3.0 V6 Headgaskets

[jeepboyny]

Hey all. I bought a '90 4x4 with the V6 and it has a blown head gasket. I'm not looking to spend a ton of $$ on this thing since I picked it up cheap to pretty much be a beater truck. The service campaign was already done on the truck in '98 so I'm out of luck there so I'll be repairing this myself. I've priced out the gaskets at auto parts stores and such, and searched ebay and found this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=7986105022

or this one with the head bolts:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=7986180877

Or should I stick with name brands like Felpro, Victor, or go OEM $$$?

Thanks for your help

[Hermit]

There are a few things you must take into consideration before diving into this job. I have done many of these v6 head gaskets at the dealership I worked for and these are some of the things involved with every head gasket job I've done.

First thing:
Is this an internal or external gasket leak? With an internal coolant leak you will need to inspect the cylinders for score damage. Of coarse since you stated its just a beater truck this may not be a major concern for you unless the damage is severe.

Second thing is cylinder head surface inspection:
Sometimes if the leak has been neglected for any length of time it can cause the cyl. head to warp or pit a channel in the head surface that may not seal well. This situation (depending on how severe) requires that the heads be shaved flat again. Then you will need to do a valve adjustment. The valve adjustment is not very easy for most do-it-yourselfers. Each valve has a shim. The shims come in many different thicknesses. You would need to use a micrometer to check eack one then write down the sizes that you need to get the proper valve clearance and go to your local dealer to buy them. They are not cheap!

Last but not least: If your water pump and or timing belt has never been replaced then NOW would be the time to do it while you have it all apart. Believe me...it will save you time and money and from doing the job over again in the near future if they decide to go bad.

I know you said that this is only a beater truck so I don't know how much your willing to put into it. These things may not even concern you at all but they are things to consider before you start doing the head gaskets. Especially if you plan on keeping the truck for any length of time and before you spend the money on the repairs.
I have never installed after market head gasket kits when doing this repair so I really don't know which set would be the best to go with. I do know that toyota has re-designed there gaskets in hopes of preventing this type of problem in the future.
One last thing:... Be VERY carefull if you use an air die-grinder with 3m pads to clean-up gasket residue as they will cause dips and valleys on some surfaces. These uneven areas are sure to cause problems. ESPECIALLY on aluminum!

I Hope this helps!
*HERMIT* the T-TECH

[jeepboyny]

Hey Hermit,

Thanks alot for the advice. I'm a mechanic by profession but have never worked on one of these engines before. I work in a fleet shop with all domestic stuff, all ohv engines, not overhead cam so this is somewhat new to me. I'm pretty good at picking new stuff up, so it might take some time, but I'll be sure to get it right.

Anyone else know the quality of these parts? I'll probably just bite the bullet and buy the felpro full engine set since I think I'm just gonna pull the motor out of it so I can do the work on a stand instead of trying to do it in the truck. Found a '93 factory service manual thats online, so I'm assuming there's no drastic changes from '90-'93....that will help me alot. Also to help, one of my coworkers worked as a Toyota tech for many years before coming to the fleet shop in '97 so he's seen plenty of these as well.

Anyone else got comments? Thanks!!

[Cyorke]

I too have replaced several of these headgaskets when I working at a dealership here in Nashville. I have to second evberything that Hermit has said. On top of the heads needing work if they have neglected it long enough and jsut let it keep running with blown gaskets they could have even damged the block then you are looking at having it sent off to the machine shop to be decked. Man I rememeber screwing with those damn 3.0's. Every time you saw a truck, 4runner or T-100 come in on a hook you jsut wanted to run and hide. We were replacing them on trucks with well over 150k miles under the service campaign.

Maybe Hermit can answer this question also. If i remember right the Toyota headgaskets are sourced through a major gasket manufacturer, but I don't remember who., do you know who that is Hermit? Could save a little bit of money by going with the gasket manufacturers set instead of the TOyota set and get the same thing.

[Hermit]

Boy-oh-boy....I remember that same feelin when seeing a toyota comin in on a hook**LOL**! You almost always new what the problem was gonna be since we did'nt see to many toyotas towed in to the dealer.

Cyorke, I don't know off hand what the name of the gasket company was but I may be able to make a few calls and see what I can come up with.

Geeez.....We sure did a shit load of those head gasket jobs. For a while they where pouring in. At first I enjoyed doing them since It paid pretty good on flat rate, but then they cut the times down to nuthin and you had to bust your butt to make your time or loose your ass..


*HERMIT* the T-TECH

[jeepboyny]

If you can find out the manufacturer I'd really appreciate it...I know Victor Reinz makes GM's gaskets...Just did fuel injectors on a 7.4 today and had the little VR stamped right above the GM logo and part number.