head probs on a 3 ltr?

[mickey]

thanks mart..that garage may be a little out of my catchment area, but good info for some of the guys here, i'm sure..sorry to be a pain, but did toyota give you a price for a complete head, out of curiosity..if mine turns out to be a cracked head, then having my top end gear put into a new shell would be the option of choice, but if its valve/s, then might be better getting the whole thing done..if its rings of course, wouldn't be applicable anyway, which is kinda why i'm not ringing around myself yet...just if you had the info to hand, may be of interest..anyway, hope thats the end of your troubles for a while....just to add, the recon exchange rad i put in three months ago, well, its now leaking..things just get better dont they...aaarrggggg

[Mart]

Its just the head body not including valves etc so everything has to be transferred across from the old head...hope that makes sense.

Cost £986 + VAT = £1158 for the head Toyota Twickenham.

Cambelt £32 Inc VAT (worth doing while all that lot is off with a genuine part)

Runs lovely even quieter than before and it was good before no smoke etc. Got up this morning and tried to start the surf. Click...Click...Click no turny turny!

Called the AA but they wouldn't come cause my wife wouldn't be there! Tried all the connectors assuming that there was a lose one from all the work. Nothing still.

Tried jumping it from a leisure battery and no joy. Eventually read the manual to find the correct jumping procedure and after a few mins she starts no worries.

Problem.... dead battery. They were starting to go a the beginning of dec but since the beast has been sitting for 2 weeks doing nothing the cold has finally caught up.

New battery's required then! Great just bl*&dy great! No the bright side though its only service item and would have needed changing anyway just bad bad timing that’s all!



Hope yours goes better than mine.



Cheers


Cheers

[Mart]

Its just the head body not including valves etc so everything has to be transferred across from the old head...hope that makes sense.

Cost £986 + VAT = £1158 for the head Toyota Twickenham.

Cambelt £32 Inc VAT (worth doing while all that lot is off with a genuine part)

Runs lovely even quieter than before and it was good before no smoke etc. Got up this morning and tried to start the surf. Click...Click...Click no turny turny!

Called the AA but they wouldn't come cause my wife wouldn't be there! Tried all the connectors assuming that there was a lose one from all the work. Nothing still.

Tried jumping it from a leisure battery and no joy. Eventually read the manual to find the correct jumping procedure and after a few mins she starts no worries.

Problem.... dead battery. They were starting to go a the beginning of dec but since the beast has been sitting for 2 weeks doing nothing the cold has finally caught up.

New battery's required then! Great just bl*&dy great! No the bright side though its only service item and would have needed changing anyway just bad bad timing that’s all!

Well new batteries on and still probs starting. AA thinks its the alternator but finally sorted now with the starter motor kit £30 from Toyota. Unfortunatley the saga continues as the dreded foaming is back in the rad and pushing water out of the overflow tank!!!!!!!

Its back in today but I can even think of what it maybe ? Help please cause I can see another £1700 bill coming my way. Can't think of what else could be wrong except head again or gasket leaking......any other suggestions?

Cheers

[mickey]

mart, dear oh dear buddy. the rad think aint something stupid is it? i only ask because my "leak" has turned out to be the cap letting go. the syptoms were, expansion tank filling up, then drawing air into the rad as it cooled, leaving bits of coolant on the rad itself. coincidently, there is a small hole in the area the coolant was pooling, hence the miss-diagnosis. new rad cap, and all is well.
hopefully your problem isn't major. the head must be under warranty though? was a pressure test carried out on your cooling system? it seems that its a condition of guarantee on most head jobs? if its gasket failure, then thats down to the garage surely. given that the 3.ltr heads do go, but not as frequently as the 2.4, it would unlikely that you've destroyed your replacement already, unless there was a real underlying cooling problem?
anyway, i need not tell you i'm no mechanic, just hope your outcome aint too serious. still never figured my non-starter. been ok since, never got the compression test done. sometimes she reverberates again, sometimes not. one day it'll probably blow, big time, then all the guys will shout, told you to test it!!

[albafreedom]

mart, dear oh dear buddy. the rad think aint something stupid is it? i only ask because my "leak" has turned out to be the cap letting go. the syptoms were, expansion tank filling up, then drawing air into the rad as it cooled, leaving bits of coolant on the rad itself. coincidently, there is a small hole in the area the coolant was pooling, hence the miss-diagnosis. new rad cap, and all is well.
hopefully your problem isn't major. the head must be under warranty though? was a pressure test carried out on your cooling system? it seems that its a condition of guarantee on most head jobs? if its gasket failure, then thats down to the garage surely. given that the 3.ltr heads do go, but not as frequently as the 2.4, it would unlikely that you've destroyed your replacement already, unless there was a real underlying cooling problem?
anyway, i need not tell you i'm no mechanic, just hope your outcome aint too serious. still never figured my non-starter. been ok since, never got the compression test done. sometimes she reverberates again, sometimes not. one day it'll probably blow, big time, then all the guys will shout, told you to test it!!

Guys you have me all worried..i get my 3ltr in about 5 weeks. Should I be panicking ......are head, block, radiator problems common? What should I look out for when I get it. Having no knowledge about engines, advice would be gratefully accepted,
Cheers
Simon

[mickey]

like yourself, i'm no engine buff, and sometimes reading threads such as this, relating to other peoples disasters can be a little daunting. however, i would also advise you to browse through any other web forum relating to ownership of a particular vehicle, if nothing else, it will put things into perspective! by nature of these sites, they mainly deal with problems, which kinda gives an imbalanced view, but are a godsend to peeps like us.

in respect to your purchase, i wouldn't worry, in fact i'd buy another surf tomorrow. you may wish to look at the radiator carefully, potentially it could need replacing at low mileage, i think time takes its toll with the metal, thankfully they are really easy to replace. if you hear a clunk on full lock, the wheelstops need greasing.mart's head problem is very unfortunate, but thankfully not too common with the 3 ltr engine. the strange reverberation on mine comes and goes, i've yet to nail it, but it doesn't seem to affect the performance in any way, so i'm not losing to much sleep over it just yet.the "compression" issue cited by the AA turned out to be wrong, in fact it came down to a loose battery terminal, and the need of a top-up, she is spot on now, turns and fires like a dream.

get your surf and enjoy it. any initial concearns you may have can be dealt with here. get hold of the milner and roughtrax catalogues, and if hasn't been done, get the cambelt replaced. service it with new oil and oil filter every 3 or 4 thousand miles. you may wish to treat the cooling system to a thorough flush, new thermostat and radiator cap, just to minimize any heart problems, then go and spend your cash on rigging it out with toys such as big tyres and sat-nav? anyway, to recap, the heads can go, but not due to the design fault suffered on some 2.4 models. if the head goes on the 3 ltr then if overheating isnt an obvious cause, its a bit more of a mystery maybe, but it isnt a common failure on these vehicles. the blocks are strong, some have let go, but so infrequently i wouldn't concearn yourself unduely. the rads are a little less reliable, when mine started to weep, about a year ago, i posted it on this forum, and had several replies from owners of the 2.4 and 3 ltr that had experienced the same thing, little pinpricks that eventually get bigger, usually right at the top. they can be exchanged for a recon if you can't warrant the cost of new, but yours may never be a problem anyway..

[albafreedom]

Mickey
Many thanx ....people like yourselves are a godsend, to the likes of me...keep up the good work.

[albafreedom]

Mickey
Many thanx ....people like yourselves are a godsend, to the likes of me...keep up the good work.

Cheers
Simon

[marky]

Its rare for a 3.0 head to go so dont panic to much.

[TonyN]

Its rare for a 3.0 head to go so dont panic to much.

For once I agree with Marky The 3.0 doesn't have a reputation for any of the things you mentioned in normal use. Any make of truck or car will crack heads, overheat, cook the gearbox, etc, etc if it has a fault or is abused excessively.