Advice needed - head gasket ?

[HayleyGoodie]

Hi guys

Driving my ‘93 GLS V6 3000, and filled it with coolant before I left for a drive up to Hunter Valley - oil pressure dropped, temp ran high and white smoke out the exhaust - went limp with no power

Pulled over and wouldn’t start again - radiator cap was off, but no milky substance in oil - no visible signs of anything else

When I try and start it, belts turn but engine doesn’t fire

Had it dropped back to my place - when I turn ignition, same thing - belts run but doesn’t turn over

My old man is a mechanic but lives in another country - could be a complete engine seizure in his opinion

Just want any advice as to whether it’s worth getting looked at - done 220k kms and didn’t pay a lot for it, but we love it!!!

[50v3r31gnZA]

Hi guys

Driving my ‘93 GLS V6 3000, and filled it with coolant before I left for a drive up to Hunter Valley - oil pressure dropped, temp ran high and white smoke out the exhaust - went limp with no power

Pulled over and wouldn’t start again - radiator cap was off, but no milky substance in oil - no visible signs of anything else

When I try and start it, belts turn but engine doesn’t fire

Had it dropped back to my place - when I turn ignition, same thing - belts run but doesn’t turn over

My old man is a mechanic but lives in another country - could be a complete engine seizure in his opinion

Just want any advice as to whether it’s worth getting looked at - done 220k kms and didn’t pay a lot for it, but we love it!!!

Sitting in the exact same position, unfortunately my diagnosis has been that there is such a bad crack in the head that the pots get enough water in to hydrolock after standing overnight.

[gemster]

Sounds like it to me... Sorry..

Gemster...

[disco stu]

But the engine turns over, so it's not seized or hydro locked

[Pixie_au]

I had a Camry V6 with same. Not hydro-locked. Starter motor caused pistons to pump fluid out until it started. Had symptoms of a struggling battery.

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[erad]

If you had to fill the beast with coolant before you left, that obviously means you had a leak somewhere. Is there any evidence of external leaks (at the radiator, hoses heater - inside the cabin etc). It sounds as if you ran dry of coolant and the thing boiled, temporarily seizing the engine. The low oil pressure mystifies me - unless the engine speed had dropped when you looked at the oil pressure gauge. Were there any strange noises at the time of failure or afterwards?

Most likely cause is a blown head gasket or a cracked head. The fact that the engine turns over with the starter motor means that it is not seized now (that is good). Now to find the source of the leak... The most reliable way to start is a cylinder compression check. The cylinder pressures should be 980 - 1275 kPa (142 - 185 psi) with a maximum variation of 98 kPa (14 psi) differential between cylinders. If the pressures are all reasonable on say 5 cylinders, it is possible that you have a cracked head on the other cylinder or maybe as simple as a blown head gasket. . If the pressures between 2 adjacent cylinders are low, it is likely that you have a blown head gasket.

A major rebuild will cost you a minimum $2000 including labour.

[pb4x2]

Hi Haley,
May I suggest you do some research on products such as Nulon permanent head gasket repair Rislone head gasket fix and Bar's Leak head gasket repair. They all guarantee their product will work and could be a better alternative to a full top end rebuild given the cost age and mileage of your vehicle.

[disco stu]

If you pop spark plugs out and try turning it over it will show pretty quick if there is water in the cylinders. Doing that before erads suggestion of compression pressure would be a good idea.

If it's not starting or firing now I'm wondering what else is going on