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Location:
Newcastle NSW
Registered:
March 2003
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Freakin' 7M head gaskets!!!!!
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Tue, 09 March 2004 06:56
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Well,
I was expecting it to happen one day after everything I have heard about them, but i was hoping it would happen a little later than with 92,000k's on the clock. My cressy blew its friggin' head gasket on the weekend. And of course it didn't happen close to home, it happened 200ks away at the Sydney airport and I had a plane to catch. First thing i knew about it was the temperature starting to rocket up as soon as i slowed down at the carpark. I had to park it in the a/p car park with the radiator boiling out through the overflow and go and catch my plane.
Got back from brisbane on Sunday and rang the NRMA, got told there would be a 4.5 hour wait for road service and i was only entitled to be towed 8km. Thanks for nuthin NRMA. I bit the bullet and decided to try and nurse the car home. Made it home ok with a stop in North Sydney to cool down for a while. Pretty nervous trip though.
I just got off the phone with my mechanic. He confirmed it was the head gasket. They have already taken the head off, cleaned it up and machined it. There was <3 thou variation over the whole head surface and no corrosion which is great. I was a bit worried that i had damaged it driving it 200k's hot. Should be back on the road by the end of tomorrow.
I guess what you can get from my story is that if you have a 7M this WILL happen to you. As I said above, my cressy only has 92k on the clock and the first 14 years and 68k were done by an elderly gent who serviced it religiously and drove it like only old farts can. It has always had genuine toyota red coolant in it which was changed regularly. If it happened to this one, it will happen to any 7M that has not already had it changed. So keep it in the back of your mind, and keep an eye out for the symptoms. My wife has been driving it for the last 2 weeks and told me after it stuffed out that it has been running crap for the last couple of weeks...Sigh....women....
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Location:
Lost in the K hole
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Freakin' 7M head gaskets!!!!!
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Tue, 09 March 2004 07:08
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| binny wrote on Tue, 09 March 2004 17:56 |
Well,
I was expecting it to happen one day after everything I have heard about them
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so what did you do in terms of preventative maintenance ??
| binny wrote on Tue, 09 March 2004 17:56 |
I guess what you can get from my story is that if you have a 7M this WILL happen to you.
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thats a big call.
i can understand that with the popularity of the BHG 'issue' with these engines, when you do blow one, you must be thinking it was an inevitable certainty. it isnt.
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Location:
Seattle area, USA
Registered:
June 2002
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Re: Freakin' 7M head gaskets!!!!!
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Tue, 09 March 2004 08:10
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replace the HG with a new one and use ARP head studs. torque them to 80 ft lbs. it will never blow again. the stock head bolts suck azz. seriously
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Location:
Newcastle NSW
Registered:
March 2003
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Re: Freakin' 7M head gaskets!!!!!
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Tue, 09 March 2004 08:26
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so what did you do in terms of preventative maintenance ??
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As I said it has had every servicing done religiously with genuine coolant used, due to corrosion being one of the main causes of bhg in these engines. I also had the head re-torqued during its first servicing after i bought it. You would have to search far and wide to find a better condition, more looked after '89 GLX. What mor ecould I have done to prevent it bar replaceing the gasket before it happened?
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thats a big call.
i can understand that with the popularity of the BHG 'issue' with these engines, when you do blow one, you must be thinking it was an inevitable certainty. it isnt.
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O.K maybe not "an inevitable certainty" but a very good chance. Until 4 days ago, my cressy was the only one I knew of that still had its factory head gasket. Whenever I meet another cressida owner the first thing they say to me is "has it blown its head gasket yet?" Even my mechanic who was stunned by the condition of my car told me to expect it to happen at some stage. I was hoping it would be a lot later than now though.
yep its getting new studs, all machineing done properly etc. I'm making sure it wont happen again.
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
November 2002
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Re: Freakin' 7M head gaskets!!!!!
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Tue, 09 March 2004 11:11
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As I said it has had every servicing done religiously with genuine coolant used, due to corrosion being one of the main causes of bhg in these engines. I also had the head re-torqued during its first servicing after i bought it. You would have to search far and wide to find a better condition, more looked after '89 GLX. What mor ecould I have done to prevent it bar replaceing the gasket before it happened?
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Shut down. 
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Location:
Lost in the K hole
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Freakin' 7M head gaskets!!!!!
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Tue, 09 March 2004 11:33
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huh? nah, i wasnt being a smartass, i was actually curious as it sounded in good condition, particularly under 3thou variation in the head.
id be interested, though, in knowing what the head was retourqued to by the mechanic. unless specified, you might find they just redid it to 56ft/lbs.
with the recent spate of hot weather, you might have found it started detonating on occasions, cyl pressure spiked, and troubles began? i dunno, bloody unfortunate either way you look at it.
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
March 2003
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Re: Freakin' 7M head gaskets!!!!!
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Tue, 09 March 2004 20:50
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just as important - did he use another Toyota headgasket or did he go for an aftermarket item? Ajusa make a gasket kit and their supplied gasket is a big improvement over the standard Toyota gasket.
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Location:
Newcastle NSW
Registered:
March 2003
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Re: Freakin' 7M head gaskets!!!!!
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Wed, 10 March 2004 05:38
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Ed,
I'm not sure what the head was retorqued to. I got it serviced the week after i had bought it and my mechanic recommended retorquing it, which i got him to do. I'll have to ask him what he torqued it to. He has replaced a crapload of 7M gaskets so I'm sure he knows what he is doing. He really knows his stuff and gets most of his customers by word of mouth. He has more sports cars there than "normal" cars even though he doesn't advertise as a performance workshop. I highly recommend him to anyone in Newcastle.
As for it being "bloody unfortunate" I hear ya brother and very bad timing for me but I guess a BHG is never good timing. Lucky I have Mr Visa to help me out 
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