Ghia61

At the end....

It started like this

What could be the reason for it?
Does this indicate blown head gasket or could be something else?

I had some coolant leak, and while trying to flush the system I got dark coolant.

Edit: 1994 4Runner with 3vze auto

Yotard

Only way you get exhaust in your coolant is from a bad head gasket.

scope103

Well, a crack in the head or block might do it, but my bet is on Yotard's advice.

A compression test may be in your future.

Ghia61

OK. Thanks. I always thought of this option since I saw the coolant leak, and the dark coolant.
Seems that I have no other option then remove the heads and replace what needed.

Any advice on which HG to go?
I have read a lot, I understand there are several options like Fel-Pro, Mahle, LCE, Evergreen and the genuine Toyota.
Some are MLS (multi layer steel) and some are Graphite.
Which one is the best to go with?
What about the recommended head bolts?

Need to order these soon.

Yotard

I have ishino on mine from yota1. Send your heads out too to be machined.

Ghia61

Thanks, I will.
May I know how many miles did you have on your Ishino HG? They are in a fair price.

Yotard

It's been 3years now so about 30k mi

Ghia61

Does the original Toyota 3VZE HG are made by Ishino?

Yotard

According to the yota1 site these gaskets are the ones they used to fix the recall parts. No matter what you use it will happen again someday. Deleting the crossover pipe or running headers will help extend the life though as it almost always lets go on cyl 6 due to the heat from the crossover pipe.

Ghia61

I am considering deleting my crossover the cheap way (no headers) but I am not sure I like the pipe running under the transmission. It will improve the head temp but increase the transmission temp.
Any one did it w/o running the pipe below the transmission?
Headers are out of my budget for now.