i have a town ace whose cylinder head gasket has gone. i live in chichester /peterfield area and would like the name of someone who can repair it.four young children so can you help!!
or a replacement engine as the rest is in excellent condition.
otherwise it will go for scrap, so any suggestions please. chriseverett@obdisk.co.uk 01420 83304

- (#10814) Chris Everett, 23 Sep 03 16:05

Dear Chris
has any one replied to your email? My townie broke down tonight, it looks likely its head gasket too. I don't know what kind of cost I am looking at for repair. Just scouring bulletin to get some kind of idea, but I know that it is expensive. What I don't understand is that when I bought this van a year and half ago, it was one of the jobs that had been done previously and there was a receipt for the job, is it just unlucky for a head gasket(if that what it turns out to be) to go twice? Good luck.

- (#10952) sarah, 30 Sep 03 17:56

What symptoms do you have that lead you to think the head gasket has gone?
What type is your bus, 4x4, auto diesel etc?
- (#10953) dave Bright, 1 Oct 03 1:23

i have had my space cruiser for three years.very few problems until now i think my head gasket has gone need someone on the wirral who will fix for me.i have bought gasket but knowone to fix anyone help thankyou.

- (#11048) sue, 7 Oct 03 18:12

Previously I asked for help and Gary kindly rang which led to a cure!!! Thank you.
Toyota Ropley diagnosed a cyl head gasket failure, as the reason for massive loss of water. They refused to repair it. Van is virtually a write-off we are afraid!!

However I was unconvinced as there was no oil contamination in rad and no water in the oil!!Further investigation by a real engineer revealed that the water pump seal had gone. £50 for a new pump, £200 labour and the van is going well.
Question. Toyota to be asked for an explanation.
Any comments please?

- (#11551) Chris Everett, 5 Nov 03 9:59

Hello Chris
The engine on these vans have a normal operating temperature of around 100°C, and parts of the head get even hotter. What stops them overheating is the pressure created by the radiator cap. This pressure raises the boiling point of the coolant to well above the usual boiling point of water. A faulty radiator cap, or a leak in the cooling system, will reduce the pressure, and once this happens the coolant will start to boil in the head and cause steam. This steam forces the hot coolant out of the radiator cap, and to all the world, looks like a failed head gasket. Usually the only giveaway is that it doesn’t happen when the engine is stone cold, unlike a head gasket.

You might think that Toyota would know these vans, but as they were never sold here as new through the main dealer network, the service side in the UK have little or no knowledge and experience for diagnosing these curious cooling systems.

Hope that helps
dave Bright (Bournemouth)

- (#11552) dave Bright (Bournemouth), 5 Nov 03 12:16

Unfortunately you get good and bad in every industry. Just because they are a main dealer carrying the Toyota badge doesn't necessarily mean they know all there is to know about Toyotas. Imports tend to scare them even more for some reason. I'm sure this doesn't apply to all Toyota dealers and especially to Mr Coombs if you are reading this.

I regularly read posts on a Toyota MR2 website and the kids on there are forever bemoaning the bad service from their Toyota dealers. Trouble is it's like everything else on this board - you only hear about the bad stuff. Rarely does anyone say they got a good deal from a garage.

If you do write a complaint to your garage, I would suggest you send a copy to the UK Head Office as well. You never know you may get an apology and the Service Manager just might get a kick up the arse as well.
- (#11553) Ian Dunse, 5 Nov 03 12:18

Well Dave have sorted my head out at last,
Here is breakdown:- Pressure test head & skim £65.
Gasket set £94.33
Head Bolt set £20.4
Labour £240
Sundries £7.20
VAT £74.71
Total. £50164
Moral of this saga,buy flash warning device,I can assure you cheque will be in the post soooon. If you lived closer I'pay you to fit it as well,Oh well Scotland here I come.
Steuart H.
- (#11554) Steuart H, 5 Nov 03 14:44

Wow 50 grand!! That's one huge garage bill or there's a decimal point missing :-)

- (#11555) Ian Dunse, 6 Nov 03 7:00

Very astutley spotted Mr Dunse, must have been one of those silly senior moments I have been having lateley,the first one might have been when I bought a Townace. Still no sense crying over a blown headgasket.

- (#11591) Steuart H, 8 Nov 03 15:50

Easily done. As long as you didn't actually pay the £50k !!

Don't let the head gasket experience get you down. Most of us have been through it. You'll get over it with hopefully a few years of relatively troublefree and pleasurable driving to come.

- (#11592) Head Repair, 10 Nov 03 2:32

oops. my turn for a senior moment. got the name and heading the wrong way round. at least i remembered my name (i think ......?)

- (#11593) Ian Dunse, 10 Nov 03 2:37

what on earth did i think i was doing doing buying a toyota, i thought i was buying a quality piece of japanese engineering, instead i have bought something which is not fit for a paper weight.
in case anyone is wondering, my head gasket has gone, i have had the thing on the road for less than a week and covered less than 150 miles in it, it is puking water everyhwere, aa did a coolant sniffer test and it went green, so now i am faced with a monster bill, for a poxy head gasket job and whatever else they find, words fail me at this time..........

- (#11726) Master_Simon, 11 Nov 03 16:55

Well, not to be unsympathetic, but you did read up on them before purchase, and realise the it's a ten year old vehicle with unknown history?...

Surprised a sniffer test worked tho- don't normally on diesels.

But to be more positive, you've just bought it so it's under warranty, right? If not, no problem- get your hands dirty and as long as the head's OK you can be back on the road for at the most a couple of hundred quid. That's less than a month's payment on a new MPV!

- (#11727) david miller, 12 Nov 03 1:35

i managed to get my head gasket fixed for 128.00 pounds.but iam now looking for help again. when ihave my lights on they keep going to full beam would be grateful for any help

- (#11728) sue, 12 Nov 03 17:14

Fixed for 128 pounds?
For mine the gaskets and bolts and new cam belt cost more than that, i am right in thinking the belt can only be tensioned once yeah??

David
My 10 year old vehicle has a very low mileage and I have no reason to doubt it, but what I was and still am miffed about is I had the damn thing fully serviced by my local garage, they fitted me a new belt, which requires removing the top hose, they never told me they had done this so I didn't know to keep an eye on the water level, and it is my belief it had a vapour lock in the heater matrix.
Consequently when the thing boiled dry I had little indication it was doing it till the cloud of steam overtook me as I stopped outside work.
Yes the sniffer worked it, I saw it with my own eyes.

As for warranty I wish i had taken one out now, but I bought it trade, i could not have afforded what i got at forecourt prices, i could have and probably would have bought a new car for what my model goes for on a forecourt.
- (#11729) Master Simon, 13 Nov 03 16:27

You have my sympathy, Simon, but it's my experience (four years, 70k miles, three heads :-( ) that cooling problems are inevitable. Some people heve problems amost immediately after import, some get a year or more's use. But it comes to all. Mark my words! (insert evil laugh...)

The upside is that once the cooling system is sorted and a good gasket fitted to a flat head, they ARE reliable. But the sorting is critical. Cap, stat, rad, gauge.

If funds are tight, the bolts can be reused. The belt is new and may be reused as long as it's put on in the same direction of rotation.
BTW, the cooling system DOES NOT have to be opened to change the belt. And even the hose was reconnected, the systems don't airlock that easily- if the system was intact any shortfall would've been made up by the expansion bottle on first cooldown.

Methinks there is another problem other than an "airlock". Was the gasket confirmed 100% before purchase? Was the rad cap inspected?

Bear in mind that your 10 y.o. low mileage car might've been sitting ticking over in a taxi rank in Tokyo for half it's life, also there is some evidence of "clocking" these vehicles pre- export...

- (#11730) david miller, 14 Nov 03 2:41

David
Which model do you have?
As for the head gasket, the vehicle was used up to the point I got it, by the bloke i got from, he had done some 500 miles in it including several trips up the motorway to the sva centre.
As for being cash strapped, yes I am going to be after this, but if the bolts are a one use item i shall replace them, and the rad cap and the thermostat will be changed even though the rad cap looks new.
As for mileage, well yes clocking a digital speedo is easy by those in the know but looking at the cab of mine i am not so sure, there are wear marks for sure but the mats and carpets etc look too good to be any older. I know what taxi seats look like after a year let alone 9 years.

Do you or any of the others know what the extra rads that lay flat are for, there appear to be two rads in the front laying down one with a large electric fan on it and a smaller one which I presume is the gearbox cooler, might it be for the AC??

- (#11801) Simon, 14 Nov 03 6:38

I had a 1991 4x4 auto.
The bolts are reuseable- the manual (RM025E) states that replacement is only neccessary in case of non-elastic stretch or indeed breakage. I must admit, I never replaced mine...

500 miles is nothing. Barely a proving run in my book!

Can I presume that the new- looking rad cap is the correct item?

re. the other rads, if it's a 4x4 auto, you've got a horizontal rad with the a/c condenser stacked on it, plus another small condenser at the front that looks like an oil cooler. If it's any other model, there's only the a/c condenser...

- (#11802) david miller, 14 Nov 03 10:43