Congratulations to me! I think I may have encountered my first blown head gasket.
Thank you. Thank you. It was nothing really.
Well, I just finished putting my 3VZ-E back together last month after doing some overdue PM and clean-up. Even with 295K on it and no rebuilds, she ran great - in fact, as good as ever. Those Toyota guys really do some things well.
But, last week, the 4Runner ran rough for the first couple of seconds after start-up in the morning and, then, it would smooth out. It got a bit worse over the course of days (took as much as 30 sec. to smooth out the idle) until this morning I was never sure it really ever smoothed out completely. It still ran okay, but something didn't 'feel' right as I drove to work.
Same deal on the way home tonight - it didn't feel right. Then, it was dark and my neighbor was behind me on the way to my house and I noticed the dreaded smoke behind me in his headlights. I have never seen this before in the 14 yrs I have owned the vehicle and I am thinking it is not a good thing.
I get home and start going over some things. I check the oil and it looks beautiful. So, I am thinking induction. I checked out a few items (mass flow meter, throttle position switch, blah, blah, blah) and then made my way to the ingition. Coil is good. Distributor pick-up coil is a bit out of spec but it just doesn't seem to be enough to be the problem.
I am scratching my head and thinking compression test this weekend.
By now, the engine has cooled enough to pop the lid on the new radiator I have just put in and she's low on coolant. Also, the cap looks like it may have some oil on it. Not sure, though and I cannot swear I completely filled the system when I put it all back together. Perhaps some air was trapped in it (dream on baby.) So, I put a bit of coolant and distilled water in the radiator, enough to fill it up, and as I pull the funnel out, there is not doubt in my mind of what I see floating on top of the coolant. Oil.
So, blown head gasket . . . right? What would cause this? Can they just wear out? The truck has never overheated in its life. I am thinking it just wore out but, like I said, this is all new to me.
Oil in the coolant but no coolant in the oil (I think it may all be on my neighbors windshield). Does this sound about right?
If so, how do I fix it? Just pull the heads, replace the gaskets, and slap the heads back on with new bolts? Anything else I should take a gander at while I take this thing apart (again)?
Thanks for the help. I really need it on this one.
Luther