new engine needed??? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

93XLEcamry · 03-08-2009, 03:08 AM

ok...so after driving work, i was driving home, and noticed that there was a huge amount of white smoke coming from my exhaust...and i mean a lot..lets just says this...its dark out like 10 pm...and i can see the white smoke...

a few mins later i turned up the heater and noticed that there was no hot air coming in...the car was overheating...

i then refilled it with water and drove it home with the white smoke coming out of it...

i checked the oil cap and i wasnt sure if it was mixed with coolant or not, but it sure did looked like it...again im not sure how oil mixed with coolant looked like, you guys says it looks "milky" but i'm not sure how milky looks like...is that some white liquid with oil???...

my dad said it might be the water pump...i'm thinking its a blown head gasket...

so my questions are:

1)if it is a faulty water pump, does that cause any white smoke to come out of the car??..and how would i know if the water pump is not working??

2)if i do replace the head gasket, and there is a chance that coolant might actually already be in the engine..will the car still function well???

or should i just get a new engine...if so, which one, and is there a reliable source to get new engines...

i olny want new engine at a last resort thing...so please help

oh its a 93xle v6 camry if that matters

Stillrunning · 03-08-2009, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 93XLEcamry

...i'm thinking its a blown head gasket

Yes, or cracked head, unless the smoke was from coolant leaking ON the exhaust. If it definately was coming out the END of the exhaust then not just a coolant leak. Lift the hood and look for coolant leak.

Quote:

2)if i do replace the head gasket, and there is a chance that coolant might actually already be in the engine..will the car still function well???

Just drain and change the oil/filter before starting. Then maybe again after a couple hundred miles.

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or should i just get a new engine...

I doubt it and not necessary at this point until you remove the head and isolate the problem.

93XLEcamry · 03-08-2009, 12:58 PM

so i concluded that there is water in the engine...

this morning, i refilled with water and water came out the exhaust....lots of water came out...

the oil is milky now...

so what is needed now????

is a new engine the only way to go now??

DFBonnett · 03-08-2009, 01:26 PM

Not necessarily. Best thing would be to pull the head and see what is going on. Likely the headgasket failed but it could be a cracked head. Replacing that is still less expensive and less hassle than buying a used engine which may or may not be only marginally better than the current engine.

93XLEcamry · 03-08-2009, 02:25 PM

would the engine still operate normally even after the pourage of the coolant through the exhaust??

if i replace the headgasket...will it still work?

camryvibe · 03-08-2009, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 93XLEcamry

would the engine still operate normally even after the pourage of the coolant through the exhaust??

if i replace the headgasket...will it still work?

If the problem is just a failed gasket (which is likely but needs to be checked), then the engine should be fine and run just like it did before once you get the head gasket replaced. What's the mileage on the engine and did you already experience any engine-related problems before this incident? Unless you have good reasons for suspecting other engine damage or if the current problem is more serious than a bad head gasket then I'd see no reason to think of replacing the motor. Head gasket replacement is a pretty routine repair. Having the coolant water mix with the engine oil is clearly not a good thing, but it won't usually result in immediate major engine damage. Get it fixed ASAP and you should be fine.

Luckynumber5 · 03-08-2009, 10:44 PM

Pay more attention to the temperature guage, it is there for a reason

You need to drain the oil asap and flush the engine with some cheap oil. When oil and water mix the mixture will end up destroying every bearing in the engine, so do it!

replacing the gasket is a pretty in depth job and most shops will charge a nice chunk of change to do it right, you should replace the timing belt, water pump, and all associated pulleys as well as the head gasket and a full set of head bolts.

Might just want to look at a new engine, they can be had pretty cheap.

norcalcam · 03-08-2009, 11:04 PM

if you are planing on keeping the camry a while then i would get a new enigne, and maybe a 5speed swap if you have enough money

93XLEcamry · 03-09-2009, 12:19 AM

i have 180k on the engine......and as long as i had the car, there was no problem with the engine...if there was mixing doesn't that mean there is a crack somewhere??

how would i determined if its bad enough for me to replace the engine or if its fine just replacing the head gasket??

thanks lucky#5, i will drain it tomorrow...

oh yea thanks for replying guys..

Stillrunning · 03-09-2009, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 93XLEcamry

i have 180k on the engine......and as long as i had the car, there was no problem with the engine...

Quote:

Might just want to look at a new engine, they can be had pretty cheap.

Why would he want to replace with a used engine that has NO known maintence/trouble history?

Quote:

how would i determined if its bad enough for me to replace the engine or if its fine just replacing the head gasket??

Blown head gaskets happen every day and are fixed just fine. Pull the head and examine the gasket and inspect the head for flatness and crack. Far cheaper to fix a HG than replace the engine. If you've looked after this engine then 180k is low mileage. Source for exchange/replacement head:
http://www.cylinder-heads.com/

Quote:

thanks lucky#5, i will drain it tomorrow...

No rush as long as you don't run the engine. Oil and water don't mix. If you pull the head more water will run into the oil galleys anyway. Bearings will be fine.

davemac2 · 03-09-2009, 01:31 PM

If you have caught the head gasket problem early enough, then you will probably be fine replacing it on this engine. However, from your description, this sounds like a bad HG leak, so I'm wondering if this may have been leaking for quite a while and you did not notice it because you only do local driving and/or don't inspect your oil/coolant that often? In that case, I think your concerns for the engine internals are warranted, especially if the oil and coolant have mixed. If you are certain you did not have an extended overheat, then the head and cylinder jackets are likely ok. If you are not doing the work yourself, then the difference in price between a used (from Japan) replacement engine and a head gasket repair is probably going to be around $1K ($1500 for HG, $2500 for engine replacement). Like others have said, you are really not going to know how bad it is until the heads are removed which involves probably 3-4 hrs of labor. If you feel you have caught this early enough, then I'd say go ahead and attempt a HG repair.

It seems there are a lot more HG failures popping up these earlier V6's on this forum these days. I just did one myself about 4 months ago.

dave mc

Luckynumber5 · 03-09-2009, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stillrunning

Why would he want to replace with a used engine that has NO known maintence/trouble history?

Blown head gaskets happen every day and are fixed just fine. Pull the head and examine the gasket and inspect the head for flatness and crack. Far cheaper to fix a HG than replace the engine. If you've looked after this engine then 180k is low mileage. Source for exchange/replacement head:
http://www.cylinder-heads.com/

No rush as long as you don't run the engine. Oil and water don't mix. If you pull the head more water will run into the oil galleys anyway. Bearings will be fine.

Oil and water do indeed mix in a crankcase and the acidic mixture will destroy an engine. The 3vz is an old engine and can be had cheap, it sounds to me like this guy isnt a do it yourselfer and will end up paying for a head gasket job. If he can find a good condition engine on the cheap it will be the better investment.

BTW the 3vz is an iron block with aluminum heads, they will warp all to dammit if overheated for too long.

Stillrunning · 03-09-2009, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luckynumber5

Oil and water do indeed mix in a crankcase and the acidic mixture will destroy an engine.

Over what period of time? This engine was shut down when problem noticed. Giving advice to replace engine before he has had it looked at is premature.

TheKevin · 03-09-2009, 05:02 PM

i've been noticing that there have been a lot of 3VZs overheating because of either a cracked head or blown HG. the same thing happened to mine a little over a year ago. i ended up getting a lower mileage 3VZ for a very low price. i wont be surprised if it happens again.

93XLEcamry · 03-09-2009, 05:58 PM

i tried checking the head, but when i got to the crankshaft, i couldn't get the crank to come out so i can reach the 8 bolts on the head...

dose anyone know how to take off the crankshaft???

i've already gotten off the caps off, but couldnt get the crank to come off, im stuck on that help plz