davet1

Hello all,
1998 ES300 with 121,000 miles. I went outside to clean snow off and warm up the car for my son and I smelled anti-freeze. Coolant was down a little after I filled it a week ago at oil change. No white smoke and I didn't smell coolant at the pipe although I wasn't at the pipe at startup.

On the driver's side I can look under the manifold and see red antifreeze. It appears to be leaking from the back of the front cylinder head. I've read about some type of cover plate that appears to be on top of the block and between the heads. Could antifreeze leak from there or just oil?
There is a coolant hose that attaches to an aluminum fitting on this side also but its dry on the underside of that clamp. This is possibly the upper radiator hose but I didn't follow it up front.
What can I expect a head gasket repair to cost? N

Arsenii

Hello,

Those cars had a common issue with the coolant line between the heads drying out and causing a leak under the intake manifold, here you can find some very detailed pictures about it. Toyota used to have bulletproof metal lines there in the past, but not anymore..

If you have a leak in that line, you will have to take the entire intake manifold out and replace the line, re-seating the cover as well to make sure you won't have to dig in there again. You can also replace valve cover gaskets and spark plugs while at it if it was never done before, since they will be in perfect reach once everything is apart.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

davet1

Thanks. Would that be an internal leak though? I see coolant on top of the valley

Arsenii

If the line were to leak, the entire area under the manifold, between the heads, would be filled with coolant. Try taking a picture of the area under the intake manifold from the transmission side and posting it here for more clarity. You can also invest in a borescope camera to look closely under the manifold if you want to make sure.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

davet1

Got it. Just to clarify. If the line under that top cover plate, under the manifold, leaks, the top of the cover plate will see fluid?

Arsenii

Top of the cover plate, do you refer to the engine cover, like the one here? If that cover is all wet with antifreeze, either the leak is more severe than I thought, or something else got blown instead. Check that the radiator cap, the outlet it attaches to and area around it is clean and dry, look around the engine to make sure there are no more signs of fluid elsewhere as well. A picture of the area would be helpful.

You can also try starting the engine with no engine cover in place to see if the fluid will start seeping anywhere.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

For reference, the job is pretty straightforward unless you’re also resealing the valley plate. This is also a good time to replace the knock sensors and the short knock sensor harness - they fail from heat.

davet1

I mean rhe cover plate under the intake manifold. between the heads.

davet1

Shop looked at it and said the system held pressure for a long time.
They can see the coolant under the intake manifold where I saw it so they pulled the manifold and the small wngine plate between the heads.
They called me today and said both head gaskets leaking at the seams.
He said this job requires thread inserts be put in the engine so the heads can be torqued down correctly. $3,500 estimate.
I can’t sell it like it is. Can’t buy another decent car for $3,500 and be guaranteed no big issues.
Christmas day I was diagnosed with Shingles on my face and inside my eye so I’m in no shape ro go car shopping for about a month.
This sucks.

Arsenii

Not to blame anyone just yet, but how reputable is the shop you visited?

I really don't recall the head gaskets being an issue on 1MZ-FE, unlike with older VZ-series engines, especially in such extravagant way. Unless the head was removed from that engine at some point and the repair wasn't carried out correctly, those engines didn't have an issue like 2AZ-FE, where the bolts would start pulling the threads out of a block because of an incorrect thread pitch used by Toyota.

If you can literally see the coolant puddling up in the valley between the heads, those gaskets must be in very rough shape, and it is very unlikely that the cylinders and compression would stay fully intact and oblivious to the head gaskets leaking so much. My point is that it may be beneficial to ask for a different opinion on your issue from another mechanic, there is plenty of other, more likely stuff to leak in that area than Head Gaskets, and it may be wiser to start with them.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

davet1

Thanks. They told me the big thermostat housing down between the cylinders was leaking also.
I told him to replace that and put it back together.
when I brought it in I smelled no coolant in the exhaust, there were no bubbles in reservoir and it wasn’t overheating. I suspect it will last another 120,000 miles.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

The head gaskets can develop an external leak from corrosion but it’s not very common. I agree a 2nd opinion would be recommended.

I had a lot of crust around the head gasket area by that thermostat center plate that really concerned me. After cleaning it up and resealing the center plate the crust has NOT come back and I’ve put on about 3000 miles and 5 months of use.