Spring break project- 93 tercel HG

[skeeters_keeper]

A friend of mine has a 93 tercel, 1.5 SOHC. I've changed the oil and a few other small things in it for her before (door locks, removed noise heatsheild, etc).

Its name is "tucker"



any way, she over-heated it twice a while ago and it was constantly getting low on coolant but no leaks, i assumed a little HG seepage. any way the other day it completely blew on her, "white smoke everywhere", she coasted into a parking lot.

So it looks like i've got a spring break project... i'm sure the head is either warped or cracked. I just hope the block isn't bad!
If the head is cracked can it be repaired? w/ the cracked head on the B6 i just replaced it because that was most cost effective, but i don't have an extra toyota head, lol. If it is cracked and can't be repaired I then either have the choice of getting a JY head or a reman head. JY would probably be like $100, reman is $4-500, with new valves and all already installed... not sure which i should do yet (she's paying for it, but i still want it to be as cheap and yet as good as possible).


One question though, when i re-built my B6 i used a cheap e-bay gasket set. It seemed to be of decent quality when i got it, but my HG is leaking now (i re-torqued it and everything too) and i have a few other leaks, which makes me angry b/c i spent so much time re-building it! is it worth the extra $100 to get a felpro set? I figured that gaskets where gaskets, but now i'm not sure i trust the e-bay ones.


looks like skeeter may not get its new susp and exhaust over spring break... but then again, i don't get paid to work on my own car.

[stefan]

any 4cyl head at my local j/y is $35

eek, I dont want to hear that about the gaskets.

[festivaWES]

Tell him to do the 3efte swap. As for your HG problem, I'd spring for something better than the ebay specials. I have a HG from JIS and it seems to be holding up fine.

[jglutz]

Skeeterer...Don't think that Fel-Pro gaskets are that great....I would say they are average or slightly better. Dynapar gaskets are sometimes better, they are availabe at NAPA or Car Quest. When certain gaskets cuts at the big houses become low volume, they will start to sell the dies out to small independents and but gaskets back to fill sets or the low demand. Problem, the quality will suffer and no matter waht brand you buy, it will becoming from the same 3rd class manufacturer.

Are you sure your HG failed bacause it was cheap...When you retorqued,were the bolts loose? Maybe it's time for new head bolts. Also, next time it's off you should check the head and block for flatness.

The Tercel problem could be something very typical...a shot radiator cap...instead of the system coming to pressure...it steams throught the cap at a low enough rate that you woun't see it ...the eventually...no fluid to recover causes an over heat. replacing radiator capas is part of routine maintenance.

[skeeters_keeper]

thanks for the info on the gaskets,, there are JIS gaskets for fairly cheap on e-bay, http://tinyurl.com/yoyheu

I'm not sure my HG failed just b/c it was cheap, when i re-torqued they only turned about 1/4 turn @ max. I did check the head and block for flatness, although i didn't have them machined b/c i'm sure they were fine. It takes several weeks for noticeable amounts of oil to accumulate on the block/lower head, and no smoking/loss of coolant... so i attribute the seepage to a poor HG.

I'm quite familiar w/ shot radiator cap's, i test and replace them all the time @ work (jiffylube... don't ever go there) unfortunately since i've only seen this car like 3times before i just found out most of this info today. its too late for preventative maintenance, lol!

[nonamekid]

You can't repair a cracked head for what it would be worth to get a used head. Also if you were to get a reman head, they don't want a head that is cracked so you won't get your deposit back if you are required to pay a deposit. Good luck on the project.

[freshtiva]

I always liked that tercel style. I like that awning over the garage door too.

[deathegg]

a friend of mine had one of those. They are pretty reliable, but she did have a hg prob too. Maybe it's common with that gen of Tercel?
Also the Toyota dealer told her that the "toyota sludge" problem was common on those as well, so maybe drop the oil pan and do some cleaning there too?

[skeeters_keeper]

yea after a little googling sounds like its a fairly common problem on that get tercel...

noname, thanks, thats what i was wondering... i hope its a warped head if not i'll be heading to a JY.

fresh i'm glad you like the awning!! LOL... i'll pass along the compliments to my dad, although it came w/ the house and is looking a bet worn.

[htchbck]

hmmm... if its a common problem then I may scrap the idea of getting one this summer lol... pretty funny you posted this actually cause the one I was looking at getting looks exactly like that one, except its missing the hubcaps... oh well, my gf has been begging me to rescue a festiva sitting in someone's yard near her house thats been there for at least a couple of years, so I'll probably just make that my summer project instead, when i'm not wrenching on the LTD

[stefan]

^ that sounds like a better plan!