I’m looking to start work on a 1990 Corolla with a 1.6l. The problem looks to be a head gasket. I still have to do a little more evaluating. Does any one here have any experience with this engine? The car didn’t overheat but it did develop issues with idling. It head gasket repair shouldn’t be too bad but before I put the work into the gasket are there any other common issues? – The engine has 98k on it.

Mike

Mike

I've worked on several of the 2.2 motors. Should be pretty much the same.
recommend replacing both the cam and crank seal in addition to the timing belt and water pump since you're pulling the head. Check the TB idler gears and I also would recommend machining the the head flat since you have it off. Dont know of any specific problem with the motor those recommendations are pretty standard on the jap engines for that mileage.
Should be a piece of cake. Let me know if you need any info. I have acess to service manual stuff.


Why are you replacing the head gasket? Is it getting hot just while idling?
If so don't overlook such things as coolant fan operation, radiator which might need hot tanking etc.

The headgasket started leaking on my son's 86 Celica (dual cam motor) and I changed it but if I had to do it again I'd get the head cut just to clean it for a good seal. I was fighting heating problems on his car and a good tool was a lazer thremo temp gun to check temps at different parts of the engine stat housing, top rad tank so on. What I ending up doing was cutting the guts out of the stat and changing the radiator (only 2 years old and a Modine not a cheap one) But I wish I had the head cut when I had it off but you live and learn.

I’m looking into a possible head gasket due to :

Oil & antifreeze leak on driver side of engine

Engine suddenly developed a very fast idle that I cannot get down

Looking into the radiator – coolant has a light tan foam & a lot of it

Blue smoke at startup (was not there before)

I took the car to a garage I use for a second opinion and the mechanic also thought head gasket

But –

No water to be seen in oil on dipstick

After warm up engine runs fine (except for idle)

Not noticeable water or oil vapors in exhaust once warm

Car doesn’t run hot and has never overheated

Also –

At the same time as the other issue started the car lost heat for the passengers

Hopefully I’ll get to a compression check and/or leak down test

Mike my son's Celica was doing just about the same thing as yours, take it to a good radiator shop and let them pressure test the system if you have a leaking headgasket it'll show up and there is a kit for checking for for gases in the antifreeze http://www.blockchek.com/kits.htm . Sometimes you can get the kit on Ebay for cheaper but when I went to the Radiator shop he charged me $20 bucks.

Rich,

What did you find wrong with the Toyota

Mike

Mike it was a series of things, first it started pushing antifreeze out the over flow bottle but the motor ran fine and didn't run hot and would only do it on long climbs up the freeway when my son would come home from college. After the car would cool down it wouldn't suck the coolant back into the engine but if you put coolant in it you could drive it around and it ran fine and didn't get hot. I could pull the dipstick and the oil was clean and the coolant was fine too no oil (I did have some milky stuff on the inside of the oil cap). So I looked into the Block Check kits but I decided to take to my local radiator shop and have him test it and that's when I found out it had a leaking headgasket (the gasket failed at the water jacket in front of #1 cylinder). So I tore it apart (nightmare if you do it mark every vacuum hose and make DETAILED notes) When I had the head off I thought I'll do a quickie valve job on it (new valve seals and lap the valves) and since I was there I changed out the timing belt too (the belt was tough to get the cams lined up and it will run a tooth off, I learned the hard way) Got it all back together thought I had it licked handed it back to my son and he was on his way. Next week he comes home and tell me it's running hot so I drive the car and the heat gauge is going nuts back and forth . So I went to the Totota dealer and bought a stat put that in and same thing the gauge would peg on hot then drop back down to half way then back up to hot . So I went over to a import repair shop and talked to the owner (real nice guy) he loaned me his thermo gun and said drive it around and when it pegs on hot pull over and take a reading at the stat housing and top radiator tank and do this a few times . That's when I found out the stat was just opening and closing over and over. He told me what he does is cut the guts out of the stat so you have some restriction in the system and if he takes the head off first thing he does is surface it just to cover his a**. After I did the stat it ran great with no with no more up and down heat gauge just nice and steady about half way on the heat gauge. Next time he came home it's doing the same thing pushing antifreeze but only on long pulls coming home but when he's driving around town it's fine and doesn't push antifreeze now the only thing I haven't touched is the raidator (Modine) and this is only 2 years old and looks brand new . I bought it from NAPA with a lifetime warranty and I'm thinking NAPA is going to give me a hard time about getting a new one from them . NAPA was cool about it and switched it no problem and I put it in the car and I talked to my son today and he says it running fine and it's not pushing coolant on the long climb home . So it was a series of problems that I had to sort out .

Mike

High idle could be due to low coolant level or if the throttle body BAC valve doesn't have sufficient coolant flow. There are a couple of tests you can do to check a head gasket leak. One simple one would be to look in the radiator for bubbles while its running. This is often an indication of a head gasket leak. You can also buy a block test kit which basically is a vial you pour some chemical in an stick in the radiator neck. It checks for exhaust gas in the radiator and will change colors if gas is present.
Judging though by what you've stated sounds like a head gasket. That engine is pretty vanilla and should be easy for you. Again suggest you machine the head in addition to the stuff I already mentioned.