head or gaskit?

[HUNGLIKEAMOUSE]

help!!! after driving flat out for 20 miles as late for work when i pulled off the motorway steam was gushing from under the bonnet and the plastic cap was loose on the expantion tank,throwing out coolant all over . after letting cool down for the day i filled up the rad,it took loads, then run it for twenty mins on tickover to see if it would over heat ? didnt but was worried to drive it home again,so still called out the AA he arrived and said he will check coz he thought head gaskit had gone. he put a devise with a blue coloured fluid on the top where the cap goes and said if it turns green the head gaskit had gone!! it turned green sigh!!! he said the gaskit had deffo gone .. the car is now still 40 miles away from me at ashford in kent.as its auto and im told it cant be towed(basic aa membership no recovery) after reading all these threads im worried hes wrong and the head has cracked,, how can i find out if its head cracked or gaskit gone ??? and is there anyone near kent london borders who sorts these problems. moneys very tight so a head replacement is out the question. if anyone can shed any light or help in anyway i'd be very thankfull as i love my little 2.4 turbo diesel and stuck as to how i can get her home.. help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ps the heater is now only blowing cold where it was like an oven before this ,,

[Koi]

99% of cases of over heating the head cracks, only sur way to tell is get a pressure test done.
For what its worth I drove mine around with a cracked head for a couple of months (as have otheres), just carried plenty of water and kept it topped up. I would think that you could drive it home, top up coolant put all heaters to hot keep speed down and you could get it home.
The pressure test is the only way to tell.

[HUNGLIKEAMOUSE]

thanks

ok thanks for that, they been quoting me 140 quid to get it home etc and im told im looking at a bout 500 - 1000 to get it fixed (omg i cant afford that ) does the head gaskit have to be changed 1st or can they pressure test it as it is ??and this is a silly question but is it expensive, no im not tight but its xmas aghhhhh lol thanks again for your advice and anymore to come looks like it may be time to get rid of her sigh!! ps i drove her very hard on the way before it happened and she got really really hot,

[Koi]

ok thanks for that, they been quoting me 140 quid to get it home etc and im told im looking at a bout 500 - 1000 to get it fixed (omg i cant afford that ) does the head gaskit have to be changed 1st or can they pressure test it as it is ??and this is a silly question but is it expensive, no im not tight but its xmas aghhhhh lol thanks again for your advice and anymore to come looks like it may be time to get rid of her sigh!! ps i drove her very hard on the way before it happened and she got really really hot,

pressure test as it is, I would stick my neck out to say 99% it wont just be the gasket.
To supply head about £800 from Stevo (that all bits needed) on this forum and he can fit it as well, I know hes a fair distance but its a good job well done and good price.

[HUNGLIKEAMOUSE]

omg

oh well thanks again , but 800 may as wel be 800.000 as i cant afford that.the car be worth more than about 4500 so wouldnt be worth spending that much sigh! looks like a may have to let her go in part exchange etc.yes i know i'll lose out but havent really got a choice at those prices. as for driving it home carefully with the heaters on full (how) the heater only blows cold now even when its ticked over for 20 mins, on tick over it dont seem to over heat but the aa man told me it was building up pressure. is it still ok to try to drive it home 40 miles with these problems??? anymore info would be a great help???
btw way where is stevo coz the getting it there would be a problem to if hes miles away ?

[Koi]

oh well thanks again , but 800 may as wel be 800.000 as i cant afford that.the car be worth more than about 4500 so wouldnt be worth spending that much sigh! looks like a may have to let her go in part exchange etc.yes i know i'll lose out but havent really got a choice at those prices. as for driving it home carefully with the heaters on full (how) the heater only blows cold now even when its ticked over for 20 mins, on tick over it dont seem to over heat but the aa man told me it was building up pressure. is it still ok to try to drive it home 40 miles with these problems??? anymore info would be a great help???
btw way where is stevo coz the getting it there would be a problem to if hes miles away ?

If the heaters don't work then its not full of coolant and or air locked. I know i drove mine for two months and Lucky drove his round more or less for the same amount of time when our heads went. It caused no further damage, so I can't say you won't cause extra damage but just go on my experience. Kept speed down and topped up coolant often.
Steve is in Cheshire

[HUNGLIKEAMOUSE]

thanks koi, believe it or not shes home now , but get this when i got to her i filled her with about half a pint of water, as we filled it when the aa man was there .. so we started her no problem and started to drive the 40 miles home, i took your advice and put heaters on full blast and yes they did get hot this time so after 5 miles the temp needle sat under the half way mark so i cranked the speed up to a steady 50 still stayed the same no hotter, so we took it up to 70 and come all the way home almost with the temp needle still just under half way .. she performed as she would normally no loss of power etc and felt great . so two miles from home i thought time to turn off heaters. that was the turning point in less than a few mins she started kicking out thick steam from the exhaust and the temp gauge crept up really fast . so stopped turned her off and left it for five mins so i could open the cap . it then took loads and loads of water and i mean seemed gallons lol . so looks like its the head or gaskit after all . so as i cant afford to put her right could i use radweld or wonderweld to do a temp repair or hide the fault as theres a dodgey garage just down the road who has a newer and nicer looking looking surf. wondered wether ide get away with trading her in for the newer one ( yes i know its a little dodgy but dealers do it all the time and im sure this back street garage would too) i will hate to see her go but i just know this is going to be the start of a list of new things going wrong. as ive had her 18 months with out a single fault... i just dont know wether this chemical will do the job for a week or two while i try to get a new baby ??? and thanks again for helping me get her home ..

[Koi]

I believe there is some stuff that will do a temp hold it together job, think there was a thread on it a while back, can anyone remember what its called.

[HUNGLIKEAMOUSE]

i was told its called wonderweld for the small cracks in the head and theres something called barrs stop leak too. dont know if it it will seal the gaskit too if thats gone? .im wondering if anyone got any ideas wot i.ll be able to sell her for in this condition shes a maroon 2.4 srr-x turbo diesel 1993 k plate in clean condition(when washed lol) and was very reliable till this ?????????

[poppy986]

Hi m8ty sorry to here that your heads gone.
If you read my recent post I was offered £500 as my truck stood
and then offered £3500 P.X. by the garage that had done all
the work.
The people that done my head specalised in Surfs,they recon the
gasgets are to well made and as the original heads have a weak
spot its the head that goes before the gasget.
Once done and replaced with the new designed type thats all
sorted.

A bitter pill to swallow this side of Christmas but you
will loose so much.

Cheers me dears Chris
ps. mine is a 91 ssr 2.4tdi auto

[HUNGLIKEAMOUSE]

great news lol oh well looks like it will have to wait till after xmas i'll buy a cheap run around and sort it when finances are better sigh!!

[phillipe]

Hi m8ty sorry to here that your heads gone.
If you read my recent post I was offered £500 as my truck stood
and then offered £3500 P.X. by the garage that had done all
the work.
The people that done my head specalised in Surfs,they recon the
gasgets are to well made and as the original heads have a weak
spot its the head that goes before the gasget.
Once done and replaced with the new designed type thats all
sorted.

A bitter pill to swallow this side of Christmas but you
will loose so much.

Cheers me dears Chris
ps. mine is a 91 ssr 2.4tdi auto

[phillipe]

Redisigned Heads?

Hi Poppy,
I had a head go on my 3.0ltr TD in the Pyrenees last summer. Had it fixed and all is well but I am getting an updated version after Christmas. I understand it will be a 1998 reg. I am worried about the head going as I have heard from other drivers locally that they have had trouble. I was interested to read that there is a new designed head - is that right? Can you supply any more information on that if it's true?
Thanks
Phillipe

[Richard Creighton]

I can fully sympathise with you, i should get my 3.0 turbo diesel back today, it has been in the garage for a month, the head had cracked and a new one has now been fitted, the new one is not a genuine toyota head although brand new it is a remanufactured one will this be as good or better than the origional ? the car has only covered 100 000 KILOMETERS so i am dissapointed, incidentally the little red light on the dial,for the turbo is on more often than its off, what does this mean ? my handbook is in french and i speak it better than i read it. would this have had anything to do with the head cracking ?

The bill by the way, 2000 euros about £1400.

Richard

If you see someone who is not wearing a smile, give them yours.

[Guest]

I can fully sympathise with you, i should get my 3.0 turbo diesel back today, it has been in the garage for a month, the head had cracked and a new one has now been fitted, the new one is not a genuine toyota head although brand new it is a remanufactured one will this be as good or better than the origional ? the car has only covered 100 000 KILOMETERS so i am dissapointed, incidentally the little red light on the dial,for the turbo is on more often than its off, what does this mean ? my handbook is in french and i speak it better than i read it. would this have had anything to do with the head cracking ?

The bill by the way, 2000 euros about £1400.

Richard

If you see someone who is not wearing a smile, give them yours.

If it is a red light then it should be off - it's not a turbo light but an engine check light goes on when there is a fault sensed by the ECU.

Only the 2.4 has a turbo light (probablu cos you need a light to tell you if it is working (only kidding). 3.0 litre doesn't have one.

Cheers