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PLEASE HELP. Just bought my Dolphin V6. Found out it has a dead cylinder.


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The 3vze engine doesn't have lifters. Thats why it's so hard to have the valves adjusted. The cam pushes up on the shims, lifting the valves. Maintenance is everything on these engines.

Linda S

Linda - You're a treasure trove of Toyhome information! ;) Thanks for the help.

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This fixed my 91 v6 for 5000 miles so far...

It all started when I went to change the thermostat and there wasn't one there. (wondered why it was running at a cool temp all the time) So after I put the thermostat in, it caused the weakest part of the seal to suck in to cause the blown head gasket.

I was having white smoke out of the exhaust, and my coolant was going into the 6th plug and fowling it out. I used this after I took the plug out, started it for a second to shoot the water out and put the #1 plug (because it wasn't fowled) and put the 6th where the 1st was to unfowl it. After about 5 miles the exhaust was clear again and the plug stopped fowling.

Since then we went about 5000 miles (about 3 hours at a time during each trip) climbing through Yosemite to Lake Tahoe and stopped at every lake in between.

We run Mobile One oil, Lucas gear oil in our rear, 8 ply tires from Les Schwab with brass tire valves. Thinking about putting a front transfer case and a 2" suspension lift.

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It all started when I went to change the thermostat and there wasn't one there. (wondered why it was running at a cool temp all the time) So after I put the thermostat in, it caused the weakest part of the seal to suck in to cause the blown head gasket.

I was having white smoke out of the exhaust, and my coolant was going into the 6th plug and fowling it out. I used this after I took the plug out, started it for a second to shoot the water out and put the #1 plug (because it wasn't fowled) and put the 6th where the 1st was to unfowl it. After about 5 miles the exhaust was clear again and the plug stopped fowling.

Since then we went about 5000 miles (about 3 hours at a time during each trip) climbing through Yosemite to Lake Tahoe and stopped at every lake in between.

We run Mobile One oil, Lucas gear oil in our rear, 8 ply tires from Les Schwab with brass tire valves. Thinking about putting a front transfer case and a 2" suspension lift.

Interesting. There is a small amount of white smoke and drops of water coming out of the exhaust. I blown gasket probably wouldn't explain the low compression in cyl 6 though. Regardless, it would probably be handy to have a can of this stuff on hand in the future...just in case.

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a blown head gasket could very well cause low compression if you have white smoke that is another sighn steam and antifreeze got antifreeze in your system see if your expipe smells like that . there is a pump tool you can use to pressure the colling system if you get antifreeze out of the spark plug holes the head gasket or the head is most likley bad

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Ugh...this is getting DEEP. Painful. But good suggestions. With 109k on it I should probably do the timing chain as well I suppose.

Doesn't have a chain but it's due for a timing belt any way.

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It all started when I went to change the thermostat and there wasn't one there. (wondered why it was running at a cool temp all the time) So after I put the thermostat in, it caused the weakest part of the seal to suck in to cause the blown head gasket.

I was having white smoke out of the exhaust, and my coolant was going into the 6th plug and fowling it out. I used this after I took the plug out, started it for a second to shoot the water out and put the #1 plug (because it wasn't fowled) and put the 6th where the 1st was to unfowl it. After about 5 miles the exhaust was clear again and the plug stopped fowling.

Since then we went about 5000 miles (about 3 hours at a time during each trip) climbing through Yosemite to Lake Tahoe and stopped at every lake in between.

We run Mobile One oil, Lucas gear oil in our rear, 8 ply tires from Les Schwab with brass tire valves. Thinking about putting a front transfer case and a 2" suspension lift.

Did you ever run the vin number at a toyota dealership and see if the head gasket recall was done on yours. The recall is still open and if it has not been done you can get it done.

Linda S

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Did you ever run the vin number at a toyota dealership and see if the head gasket recall was done on yours. The recall is still open and if it has not been done you can get it done.

Linda S

no I haven't. I should do that... thanks!!

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$2,000 sounds like; "I don't really want to mess with it, but for $2,000, I will." (Hell, for 2k, i might even mess with it.)

John Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

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Well, the Dolphin is down at Woodburn Automotive. I saw a few positive posts on the forum about them and their history working with Toyhomes. They gave me a bid at $2,600...worst case. That being said, don't mechanics generally find a way to make something 'worst case?' I'll be sure to keep everyone posted on what they find, and the quality of work they perform.

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Depends on the mechanic, of course. But yeah, it's always a surprise when the bill comes in lower than you expected. I think we all expect to get ripped off, but possibly because of a combination of a few bad apples, and the fact that most people don't know the first thing about how to fix vehicles or what is going wrong, so anything over a couple hundred bucks makes them come to the conclusion "I got ripped off".

Knowing what I know about vehicles, I've always had very good luck with mechanics.

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The 3vze engine doesn't have lifters. Thats why it's so hard to have the valves adjusted. The cam pushes up on the shims, lifting the valves. Maintenance is everything on these engines.

Linda S

You lost me on that comment. If the engine did not have any lifters, the cam lobes would be riding directly on the ends of the valves. The 3VZE has 33 mm X 22 mm lifters. Basically what are also called "tappets", "solid lifters", "followers", "spacers", etc. Non self-adusting unlike hydraulic "lifters." Also no mechanical adjuster other then shims.

I don't make up the jargon, but do have to use it. I cannot think of any internal combustion engine with conventional valves and a camshaft that does not have some sort of lifters. Now - there are few with "sucker valves" and no camshaft at all. Detroit Diesel made a few called the "series 50."

There are a few new engines being conjured up with engine valves that operate by electronic solenoids. No camshaft I assume.

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$2,000....does that sound right? That works out to 20 to 25+ hours of labor.

Has anyone else had this procedure done, and if so was it $2,000?

$2000 sounds excessive to me but I don't know what all is being done.

If it was in my shop - first I'd find out WHY one cylinder is low. Is it a burnt valve or just a valve being held partially open? If the latter, it might be repairable without removing the head. Modern valves and seats are very durable. If an exhaust valve gets held open too long, it will eventually burn out. If that IS the case, and the engine only has 109K miles on it - removing and repairing just one head is an option. Furthermore - the one valve if burnt could be removed and replaced instead of an entire valve job. Often even with a burnt valve - the seat can still be fine. Just a matter of popping the valve out, doing a light resurface of the seat, and putting the new valve in.

I can understand if the engine had over 200K miles and was pretty much whipped all-around - that you'd want a rebuild of some sort. I'd also understand the want of a valve-job if all the top end was worn. But with a fairly low mile engine that did not burn oil and ran pretty good? I be apt to think otherwise.

Also excuse me if I missed something in all the posts. I did not read them all.

Not so long ago, many shops did their own valve work. I still do much of mine "in house." I suspect your mechanic will just pull the heads and send them out elsewehere. Modern soft-metal heads with seat inserts and overhead cams have gotten pretty complex. Rebuilt heads will result in you paying for a lot that you may not need.

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You lost me on that comment. If the engine did not have any lifters, the cam lobes would be riding directly on the ends of the valves. The 3VZE has 33 mm X 22 mm lifters. Basically what are also called "tappets", "solid lifters", "followers", "spacers", etc. Non self-adusting unlike hydraulic "lifters." Also no mechanical adjuster other then shims.

I don't make up the jargon, but do have to use it. I cannot think of any internal combustion engine with conventional valves and a camshaft that does not have some sort of lifters. Now - there are few with "sucker valves" and no camshaft at all. Detroit Diesel made a few called the "series 50."

There are a few new engines being conjured up with engine valves that operate by electronic solenoids. No camshaft I assume.

Your right I mis-spoke. It has solid lifters but no rocker arms that can loosen and make a clacking or ticking sound. The sound is what I was trying to address but I said it wrong. On the v6 a quiet engine doesn't mean everything is well.

Linda S

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Like I said, he told me it was just cold and that it had been tuned up the month prior. Only at idle do you notice anything. At cruise, it seems fine. But 20lbs of compression means the cylinder is shot.

Maybe I missed something in all the posts but 20 PSI in one cylinder doesn't mean many any part has failed yet. Has anyone looked close to verify both valves are closing on that cylinder? Having a valve too tight typically first shows itself by a skip at idle but good running at higher RPMs. The idea of any shop giving you an estimate with no specific explanation about what is wrong sounds kind of silly to me. A leaking valve is very easy to diagnose. So are valves that aren't closing.

I recenlty had to fix a John Deere engine for a guy that he ran all summer with a bad skip on one cylinder. When running it seemed OK. Ends up a bit of valve recession creating valve train too tight and an exhaust valve too tight and not closing all the way. In this case - I just loosened them up and it ran fine again. But the Deere has adjustable valve train via a wrench. Toyota is more difficult with the overhead cam and shims.

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I'm with J. You are going to spend money foe sure. But a valve adjustment is way cheaper than a valve job. As I wrote before have the shop check the valves before removing the heads.

Replace the water pump and timing belt an any case.

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no I haven't. I should do that... thanks!!

Linda,

I went to the dealer and they told me that the recall has been changed to 8 yrs or 100,000 miles which ever comes first. Oh well it was worth a shot thanks.

After thinking about dropping 2 grand on fixing a gasket... if mine does totally drop dead, Im seriously thing about throwing a V6 Vortec in :shiftyph34r: and while Im there I might as well as drop a transfer case from a early 90s Toyota 4x4. There are so many out there with a blown gasket and all other parts work fine. prob have to shorten the drive shaft and other stuff too.

(My next project after an awning is a 2" suspension lift to get the 8ft rear end :buttwiggle: past some dirt gravel roads to these awesome lakes in the Lake Tahoe area.)

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Linda,

I went to the dealer and they told me that the recall has been changed to 8 yrs or 100,000 miles which ever comes first. Oh well it was worth a shot thanks.

After thinking about dropping 2 grand on fixing a gasket... if mine does totally drop dead, Im seriously thing about throwing a V6 Vortec in :shiftyph34r: and while Im there I might as well as drop a transfer case from a early 90s Toyota 4x4. There are so many out there with a blown gasket and all other parts work fine. prob have to shorten the drive shaft and other stuff too.

(My next project after an awning is a 2" suspension lift to get the 8ft rear end :buttwiggle: past some dirt gravel roads to these awesome lakes in the Lake Tahoe area.)

Well on the toyota-campers group people are still getting it done. Tell that dealer you want to see the documents that say the recall was changed. Bet he can't come up with any. Or just call Toyota directly and have your vin number ready

Toyota owner support 1-800-331-4331

Here's a post from a woman who had it done dec 2012. Her dealer told her the same lie yours did but toyota gave her the correct info

I have a 1991 Toyota Winnebago Warrior with a 1990

Toyota pickup chassis.. I found out the head gasket had NOT been done by

calling my local Toyota dealer. I asked the dealer to fix the recalled head

gasket and they told me that the recall expired after eight years and it would

cost me twelve hundred dollars to fix. I then called Toyota cust service and

was told that recalls never expire. I told them what Obrien in Champaign IL

said and so she gave me a case number and said if the dealer had any questions

about it to refer them to my case number. I then called Obrien who changed

there tune and arranged for me to take to Bloomington dealer who had a rack that

could handle seven thousand pounds.

> >

> > So the answer is No I didn't pay for having the head gasket done. Toyota

honored the recall.

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From the documents I've read - the head gasket thing was never an official "recall." Just a "special service campaign." It seems Toyota made "special adjustments" in come cases. That doesn't make a guy at a dealership a "liar" if he just cited what was in the Toyota bulletin.

I think Toyota would be nuts for honoring head-gasket warrantees for rigs that have made it past 100K miles with RV bodies attached.

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I think Toyota would be nuts for honoring head-gasket warrantees for rigs that have made it past 100K miles with RV bodies attached.

Me too, but what the heck, its worth a try. :-)

JOhn Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

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All they did was extend the warranty. But all of those warranties are now past the end date so no more free head gaskets to be had. I guess if one is buying a 6 cylinder from the 90s there might be a VIN record showing if the head gasket was replaced by a service center. That record search and $2.50 will get a cup of coffee and something to discuss over it.

I just posted that Toyota OK'd one just a little more than 6 months ago. Exactly what knowledge do you have that it is over. There are many more in the last few years on the toyota-camper site. Do I have to report them all?

Linda S

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First special service campaign in 96 was for 8 years or 100,000 miles. Second in DEC 97 gave all the early v6 trucks only one more year for repairs and concentrated on the late 1990 to 1994 and that section DID NOT have an expriation date. Don't know what to tell you guys except for the fact that Toyota is still doing them and quite a few have been done in the last few years.

Linda S

This is copied from the official campaign document on the toyota campers site concerning the late 1990 and up models including the T100 trucks. Couldn't copy and paste whole document but this is the important part. Anyone needing this done can go to toyota-campers at yahoo and print out the whole PDF. It's in the files section. Take it to the dealer for proof that it is still in effect

Under the Special Service

Campaign Program, the head

gaskets will be replaced on all the

affected vehicles regardless of

leakage or not, and there will not

be any age, mileage or time

restrictions under the Special

Service Campaign

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Question, if one has a Toyota that is covered under the head gasket campaign are there any risks in getting

the head gasket replaced if it is not leaking? That is if the current head gaskets have worked for the last 20+

years (and probably 100,000 miles), whats the odds that it is going to fail? Replacing a head gasket is not

a simple risk free task. I had a head gasket on a 1986 Toyota pickup done by Toyota only to have a timing

chain failure to occur six months later (and they were instructed to replace the timing chain if worn while

replacing the head gasket), which I still believe was due to not being reinstalled correctly. I realize it is a

different engine, but a lot of parts (more on the V6 3.0) get removed during a head gasket replacement.

Dennis...

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Only if the mechanics aren't good.

Otherwise it's nothing but a good thing. Headgaskets go, eventually. They have a regular maintenance schedule, just like your oil or spark plugs or timing chain/belt.

There are things where "if it ain't broke don't fix it", especially if you're a hobby mechanic, because they're tricky. But even though I would never have the Toyota dealership work on my vehicles except as a last resort, they better know how to do a headgasket and not screw anything else up.

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There are so many v6 Toyota motorhomes with really low miles that I think the extended for ever warranty is kind of just for us. Trucks those years mostly already have 100's of thousands of miles. I've seen many motorhomes with way less than 50,000. Less miles for the bad gasket to fail but you don't even need it to fail to have it replaced under this campaign. Perfect opportunity to get major service done at the same time and in Anthony's case get his truck fixed for nothing. Who's going to complain about that.

Linda S

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From the documents I've read - the head gasket thing was never an official "recall." Just a "special service campaign." It seems Toyota made "special adjustments" in come cases. That doesn't make a guy at a dealership a "liar" if he just cited what was in the Toyota bulletin.

I think Toyota would be nuts for honoring head-gasket warrantees for rigs that have made it past 100K miles with RV bodies attached.

This is a manufacture that is still putting frames under trucks with 200K on them. Toyota is one of the very few companies that actually admits they screwed up unlike the big 3 US companies. Built right a head gasket will last the life of the engine.

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I called Toyota USA today, 8/19/13. They had me on hold for near half an hour while they searched, asked other's question, or whatever. End result was - they told me that head gasket "service campaign" or "policy adjustment" ended long ago - around 2003.

I'll take their word for it over any anecdotal stories. That is not so say that some dealers do not bend the rules a little and get warranty for some customers.

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This is a manufacture that is still putting frames under trucks with 200K on them. Toyota is one of the very few companies that actually admits they screwed up unlike the big 3 US companies. Built right a head gasket will last the life of the engine.

I agree that if an engine is designed properly, a head gasket should never fail. The engine should wear out first. But I assume every maker puts limits on warrantees. If they did not they'd be bankrupt pretty quick.

I wasn't aware that,members of the "former" big three never fess up. I just had my 1994 Ford F250 fixed for free under two recalls and it has 275,000 miles on it. Front bumper bolts and master-cylinder pressure switch.

From what I've seen over the past 10 years, Toyota has been no better then Italian owned Chrysler, Union and stock-holder owned (and taxpayer owing GM) and self-owned Ford.

People at Toyota headquarters told me that the head-gasket deal for V6s in null and void and I'll take their word for it.

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Great suggestions. The compressions in the other cylinders were great. Just #6 @ 20lbs. I contacted a place that was suggested in this thread, but they're saying expect $2,000. This is just really unfortunate.

Wow, $2K for a valve job on the six? I am sooo glad I have the 22re. You can do a valve job on the 22 for half that.

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I did a valve-job on an 85 with a 2.4 a few months ago. Took around 14 hours total including labor to do the head in my shop. Intake valves were fine but I replaced with new anyway since new valves are so cheap. All the exhaust valves were too thin after refacing so all valves got replaced. Four new intake valves - $20. Four new exhaust valves - $28. Eight new valve guides - $6. Gasket set for head replacement with new valve seals - $38. Total of all parts - $92. Total labor ?? It was mine and I don't charge myself . If a shop was charging $60 per hour (the usual in my area) - total job would of been around $950. Note that the job could of been done much faster on a southern or western truck with no rust. Rusty stuck parts take up a lot of extra time to get apart.

Not sure it's even worth doing valve work in-house and trying to charge for it anymore. I spent around 3 hours time and $54 in parts to do the cylinder head. At $60 per hour - that comes to $234 to do the head. I can buy a brand new "loaded" head with a new camshaft for $330. That is brand-new and not rebuilt.

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Even where I am, where people aren't rich, labor averages $90/hour.

I'm in a rural area in central NY. I call it "semi-rural" and city people call it a "desolate H*ll." Three repair shops nearby. One is an ex-Chevrolet dealer. All three charge $60 per hour. In the nearest city (small city of Oneonta) private shops also charge $60-$75 per hour. Dealers much more.

In the area where I live part-time in northern Michigan - the only repair shop charges $55 per hour.

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