Blown head gasket ?
 

Hey everyone im new to this forum and a total newb to supras. I know they have huge!!! turbo potential but anyways thats besides the point. I might be buying a supra and the guy thinks the head gasket is going. Can anyone please tell me the process of what has to be done. I tried searching the forums but nothing is really the close to what I have asked. Any help will be greatly appreciated thnx a million.

Job for some skill
 

If you have good mechanic skills, you can do it ourself for $600-$800 in parts and machine shop. A shop will likely want $1700.

And that's if nothing else is wrong, to be discovered after the head is off.
You can get a reman head for about $500, if you need one.

Seems like the biggest costs are the gaskets. Like the previous post said, you can save a BUNCH of money if you can do the job yourself. The only problems you can run into are a head that has eaten out water ports and needs valve work. If you do get the valves turned and get the guides checked and new valve stem seals installed, then you have to readjust the valve clearances. You will need a bunch of shims for that job.


Another problem is if the block needs resurfacing, then it has to come out. If you do that, then you maight as well check the bearings, cylinder wear and replace the seals.

I jsut replaced the head gasket on my 87 N/A. It cost me 72.00 for the head gasket and another 35.00 to get the head lightly milled. I also bought a set of ARP head studs for 115.00, almost a must for longevity.

Pulling the head is pretty straight forward though. Undo the battery, drain the water from the engine, use the side drain on the block. Have a different place to store your nuts and bolts for each particular area. Like each part of the intake system, the exhaust system. VAlve covers, mark your distributor so you can put it back in the same place with the engine at TDC. You have to have a metric allen socket to take the head bolts out.

You might want to take pictures of the wiring before you unplug stuff and under the intake, the wiring can be pretty involved. All the plugins are either color coded or will only go one way, but there are a lot of plugs and some of the plactic releases will break due to getting brittle with age.

If any of this seems to intimidating, then get someone to help you who is familiar with fuel injected engines or let a shop do it, but that way will cost a lot!

Let us know how it goes and what you decide.

Russ

Ask around for people that do work on the side, or doing it yourself is the other option. I was going to do my HG myself, but my dad knew a mechanic who could do it in his shop for $500 straight cash. So I got lucky, didnt have to go through the hassel of doing it myself, and I dont have to pay tax haha. I cant wait to get my baby back, tomorrow hopefully!!

Ask around, someone has to know someone. And maybe a vet on this forum that lives by could give you a hand :P

thnx alot guys for the help. I am still debating wheather or not i should get it. I really dont want to be spending alot on the car just as i get it. Im still a student in school, but my dad is a mechanic. Why do the head gaskets tend to blow on these things anyways? thnx again for the help. And to conclude are you saying it might be around 1700 jus for a new head gasket:dunno:

your dad is a mechanic??? then you have no problem! lol. no no its not 1700 for the gasket. you can get like an entire gasket set for your engine for $120. all that other money is labor. replacing the HG is a loooong and tedious job. around 12-15hrs some say. thats why the cost is about 1700. if you can get your dad to do it, you are looking at nothing really haha.

Yea he is a mechanic. I doubt he is going to help me though, if not I will just take it into my school shop and repair it there. Thnk you for everyone who has helped me, I almost fainted when I saw the cost of the repair. So if you want to replace the gasket with a metal one....you have to get that block milled right? Is it expensive? thnx again and sry for all the newb questions.

No need to do a metal gasket unless. 1) its a turbo. 2) you are gonna put some $$ into getting the horse power up to 300 or more.

To mill the block means to remove it from the car, and strip it down. That means you are gonna rebuild the whole motor.

Also see the thread in the FAQs section on Head gaskets.

Thnx again. I'll probaly just end up throwing in an 7M-GTE, are they reliable and bullet proof once the heads been built up?

^^^They seem to be. Just use care when your doing things. If something looks a bit wrong, get an experienced mechanic's opinion.