Air bubbles in Coolant overflow tank after head gasket change

[hbasavar]

Hello everyone,

I did a head gasket replacement on my 93 Camry V6 (3VZ-FE) myself and what an ordeal it was to get that done. But after completion, for the love of god , I am still seeing air bubbles in the coolant overflow tank. It does not start when the engine is started but once the water pump kicks in, I see one mid size bubble every 3-4 secs. Once I turn off the engine after a minute or so, I see a full gush of bubbles and then it stops.

So, my questions are

1. Am I still burning coolant? If yes, where did I go wrong.
2. I see one of my radiator cap worn and the rubber has become like plastic and may not be sealing properly. Can this cause this to happen?
3. I am watching the coolant levels and I cannot confirmly say that I am loosing, but looks that way. No white smoke in the exhaust yet.

There was no crack in the head and the heads were shaved before I put them on. I used Ebay CNS Auto parts head gaskets. The gasket remains were cleanly scraped out before I put the new ones on. So, I am puzzled, frustrated and dissappointed. Where can I go from here?

Thanks for your help!
Hemanth.

[Toysrme]

It's possible that you are. Warm the engine up & check the compression.
You also must bleed the system very well. Burp burp burp...

[felonyr301]

at least get a new radiator cap, mine was doing the same thing and it was the cap but its probably not the main problem but caps are cheap so might as well.

[toyomoho]

Rather then guess at having a coolant leak have the system pressure tested and the coolant checked for exhaust gases.

[davemac2]

As already recommended, do a block test to check for presence of exhaust gases in the coolant to make sure those bubbles are not related to a bad cap or other air leak. How did the old head gasket look? Were you ever able to determine which cylinder was the culprit? (ie. a leakdown test can help here.) What was the condition of the block's gasket mating surface? Any pitting? Did you inspect the cylinder sleeves for any cracks when the head was off? (Again, a leakdown test with the engine warm may be able to detect these problems.)
Are you sure you torqued the head down properly?

dave mc