1. Home
  2. Toyota Camry
  3. Replacing the Head Gasket on My '93 V6

Replacing the Head Gasket on My '93 V6

I have a pretty nice '93 LE with the V6. Lately it has puffed white smoke, particularly when I crank it. Occasionally I detect a hint of coolant. I thought it was possibly a leaking heater core but it still happens even when the heater is shut off. The car has 164K miles on it. After reading post after post about head gaskets I am inclined to believe it could be my problem. I spoke with my mechanic and he quoted my $1,700 for the repair (20 hours of labor). I am mechanically inclined and think I have the necessary equipment to perform the job. Besides "Get a REAL mechanic to do the job", what other advice does anyone have before I do this?

I think I will go ahead and replace the timing belt because it is getting close and it appears that I will be peforming 9/10ths of the job anyway. The same goes for the water pump. Anything else? Any "gotchas" I need to know about?

Thanks,

Nick

Reply to
Nicklin
Loading thread data ...

That puff of white smoke could very well be leaking valve stems, especially at this mileage. Not that big of a deal. Are you losing coolant? Replacing the head gasket is a big job. I almost did my wife's V6 93 camry a few months back, but the block had some severe pitting on the head mating surface, discovered of course after removing the head. I decided to replace the engine.

Before you decide for sure you want to pull the head, go get a leak tester from your auto supply store (ie a decent one). This is a device which is a test chamber you place over your overflow or rad cap opening with blue test fluid inside. You stick a vaccum bulb on top and suck air/gases into the chamber from the coolant. If exhaust gases are present in the coolant, it turns from yellow to blue. It works very well and can detect a very small leak in the head gasket. It goes for around $35, and IMHO is worth every penny. As well, either buy or make a cylinder leakdown tester to determine which head gasket is leaking (if a V6) so you don't have to pull both.

I think changing the timing belt is a lot easier and less work than doing the head, but maybe others can verify this claim here?

dave mc

Reply to
davemac

If you're going to waste so much time on fixing an engine with 164k miles, you might be better off getting a used engine with less miles.

Reply to
Roger

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.