Just gasket or head too?

[sychowand]

hi all i think my beloved surf may be fatally wounded after 8 loyal years! it over heated once about 8 months ago due to loss of water (near hot for about two minutes) topped it up and has been fine ever since but its now losing about a pint a week and when topped up am getting a lot of white smoke and sometimes hard to turn over in the morning i think this may be due to water sitting inside one cylinder over night and causing compression lock but could be wrong the thing is shes getting on now and has 190000km on clock so what do you advise guys i would be happy to do just a gasket will do the work myself but it hardly seems worth a new head! or can the head be stitched at an engineering shop? the thing is if you definitely thinks it sounds like a new head i may as well sell it on for spares (sob sob) also it need yet another set of f discs it warps a set about once a year is this normal? its a 1993 3.0 turbo diesel kzn 130 cheers

[flounderbout]

I think you already know the answer to this.

Whether it is worth getting the new head or scrapping and finding a new one depends on condition I guess. A new head is going to cost you not far short of a grand if you are realistic.

Obviously a better plan is to get a Lexurf

[flounderbout]

PS you need to upload your pics to an upload site before they will appear in the thread (e.g. Imageshack etc)

[sychowand]

boo hoo

you coulda just lied to me

[sychowand]

£100

toyota want £98 just for the gasket i take it o/e is the way to go are new head bolts a must too? cheers

[Albannach]

Roughtrax and Steveo both do kits. Yes, new head bolts are a must.

[flounderbout]

toyota want £98 just for the gasket i take it o/e is the way to go are new head bolts a must too? cheers

Which head is a topic of heated debate on here. Personally I have a Roughtrax head fitted by TonyN. Others swear by Stevo heads (he of the advertisement at the top right of the board). His are slightly more expensive, which is why I got a Roughtrax one. But there are people who get very excited about his being better. I don't much care. Why? Because the heads go because they are 15 years old. If you replace one now, then it is probably going to last the rest of the life of the truck, no matter who makes it, unless it is complete gash, and neither of them are. There are apparently crappy Chinese copies available on ebay, which personally I would be worried about using. If it blows up it is a false economy when considering labour costs.

Roughtrax and (I assume) Steve will sell you the whole kit which you will need.

[Hawaii]

mornin'

if you don't fix it and break it up than you will be surfless (boo hoo) and, even if all the cash you get for teh bits are enough to get you another surf how do you kow the same thing won't happen again.

yep, you are looking at about £1000 to put it right but you will then have a truck that you know and the head will last the life of the truck

in my opinion if you still like the truck and want/need it for whatever you do in it then bite the bullet and fix the head

just my twopenneth worth

hawaii

[Sir Plug]

Have just done mine. Had a new head, gaskets, etc. All bits were genuine Toyota and cost $2000 (£1000). Add to that a radiator flush, viscous overhaul and a low temp thermostat from a Prado and you'll be sweet.......

[paulysurf]

surf head

Ithink i may also have been struck by the curse of the surf head mine started blowing the water out of the expansion bottle by bypassing the cap put new cap on stopped this problem.Then checked cooling system put the heater on only to discover the heater rad has gone the auto data at work said 1.4 hours yeah right 2.5 hrs just to get it out then new one is £135 trade it was delivered damaged and i am still waiting for the next one i think the pressure from a crack in the head may have blown the heater won't know untill its all back together fingers crossed hope the 3ltr head is easier to do than the 2.4 did my mates 2.4 too many pipes and wires wish me luck fellow surf owners i like the truck too much to part with her best vehicle i've had apart from a capri 280 in my youth guess i might be biting bullets soon.

[Hazzo]

I wouldn't waste money on gasket and head bolts, buy the full kit and a new head while your on or you'll just be waiting for one as you'll soon see its cracked. If I had space when mine had these symptoms I'd have broken it as it cost me more than its worth now. H