never any blue smoke on start-up, not even any white smoke with a BHG.


I'm just going to order new copper sealing washers, they are cheap.

Wow that sucks. You can't actually see the cam seals unless the cam gears and no.2 timing cover are removed or unless you take off the no.1 bearing caps. I only assume the cam seals were replaced because the cams where out at the machine shop and the bearing caps have fresh packing material on them.

Now you got me paranoid.

Just for fun here's the list of parts I need at the moment to put it back together:

Timing belt and tensioner
ARP Head Bolts (Yep I changed my mind AGAIN)
NGK spark plugs
Fuel injector to head insulators
Fuel injector to fuel rail grommets
Auxiliary air pipe to vacuum transmiting pipe hose
No.6 water by-pass hose
Heater union to water by-pass pipe hose
Turbo oil pipe gaskets and sealing washers
No.1 fuel pipe sealing washers
Heater union sealing washers
Cold start injector gasket and sealing washers

That's about $300-$350 in just mundane parts. I never was able to buy my downpipe or test pipe because the head took all of my money. When I dropped it off they told me $80-$100 max. $451 later now I'm broke with no downpipe and a head that still needs a little work. And I'm walking funny from having that pipe shoved up my .......

the guy that did the head work will know where to get lapping compound

Talk about getting the shaft. If anybody wants to know how much a Toyota geniune timing belt and tensioner are:

Timing Belt- $38.37 not bad at all (I get a discount I paid $29.32)

Tensioner spring- $6.51

Tensioner idler sub assembly- $136.28!!!! (with my discount its still $96.00!!!)

Now I know why most people don't replace the tensioner!!!

Ordered my ARP bolts, should have them by the end of the week ($109 shipped).

Just got back from the dealer and got screwed out of a cold start injector gasket and 2 copper sealing washers. I wasn't charged for them, but I specifically pointed out that gasket on the computer screen to the parts guy and he STILL manages to F that up. How do these people get jobs? Imagine if they worked in the service department, actually I'm sure they do.

And that new tensioner pulley was worth every penny. I thought my stock one was OK, still spinning good, only making a tiny bit of noise, yeah F that! A new one is like night and day compared to my used one. So anyone who is replacing their timing belt, I suggest you buy a new tensioner.

Here's the parts list as of today:

Cold start injector gasket
2 copper sealing washers
Auxiliary vacuum hose
Heater core inlet and outlet hoses
NGK spark plugs

That's it! Then I get to slap her back together and pray.

I use a parts catalogue on CD very similar to the repair manual except it has all the Toyota part No`s. If I need a part I just phone through the part number. Before I had the catalogue some years ago I had the head off and needed the water by-pass union/pipe that’s right at the back of the cylinder head, mine had corroded away in places. I gave the description to the Toyota parts manager and in a few days a washer arrived, no metal pipe or nut. Apparently the part I needed requires to be ordered with 3 part No`s.
90401-22004 for the union
90430-22008 (2 off) for the gaskets
90405-17995 for the metal pipe
With the parts catalogue on CD its so much easer to get the right part first time, it also has diagrams showing where ever nut and bolt is located with each part No`s. Not sure if they are available in the US, the link below is for one on ebay UK.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TOYOTA-ELECTRONIC-PARTS-CATALOGUE-EPC-5-CDs_W0QQitemZ250069576904QQihZ015QQcategoryZ36086Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I need that CD!!! Those part #'s are the same for the US. (90430-22008 is the number for the 2 union gaskets I ordered).

Bill UK I have an important question for you. My no.2 timing belt cover (the black plate behind the cam gears) was not shaved along with the head, so the cover sticks out farther than the head surface. Is this a problem? Will it cause the head to sit on an angle? I can post a picture of what I'm talking about if you need me to.