Blown Head Gasket.
 

Hello, everyone. I purchased a 1989 Toyota Supra 7M-GTE (turbo, manual) a few months ago. And, now that the snow is gone, I'm out driving it. However, as of last night, it's over heating. I've checked the coolant, and the cooler condenser fans... there isn’t a leaks, that I could see (no coolant on the ground) and all three fans work. Any ideas what it could be? I’m thinking it's a BHG… as there's white smoke coming from the exhaust... but I’m not sure...



David.

Check the oil cap and oil dipstick and see if it is kinda milky. A sure fire way to test it, is to get a block test from your local automotive store.

The question is... if it does have a bhg do I want to get it fixed -.-'' I love driving my supra, but repairing it costs more than I bought it for.


David.

Yea, thats usually what happens. If it has it, the time has come to decide if you want to fix it and keep it or try to sell it off.

It's a manual GTE, fix it. Its worth saving. Its really not that hard to fix a blown head gasket on these things.

If you see white smoke coming from the exhaust in summer temperatures, you have a problem. Oh wait I just saw you are from alaska, nevermind!

Lol. Well, today I made up my mind. I was driving my friends '93 civic, and then a '90 mazda, and decided I have to fix the Supra. IHateHacks, I saw the thread where you replaced your head gasket, mind sending me the parts list? I can't afford to have someone fix it, and I've managed to scrape together around $1,500 for the repair... Joy. Supras are just to fun to drive.

If you need help with a parts list...., you may be in over your head.

In short you replace everything that could possibley ever again give you problems. Upper gasket set. Spark plugs and wires. MHG. ARP. Molly.
Machinist. Starter, you definitley want to replace this while the head is off.
Assorted hoses. Anything that is rubber that has solidified, gets replaced.
Oil and filter. This is just an off the top of the head list, my build list is a bit more detailed.

1.5k isn't going to get it done. The cheapest you can do a BHG on an n/a is right at 2k. 1800ish.

Good Luck.

Way to go and thrash what little confidence I had. Thank you very much. And I have a turbo... This week keeps getting better.

David.

Confidence???

Don't worry man. These cars are easy enough to work on. It's not hard to repair the BHG. But as I said. Your'e going to need to by a vowel first so you'll have an idea as to what you are in for.

How do you plan to prep your block? Who's going to machine your head.
Parts lists are different for every one. Each of these cars needs something different.
It's going to take you some time. I planned my build down to the wire and I spent the better part of a year doing it.

It' nerve wracking enough with an idea of how things go and keeping track of everything..

My advice to you new guys is do your research and try to buy auto's you can work on yourself, or buy something new and just let the dealership do what you want to it.

You will be wanting a tsrm. Is the engine stock or is a transplant?

You may as well replace the timing belt and be carefull removing the crank pulley, they are fragile, and expensive to replace.

Well, today I picked up that Napa tester... and it's a blown head gasket. So, I recruited a mechanic I know to aid me in the task ^_^.

I did some calling around to machine shops, and the price to hot tank and surface the block/head varied a lot (from $375 to $225), and I was asked about magnaflux... I did some searching on the inter-web and found out that it's a brand of magnetic particle inspection, used to detect surface cracks. Again the price varied from $95 to $45. Any idea why?

What does pressure testing the head do? I couldn't find a solid answer on the net.

The TSRM for a '90 and an '89 are the same, right? I found a few postings of a '90, but I couldn't find one for the '89.

How important is it to get the special service tools? I hear they are fairly expensive. And, according to my local toyota dealer, have to be ordered from Ottawa Tool Company. I'm having a hard time finding information about them (OTC) online.

You do not need the sst.

Both prices you spake of for the head are good prices.
The mgnaflux, is hard to tell why the prices vary other than one guy might pay more for it than the other guy.

You're on your way dude.

Have you figured out what to do with your block yet?
You at minimum have to lap it.

The 89 through 91 I believe are the same.
I believe pressure testing is seeking out cracks in the head with a flourescent penatrent. I think. I'm not a machinist.

Just take your time taking it apart take digi pics if you need to I did. They help.

Take your time putting it back together. Bag up all of your nuts and bolts and label the bags. While the head is oof would be a good time to p&p.

I didn't have that done. I p&p'd my air intake myself.
ARP studs or bolts and your new head gasket will be the most expensive things for you it sounds like.

P&P? I'm sorry, but I'm not familiar with the term.


David.

port and polish it just pretty much cleans up shit from the intake for a little bit of extra hp

Yes you need special tools. I wanted to check my valve clearences and had to buy a special tool that pushes down on the shim bucket to take the shims out that didn't meet valve clearence specs. I also bought a micrometer that measured the thickness of the shim which I had to do to determine the replacement shim to get the clearences back to specs.
I couldn't get the tools here in Kuwait so I had to wait a few months till I went on vacation and got them from a store in California and they had to order them.
These engines aren't designed like american or german engines where you can adjust valve clearences easily.
The best thing to do is research the specific job in the TSRM and it will list any special tools that you will need.
Make sure you have everything you need before you start.

A few more questions today. I talked to the machine shops around town (Anchorage, Alaska) and none of them offer lapping. One of them said that after surfacing the head/block their machine leaves a really fine finish (he said he they used a C&C Machine... whatever that is?) Has anyone had any experiance installing a metal head gasket without lapping? What are your opinions on gasket kits? What brand is recommended?


David.

Bhg
 

Hey don't worry it seems more complicated then it sounds. I never worked on an engine before and i bought the book and DOVE in. I LOVE my supra and could'nt find anyone trustworthy and it was to expensive to do.

just follow your book and the advices on this site, you'll be ok.

You just have to make sure you mark things and remember where they all go.

After i replaced my BHG my care has since then been running FINE. All thougth you should replace everything there telling you to YOU MAY be able to get away with not replacing everything. But every supra is different and you can get away with somethings and not the others. i took a chance because i had to and i didn't replace anyting. its now 1year later and i have to go back in and replace my timing belt that just BLEW two days ago. MAN!!!!!

hope that helps GOOD LUCK

if the head or block really needs lapping or resurfacing and you don't do it . your metal gasket will not hold for long