22R head gasket leak

[Merrill]

Hi all-

I've got an '82 pickup with about 100k miles on it. The whole time I've owned it (5 years) I've had to add a little coolant to the radiator occasionally, on the order of once every month or two. I never thought about it that much, the truck is over 20 years old after all. However, after giving the engine a much-needed cleaning, I noticed that a little bit of coolant is leaking from the head gasket, near the rear of the engine. The engine has no symptoms associated with a blown head gasket, and has never overheated. Normally, I wouldn't really worry about it, and just wait to fix it if it ever became a problem. However, I'm planning on leaving on a 6k-mile road trip pretty soon. Since the truck has been fine for 5 years, I was thinking that I'd just not worry about it and make sure to check the coolant level regularily. Does a small head gasket leak to the outside of the engine mean the whole thing is about to blow, or should I not worry about it, and hit the road? I guess ignorance is bliss, in this case.

Thanks in advance,
Adam

[packfan]

I had a 22re in an 85 runner that did that for 100k and was fine. One day with no real warning it let go in a large burst of steam...

That probably doesn't really help you much but it is just hard to say... It was not a progressively bigger leak before the blow... it kinda just went all at once...

[texas12]

Sounds like you are already concerned. You will worry about it for the whole 6k mile trip. Might be worth it to take care of the problem before blows or starts leaking the other way. It's no fun being stuck on the side of the road.

[David_T (MO)]

You might want to re-torque the head. After that many years/miles, we could all use a little tightening up.

[Merrill]

Thanks for your replies, everyone. I think I discovered the best solution here: my girlfriend and I are going to take her '97 Tercel. I usually like to take my truck on camping trips, but the gas savings with the Tercel will more than make up for the hassle of pitching a tent.

As far as retorquing the head, I've have a friend that swears by doing that at every valve adjustment, but a mechanic I've taken my car to says you shouldn't do it. I'm more inclined to trust the mechanic, but retorquing the head sounds a whole lot easier than replacing the head gasket. Any opinions on that?

[david in germany]

just my opinion 100k miles. the engine is still fresh enough to take a new head gasket and while you are at it, now is the time to throw a hotter cam and some fresh valves along with a steel guide timing chain. I did my 22re with new valves, high torque cam, complete gasket and timing chain set along with a header for just under $350. My 4runner has never had so much power! and it is so simple to do yourself that you would not believe it!
and since yours is 2wd it would stomp those little hondas! (AS LONG AS YOU KEEP THE REAR FROM SPINNING)
Good luck to you!
David