1996 Toyota Avalon Bad Head Gasket?? Is this common???

[eazycj]

My mom has a 1996 she bought new it looks like the head gasket might be bad. She has never beat it or over heated it, but the over flow coolant looks weird. The fluid is black oily looking and it has been changed within the last year. It is not over heating or anything nor is the oil milky. Is this common it has about 129k? I have read about head gasket problems about 3.0's in older trucks. Is this the same engine? Does the problems apply to Avalon's? Any recalls? If anybody had this repair how much did you pay to have it fixed etc? Thanks Cj

[silverxls]

is the only reason your assuming the head gasket is blown is the overflow coolant? it could look weird for many reasons. if the overflow coolant has oil in it....then the car has overheated. check the coolant in the radiator and see what it looks like. if oil is getting in the coolant, then coolant will be getting in the oil too. drain the oil and look at it. since oil and water dont mix, the water will be on the bottom of the pan. in most cases, if a head gasket is bad, the first hint will be smoke from the engine on start up, and as it gets worse it will smoke heavily while driving. if coolant is getting into one or more cylinders, the car will overheat soon and you would need to add coolant often.

[avalontom]

Black coolant could mean the hoses are deteriorating. When was the last time all the hoses were changed?

An exhaust gas analyzer might be able to detect exhaust gases in the coolant if combustion is leaking into the coolant through a bad head gasket.

I would immediately have the cooling system evaluated by a competent mechanic.

Good luck!

Tom

[Mike Murrell]

Toyota had a ton of issues with mid-90s V-6 head gaskets. One dealership tech I spoke with over the WEB a few years ago told me they were pulling trucks/cars off of the delivery trailers with blown gaskets.

I do not know if any of the dealers are "good willing" this issue, but you might check into it.

[JimK]

Originally Posted by eazycj

My mom has a 1996 she bought new it looks like the head gasket might be bad. She has never beat it or over heated it, but the over flow coolant looks weird. The fluid is black oily looking and it has been changed within the last year. It is not over heating or anything nor is the oil milky. Is this common it has about 129k? I have read about head gasket problems about 3.0's in older trucks. Is this the same engine? Does the problems apply to Avalon's? Any recalls? If anybody had this repair how much did you pay to have it fixed etc? Thanks Cj

This sounds much like the 97 Avalon XLS I bought my wife back in march with 181,000 miles. The coolant could be mixed. Mine looked like chocolate milk in the tank before I had it
totally flushed and I washed out the resovior tank to be sure. After getting it flushed
and clean it has never shown any sign of oil contamination.

Ya never know though, My 97 Olds Silhoutte went through the lower intake gasket @ $978.00
a couple years ago. Coolant is so much different in them then the Avalon. Dexcool crud.

[Mike Murrell]

I'm not saying this is the case, but it might be.

After a car has a few miles on it, owners or techs in repair shops will use a product called Bars-Leak to stop tiny coolant leaks. The original formulation is a very dark color and contains pellets in the dark solution.

If you do a coolant drain/flush and refill with new coolant and a bottle of this or similar product and run it for say 2-3 years; then drain, you might be amazed as to how much this might look like a potential head gasket issue.

If the HG is REALLY blown, the color of your coolant will be more like a light chocolate milk and not this darker color just described.

If you're not sure, get an opinion as to whether or not what you're looking at "might" be something like Bars-Leak.

There are all sorts of ways to test for a blown head gasket. One way is to pull the radiator cap off a cooled down motor. Start the engine and let it start warming up. If you start seeing bubbles after awhile, you may very well have a leaking or blown HG. If the coolant is still it's original color, you may be in the early stages and have a slight leak. If you let it go, it will eventually blow all to H and then you run the risk of losing the lower half of the motor.

Crankshaft bearing don't live long in a coolant mixture.