Jake Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 I'm in my 1998 VVTi, on my way to Graham S's garage this morning for my MoT. Cruising along off boost , about 80mph on the m27. Put my foot down a bit to pass some traffic but hit what seemed like fuel cut. Didn't worry too much because the car doesn't have a FCD at the moment. A couple of miles later I noticed that the car seemed to be losing power. Squeezed the throttle a little but it sounded rough, so backed off again and started to worry. Then the yellow oil level warning light and red triangle light both came on. The gauges look OK, water temp normal. Now I'm really worried. I slowed a bit as I started looking for somewhere to pull over. The warning lights turn off again. About a mile further along I see a suitable spot and pull over. As I come to a stop the engine died. Opened the bonnet to see this : http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/764/200511122resized3pq.th.jpg It looks like the radiator has boiled over. The engine was red hot and there was some smoke rising from the cam covers. I'm going to do a compression test shortly but I'm pretty sure it's lost compression, judging by the sound of the engine when turning over. I guess if I'm lucky (yeah,right) it'll 'just' need a new head gasket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pig Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 Sorry to hear your baby is sick! hope its not tooo bad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 If the engine looked abnormally red hot, then worst case scenario is that it may all be fecked. Bearings, head wrapped, the lot. But you said that your water temp was normal, so WTF? Maybe you got lucky, I wish you the very best mate. edit: just saw the pic. Was the expansion tank empty? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 Oh no Jake ..sorry to hear this ...seem your having a right old time of it lately:cry: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bromy Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 Not a good year for you jake:cry: hope it turns out to be ok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitesupraboy2 Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 Mate gutted for you!!!! anything i can do to help just ask!! start by replying to my PM mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class One Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 It never rains but it pours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewen Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 Sorry to read this Jake...sincerely hope its not as bad as it sounds. Any sp on what could have happened, if the gauges were showing fine ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 But you said that your water temp was normal, so WTF? Yeah im a bit by this too! Would have to have been a major air blockage, blown HG, WP failure or blocked rad by the sounds of it ...real real sorry to hear this . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 doesnt sound good buddy best of luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penguin Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 feel for you mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 What a bummer :thumbdown :thumbdown Hope its not too serious.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 Jeez, not having much luck are you mate, hope it's not too serious! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fifty Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 Hope its not too bad Jake; why is it crap always happens to the good guys Rich:swear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted November 12, 2005 Author Share Posted November 12, 2005 I'm trying to do a compression test but I'm struggling to get the coil packs (or what ever they're called on a VVTi) off because they're kinda melted around the 10mm bolts that secure them to the engine. It's not looking good at the moment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyotasuprauk Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 Sorry to hear about this, it looks like the top rad hose has split and chucked out some of the water. I hope you can get it sorted as easy as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted November 12, 2005 Author Share Posted November 12, 2005 Well the plugs look fine. No burnt/missing electrodes. But there's very little compression. #1 --- 75 psi #2 --- 35 psi #3 --- 40 psi #4 --- 45 psi #5 --- 55 psi #6 -- 100 psi So at the minimum I guess the head gasket has blown, badly. The head is most likely warped as well. The thing is, how can I tell what other damage has been done? How do you tell if the bottom end is screwed as well? The oil level is fine and looks like new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 Well the plugs look fine. No burnt/missing electrodes. But there's very little compression. #1 --- 75 psi #2 --- 35 psi #3 --- 40 psi #4 --- 45 psi #5 --- 55 psi #6 -- 100 psi So at the minimum I guess the head gasket has blown, badly. The head is most likely warped as well. The thing is, how can I tell what other damage has been done? How do you tell if the bottom end is screwed as well? The oil level is fine and looks like new. Without doing a leak down test ( need the tester) which will show you if the rings are ok as well as highlight the area of compression loss ie gasket, valves, rings ..cracks ect ect . The only way you are going to know if the bottom end is trully safe is a visual inspection. With luck on your side it's gona bee major HG ..but to loose that much comp across most of them cyls i fear banana head or worse ...i so hope not for you as you dont need this luck ..only time will tell. Fingers crossed its not bore/ring damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 Shit man you get all the luck don't you!? I'm very sorry to hear this - after your second engine as well. Fingers crossed for you that it's just a gasket fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilli Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 Sorry to hear that mate thats really gutting. What was this noise you mentioned that made you think it was more than just a blown HG? maybe that might give us more of a clue. Most often HG blows in one place doesn't it? if the connectors melted on the sparkplugs, must have got pretty damn hot. Any chance the dash temp gauge may have shot up but you didn't notice and then come back down as coolant was lost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 Bad luck Jake :thumbdown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted November 12, 2005 Author Share Posted November 12, 2005 Thanks for the commiserations guys What was this noise you mentioned that made you think it was more than just a blown HG? maybe that might give us more of a clue. Most often HG blows in one place doesn't it? if the connectors melted on the sparkplugs, must have got pretty damn hot. I can't really describe it as a noise, you know when you can feel that it just isn't running smoothly? I've replaced the melted coilpacks now with some spare ones I had (from the last engine I blew up ). Not sure why I bothered with that really though. Without doing a leak down test ( need the tester) which will show you if the rings are ok as well as highlight the area of compression loss ie gasket, valves, rings ..cracks ect ect . The only way you are going to know if the bottom end is trully safe is a visual inspection. With luck on your side it's gona bee major HG ..but to loose that much comp across most of them cyls i fear banana head or worse I think the head on my other engine is OK. The block on that one certainly isn't - there's a couple of melted pistons and scored bores, but the head looks undamaged and the car didn't overheat when it went bang. So I guess the head needs to come off first and then take it from there, right? I might just get Phoenix to do it, Teresa will kill me if I start taking the engine out again. ....or maybe I should give the car to Thor for a v8 conversion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewen Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 ....or maybe I should give the car to Thor for a v8 conversion Nice to see you havent disintergrated into a sobbing mess...I would have. V8 in a Supra ? Stupid idea, as Ive said many times before:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 I think the head on my other engine is OK. The block on that one certainly isn't - there's a couple of melted pistons and scored bores, but the head looks undamaged and the car didn't overheat when it went bang. Get it checked anyway to see if she is true. So I guess the head needs to come off first and then take it from there, right? Yup Or if you are getting tierd of musical engines Pheonix is one option. maybe I should give the car to Thor for a v8 conversion Damn you must have/had one good job. money to burn ...any vacancies going Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoboblio Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 OMG Can't believe the bad luck :thumbdown Did you open a cursed Egyptian tomb by any chance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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