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Head Gasket Gone :(


thestubee
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Hi All,

I've got a 57 plate 2.2 Diesel XT-R Rav 4.3 with a blown head gasket. I know this because it's loosing coolant through the overflow and I've tested the coolant for exhaust gases which proved positive. This is the dreaded 2AD engine and so I believe and a common fault where Toyota would simply have replaced the engine. So, been to a local garage and have been quoted £1,600 to have it replaced, head skimmed etc.

I'm pretty competent around the car and usually do most stuff myself so was wondering how difficult a job replacing the gasket in a DIY fashion actually was? I cannot seem to find any information/guides relating to the Diesel engine. The Haynes manual for the 4.3 appears to me not much use either, is there anything better out there giving step by step instructions as the old Haynes used to do?

Thanks all,
Stu

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The reason that Toyota would replace the engine foc under the extended warranty programme for this issue is that they say that these head/blocks shouldn't be skimmed. Unfortunately you won't know if there is damage to the head/block until you are committed.

Only a very small % of AD engines actually develop the problem but of course that is no solace if yours is 1 of the ones that do!

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Thanks for the reply. That's the first anyone has mentioned about not being able to skim. 

The way i see it at the moment is that I have nothing to lose then, so is this a job that can be attempted DIY? Any kind of process instructions anywhere?

thanks, Stu

 

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Although Toyota do not support skimming the head - it is possible, in many cases, to lightly skim and use a slightly thicker Toyota gasket. This aspect has been covered previously. You need to be careful using an independent who may not be aware of the detail - you can't simply skim the head and do nothing else.

However, if your engine uses a significant amount of engine oil, you may well get a repeat failure of a gasket. You can buy an hours access to the Toyota workshop manual for a couple of £'s and download the section you need. This will give you an idea of what's entailed - it's not an easy job but neither is it a £1600 job as you've been quoted!

How many miles has the car done?

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As I understand - from following posts on the subject rather than 'real' experience - the blown head gasket may be no more than a symptom of the problem with the 2AD engine rather than the issue itself. So sorting the gasket may provide a temporary respite only.

You can skim the head if needed but, if you do, you must fit a thicker head gasket to make up the difference. Head gaskets are available in a range of thicknesses ...

Edit: gjnorthall posted while I was typing and knows far more about this subject than I ... 🙂

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1 hour ago, gjnorthall said:

Although Toyota do not support skimming the head - it is possible, in many cases, to lightly skim and use a slightly thicker Toyota gasket. This aspect has been covered previously. You need to be careful using an independent who may not be aware of the detail - you can't simply skim the head and do nothing else.

However, if your engine uses a significant amount of engine oil, you may well get a repeat failure of a gasket. You can buy an hours access to the Toyota workshop manual for a couple of £'s and download the section you need. This will give you an idea of what's entailed - it's not an easy job but neither is it a £1600 job as you've been quoted!

How many miles has the car done?

OK, no problem, used various thicker gaskets in my time on various morotcycle engines to get the right "squish" - same thing I supposed as long there is sufficient clearance from the valves.

Other than the practically empty coolant bottle after every long drive, there are no other symptoms of failure. No creamy engine oil cap, no loss of oil, no burning of oil, no blue/white smoke. In fact the car drivers perfectly and the temp gauge never goes beyond half way. The only reason I know it's gone is because of noticing the empty coolant when topping up the washer fluid! 

As for the miles, it's done 86,000 ... Nothing for a diesel really and it's a great car that I'd really like to keep if possible - £1600 is a bit steep though hence the DIY route. I'm not fussed if it takes a couple of weeks as I have another car to use whilst the Rav may be in bits.

Thanks for the tip of the Toyota manual, I will do that and see what's involved before making a decision. Where can I find that?

cheers, Stu

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Go to    www.Toyota-Tech.eu for the workshop manual. It's a good sign if the engine isn't burning oil - this may be a straightforward gasket failure rather than the "carbon stamping - gasket shuffle" issue. (there was an issue originally with gaskets being incompatible with the coolant).  If you search the forum - theres a way of checking current gasket thickness so you can determine how much leeway you've got. The idea is to skim the absolute minimum to remove any damage and give the correct finish for gasket mating.

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Excellent, thanks for all the details, really helpful. I'll do some searching and download the manual bits for starters..

cheers, Stu

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Here's the Toyota parts manual so you can see the different thickness gaskets etc    http://www.japan-parts.eu/toyota  If you register yourself the input your car's VIN - you'll go straight to the sections relevant to your car.

 

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On 8/7/2018 at 10:14 AM, thestubee said:

OK, no problem, used various thicker gaskets in my time on various morotcycle engines to get the right "squish" - same thing I supposed as long there is sufficient clearance from the valves.

Other than the practically empty coolant bottle after every long drive, there are no other symptoms of failure. No creamy engine oil cap, no loss of oil, no burning of oil, no blue/white smoke. In fact the car drivers perfectly and the temp gauge never goes beyond half way. The only reason I know it's gone is because of noticing the empty coolant when topping up the washer fluid! 

As for the miles, it's done 86,000 ... Nothing for a diesel really and it's a great car that I'd really like to keep if possible - £1600 is a bit steep though hence the DIY route. I'm not fussed if it takes a couple of weeks as I have another car to use whilst the Rav may be in bits.

Thanks for the tip of the Toyota manual, I will do that and see what's involved before making a decision. Where can I find that?

cheers, Stu

Hi Stu, I had the very same problem as you are describing but only when I was towing my caravan. This was a few years ago now when my mileage was at 45,000, now at 121,000. Anyway, I took it to my local Mr T garage and told me the head gasket had gone and needed to be replaced. Well, I told them that the engine should be replaced with this symptom and they said no we will just replace the gasket. So that is what they did and the car was fine. After about 3 weeks of problem free driving, I received a phone call from my Mr T to say they needed the car back as they should not have changed the gasket but should have just replaced the engine with a two thirds new one using my old head. Anyway, what I'm saying is that with just the gasket change all was fine, but don't know how long it would have lasted for. The thing is the car may not be worth spending money on a new engine but if you can do a DIY job replacing the gasket that might be worth it. When they changed my gasket they didn't skim the head. 

Best of luck,

Dave

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  • 2 weeks later...

You don't always have to skim the head, only if it has warped or otherwise been damaged. It is a last ditch attempt at salvaging an engine if you ask me; to be avoided where possible. 

Take the head off, put a good straight edge all over the block and head, if there are no gaps then just clean and refit. 

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Obviously one should avoid skimming if at all possible and a machine shop will give an opinion having examined and blued the head. However in the case of a gasket failure on this engine, there is usually evidence of gasket shuffle or small sections of the gasket have embedded themselves - almost like flakes of aluminium foil stuck to the surface. In addition, it's important to get the correct surface finish to mate the gasket. Hopefully, if the job is done correctly, the head will not need to be removed again in the lifetime of the car.

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