Head Gasket?

[carcuscrae]

Hi

I was driving my 1996 KZN185 3.0TD Surf today and I when I stopped to park I noticed some steam coming from the engine. I opened the bonnet to see steam coming from the coolant tank and I could here the water inside bubbling.

After letting it cool down I refilled the radiator and started the engine, after about 5-10 mins the water in the radiator (I left the cap off so I could see) started to bubble and a foam started to appear.

Does this sound like a Head Gasket or cracked cylinder problem? If it is one of these, what sort of coat am I looking at to get either fixed?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks

[blackpoolsparks]

WHOA there, dont get ahead of yourself.

The water would have boiled over the 2nd time as the engine would have still been relatively warm. Leaving the cap off dosent allow the system to pressurise, thus lowering the boling point of the water.

Let it cool down properly, 4 hours or so and check the water level.
top up and if it does it again it may be something as simple as an air lock

Try that and then repost as we can then go through the bleeding procedure.

and dont worry, its a toyota they dont break...
and when they do they're easily and inexpensively repaired.

As far as I'm aware there has never been a 185 with a head problem on here, or anywhere else for that matter....

[Growler]

As far as I'm aware there has never been a 185 with a head problem on here, or anywhere else for that matter....

No, but there have been some 2nd Gens which has basically the same engine if I'm not mistaken.

Sorry to put a downer on this and I hope BPS is right

[MattF]

As far as I'm aware there has never been a 185 with a head problem on here, or anywhere else for that matter....

Yet.

As BPS said, run through the basics first before you start thinking the worst.

[carcuscrae]

Sorry I should have been a bit clearer.

When I said I let it cool down I left it for a couple of hours and then refilled the radiator, I must have put a good 2-3 ltrs in, and started the engine again.

Initially the water in the radiator did nothing (as you would expect) but after about 10 mins, as the engine started to warm up, a foam started to appear in the water which gradually got worse. Does that help?

I notice you said there has never been a "head" problem on a 185 but I am sure there have been some people on thie forum who have had to replace the head gasket or is that only on the 2.4ltr gen 2?

Thanks

[MattF]

I notice you said there has never been a "head" problem on a 185 but I am sure there have been some people on thie forum who have had to replace the head gasket or is that only on the 2.4ltr gen 2?

As far as I recall, there has never been a gasket fault other than on the V6's. With the diesel, it's always the head itself. Any faults in that area have been on 2nd gen's, both 2.4L and 3.0L, but not on a 3rd gen.

If you suspect the head, get either a pressure test done or check for exhaust gasses in the coolant. It's the only way to tell without taking the head off.

[darkdezigns]

in the middle of doing the head on my 3.o 2nd gen,kzn 130 and my mate recently did a kzn 185

[blackpoolsparks]

sorry
what i meant was that its not a common fault on a 3rd gen.
it is possible, anything is possible

i was just trying to point out that it could be any number of other things except a cracked head or gasket

Growler- its a different engine
BTW - wheres the pics??

[darkdezigns]

sorry
what i meant was that its not a common fault on a 3rd gen.
it is possible, anything is possible

i was just trying to point out that it could be any number of other things except a cracked head or gasket

Growler- its a different engine
BTW - wheres the pics??

its the same mate

[blackpoolsparks]

its the same mate

theres a bigger turbo on the 185

but yes its the same (sorry growler)

[darkdezigns]

and such a fun job...
http://www.hiluxsurf.co.uk/forums/sh...ad.php?t=58279

[MattF]

my mate recently did a kzn 185

It would appear they're beginning to start then.

[Growler]

theres a bigger turbo on the 185

but yes its the same (sorry growler)

Apology accepted

[charvell]

Any car can suffer from a head problem all we can do is maintain them regulary i change the coolent on mine every year and all the other fluids and filters every 3 months. Problem is we dont know how well they were looked after in nip land.

[MattF]

Problem is we dont know how well they were looked after in nip land.

That's the one thing we have no control over, as you say. We can maintain them with a vengeance, but any damage possibly done there we can't do nowt about until it shows.