Whispy smoke or maybe steam - Was head gasket - Fixed

Re: Whispy smoke or maybe steam (maj)

Wed, 09 Apr 2014 11:47:28 GMT

Awesome to hear!

Re: Whispy smoke or maybe steam (Shaz)

Wed, 09 Apr 2014 10:45:34 GMT

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Got my baby back yesterday afternoon. A couple of hundred less than I was expecting. $ 2082
She is running great & sounds so much better too.

Re: Whispy smoke or maybe steam (Shaz)

Thu, 03 Apr 2014 10:14:49 GMT

She was almost ready to come home yesterday. I called just before I left work & they said not quite. Got her all back together & going. When they checked the oil pressure they weren't happy. Not enough pressure. May have been a tiny bit of something fell in. So they took apart again. Now waiting on another head gasket. Lots more work for them, but no extra charge to me. Just means it could be Monday before I have her, depending on when the gasket arrives.

Re: Whispy smoke or maybe steam (Shaz)

Fri, 28 Mar 2014 21:59:13 GMT

Head is at engine place. They gave me the option of repair or recondition/rebuild head. Decided to pay the extra and get it done properly. Yes, they know to use genuine or other good quality stuff. Red coolant will be used.

Re: Whispy smoke or maybe steam (purple5ive)

Fri, 28 Mar 2014 11:09:08 GMT

well def looks liek water enetered for sure, pic 2 shows the mark really well.
im sure your mechanic is a good guy, but please tell him to use toyota red coolant when its all doen and ready, as currently i can see you have green coolant in there
cheers

Re: Whispy smoke or maybe steam (Nik_Lee)

Fri, 28 Mar 2014 11:05:34 GMT

I would also change your coolant cap whilst your at it because if it is not keeping the correct pressure in the cooling system that can also add to cavitation erosion so the cheap cost of a new coolant cap is cheap insurance.

lol, sorry if I got carried away there Shaz, these are just things I deal with on a daily basis. " />

Re: Whispy smoke or maybe steam (Shaz)

Fri, 28 Mar 2014 10:58:59 GMT

Nik_Lee
Shaz
Head is off. He pointed out the 1 little chip in one cylinder. & how the bottom end (is that the block??) had 1 cylinder that was shinier/cleaner that the rest because water had been getting in there. Was good to see when they lowered the hoist that the boot was covered with good thick cloth cover & there were other bits in the engine bay covered as well.

Hi Shaz,
It's a bit hard to tell from the photos but that little chip you speak of in the cylinder head almost looks a bit like its been caused by cavitation erosion which can be caused by incorrect coolant conditioning. The shape of that pit mark looks like it is encroaching on the fire ring sealing face so I hope they are going to weld it up and machine back that face to repair it.
Also it would be a good idea to get the head pressure tested, hopefully there are no other holes like that elsewhere in the coolant passages where they cant be seen.

hhhmmm, "coolant conditioning?, cavitation erosion?, fire ring sealing face?", lol............. no idea. but still open to trying to learn what things mean.

but, yes he did say the engine place would more than likely weld it, and has always said that it would be pressure tested, check for cracks, etc & machined. he also said he would be completely flushing the coolant.

I am confident that he knows what he is doing.

Re: Whispy smoke or maybe steam (Nik_Lee)

Fri, 28 Mar 2014 08:34:21 GMT

Shaz
Head is off. He pointed out the 1 little chip in one cylinder. & how the bottom end (is that the block??) had 1 cylinder that was shinier/cleaner that the rest because water had been getting in there. Was good to see when they lowered the hoist that the boot was covered with good thick cloth cover & there were other bits in the engine bay covered as well.

Hi Shaz,
It's a bit hard to tell from the photos but that little chip you speak of in the cylinder head almost looks a bit like its been caused by cavitation erosion which can be caused by incorrect coolant conditioning. The shape of that pit mark looks like it is encroaching on the fire ring sealing face so I hope they are going to weld it up and machine back that face to repair it.
Also it would be a good idea to get the head pressure tested, hopefully there are no other holes like that elsewhere in the coolant passages where they cant be seen.

Re: Whispy smoke or maybe steam (dasic1)

Thu, 27 Mar 2014 23:14:47 GMT

The bottom end covers the block, crank, rods and pistons. Basically what is left in your car. Pic1
Cylinder is the 4 large round holes in the block that the pistons travel up and down

Re: Whispy smoke or maybe steam (Shaz)

Thu, 27 Mar 2014 19:17:01 GMT

Head is off. He pointed out the 1 little chip in one cylinder. & how the bottom end (is that the block??) had 1 cylinder that was shinier/cleaner that the rest because water had been getting in there. Was good to see when they lowered the hoist that the boot was covered with good thick cloth cover & there were other bits in the engine bay covered as well.

Re: Whispy smoke or maybe steam (maj)

Tue, 25 Mar 2014 12:09:52 GMT

Work on a head usually costs in the region of $600 for a machine shop.

+1 for all being done in engine bay. I tore down my engine myself in the bay since I had no engine crane to work with, with the intention of it being just a head gasket. This was also my first engine teardown outside of a lawn mower.

Turned out the whole engine needed refresh so I ended up just putting a trolley jack underneath the block, detached the block from the transmission then had my wife lower the trolley jack whilst I was still in the engine bay holding onto the block to make sure it didn't fall over and hit anything. Was tedious to remove everything in the bay, but it's totally achievable, just takes a lot longer.

Re: Whispy smoke or maybe steam (Reddtarga)

Tue, 25 Mar 2014 10:25:41 GMT

track_mr2
Yeah maybe 2k is the worst case senario then, if they need to shave the head cus its warped or do valve work etc...

Yes that's probably the case.
I would expect the head would need to be crack tested, and the gasket surface dressed.
Also new valve guides and seals, and valves re-seated.
A couple of years ago I had all of that done on a 3sge head and it cost over $600 for machine shop work alone.

Also, as well as head work the radiator and coolant system would have to be looked to find out why this happened.

Re: Whispy smoke or maybe steam (Shaz)

Tue, 25 Mar 2014 08:57:14 GMT

Dudeman
Shaz
"I love my little blue 2, she is worth it. I love my little blue 2, she is worth it".

video=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oug3zySe1Y

lol, thanks Dudeman.

Re: Whispy smoke or maybe steam (track_mr2)

Tue, 25 Mar 2014 08:47:10 GMT

Shaz
That's right, not rebuild motor. Check head for cracks, etc, & do the thing that needs to be done. hone?? or something like that I think he said. He mentioned gaskets & kits & other bits that will go in as well. Timing belt was done at 199000 in Oct 2012. New clutch November last year. The have in the past overquoted & I have been pleasantly surprised when I've gone to pay.
Timing belt job for example, they told me $800 - $850. They charged me $560.

Yeah maybe 2k is the worste case senario then, if they need to shave the head cus its warped or do valve work etc...
I thought you were getting a full rebuild done for 2k so the clutch if easy to change while its all out but this will just be pulling the head off and putting a new gasket on (plus all the other gaskets they will change as part of pulling it apart). I don't thik your cylinder head will have any issues, its not like you were driving it with the temps boiling. You have done a lot of km's however so they might end up changing valve springs or maybe even reseat them depending on what needs doing. Should be all good if its any more then 2k that will be a bit of a worry though.

Re: Whispy smoke or maybe steam (Dudeman)

Tue, 25 Mar 2014 00:38:45 GMT

Shaz
"I love my little blue 2, she is worth it. I love my little blue 2, she is worth it".

video=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oug3zySe1Y