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My truck is freaking out!

it started with the engine surgeing, then i noticed blueish/white smoke coming from my tailpipe! and gurgling from behind the dash, i thought '' great, a head gasket '' when i got it home i poped the hood, and see radiator fluid coming from the overflow. i pulled the PVC Valve hose and the engine stalled. i put on a new Valve but it did not help.i restarted the engine, and opened up the oil cap and the engine dropped from 750 rpm's to about 300 rpms. strange! i then pulled it in the garage and did a compression test ( sunpro compression tester) 1st 2nd and 3rd cylinders are 150 psi and the 4th is at 140. im thinking that the problem might be ... 14 months ago i installed a reman head, and may not have torqued the head bolt to the proper spec as i had a cheesy t-wrench, could this have caused gasket damage? that is just now surfacing. So my question is...can i retorque the head bolts? Or, dose anyone know what the problem might be?

Thanks for your time.

P.S. it"s a 1990 Toyota 4x4 pickup with a 22RE Engine, & Manule trans

Reply to
wdw1990
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Yes, that sounds like a head gasket, esspec with the blue-white smoke. Look at the plugs: is one of them cleaner than the rest?

Surging happens when you get a BIT of coolant into a cylinder: it provides a bit more O2 and makes the engine run better until the amount H2O just wets the spark out.

Pull the head now, because it will only get worse, and you risk overheating and warping the head.

SD

Reply to
Stewart DIBBS

I agree with Stewart, it sounds like a head gasket leak. If you inspect the plugs as Steward suggested, #4 may be cleaner than the rest, and if you drain the oil, it may have a milkshake appearance from coolant mixing with the oil. If the oil has a milky appearance, the proper repair would be to pull the head and replace the head gasket.

I would not re-torque the head bolts. Some engines use what are called plastic region head bolts, and in the overall scheme of things, head bolts are not that expensive. Make sure you tighten the head bolts in the sequence in the repair manual because the incorrect sequence can cause problems that show up later.

Reply to
Ray O

I am not convinced it is the head gasket. If the smoke were blue, that could be oil. The girgling does indicate that exhast gas might be getting into the coolant. Definitely check the oil. If it is white, well, it is probably the head gasket.

If the oil is not white, it is probably the head gasket. But it could be oil getting into the cylinders, say through the rings.

Anyway, it costs a few hundred for a reman head, one or two hundred or so for the gaskets and misc. parts.

Why did you use a cheesy torque wrench?

That's like buying a new computer and connecting to the internet through dial-up when you can get cable or DSL.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

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