*****UPDATE*****

Ok so i was replacing my radiator today and when i disconnected my catch can i saw it was milky... It was not like that a week ago... sooooo im assuming the head gasket finally gave out.

Ive already started taking everything out: plugs, dp, alternator..... basically getting ready to pull the motor.

my question is now....

Is it possible to replace the head gasket w/o pulling the motor out of the car??? or does the whole thing have to come out?

Im REALLY strapped for time so I might hire someone to do it for me so i figure i would get as much crap out of the way so I save on labor... How much would be a fair price to pay for this?

and lastly, is there a way to tell if the BLOCK will need to be machined? becuase once the head is out, it would be easy to machine, but the block is a different story. i would have to pull the whole motor at that point.

Again thanks for your help guys, i really miss driving my car

This post has been edited by eggman40: Mar 14, 2009 - 9:54 PM

You installed a brand new water pump when you did your swap, right?

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My lower radiator hose came off once and shortly after the check engine light came on the car shut itself off, I was able to restart it and drive it a little further.

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I replaced my water pump, timing belt and pullys with all Toyota parts (Following your advice ) some months back by a good mechanic.

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Oh Niice! thats good to hear. I left my car off till it got home.

I guess my next update will be that later last night I poured some water in the radiator and fired the car up. It fired up like a Champ! but.... I was hoping that a leak would spring somewhere revealing the problem, but it didnt. The water level remained constant...

My next step will be to let the car sit for 10-15 min with some light reving while monitoring the temp gauge. But Lagos brought up a good point....

Is there a way to check to see if the water pump is working??? i would like to cross that of the list.

thanks for the help guys, i appriciate it.

Usually a bad waterpump either makes noise or it leaks, plus if it were to just stop working you wouldn't really loose all your coolant.

Let it run for a while and watch it, just because it's not leaking on cold start doesn't mean the leak isn't coming from a bypass hose or something that doesn't get coolant going past it until the engine is warm and the t-stat opens.

This post has been edited by hurley97: Feb 7, 2009 - 7:00 AM

Ok, New update. I checked all hoses and everything looks normal. I turned the car on and let it run for about a Half hour, engine temps were normal and there were no leaks.

However, when i finally decided to drive it around the block a few times, it started to overheat... I got it back in the driveway looked under the hood. there was a loud hissing coming from the radiator cap and a few drops of water spilling out of it.

Now my question is, Could a faulty radiator cap cause overheating???

OR is there something else that could be causing the overheating which then raises the pressure of the water casing the radiator cap to leak?

I plan on replacing the cap next. But I wanted to hear what else you guys think it could be.

thanks for the help

i am betting the radiator cap is faulty. the radiator cap is designed to hold enough pressure that prevents it from 'hissing' or seeping out. if the pressure is too strong, the pressure should redirect itself through the overflow tube/reservoir.

another possibility is that there may be a hairline crack near the radiator cap. i had this issue once and coolant spewed all over the engine bay and the engine overheated. when i put more coolant in and let it idle for maybe 30 mins to warm up, it wouldn't reveal where the leak was coming out from since the crack was so tiny and almost invisible that it was able to retain most of the pressure inside at idle. but only when i was actually driving (revving above 2k rpms) that the pressure and heat would build up high enough that coolant is forced to leak out from the crack simultaneously making hissing noises... you can verify this by pouring water over the rad while looking for bubbles which will help locate the crack..

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Oh ok great! then im gonna go ahead replace the cap this week and see if that helps normalize things.

Next on my list if that doesnt work, will be the thermostat. maybe that could be fault as well.


thanks for the help up azian_adv.

man, i changed my thermostat, changed my rad cap and both radiator hoses... and again no dice, i took it on the freeway today and again it over heated...

any other options? I dont know what else could be the issue. again my oil is fine so i dont think its the gasket...

anything else you guys can suggest? thanks guys

probably the head gasket.
do a compression test.

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ill get on it, thanks!

yup, headgasket.
stop driving the car, you'll warp the head if you havent already from overheating it.

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yea its sitting still. I turned the car off immediately when i saw the needle creeping up so it should be ok. Im gonna order in a head gasket and pressure test the cylinders. we'll see what happens next

does it overheat only while boosting? i had that problem and it was a Head gasket.

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Yea its starting to sound more and more like it... Im gonna take one last, tedious look at the radiator, and make sure it isnt just leaking when the temps go up. But im assuming its the rad.

whatever i come up with, ill update you guys. Again, thanks for the help.

Ok i have an update.... I took my thermostat out yesterday and hooked everything up again to see if my water pump is working and it is. I can see the water rushing but through the radiator in a constant stream and it speeds up as i rev it.

I decided to run the car without a thermostat and see if if overheats and so far it has not. I drove my car from North Hollywood to Downtown L.A with some traffic and the engine temps stayed low.

Obviously i need to run a thermostat but my dont know why its not working properly. I bought it brand new from toyota, and i Aligned the Jiggle valve with the notch on the thermostat housing. Is there anyway to get the install wrong???

My next option is going to be to get another thermostat but one that opens up a bit sooner, like 160 degrees opposed to 180. Does anyone have a suggestion? Did i install it wrong? is my thermostat defective? or should i get one that opens up sooner? thanks again for the help guys.

you can test the tstat. drop it in a boiling pot of water. if it opens your tstat is good.
you can also check the temp it opens in a similar manner.

they also sale "head gasket leak detector" or some sht like that at auto parts store. its a few bucks.
fill up with new water, drive until it starts to creep above normal, pull over and suck some radiator fluid up into the "tester" (or follow the directions lol)

it will then tell you if you have combustion byproducts in your coolant and therefore a bad HG

BUMP for update on the first page, 1st post.

you do not have to remove the engine to change the headgasket... be careful with the timing belt though... i changed my head and head gasket with the block still in the car.... the jiggle valve i believe is just supposed to be at the top if i can remember right... i don't remember anything about a notch...

This post has been edited by pittfirefighter: Mar 17, 2009 - 7:14 AM

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great, thanks for your help. Ill get back on it and ill update. thanks!

pull the manifolds, alt, intake piping, TMIC, valve cover, it should be pretty obvious once you get the intake mani and valve cover off

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I got almost all of that off... i still need to remove the intake mani and valve cover off. Im gonna pull the motor out this weekend. i have a lot of crap to do to the motor since its gonna be broken down sooo much... replace hoses, filters, cleaning the engine bay etc. what an F-ing headache.

thanks for the heads up

now i just need to find the torque specs and torque sequence on the head studs