Yamae

You are welcome. As I visit shops and dealers to help electronics related problems, I have never heard of any blown head gaskets among 1UZ-FE engines and most of Toyota engines. So I'm wondering why you even fail to start the engine.

I am very curious why you are loosing the coolant and also you have misfire problems. If those are related, spark plugs must be quite wet. Have you checked spark plugs removing them from cylinders right after you failed to start?

LS400FAN

Yamae, my car always starts, that's never been a problem. I do get misfire codes in cyls 6 & 8, I removed the spark plugs and they all looked good. Cyl 6 spark plug was a little damp. The car is clearly burning coolant, smoke and coolant is clearly coming out of the tailpipes. So just to be clear, the car always starts with no problem, it misfires in those 2 cyls, compression checks in both cyls are over 200, today I going to definitely test to see if exhaust gases are coming into the coolant, that will tell me for sure if the hg, head, or block is compromised. I'll update the forum when I find out what's going on. Thanks much.

cheers.

LS400FAN

Well here it is, absolutely CONFIRMED, exhaust gases in the coolant. The 2 at-fault cyls are #6 and #8, I'm guessing the hg is compromised between those 2 cyls. I'm going to try a sealant first, if it fails then I have to roll up my sleeves and replace the hg. I'm really not looking forward to it but the car is well worth it imo, 276k miles, I just had it painted so I'm married to it. Wish me luck my friends.

Cheers.

LeX2K

Don't use a HG fix in a can unless you want to throw the engine away after the product fails to fix the problem.

Bylan

^I second this. If you just painted the car and letting it go just ain't an option, fix it the right way. Even if that goop in a bottle "fixes" the HG for a while, it will cause unrepairable damage to coolant passageways. Get to wrenching, and do all the "while you're in there" stuff so its good for another 276k

LS400FAN

I'm inclined to agree with you 2k, but some of the youtube videos/testimonials seem very convincing. I haven't seen any that actually damaged the engine though they may not have solved the problem in some cases. I really think it depends on just how bad the breach is and using the product exactly as directed, it'll cost me 60 bucks to give it a shot, like I said, I'm prepared to go the distance if it doesn't work, I'll just have to get myself into that "mechanical" mindset. Fortunately, we still have warm weather and if I have to do it, now would be the time. Uggghf!

LS400FAN

OK Bylan, you guys convinced me to do the right thing, but my BEAST just lost it's bragging rights.

ls400newbs

It'd be awesome if you would do a write up, if not a detailed guide with pics on the process. Don't think many will need it, but it wouldn't hurt to have more information!
​(I really would like it if you did document the fix lol, just putting it out there)

Einzelherz

Just think of all the fun repairs you can make while you're in there! Starter, timing belt, water pump, power steering... The list is practically endless!

deanshark

Totally agree 100% on this. Even if noone else ever does a head gasket, there will be so much info on other items on the way. I can't think of how many times I looked into the tutorials on Lexls.com for something other then what the tutorial was actually about just to see how or where something else was located and mounted.
Plus, with all these kids nowadays wanting to turbo their cars or put Nitrous on it to get way too much horse power out of these old decrepit (neglected) engines, somebody is gonna blow their engine enough to need this info.
I feel bad you have to do all this work but please document the procedure, with lots of pics. Many people would appreciate it.
You're the man: . Good luck.

LS400FAN

Will do newbs, when I get started I'll post the pics and be as thorough as possible. Btw, if you already know how to change the tb (timing belt), then you are half way there. Believe or not, most of time will be consumed in cleaning and tightening things up. It all depends on how far you're willing to go, I tend to cover all of the bases, but who knows? The key is "when" I get started.

LS400FAN

Will do deano.

BNastee

I've done four 1UZFE VVTi head removals this summer. Mostly related to bent valves but one was due to overheating.

That overheated car was using coolant like yours. Ended up the head gasket was fine and the head itself had warped. Resurfacing the head fixed the problem. It is a *colossal* amount of work to take these engines apart, but straightforward. I recommend changing the cam seals since the cams will be out in order to get to the head bolts.

My other recommendation is to have the head checked for cracks and flatness even if you see a weak spot in the gasket.


Rich

LS400FAN

Hey Rich,
Thanks a bunch for the info, you are absolutely correct about having the heads checked out. I haven't done the heads on a 1UZFE engine but I've done them on several other engines and its absolutely critical to have the heads cleaned and resurfaced (if necessary) and pretty much reconditioned with new valve guides/seals, decarbonized and etc. It would be foolhardy to not have all of this done while the eng in apart. I'm even going to have the intake manifold cleaned and a ton of other stuff once I get in there. The thing I dread most about this job is removing and installing the lower EGR pipe, you didn't have that problem if you worked on VVTI engs., not so on my 95 LS. It's a big job no question, but I think most of the time will be spent on doing all of the other stuff while breaking it down and putting it back together. I don't envision much of a hassle, but who knows? Just take my time and try not to break off any bolts! I still haven't started the job yet, I want to enjoy the rest of the Summer and I have other cars for transportation, so its something I have to do right away. I wonder why the hg's are blowing on these puppies, especially if the eng never overheated which is my situation. But, with 276k miles I'm not that surprised, not many engs can log that kind of mileage without a major issue or two. I've been very happy with my BEAST, no worries. Thanks for your input good buddy.


Cheers.

LS400FAN

I suppose those bent valves resulted from broken timing belts or seized bearings (i.e. water pump & etc), would that be correct?