stupid cheap ebay gaskets

[supraduper]

so im not sure if it was the cheap ebay head set or if it was the fact that i only torqued the head bolts to 58 ft lbs... but i blew my head gasket between 4 and 5 cylinder today while driving...

it sucks only had 5k on the rebuild...

but when i assembled it, all i had access to was the factory manual. so i used those specs to torque to... im so dumb...

that and the fact it was a 100 dollar gasket set wasnt a recipe for longevity...

so word to the wise.. you get what you pay for...


however i am glad it didnt blow coolant into the oil as i was far away from home!

arrrgg!!

 

[mecevans]

brand?

 

[akito]

I don't know which kit that you bought but my guess would be the amount of ft lbs that you had the HG torqued to. I think it was 75lbs that the head was suppose to be torqued down. But i dont remember the exact number so dont quote me but i know 58 lbs was the factory spec from toyota.

 

[hvyman]

stock repair manual say 58 ft lbs which should be about 72 ft lbs. but if your buying the cheapest hg and torquing to 58 its not going to last long.

 

[OfnaRcR4]

It was probably the incorrect torque that caused it.

 

[supraduper]

yea im a turd.... no doubt about that... i think it was an "evergreen" brand??

i bought the car with a bad hg replaced it with a high quality gasket set like a 300 dollar one but it was too late and it had a rod knock.. so when i bought a new block and had the head redone i cheaped out b/c i didnt want to spend the 300 again... found the gasket set on ebay and thought it would be ok....


as i was assembling the engine... i thought that the 58 seemed low as i read multiple times that, that was the cause for all the oem HG woes... but for some dumb ass reason i did it anyway..

drove it with every intension of pulling the valve covers eventually and upping the torque... but waited too long i guess... god im a turd

 

[hvyman]

you learn from your mistakes.

 

[mecevans]

5 heat cycles and anything over 72 and i think you would have been fine. i bought the same set too and im wondering whether to use it. if you could post up a photo or cool that would be cool.

 

[hvyman]

did the rear timing cover have a lip over the block?

 

[Poodles]

did the rear timing cover have a lip over the block?

Blew between 4 and 5 so not going to be the issue...

To the OP: Did you use the stock headbolts? Did it blow between the cylinders (sounds like that's what you're describing)? What other mods (turbo, boost, ect)?

For what it's worth if it was stock everything and the stock headbolt torque spec it shouldn't have blown.

 

[T-MA71]

The other gaskets from that set aren't that bad but the HG is a no go. It doesn't have the copper rings for the cylinders or coolant passage holes. To me it feels like construction paper (My bro has one somewhere around here that obviously we weren't going to use). But sucks for you man, i feel your pain. My engine started knocking too and is in need of a rebuild.

 

[supraduper]

rear timing cover?

there is an upper and lower timing cover... but i think i know what your referring to.. and no there was no lip and if there was i would have had a problem sooner and the dead cyl no 4 and 5 wouldnt be a result of that problem...

i will take some pics tomorrow when i rip it apart.. i hope it is just a blown head gasket and not a cracked block or head or some whack shit like that... that would really suck... i used my boroscope and the piston is still good, at least thats not cracked or anything. just couldnt see the head to block mating surface..

im looking at the bright side... at least i am going to take this opportunity to finally replace the valve cover bolts and or threadlock them bitches because they always loosen up and the gaskets keep leaking all over my beautiful head and block..

 

[supraduper]

poodles, it was a stock N/A rebuild nothing fancy, oem head bolts.

and yes it must have blown between the cylinders as there was no coolant loss and/or mixing with the oil.

did the compression test and came up with 10 psi in both 4 and 5

did a cyl leak down test and heard the whirring of leaking air out of the adjacent cylinder.. hoping its just the gasket..

i am assuming it is b/c it happened after i was racing back to work after a failed doctors appointment where i went to the wrong place. i was going 85 for 10 or so miles consistantly going WOT passing people

 

[suprarx7nut]

I have an evergreen head gasket literally hanging on my wall. That's about all it's good for.

I got the head gasket set, bought a real Toyota hg and used the evergreen one as a wall ornament.

To the OP, you had a few fatal flaws working against you that we know of, probably more we dont know about:
-Don't use cheap head gaskets. The gaskets kits can be fine, but get a real head gasket
-Torque to the correct load. In this case that would be a minimum of 70ft-lbs.

 

[supraduper]

yep suprarx7nut, those two flaws, the ones i stated in my original post. yes, i am well aware. but thanks for confirming .

as for the other flaws you suggest im not mentioning?

the block was decked, measured, and honed
the head was rebuilt and planed

two good mating surfaces that should have been ideal for a long headgasket life... but as we all know, shitty gasket, low torque, and high revving. not very good idea

 

[suprarx7nut]

yep suprarx7nut, those two flaws, the ones i stated in my original post. yes, i am well aware. but thanks for confirming .

as for the other flaws you suggest im not mentioning?

the block was decked, measured, and honed
the head was rebuilt and planed

two good mating surfaces that should have been ideal for a long headgasket life... but as we all know, shitty gasket, low torque, and high revving. not very good idea

Just to be clear, I'm in no way inferring you made more mistakes or anything.

My comment was aimed at the fact that you had a supposedly good mating surface on both the head and block, but it still blew. Torque spec was off, cheap gasket used, but even with those, I would hope an NA would last longer than 5k.

Beating on the motor probably didn't help, but I've beat mine pretty good. I set the cruise for 105mph through Utah for 30 mins at a time on a road trip and I generally floor it when I get the chance and mine's holding strong on a 300k mile block and a head of about the same use. :dunno: I'm over 40k miles into my HG repair.

 

[hvyman]

Blew between 4 and 5 so not going to be the issue...

saw that the first time but over looked it the other times my bad.

 

[supraduper]

i can imagine setting the cruise at that fast around here... the cops are pretty much nazis around here... overfunded nazis at that, were lucky to not get pulled over going 70 in a 55..

i dont know what the deal is.. but i will find out tomorrow what happened..

your right i should have gotten more than 5 k out of it... as the oem gaskets made it 50-100k before blowing... i am still gonna blame it on the gasket... we will surely see though... hopefully i get some pics up tomorrow

 

[Poodles]

Usually burning through between cylinders takes a bit more than that...

 

[Kckazdude]

Poodles, once you see these gaskets it is easy to understand the problems. It has no cylinder reinforcements to speak of and is really flimsy. I am surprised it made it past the first engine warm up myself.

To the OP, sorry you had to live and learn the hard way.