Head Alert

[Draig]

A little bird has told me that The New Heads from the certain suppliers are the original heads that were fitted to the SURF. As you all know these heads will crack at some point. These are not the Modified Heads so please check with the supplier before purchase.

These have recently bought a batch from JAPAN.

Previous heads bought from the certain suppliers may be OK

oh poo - as my head's just gone - gis a clue?

[Linda]

Either way, don't worry too much, sure the newer head is obviously preferable, but at least its a warranty job so its not costing you and should still be good for a least 100k & 10 years if properly maintained.
.

Yeah, Morr is right - dont panic. The poor design of the original heads cause them to crack if the truck overheats. If it doesnt get hot then it shouldnt crack.

My theory - Reason a lot go after 6 months or a year is probably cos they went in Japan, and had Rad weld or similar poured in to mask the problem for a while!!!

Obviously a new redesigned head is much preferable if you get the option now, but dont panic if you have already had a new, old design, head added. Just be careful that it doesnt ever get hot.

[cockybundoo]

Thanks for the replies.

The first I knew about any problem, was my expansion bottle filling with water.
Even then, my temperature gauge was dead center and there was no sign of overheating.

When I took it to what appears to be our local surf mechanic, he pointed out some white residue near to where the upper rad hose joins the rad (and other places where rad hoses join). This is apparently from the high pressure trying to force the coollant out at the joints.

One of the reasons I know the temp gauge and car didn't show any signs of over heating, was that I was keeping a close eye on it. I had found that small bubbles of oil were appearing in the head gasket near to the engine number. There was no significant loss of oil.
I found a thread about the same problem on an Austrailian site http://toyotasurf.asn.au/forum/viewt...2+8+conversion
I contacted one of the guys and he said that he put different oil in and the problem went, so I don't know if there is any connection.
Due to this though I was going to have it looked at prior to it going.

So far the garage I bought it from (Windisor Classics, Chertsey) have been superb. It went straight in and they immediantly lent me a 3ltr Surf, no quibbles.

Cheers once again for what must be the best forumfor any car.
Mike

[marky]

I hope they dont fit a RE-CON job as it will go again at some point.

[cockybundoo]

I hope not as well. When I originaly spoke with the mechanic he was well aware of the old head problem and said that he only fits the new heads. Hence my earlier question about whether you could tell the difference once one was fitted.

He also mentioned that they were recalled by Toyota, but due to the length of time they own a vehicle over in Japan most owners didn't bother to get them changed.

Regards
Mike