'96 Tacoma head gasket question

At least pull the spark plugs. Do they have coolant on them? You can
borrow a leak-down tester at some local parts stores free (with
deposit). Use shop air to check for leaks. When my bulletproof Ford
3.8L blew a head gasket from a radiator problem at nearly 300K miles,
it ran quite rough. Pull the plugs and there was coolant!!



On Jan 30, 4:43 pm, Nza <the....RemoveThis@yahoo.com> wrote:
> reckon i'll find out when i pull it apart..
 >> Stay informed about: '96 Tacoma head gasket question 

So how did the shop find out? I hope not by looking at the truck!!

On Jan 30, 10:45 am, Nza <the....TakeThisOut@yahoo.com> wrote:
> A friend has a '96 Taco with the 5VZ. He says he was driving and the
> truck started misfiring. He drove it to a shop from there.. *he
> says* only about 2 miles. The diagnosis was "blown head gasket"....
> The engine hasn't been taken apart yet... I assume the mechanic just
> did a compression test.
>
> I checked the oil and it's not soupy... didn't see oil in the radiator
> either. I didn't see any obvious signs on the engine of leaky fluids
> except for oil from the driver's-side cam cover gasket
>
> My question is: Does it seem likely it will only need a head
> gasket? Seems to me that would be getting away too easily....
 >> Stay informed about: '96 Tacoma head gasket question 

On Jan 30, 11:55 pm, johngd... RemoveThis @hotmail.com wrote:

> So how did the shop find out? I hope not by looking at the truck!!


I don't know what they did... the person who owns the truck has no
idea about cars beyond putting in gas and turning the key....

I'll pull the plugs after i trailer it to my house..

and yes, I do realise that leaky cam cover gasket is unrelated.
 >> Stay informed about: '96 Tacoma head gasket question 

Nza <thenza DeleteThis @yahoo.com> wrote in news:b55e5cad-3039-464a-81f9-
3daf4a4e83dd DeleteThis @v46g2000hsv.googlegroups.com:

> A friend has a '96 Taco with the 5VZ. He says he was driving and the
> truck started misfiring. He drove it to a shop from there.. *he
> says* only about 2 miles. The diagnosis was "blown head gasket"....
> The engine hasn't been taken apart yet... I assume the mechanic just
> did a compression test.



You don't determine a failed head gasket from a compression test, but a
pressure test. And that means shop air fed into the spark plug holes with
the valves closed.


>
> I checked the oil and it's not soupy... didn't see oil in the radiator
> either.



Usual signs:
1) Bubbles in the expansion reservoir
2) Overfilled reservoir combined with low coolant in the rad
3) Overheating during prolonged idle that is only solved by revving the
engine.



> I didn't see any obvious signs on the engine of leaky fluids
> except for oil from the driver's-side cam cover gasket


Unrelated.


>
> My question is: Does it seem likely it will only need a head
> gasket? Seems to me that would be getting away too easily....



How did the shop determine it was a failed head gasket?

--
Tegger
 >> Stay informed about: '96 Tacoma head gasket question 

On Thu, 31 Jan 2008 01:32:16 +0000, Tegger wrote:

>
>> I checked the oil and it's not soupy... didn't see oil in the radiator
>> either.
>
>
>
> Usual signs:
> 1) Bubbles in the expansion reservoir 2) Overfilled reservoir combined
> with low coolant in the rad 3) Overheating during prolonged idle that is
> only solved by revving the engine.


My Suby's got BHGs and NONE of those signs appeared!

However, one of the HGs was leaking coolant visibly. No oil in the water,
no water in the oil...
 >> Stay informed about: '96 Tacoma head gasket question 

I trailered the Taco to my house last night and this morning pulled
the plugs and did a compression test.

1 - 120 - pressure leaked down quickly
3 - 140 - leaked down, but not as fast as #1
5 - 160

2 - 160
4 - 165
6 - 170


Looks like I'll be removing the cylinder heads. There's some smut in
the radiator, so I'll carry that to the rad shop.

This truck has an insecurity system installed from the factory. How
the hell do I disable the fecal matter? I'll be standing there
working and have to open the door for some dumb reason and the
fricking thing starts honking the horn and flashing the lights.
 >> Stay informed about: '96 Tacoma head gasket question 

"Nza" <thenza.RemoveThis@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:67c2fa31-eddb-414e-b7ab-991712df6ba8@d4g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
>I trailered the Taco to my house last night and this morning pulled
> the plugs and did a compression test.
>
> 1 - 120 - pressure leaked down quickly
> 3 - 140 - leaked down, but not as fast as #1
> 5 - 160
>
> 2 - 160
> 4 - 165
> 6 - 170
>
>
> Looks like I'll be removing the cylinder heads. There's some smut in
> the radiator, so I'll carry that to the rad shop.
>
> This truck has an insecurity system installed from the factory. How
> the hell do I disable the fecal matter? I'll be standing there
> working and have to open the door for some dumb reason and the
> fricking thing starts honking the horn and flashing the lights.

If the pressure leaks down quickly, I would suspect a valve that is not
closing.

To disable the security system, disconnect the battery.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)
 >> Stay informed about: '96 Tacoma head gasket question 

On Feb 1, 3:05 pm, "Ray O" <rokigawaATtristarassociatesDOTcom> wrote:
> "Nza" <the... RemoveThis @yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
>
> If the pressure leaks down quickly, I would suspect a valve that is not
> closing.

Either way, the cylinder head needs to be removed.

> To disable the security system, disconnect the battery.

This is my brother's truck now, so I was looking for a way that is
more convenient than disconnecting the battery every time you drive
some where and step out of the vehicle for 30 seconds. If this is
the only way to disable the security system, that is really stupid.
The only thing they are good for IMO is running down the battery.
I've personally never seen anyone that was helped by a car alarm going
off. Most of the time what people automatically think is "turn that
damned thing off!"
 >> Stay informed about: '96 Tacoma head gasket question 

"Nza" <thenza DeleteThis @yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:931eef0a-8f45-4b08-9ed4-015d12acc24f@m34g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
> On Feb 1, 3:05 pm, "Ray O" <rokigawaATtristarassociatesDOTcom> wrote:
>> "Nza" <the... DeleteThis @yahoo.com> wrote in message
>>
>>
>> If the pressure leaks down quickly, I would suspect a valve that is not
>> closing.
>
> Either way, the cylinder head needs to be removed.

I agree, which is why I didn't try to discourage you from removing the head


>
>> To disable the security system, disconnect the battery.
>
> This is my brother's truck now, so I was looking for a way that is
> more convenient than disconnecting the battery every time you drive
> some where and step out of the vehicle for 30 seconds. If this is
> the only way to disable the security system, that is really stupid.
> The only thing they are good for IMO is running down the battery.
> I've personally never seen anyone that was helped by a car alarm going
> off. Most of the time what people automatically think is "turn that
> damned thing off!"

Sorry, I misunderstood your description. I thought that the security system
was being triggered when you re-entered the truck. Most Toyota factory
systems will automatically arm passively when the door is locked. If the
door is not locked, the security system should not arm itself. If the
system is arming even if the door is not locked, then the system is not
factory or one of the door lock sensors or lock position sensors is not
working properly. The factory security ECU is probably under the driver's
seat. Try unplugging the harness connector from it.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)
 >> Stay informed about: '96 Tacoma head gasket question