My sweetie's daughter has an older (2005) Camry and told me that the head gasket was leaking. She asked me what would cause that. I realized that I don't know what the reasons are that the gasket would go bad. I know what happens, I've seen bad head gaskets, but never learned why the problem happens. Anyone?
What causes a head gasket to blow?
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I presume you have the 2.4L 4 cylinder. If so, that engine is known for head bolt issues.
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/toyota-engines-destroyed-by-loosened-head-bolts.109228/
Another possibility is mixing incompatible antifreeze's that can eat at the gasket material.
I don't have the 2.4, nor do I have a head gasket problem. My curiosity is to help my "DIL" better understand her problem. If she has the 4-cyl in her car, it's the 2.4. I'll see her on Monday or Tuesday. Thanks so much.
Very good to know. Thanks so much.
Aluminum heads and cast iron blocks. Different expansion rates of the metal due to temperature can be hard on head gaskets sometimes causing failure w/o any overheating taking place. It was rare to see head gasket failures on older engines having all iron construction.
I wasn't quick enough-when the aluminum head heats, it expands more than the cast iron block-at a rate more than twice as fast with temperature change. The head gasket has issues keeping up, and will eventually start to fail. Improvements in HG material have helped, but it still happens.
Sorry, I presume SHE has the 2.4L in her Camry. If she does, a number of them end up with loose head bolts. There are repair kits out there. It was common enough for such kits to make sense.
I wish you and her well.
The engine gets so hot that the block and head expand in size slightly. Squishes the gasket more than it was designed for. When it cools down the head bolts are no longer as tight as they are supposed to be. The heat can also warp the head ,block or both. Warpage leaves area of less clamping force.
In my experience the number one cause is engine overheating, although this can and usually also causes head cracking and/or warping. The second most common reason is people never changing their coolant and it becomes acidic and corrosive.
When it was 10 or 12 years old the head gasket of my '81 Celica 2.4 liter engine started leaking oil to the outside (oil trickling down the block). That engine was never overheated and the coolant and oil were changed regularly. And I owned it from new.
I believe it had a cast iron block and a cast iron head. I looked upon it as "bad stuff happens to good engines" sometimes.
I believe it had a cast iron block and a cast iron head. I looked upon it as "bad stuff happens to good engines" sometimes.
toyota basically hand tightened head bolts on the M series engines for about 10 years. 100% gasket failure rate
things happen
things happen
There were some Ford 3.8 V6 engines that were notorious for blown head gaskets. The Ford 3.8 V6 used an iron block and Mexican aluminum heads. IIRC, the earlier 3.8 engines used some good cancer-causing gaskets that lasted a long time, but the later ones were replaced with gaskets that failed at a much higher rate.
Incidently, I got 300K miles out of my 3.8 V6 without them failing. I took the heads off of this vehicle to be used on another and the factory gaskets looked like they would have failed soon.
Incidently, I got 300K miles out of my 3.8 V6 without them failing. I took the heads off of this vehicle to be used on another and the factory gaskets looked like they would have failed soon.
Very true. They started putting in crappy gaskets in the early 90's in those 3.8's.I had the H.G. blow in my 91 (3.8) and hydro locked the engine. I still have the originals in my 87.
Chinese buyers of Rover? You mean Indian buyers as in TATA Motors don't you?
Hi Pelican.
Chinese bought what remained of MG Rover, including 'Powertrain' that made the engines. Chinese made MG are still sold here. All very sad.
https://mg.co.uk/?gclid=6c762fc21eb...rm=mg cars&utm_content=Brand_Core Terms_Exact
Tata bought Jaguar Land rover.
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