What would cause this Nightmare!

[supersupramk3]

I have an 89t, had my blown head gasket replaced at a local shop about 6 months ago. At the most I probably put on 400 miles on the new Felpro head gasket. Im real cautious and have been babying the motor the whole time. He seemed really knowledgeable and was pretty confident about the job. Then 4 days ago I look down at my dash and I was pinned past (H). I pulled over and was overheating badddd! I had the car towed home and looked under the oil cap...all milky oooze. Another Nightmare has happened. I took the car back and the mechanic said it was not his fault. He refused to repair the damages because he only has a 90 day warranty. Now I'm screwed out of $1500. This time Im planning to do this myself. Question? Look at the pictures to see if this was installation error on the mechanic OR is my motor so warped that it caused it. Im very new to head/block issues so help me out fellas! I also have never uploaded photos...so let me try. lol *no luck*

basically the whole exhaust side has a pushed up or bunched up on the coolant passages!

 

[LilMissMkIII]

Gotta upload the pic from your pc first, and then pop the img codes in

 

[Flateric]

I'm curious if the head was re-torqued after the initial install?

 

[grimreaper]

what all did the mechanic do exactly? tq specs, check head warpage etc....

That milk shake oil you have would have ME saying screw it and pull the whole thing for a rebuild. Tha amount of oil/coolant mix is eating those bearings like a fat kid with cake...

At the very least jdubs balls to the wall kerosene flush should be done...

 

[Flateric]

I think I read somewhere that it only takes 2% water in your oil to reduce it's ability to lubricate by 50%. So ya, I'd get the oilly milkshake outa there asap. Your overflow tank, was it pumped right to the top?

 

[grimreaper]

^ 400ppm, if you can see it, its in the thousands of parts per million...

Commentary on rod knock after a HG swap

I've seen dozens, no probably HUNDREDS of cars develop rod knock after a head gasket repair.

The common (incorrect) assumption is that the new head gasket provided higher compression and the additional force on the worn out old bearings cause a failure. In a word, bullshit.

What the real cause is, 99.9999% of the time is coolant in the oil. Now before you go and discount this, understand a few things:

Many tests have shown that as little as 0.04% (400 PPM) water in lubricating oil can cut the fatigue life of bearings by as much as 48%.

Moisture is generally referred to as a chemical contaminant when suspended in lubricating oils. Its destructive effects in bearing applications can reach or exceed that of particle contamination, depending on various conditions.

Water may cling to metal surfaces or even form a thin film around solid contaminants such as silica particles. But by far the most damage is done when 'etching' occurs.

Water etching is a common type of corrosion occurring on bearing surfaces and their raceways. This corrosion is caused primarily by the generation of hydrogen sulfide and sulfuric acid from water-induced lubricant degradation. Yes, you read that right water (and anti-freeze) when mixed with oil and heated inside an engine combine to form acid. This eats away the soft surfaces of your bearings in no time.

(Ever notice that a Supra with a BHG for any length of time will have rust in the coolant? - Guess what - the coolant has become acidic by mixing with the exhaust gasses that are getting into the water jacket!)

Remeber your bearings are never supposed to "touch" anything but oil. The bearings ride on a very thin layer of oil. Once there is some etching, the oil pressure drops (since the etching has provided the oil with a place to go other than where it is supposed to be) and eventually the bearing touches the rotating surface. After that it's all over.

Did you do your head gasket replacement with the motor out of the car? Did you drain 100% of the coolant from the motor before you removed the head? Did you pull the oil pan while changing the gasket? If your answer to any or all of these is no, I'll bet coolant contamination in the oil was the culprit.

 

[supersupramk3]

alright fellaz look at this I got it!

 

[supersupramk3]

The head was never retorqued...The mechanic torqued to about 64lbs. He said that he felt the block was too old to be torqued to 70lbs. Also he said the head looked fine and no warpage. Im not sure if he just eyeballed it or what.

 

[Flateric]

thats absolutely a blown HG. I believe it is best practice to torque the head initially to above the stated toyota specs as they are now believed to have been low. I also think it's best practic to go back and retorque the head (not sure of timeframe, anyone got good suggestions for this?) after awhile to be sure it's still right after the HG squishes out and settles a bit.

 

[Angry7M]

The head was never retorqued...The mechanic torqued to about 64lbs. He said that he felt the block was too old to be torqued to 70lbs. Also he said the head looked fine and no warpage. Im not sure if he just eyeballed it or what.

Is it the mechanics fault that you werent keeping track of your temp gauge?

 

[supersupramk3]

after taking the head off, out of 14 head bolts 3 were pretty much hand tight. At the most about 15-20lbs. Right by cylinder 3 and 4. Im really thinking the gasket didnt fail, but instead he forgot to tighten them down.

 

[IJ.]

Too old to be torqued correctly?

WTF is he taking and can I have some please?

 

[supersupramk3]

Is it the mechanics fault that you werent keeping track of your temp gauge?

So you're saying that all mechanics work are fail proof??? I checked my temp gauge periodically, but what happened was pretty much instant. No prior symptoms.

 

[Angry7M]

So you're saying that all mechanics work are fail proof??? I checked my temp gauge periodically, but what happened was pretty much instant. No prior symptoms.

No I didnt, the mechanic deffinetly messed up for not knowing the correct torque.

So it overheated instantly?

 

[supersupramk3]

here you go more pics

 

[supersupramk3]

No I didnt, the mechanic deffinetly messed up for not knowing the correct torque.

So it overheated instantly?

It went from the 4 oclock position to Pinned at H within maybe 15-20 mins of driving on the highway

 

[LilMissMkIII]

LOL @ your "mechanic"

 

[Flateric]

Well, IMO the mechanic didn't do his job properly....1st he admittedly didn't torque it to spec for whatever crazy reason...age of block, this is a new excuse I've never heard before. He should have also probably re-scheduled you for a check and retorue also but this is not a standard practice but most reputable shops in this area do it.

Unfortunately you are very likely to get anywhere with the shop covering costs for a bucket of reasons. Don't use em for anything again though.

Sounds to me like a retorque would have gone a long ways towards prevention here though.

That also looks like a stock HG, which can be fine but not under the conditions it was asked to perform here. I would still spend the extra couple a bucks for a metal HG anyways just for piece of mind myself.

 

[rayall01]

I'd definitely say it was mechanic error, as there appears to be water incursion in all cylinders to varying degrees. That would be due to improper surface prep, or improper torque values. I've never seen a head gasket blow in all the cylinders at the same time, on any engine, much less a 7M. He fucked you blind on this deal, and you can tell him I said so. Has any machine work been done to the block or head? If not, it may still be salvageable. Do some research, and find a reputable machine shop in your area, preferably one that's familiar with the 7M. I hope you have good luck fixing this, man.

 

[supersupramk3]

Yeah, im never going to that place again. I orderd a MHG from greddy already. Im going to send my head to get checked out for warpage and maybe mill if needed. Also on order are ARP bolts. The idiot I believe reused my original head bolts for the head gasket job. Any input on how i can prep my block gasket surface safely for this rebuild? This was a very expensive lesson for me and this time Im going to dive in and get my hands dirty.