The valve covers on that engine have been known to leak and fill the plug valley with an inch plus of oil. It is a common problem and easy fix believe it or not. Google it.
Someone borrowed grandma's car, now cylinders are full of oil to the top!
- Thread starter 333arod333
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The valve covers on that engine have been known to leak and fill the plug valley with an inch plus of oil. It is a common problem and easy fix believe it or not. Google it.
Really?
[video=youtube;vqikIx9DLOc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqikIx9DLOc[/video]
There's one over each cam.
Beat me to it.
my advice is get a mechanic looking at it. The cylinders can't be literally full of oil.
I'm going to start off just changing the valve cover gaskets and throwing new plugs in. Thanks a lot guys.
Lol at the guy who told me to take the car to the mechanic.
Lol at the guy who told me to take the car to the mechanic.
I didn't get the impression you had much experience with engines .
Someone put diesel in the tank. It pumped and ran till it could not burn it and started filling the cylinders.
Haha its all good man I didn't mean it in an asshole way and I wouldn't expect you to know how much I know and all that. FWIW I rebuilt my terminator engine in my driveway and I've been working on cars for a while now. Just didn't expect that comment out of someone on this forum.
So I threw new plugs in today, vacuumed out all the plug valleys before and after taking out the plugs. I cleaned everything nicely for the new valve cover gaskets and all that. Threw it all back together and just before starting it I noticed there was no coolant in the expansion tank. Started it, purred like a kitten, shut it off to check for stuff, and filled it with water. It was almost bone dry in the radiator, so someone ran it til it burned up a lot of coolant and probably overheated. Great. I went to start it and it was really groggy, not at all like it was a second ago. Then I noticed a hole in the radiator expansion tank as well. I decided to just fill it up to the top and cap it and see what happens. Well, it didn't even start without hitting the gas pedal and it ran like shit. I'm guessing the head gasket is bad and coolant is escaping from its channel.
So that's where I'm at now: bad head gasket and needs a new expansion tank.
Anyone disagree with the head gasket being bad?
Thanks guys.
I wouldn’t jump to conclusions about a blown head gasket. Were there milky oil deposits under the oil cap and valve covers indicating water contamination? When you replaced the coils and plug wires did you use OEM? I just ordered a set of NGK wires for one of my Toyotas and a wire was bad out of the box and caused intermittent rough running, stalling. There was a visible difference between how the NGK wires seated in the coils VS. OEM, the OEM made much better contact.
I’d also clean the IAC valve and throttle body. How many miles are on the car, just curious? If you disconnected the battery before doing any work the relearn on some Toyotas is full retard and you often need to clean the throttle body and IAC to help it along especially if you have a lot of miles.
Sounds like you’re going straight to worst case scenario. I’d rule out the easy stuff first.
If he started it and it ran great until he put water in there it pretty much eliminates the relearn theory, along with the tb/iac theory.
My suggestion would be to plug the expansion tank if you can, and run the vehicle. Look for the coolant level to drop, and then check the oil. As stated above, it will be milky (as I'm sure you know) if water is getting in the oil, and I don't see how it wouldn't if you had a bad head gasket.
When he said "Started it, purred like a kitten, shut it off to check for stuff" that may not have been sufficient time to relearn. The owners manual often recommends driving several miles. I've never seen a vehicle forget how to run by simply disconnecting the battery like some Toyotas. The IAC can cause intermittent hard starts where you need to apply throttle, it's another common problem especially on a 2001 if it has never been cleaned. If you google "gs300 wont idle after battery" you will see it is a problem. There are a ton of Toyota/Lexus threads for rough idle and they often point to IAC / battery re-learn.
Maybe he didn't touch the battery? Then it could be related to the other ignition parts he was jacking with. Maybe granny has been giving it gas to start it for several years?
Before you go and change a head gasket, pull the plugs and pressurize the coolant system and if there is a leak of that big of nature it will fill the cylinder and escape through the spark plug hole.
Second, did you ask whoever borrowed her car if they happen to of added oil to the car? If the cylinders keep filling up with that much oil there is a possibility that they overfilled the crankcase and on the downward stroke is drawing oil into the cylinder. Pull the dipstick and check the level.
Start small before you go big.
There wasn't milky oil contamination that I saw, no. I didn't replace the coils/wires, just the plugs and it ran fine for a bit. I will try cleaning the IAC, but it ran great at first so I don't think its that...
I see, maybe I'll just check the oil now for water on the disptick. I'll try plugging the tank though.
No, it didn't run before I touched the ignition parts. It was the same thing when I first started it: easy first start after sitting for a while, hard second start, impossible third. I'm thinking thats water flooding the cylidners, anyone agree?
I did start small, it just progressed to this level. The person that drove it didn't add anything, including gas, and drove it until there was no coolant left in the car. I'm thinking this probably overheated it so much that warped the head/block.
So, I guess I'll plug the expansion tank and take it from there. So just plug it, run it, and check the oil dipstick for milky oil?
So I went out to check the dipstick and it wasn't water or milky oil. It just looked like used oil. Is there ALWAYS water in the oil when a head gasket goes bad or not? I thought that there wouldn't necessarily be water in the oil and that that's just one of the possibilities.
Your OP led me to believe you had already done the coils and plug wires when you said "Ordered new coils and wires because I was pressed for time and couldn't do anymore diagnosing...The coils come in." If you haven't swapped the remaining ignition parts I'd do that since they can contribute to the misfire codes you are getting.
No, I didn't install them because of the plugs being soaked in oil and all that. I realized that the coils were ok and the plugs were at fault. It was hard for me to believe that all the coils on the car went bad at the same time, and the ignition control module wasn't throwing a code so I didn't think it was that.
Thing is, those coils n wires r like $350 and if I install them I can't return them.
May be 2 different issues. Water pump good?
You wont necessarily have coolant in the oil if it is getting in the cylinders via the headgasket. On that note, I have never seen a headgasket failure fill the cylinders with coolant. Also, you would see a huge plume of white/steam type smoke out the tailpipe before the engine dies.
Youre only adding extra air when stepping on the gas while cranking, not fuel.
You sure the substance on the plugs wasnt gas?
Youre only adding extra air when stepping on the gas while cranking, not fuel.
You sure the substance on the plugs wasnt gas?
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