Just another Head Gasket vs Engine replace Thread

This is how the same generation 3 bit me I've been driving Toyota's for 47 years and I didn't do my due diligence on the generation 3 and got bit hard actually twice won't ever happen again I'll say that this is just a poor design don't know exactly what all went on Don't really care I know it has something to do with this engine And it's Atkinson cycle timing and valve train The engine seems to consume its own puke like a bird does and then well that pretty much helps take out the head gasket creates hot spots whatever it does it does and this is what you get so my thing with these is is you buy one new you run it $140 $150k trade it in for something else and you don't get bitten the next person does or what have you which is not your problem In the grand scheme of things and hence why you see a lot of these cars for sale very quickly they're everywhere If the cars in really good shape and you can justify the five or six grand at the time you're finished with all this then by all means go ahead the likelihood of the same mileage and the same problem again is very high that is not Toyota in the last 47 years in my eyes so we won't be touching any of these vehicles in this model range You've got a lot of thinking and soul searching to do they're cute cars interiors don't do very well by the time you put an engine in this thing and do all this work then you'll be starting to work on interior pieces that are falling apart and wearing out maybe none of this matters and you'll drive it until you're sitting on seat frames I don't know people will do certain things because they want to. I just went right back to the generation twos and all the problems have gone away for us here. Looks like 2010 was the year that planned obsolescence went into full effect with Toyota so unless it's a truck or something we're probably going to stay away from new Toyota's going forward we've always had the best luck in the highest mileage was used Toyotas.

 

Saving gas cost a lot of money. Get a leak down test done before declaring it a money pit next.

 

There’s a good possibility the seller added a stop leak product to the coolant, to temporarily mask (failing head gasket) symptoms. Depending on circumstances, might be worth going after them in court. If you’re stuck with it, you should get the coolant system flushed. A 50/50 mix of white vinegar and water is recommended by one stop leak product manufacturer, fwiw.

Get the EGR system thoroughly cleaned too.

 

I went with a JDM engine. Could not recommend it more highly. My wife’s 14-driving-hours away right now in the car, actually. Could not recommend a 4th gen engine swap highly enough.

No startup rattle, slightly more power, and fuel economy went up 3 mpg on the first tank.

 

To clarify: you swapped in a used, 4th Gen engine from Japanese Domestic Market, likely low miles?

 

Correct. You commented on the thread I was posting in last week.

My JDM motor’s cooling systrm was plumbed for coodifferently than all of the JDM engines we’ve seen, it is running much cooler than a lot of the guys whose swaps had issues with that, and I used the 4th gen’s egr cooler & liquid-cooled valve.

I reduced the EGR pipe’s diameter through the magic of MIG welding until it flowed correctly, and it’s running phenomenally with quite a bit more power & fuel economy than the old motor.

 

What ID did you settle on?

 

Oh… round about this size, give or take a few smidgens.

Welded it down to around 1/4” with the expectation to go back in with a carbide burr and open it up if needed.

Turnes out… this works perfectly. Drives like it came off the assembly line this way.

Did this where the pipe enters the intake. The one you can remove in five minutes and clean out when needed.

 

You could just bolt a fiber exhaust rated washer in there or gasket material shaped the diamond shape of the flange you have there and put a hole in it that you want If you didn't want to do the welding or didn't have a welder and all of that just a piece of exhaust gasket with two holes knocked in it for the bolts and the calibrated diameter in the middle like you made just for other people that want to do it quickly without welding and that sort of thing this is kind of like making a restrictor plate for your thermostat hole and your thermostat housing like they using NASCAR cars It's a plate with a I don't know 3/4 hole cut in it maybe with no thermostat innards in it so the water just flows through that thermostat calibrated hole but never closes or opens Very good so hopefully your wife will run the s
Hale out of the car like most of them do and we'll get to see how this engine holds up realizing the only difference from the Gen 3 and the Gen 4 some sleeves and some baffles and some oil control rings I think so if that cleans up all the problems that should be pretty cool at least now you're not regurgitating as much puke as the original Gen 3 with the big honk and EGR valve in the big holes pouring EGR gas to choke your motor well your case now is choking my motor I guess Toyota figured out that maybe that wasn't a really good thing to be doing

 

Is the period key broken on your keyboard? Wow!

I got the gist of it, however.

The 4th gen engine was appealing because I was back on the road in 12-14 hours of total time spent wrenching. At $1800, it’s similar in cost to rebuilding one right. And it had 144,000 fewer miles than my motor did. Along with showing up with the revised pistons and rings already installed, obviously.

Mostly I thought it’d be fun. I did dozens of the piston / ring jobs on these cars at the dealership, but the swap was something entirely new.

Best of all… I’m now keeping my eye out for a 3rd gen with a thrown rod or similar. Score it cheap, rebuild my motor and throw it in, and have a car for the wife.