Reasons for coolant in exhaust.. not bhg

[Setheroo]

Why would there be coolant dripping from my exhaust if I didn't have a bhg? I just finished pulling off my head, and I was expecting to find this terrible old stock head gasket. But instead... the thing looks to be brand spanking new.

The engine I bought only had 120K on it, and I just got it going to drive it home, and I took it for the 600 mile journey... and made it home and when I woke up the next morning there was this pool of coolant in my driveway.. in fact two seperate pools of it.

One pool was dripping right out of my open header (yes I ran it open header for the ride home because my exhaust was falling off.. that is getting fixed as soon as I get it back to running). The coolant was only dripping from the tubes running from the last three cylinders.. so I immediately said to myself that it was that wonderful old number 6 cylinder.. especially since this thing wasn't running the EGR (previous owner blocked it off, and that is something I am reinstalling as well).

The other pool of coolant was coming from towards the front of the engine... and I personally couldn't track down where that was coming from... it was on the power steering side... and it was dripping from the top of the engine down, and was falling right off the power steering pump itself.. I really don't believe that it was my water pump.

The overflow tank went empty close to 30 minutes before I got home... I kept driving just to make it home... it was 4am and the car wasn't overheating.

I knew that when that overflow tank went empty.. that something was wrong... and I knew I was going to have a wonderful Christmas break trying to fix this thing.

Now let me inform you also... that this engine wasn't put back together all too perfectly. I noticed quite a few things that have really made me scratch my head and wonder how exactly it lived through a 600 mile trip. For one the injector wiring definetely did not alternate connector colors as they should... explains that dreaded check engine light/misfire. That and one of the head bolts... definetely was a bit rounded out (wanna have yourself a good time, yeah, try getting out a head bolt that doesn't have much of a hex head left on it).

Could it be possible that if the head wasn't torqued down correctly that I could have had symptoms of bhg?

Just food for thought. Thanks you all.

 

[IJ.]

Cracked Turbo centre housing maybe.

 

[Setheroo]

Cracked Turbo centre housing maybe.

When I look at what section of the forum I am in, it makes me kinda laugh.

I sadly do not have a turbo.

I wish I had a cracked turbo center housing... it would mean that I had a turbo...

Thank you though IJ.

 

[Frank Rizzo]

This is a picture of inside your EGR cooler, Toyota felt the need for a plug sealing the coolant from the exhaust gases. Why they did not cast over this, well maybe IJ can tell us that.

If my memory serves me correctly its a 17mm allen head. Not that I took mine out.

And the leak in the front is coming from the thermostat housing or more than likely the water outlet housing where it bolts to the cylinder head, the piece that the thermostat housing bolts to.

And I don't see how anyone could get any substantial amount of torque applied to that one head bolt without a head, so you can pretty much bet it had a BHG before you tore it down, so maybe the EGR cooler theory doesn't apply to you.

 

[Nomad707]

sounds like a whole mess of things. bhg, bad p/o

 

[IJ.]

When I look at what section of the forum I am in, it makes me kinda laugh.

I sadly do not have a turbo.

I wish I had a cracked turbo center housing... it would mean that I had a turbo...

Thank you though IJ.

DOH sorry about that I'd hit "NEW POSTS" and hadn't looked at the section!!
<self owned>

 

[Setheroo]

Thanks for the replies. The only part of the EGR that seems to be missing is the pipe that goes right from the EGR outlet to the intake manifold... and on the manifold all it has is some homemade block off plate made of nothing more than mild steel... leaving all of my exhaust gases just getting blown onto my intake manifold... its the only part of my manifold thats pure black.

240 dollars to get my head fully done... sound reasonable?

 

[Dan_Gyoba]

I would say: Step 1. Verify that it is indeed coolant in the exhaust, and not just water. Water is a natural byproduct of hydrocarbon combustion, and therefore, we should not be surprised that there is some in the exhaust.

If it is coolant, then there's a limited number of places that it can get into the system.

1. Intake. The only place that I know of where the intake comes close to coolant is in the throttle body. This would cause a number of other bad things, including possibly hydrolock, which is a much bigger problem.

2. Head/head gasket. A cracked head, linking the cooling jacket and the exhaust port perhaps? Again, the number of options here is small.

3. EGR Cooler. IMHO, this is grasping at straws, but the EGR cooler does connect to the exhaust and does contact coolant. If the intake manifold is blocked off, then at least you aren't getting coolant into the intake, but this means that the head casting is/may be compromised.

The most likely cause, is of course the head gasket. What have you done to eliminate this as a possibility?

 

[Setheroo]

I would say: Step 1. Verify that it is indeed coolant in the exhaust, and not just water. Water is a natural byproduct of hydrocarbon combustion, and therefore, we should not be surprised that there is some in the exhaust.

If it is coolant, then there's a limited number of places that it can get into the system.

1. Intake. The only place that I know of where the intake comes close to coolant is in the throttle body. This would cause a number of other bad things, including possibly hydrolock, which is a much bigger problem.

2. Head/head gasket. A cracked head, linking the cooling jacket and the exhaust port perhaps? Again, the number of options here is small.

3. EGR Cooler. IMHO, this is grasping at straws, but the EGR cooler does connect to the exhaust and does contact coolant. If the intake manifold is blocked off, then at least you aren't getting coolant into the intake, but this means that the head casting is/may be compromised.

The most likely cause, is of course the head gasket. What have you done to eliminate this as a possibility?

I tasted the coolant from the exhaust... it was very sweet... I knew right away that it was in fact coolant.

I am taking my head to a machinist here locally to get it checked for cracks and everything... I don't have all the stuff to do it here at home.

Now there is one thing that concerned me a bit... that I haven't even been able to identify myself.

There are small pools of brownish liquid in my intake runners... and I don't even know how to describe the taste... its not gasoline - I tried to ignite it to see if it would burn... and it doesn't... it seems to be oil?!

I'm not the best technician in the world, but I know well enough that oil should not be in my intake runners. Especially not pools of it.

This engine I bought sure is getting scary... I don't even want to know what the bottom end of it looks like...

 

[Nomad707]

why did you taste coolant??? why did you taste brown stuff when you dont know what it is? :yum:

its probably just cracked... why don't you send pics of the surface of the head and block with the HG???

 

[cuel]

The oil could be coming through the vent tube from the valve covers to the intake. Blow by maybe creating to much pressure, and pushing oil through the pcv.
If the head bolts weren't torqued correctly, the head gasket will have problems.
The big allen bolts in the head that go to the coolant passages... no clue.

 

[Dan_Gyoba]

The head should be checked with a dye penetrant to see if it's cracked. You can't always see cracks.

Stuff can get into intake, oil in particular through the PCV system. This isn't ideal, however it's within the realm of normal. You can also get some condensation in the intake which makes for a pretty yucky mixture.

I would discourage any tasting of unknown liquids. There are some pretty nasty things as byproducts of combustion, and NOBODY needs what it can do to you. Cancer comes to mind pretty quickly...

Now that being said, if the coolant was in the combustion chamber, it would be burnt, and the glycol would be carbonised. Unlikely to still be sweet, but since I've never tasted it, I wouldn't know for sure.

At this point, EGR looks more likely, but in any case, you're looking at major head work. I'd basically scrap that head and look for something to replace it with. Another head is likely to be cheaper than repairing that one.

 

[IJ.]

I would discourage any tasting of unknown liquids. There are some pretty nasty things as byproducts of combustion, and NOBODY needs what it can do to you. Cancer comes to mind pretty quickly...

.

WOW!
just wow at the need for Dan to have to post this.....:nono:

 

[Kckazdude]

There are small pools of brownish liquid in my intake runners... and I don't even know how to describe the taste... its not gasoline - I tried to ignite it to see if it would burn... and it doesn't... it seems to be oil?!...

Ummm..wow. Yeah, I dont want any further explanation of this.

 

[Setheroo]

You all are crazy... shouldn't taste fluids... lol

Now I will not come out and say that it's healthy, I know that it isn't. But there are a lot of times where taste can help you identify what exactly you are working with.

ATF for example, that can cause cancer from over exposure... and you don't even have to taste that in order to have it effect you.

People have tasted stuff for years and years to figure out what things are... yeah, it very well could cause cancer, but these days... what the hell doesn't?

I am getting the head sent out tommorow. I will see whats up with it pretty soon.

I can't take pics right now... the family took the digital camera with them on vacation. Sorry.

 

[greensupra_87]

cracked head (very common)
cracked block
look inside exhaust runners do the all look the same color?

 

[cuel]

Smelling it wouldn't work? There is a reason chemicals have a very specific scent added to them. Each one is different.

 

[Setheroo]

Smelling it wouldn't work? There is a reason chemicals have a very specific scent added to them. Each one is different.

Scents go away sometimes... while tastes... those stick around.

 

[Frank Rizzo]

The big allen head bolts in the top of the head I am not talking about, we all know Toyota had issues with the spark plug gallery, there are 7 plugs in the top of the head, 3 coolant, 4 oil.

It's the big ass one in the picture that has me baffled. Maybe they had to drill the passage to reach the coolant gallery? I don't know, but it's about the worst place to put it.

Obey your thirst!!!

 

[Setheroo]

Obey your thirst!!!

I guess that I will try... lol.