Way OT...water in oil!

[stllookn]

I just had my world turned upside down tonight as I changed oil in my trusty daily driver...Toyota 4X4 that I have owned since new...I found white water emulsion in the filler in the valve cover! I just had to add water to the rad this month when I found it low...so now I know where it was going! I checked the plugs and most of them have white desposits on them like they were running hot but it did not over heat when it was low on water.

Anyone ever do head gaskets on a Toyota V-6 DOHC with FI? Is it a pain? Is it a weekend job or longer?

This bites!!!!!!

[oldyeller]

you should be able to do it in a weekend if you have the parts, just be sure to check the heads for cracks and make sure the they are not warped.. good luck

[Piston]

Thats a pretty big job there. Those are a PITA when it comes to the upper intake plenum, you've never seen so many things attach to an intake before. Without going into a ton of details on this engine, one main thing would be the timing belt, tensioner, waterpump and timing belt idler. Be prepaired to replace all of them. MAKE SURE you time the camshafts and the crank BEFORE putting the heads back on. You'll bend a valve in a heartbeat.

I believe the book time on a job like this is 14.8hrs and it takes almost all of that

[stllookn]

14.8 hours...ouch! I read the Chiltons manual (what a mess) and those aluminum heads have to be de-torqued in sequence! I don't think I want to pay a dealer to do this...expensive!!!! How long do you suppose I can run it watching the oil to make sure there is no lower end damage before I have the work done? A month?

[Piston]

Well, I will just tell it like it is... seeing this type of thing before on these vehicles:
DO NOT DRIVE IT.
If its already hit the point of contaminating the oil (milky color), its begun doing slight damage to the bearings, the more you drive it, the worse damage it will do.
Unlike the older engines, which loose the lower end first, these will sieze a camshaft or gauld the camshaft seats in the head. There are no bearings, only the aluminum itself. So if any damage is done to the surfaces in the head, you'll be find another head

I'm not saying all this to scare you, its just a fact with these engines.

Keep in mind, sometimes your driving habits (short trips) can cause condensation in the oil filler cap. See if you can reach under the cap area in the valve cover to see if more of the "Goo" is in there. But if your having to add fluid also, chances are good you have a headgasket problem.

Good luck with it, let me know if I can help ya. If you decide to tear into it, pm me and I'll give you my phone #. If you get into trouble you can call.

[superchevy]

Might be easier/cheaper to swap in a low mileage salvage yard engine.
SC

[oldsub86]

what motor is it? If it is the 3.0 then it is a single overhead cam (one per bank of cylinders). The 3.0 is a non interference engine which means you won't damage valves if you time it wrong. The 3.0 is prone to head gasket problems and it appears that Toyota is still willing to fix or replace engines from about 89-95 so you might want to check with a dealer to see if your truck has been done. Some people report getting new blocks as there is sometimes etching of the deck that causes problems.

[Piston]

'96 and up used a 2.7DOHC or a 3.4 DOHC
What year is this vehicle, stllookn? There could be some warrenty in there somewhere... good call!

[BLACK AND BLUE 67-72]

If it is a 4 cylinder then it could very well be your timing chain chewed a hole in the cover behind it letting water into the motor oil, instead of a blown head gasket!! I've seen 6 Toyotas do that very thing!!

[Piston]

Yep the 22re were very good for that. Timing chain gets so much play it would break the guides then start rubbing on the cover. Have not seen one in a while, Not to many older vehicles in our area....

[progress]

Mine in a 1989 3.0 V-6 (3VE). I had the warranty head gasket fix about 7 or 8 years ago whenever they sent the notice. I bought it new from the dealer and have changed the oil every 3,000 miles or 3 months whatever comes first. It is still tight and runs great. I checked under the valve cover and there is no emulstion there. It was only in the fill cap and the breather tube to the air intake. I checked the right side recently when I replaced the PCV valve and there was none there.

The problem was not there 3 months ago and was not there even a month ago when I added a little oil. It just started recently when I noticed the radiator was low...just below the core but it only took about a quart to fill it. I filled the expansion tank too. That was last weekend. This weekend when I changed the oil I noticed the expansion tank was down about a pint or so. The crankcase oil is fine and the is no emulsion under the valve cover either...just the cap and the 1/2 inch breather hose.

I wonder if it might be a cracked head instead of a head gasket. It never got hot...the water was just a little low in the rad. This caused the sensor to misbehave and send a funky signal to the computer so it was idling funny. That went on for about a week until I found the low water in the rad. I will let it sit for now I guess...maybe only short trips 1 mile or so. I would hate to lunch the top end.