Head Gasket Repair

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dustinrs
Newbie
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2017 10:51 am

Head Gasket Repair

Post by dustinrs »

Hi All,

A few days ago I discovered I had a blown head gasket. We live in the San Juan Islands and the car mostly does a 5 minute trip on the island back and forth from the ferry. Well on a recent one of these trips I noticed the temperature climbing and stopped to find the radiator empty. I thought I might have a leak in the hose, but couldn't spot anything and intended to look more closely. I filled it back up and all was well for a few weeks. I also check the oil pretty regularly because of a small oil leak that requires occasional top off and no milky oil had shown up, but then a couple days ago my wife had driven it back from the ferry and there was some white smoke coming out the tail pipe and I thought ...Uh Oh. Sure enough I checked the oil right away and found the oil to be obviously milky. I think perhaps I had a minor blow in the gasket that has since opened up wider.

Anyway, my dilemma is that while I have worked on my own vehicles a head gasket job is something I have never done and something that is a level or two beyond what I normally attempt. I read Petros guide to head gasket replacement and its a great resource that almost makes it feel attainable, except that I am in the midst of building a house for our family while holding down a regular job too. Time is not plentiful and it feels like I could end up spending many evenings working through a head gasket repair having never done it. I checked at the local shop I trust and the quote was a little over $1500 for the repair, about what I expected to hear. Feels pretty rough to put that kind of money in considering it won't be long before I should be replacing the clutch, and overdue for a new exhaust system. The tranny also has had a whine since I have had it, but shifts smooth through all the gears and shows no other problematic symptoms. Bottom line, $1500 is a lot to put in considering there are other things that need attention and who knows how long the transmission will give me.

I've only had the Tercel since February, so I'm not off to a smooth start to ownership. I love the car, it's a perfect island car for us. In pretty good cosmetic shape. I would love to keep it going. All this backstory to get to my question... Any chance there are any other Tercel hobbyists in Western Washington that have experience with a head gasket repair that would be willing to do it??? I can definitely pay for time, I just feel like it's not a good idea to shell out $1500 for this repair on this car. At one point I had read about a Seattle member who did work for hire, but can't remember his handle. I would definitely be willing to help along and learn how the repair goes. I just figure by the time I pull together all the supplies and struggle my way through, it may take me too many hours on my own.

Thanks very much for any suggestions.
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Petros
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Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 6:31 pm
My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Head Gasket Repair

Post by Petros »

Well first off $1500 is way too much, not sure what the shop thinks it needs, but likely only a head gasket since it otherwise runs fine. it should be closer to $600-700. I think they do not want to do the job, and that is their way of saying no. Many mechanics are afraid of taking on older cars because, 1) they are unfamilarw with them, and 2) they might find too many stuck bolts/nuts and have to fight them off, break them off, etc.

It is not that complicated of a job to do yourself, it should not take you longer than about 5-6 hours (experienced mechanics should only take about 4 hours). Just make sure you have the correct tools, and plan to do it spend all day on it. Consider that you save yourself $1400 in one day, or the hassle of finding another old car to drive.

You can do it, this is a simple car to work on compared to more modern ones. The only real problems might be to get the exhaust manifold nuts off (soak it the night before in ATF or other penetrating oil).

You will not need a whole gasket set, just a head gasket, the exhaust pipe o-ring gasket, and the two rubber o-rings on the coolant by pass tube (these last items my be reusable, but they do not cost much and easy to have on hand before you start). You should not need to resurface the head other than the flat sanding I outline in the guide.

You may rent a valve spring compressor and install new valve stem seals, but this will add an hour or two. if they are still plyable or you have no reason to think you are losing oil through the valve stem seals, than you can just leave the valves alone. of course if you take the valves off I would suggest replacing the exhaust valves, they do not cost much. but none of that will keep it from running at all, so you can skipt it.

Go for it! You will not regret it. It can be fixed permanently for less than $100 and one Saturday.

I know the feeling, I bought a beater Toy truck when I started my home build. It ran good but has lot and lots of miles, and I discoverd it had very low oil pressure. I did not want to take the time, I had two small children at home, and I drove back and fourth from my work, our home, and our house site for about a month, trying to put off touching the old truck. and than I threw a connecting rod right though the side of the engine. so now I had to replace the whole engine, not just do a simple new bearings and rings. So I got another used engine and rebuilt it, and got it back on the road.

Stop and do it now, it will only take you one day at most, you can easily lose that much time looking for another cheap transportation car that may have any number of other problems. And you will still need to fix the Tercel.

It is a bit of a long haul from Seattle, but David Lucas Barns (DLB) lives on the island, and has the skills. as does one or two other forum members, they can come by to give you a hand perhaps. But really, all you need is some hand holding. it is a big job, not not that complicated. Of course I have done it quite a few times, but I have driven home from work with a blown head gasket, and spent the evening after dinner replacing the head gasket, and drove the car to work the next morning. On road trips where I recused an old neglected Tercel, I have replaced the head gasket in the drive way of my parents house in California. And on another trip, I have replaced the head gasket in the parking lot of a gas station in Oregon (with the owner's permission).

Once you do it, it will give you confidence you need to do most other repairs on the car. It will make you a better Tercel owner, and what you learn will serve you a long time and will enable you to help others in the future.

So get your tools and get started this saturday, get yourself the tools and parts you need. We will be here to help you and hold your hand.

Good luck.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
dustinrs
Newbie
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2017 10:51 am

Re: Head Gasket Repair

Post by dustinrs »

OK Petros, you've successfully pushed me to just knuckle down and fit it in. I'll start getting together all the supplies. Thanks very much for all the work you put into the repair guide. That definitely takes a lot of the mystery out of the repair.
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