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1AD-FTV DIY Head Gasket Repair


Kennycab
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Hi there, I'm new to the site and am in need of some help or advice. My car is a 2007 Avensis 2.0 TR with the 1AD-FTV engine.

I have had my car 18 months and it has always used a little coolant, lost maybe a half inch in the level of expansion bottle every 5,000 miles, so I have just topped it up as needed. Also uses a little over a litre of oil every 10,000 miles. I have just kept my eye on it and topped up to keep it near the full mark, covered about 50,000 miles like this, no other problems.

At the weekend I checked the levels and found the coolant was down below the LOW mark, and there were signs of coolant having leaked out from where the cap clicks into place on the expansion bottle. I topped it up, have used the car and checked again Monday, level had dropped again. To rule out false readings (my drive is sloping) I parked on a level and topped up again. Used the car today and checked the level, not moved much but the radiator fan is covered in coolant below the overflow pipe, so it seems some leakage from there too.

First thought was perhaps faulty cap but hoses are really quite pressurised so perhaps head gasket. I have searched and found most people who have posted about their cars have had a dealer repair under extended warranty but my car is 10 years old and well past the age limit for Toyota assistance, so I am on my own with regards to fixing it. I intend to check the water pump in the next day or so but will be surprised if that causes coolant to leak out of the tank.

So I thought I would post to see if anyone has been in a similar position and has fixed their car themselves. I have experience of engine rebuilds, probably have most of the tools and can get help from a local engine reconditioners if needed. Questions that spring to mind are:

What parts are needed ?

Are they all main dealer only or are some pattern parts ok to use ? I have seen FAI and Blueprint do a head gasket set, but have also read that the newer gasket is a bit thicker and reduces the compression ratio, anyone used this kit ?

I understand there are modified pistons and rings, are they a must to change ? Has anyone tried fitting new rings to the existing pistons ? Perhaps that would cut down on oil usage somewhat and, combined with the new lower compression ratio gasket do the trick ? I have had a Corolla 1.6 vvti that burnt lots of oil rebuilt with new rings and it used none afterwards.

Can the work be done leaving the engine in the car and accessing bearings by removing the sump and other parts or does the engine need to be removed ?

Are any special tools needed ?

Alternatives might be replacement engine, can I get one out of a later car like 2010 onwards that has had the fixes inbuilt from the factory ? If I got a full unit with most ancilliaries would they all need removing and replacing with my originals or are there many bits the same ?

Sorry if any of my questions sound daft, just trying to cover everything.

If anyone has done this then I would appreciate whatever help or advice you could give. I don't have much choice but to repair it really.

 

Many thanks

 

Kenny

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Since the original post I have done a lot more reading and now know the answers to some of my questions. In summary, my understanding is that the head gasket problem will most likely be caused by gasket shuffle, which will have worn the faces of the head and block. As they cannot be skimmed they are unrepairable. This will mean I need another engine. I won't know for sure until I strip it down but this is what I expect to find.

I will do the stripdown next week and take photos or video then post it here for people to see. If the head and block are ok then I will just replace the gasket, my car's oil usage is only 1 litre per 10,000 miles so this is far from excessive so I won't bother with pistons or rings or anything else.

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Here are a couple of photos of the engine bay with the tell tale coolant spots on the engine cover. To prevent the coolant going all over the radiator fan from the overflow pipe I have fitted a longer pipe and an old 1 litre coolant bottle with a hole drilled in the cap. After 89 miles about 400ml had overflowed which I was able to pour back into the expansion tank bringing the level back up to full. Although there are quite a few spots on the engine cover from the cap leaking, nearly all the coolant must leak out of the overflow.

DSCF3953.JPG

DSCF3952.JPG

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A litre of oil per 10,000 is very low so I'd say if you can get away with the block and head surfaces you'll have a good chance of a workable motor for quite a while there. Nice mod for catching the coolant on a temporary basis! Please post pics when you have the head off, I'd be very interested to see the status of the surfaces and of the head gasket itself. How many miles total has the vehicle covered and do you know if the coolant was ever changed? I'm very interested in how coolant replacement affects head gasket lifespan in aluminium headed engines.

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As said that oil consumption does seem OK, I have replaced many dozens of head gaskets over the years but non on Toyota, I find it difficult to understand why people say they shouldn't be replaced, I would certainly give it a go. good luck with it.

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My plan is to post pictures and commentary - invite comments etc - on here as I go along. The car has 110,000 miles on the clock, it had 53k on when I got it. I don't know for sure of the coolant has ever been changed, it's always used a little from time to time which I have topped up with pink long life coolant from the motor factors, not the Toyota stuff. Coolant is pink and always has been so if it's been changed then it's most likely just got that stuff in rather than genuine Toyota coolant because the service history prior to my ownership was all done by independent garages. I don't know what colour the Toyota coolant is.

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My brother said he knows a taxi driver who has a 2.2 which has had a head gasket go and was repaired, a 2006 I think, that was a couple of years ago and it has been fine since so it must be possible on some.

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It may have had the Toyota Super Long Life coolant, where the first change would have been due at 10 years/100,000 miles (whichever occurred first). Subsequent changes due at 5 years/50,000 miles.

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2 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

It may have had the Toyota Super Long Life coolant, where the first change would have been due at 10 years/100,000 miles (whichever occurred first). Subsequent changes due at 5 years/50,000 miles.

Well whatever it has had will be getting drained out this week and not used again whether or not I can fix this engine or it has to have another, along with the engine oil and oil filter. I'll look in the service history later to see if there's any mention of it having been changed.

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Does anyone know if the head can be removed with the engine still in the car ?

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2 hours ago, revband said:

As said that oil consumption does seem OK, I have replaced many dozens of head gaskets over the years but non on Toyota, I find it difficult to understand why people say they shouldn't be replaced, I would certainly give it a go. good luck with it.

It's not that the head gasket shouldn't be replaced but that if there is damage to the head/block Toyota say that they should not be skimmed.

As far as we know though some people who did not qualify for the Toyota remedial programme did have their heads/blocks skimmed & seemed OK.

 

2 hours ago, Kennycab said:

 

My brother said he knows a taxi driver who has a 2.2 which has had a head gasket go and was repaired, a 2006 I think, that was a couple of years ago and it has been fine since so it must be possible on some.

Or it qualified for the official replacement programme.

1 hour ago, Kennycab said:

Does anyone know if the head can be removed with the engine still in the car

Devon Aygo will.

However, just replacing the gasket probably will not address the cause. That is why the Toyota programme included replacing other parts.

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sorry pressed send by mistake. Hammering due to carbon build-up caused but oil consumption. In this case the oil use is really quite low which is why I think if he can fix the issue maybe even with a light skim he may have a serviceable engine for sone time. I suppose we'll know more when the head is removed.

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According to Devon Aygo there was more than 1 issue & they were fixed/remedied at different times.

I do agree that in his case it is not displaying the usually accompanying high oil consumption so he may have just  a "normal" head gasket failure rather than one from carbon stamping. As you say all will be revealed when the head comes of ...

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On 05/02/2017 at 4:50 PM, Heidfirst said:

It's not that the head gasket shouldn't be replaced but that if there is damage to the head/block Toyota say that they should not be skimmed.

As far as we know though some people who did not qualify for the Toyota remedial programme did have their heads/blocks skimmed & seemed OK.

It's good to hear this has been done, perhaps I have a chance of fixing it. I understand the potential for the face of the block and head to be damaged, the machine shop near me are very good though, hopefully it's ok or can be lightly skimmed and a thicker gasket installed.

Or it qualified for the official replacement programme.

No, he had it repaired at an independent garage as far as I know, and he had to pay for it to be done.

Devon Aygo will.

However, just replacing the gasket probably will not address the cause. That is why the Toyota programme included replacing other parts.

 

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Doesn't look as if I will get a chance to strip it down this week, I have too much on, but Monday or Tuesday next week are looking promising,,,

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  • 1 month later...

Ok well it's been quite a few weeks since I last posted here, I would have liked to have done the job before now but things have kept getting in the way.

I have now covered over 3,000 miles since the car started losing coolant through the overflow and cap. It has been using about half a litre per 100 miles, most of which was captured in my overflow bottle and put back in each day. The coolant in the bottle was turning blackish and gave off a strong exhaust smell.

Yesterday I went to my local Toyota dealer and ordered a head gasket set (everything except the head gasket) and a new head gasket, these arrive tomorrow. Went for the five notch gasket as advised by the dealer, might lower the compression ratio slightly depending on what gasket is fitted now but that should be ok and it means I could order it before taking engine apart.

Alternative was to use FAI parts from motor factors (who had everything in stock !) but only a few quid cheaper than Toyota parts. FAI head bolt set is much cheaper though, but will wait and see condition of removed bolts before deciding if needed or not.

Started work on it this afternoon, here are a couple of pictures showing my starting point:

 

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I started by removing the plastic underguards from engine and gearbox, then draining the coolant. Radiator drain plug is on the Battery side, the white plastic nut showing in the picture. Loosening with a 12mm socket let the coolant out, to a waiting bucket underneath. Surprisingly not much sign of the black tinge.

To make sure I got all the old coolant out, I refilled with warm water, ran the engine for a minute with heater on and drained again. Then done it all again so there was just clear water draining out.

 

Draining-Coolant.JPG

Old-Coolant.JPG

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Started to remove parts from the engine, EGR pipe and valve were one of the first.

A fair build up of carbon in the valve, even more in the manifold ! A thorough clean required here..

 

EGR-Pipe-Removed.JPG

EGR-Valve.JPG

EGR-Manifold.JPG

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Also disconnected Battery, airbox to turbo pipe, and all electrical connectors on top half of engine. The crank and cam sensor wires are fiddly and I had to remove the cam sensor then unclip wires afterwards. Look out also for the 10mm bolts that hold small brackets at the brake master cylinder corner of the engine, there are a few of these to undo before the wiring can be winkled out carefully from the back of the engine.

Alternator wiring was undone from underneath the car, a plastic cover on the main wire flicked off with a flat screwdriver exposes the 10mm nut, undo this and the wire can be taken off. A push in block connector also removed from alternator whilst underneath.

The next picture shows where I got up to before it was beer o'clock :biggrin:

Status-220317.JPG

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Tried to log on to the Toyota Tech website and buy some time to look through a manual and record some important bits like torque settings but could not get it to work. Pressing submit button after entering username and password results in nothing happening. Perhaps site is down, will try again tomorrow.

Last time I looked there was no manual for the 1AD-FTV engine in my model, only for the newer shape from 2009 onwards. The fuel injection, turbo and exhaust / cat / dpf is different to mine but I was hoping the main bits like head bolt settings are all the same, anyone able to confirm or help me get to the correct manual ? Subject to me being able to log on again of course.

Many thanks

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Got the access sorted out to Toyota Tech, clearing cache needed, and managed to find some info on my engine / car combination. 1AD-FTV stuff seems to be mixed in with 2AD-FTV and 2AD-FHV.

Continued removing parts, now have everything attached to the engine removed inc exhaust manifold, egr cooler, cat, turbo, fuel pump, vacuum pump, just the stuff driven by serpentine belt, engine mounting, rocker cover and injectors to remove then it's time for the engine internals to be worked on.

Here are a couple of pictures showing the mess left by the egr system, there has to be a better way to reduce NoX then this !

Number 2 glow plug is also looking a bit worse for wear, corresponds with the inlet ports being the most clogged up. Number 4 is quite clean in comparison, probably because the egr port in the inlet manifold for number 4 is blocked with soot.

You can't see from the pictures but the valves also have a lot of carbon built up on the stems, going to take a good bit of cleaning up.

Hoping to have head removed tomorrow sometime. Job has took a long time, most of the items at the back of the engine related to exhaust and turbo were difficult to access with the engine in the car but every nut and bolt so far has come off without rounding or shearing off, pretty good for a 10 year old car with 113k on the clock.

 

Inlet-Manifold.JPG

Inlet-Ports.JPG

Glow-Plugs.JPG

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  • 5 months later...

hi i have the 2AD FVH and was wondering what the settings are for the head bolts please

 

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Also very interested. Have the same problem :)

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