Disappearing Coolant + White Smoke = Head Gasket Replacement

[sw20kosh]

Originally Posted by OkieSnuffBox

Seeing all these threads like this is really starting to make me regret purchasing this car.


I specifically bought the car to use as a DD and occasional auto-x and HPDE work.

You see all these negative threads because people tend to complain and moan when things go wrong. People don't come to the forums to say "FYI everyone, my car is running fine!". They come here to say "My engine blew!" and to look for people who have had the same issues.

You have to take it with a grain of salt. At the tracks here I am seeing boosted FA20's surviving hard track use. Just enjoy your car and maintain it well.

Personally I am at 57k miles, 47k of which were boosted and I have been tracking this thing since day 1.

[OkieSnuffBox]

Originally Posted by sw20kosh

You see all these negative threads because people tend to complain and moan when things go wrong. People don't come to the forums to say "FYI everyone, my car is running fine!". They come here to say "My engine blew!" and to look for people who have had the same issues.

You have to take it with a grain of salt. At the tracks here I am seeing boosted FA20's surviving hard track use. Just enjoy your car and maintain it well.

I'm sure you're right. I know exactly what I'll do to the car to prep for it use.


I got tired of working on my older track rat Miata which is why I picked up a new car with the hopes I could do wheels/tires/brakes/suspension, put 60-70k miles on it, return to stock, and start again before anything big happened.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by OkieSnuffBox

I'm sure you're right. I know exactly what I'll do to the car to prep for it use.


I got tired of working on my older track rat Miata which is why I picked up a new car with the hopes I could do wheels/tires/brakes/suspension, put 60-70k miles on it, return to stock, and start again before anything big happened.

No way, man. Anytime you stretch its legs it's gonna get cramps. No substitute for extra TLC.

[OkieSnuffBox]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

No way, man. Anytime you stretch its legs it's gonna get cramps. No substitute for extra TLC.

Hence proper prep. Good syn in all the driveline components, Jackson Racing oil cooler, ducting the stock radiator, extra heat protection for the number 1 coil.




Unlike in the old track car where I think it was used engine I bought off a racer who claimed it was good (yeah bad crank pulley, again). I decided I was tired of it.

[Element Tuning]

From our experience building and racing the FA20 engines I would have to chalk this up to an assembly issue. The head gasket is very good and the actual sealing ring for the combustion area is larger than what we get with the STI engines.

Unfortunately OEM is what it is but when we build these engines we do address head gasket issues with better studs and torque specs we found to be ideal. In the past we had tested oem head bolts to be very good until they got extremely hot like what track guys see and street drivers do not.

[Takumi788]

I could not imagine using a head gasket problem to justify selling a twin. The aftermarket already has some nice head gaskets to replace the OEM ones with. Just replace it IF your car has that problem and continue enjoying the car.

[SubiePig]

Originally Posted by Takumi788

I could not imagine using a head gasket problem to justify selling a twin. The aftermarket already has some nice head gaskets to replace the OEM ones with. Just replace it IF your car has that problem and continue enjoying the car.

I spoke with Element Tuning over the phone about building these engines. They are a lot more time consuming than that EJ series to build. Plus pulling the engine on a new car to replace the headgasket.. It had 29k miles on it. I shouldn't be having to do that to start with. If the bolts and torque specs on assembly are the reason for failure that's fine and I hope there's a solution figured out. I will admit my choice was not just based on that but that was my last thing on the list that made my get rid of it.

[BlueBoy]

So I finally have the car back from the dealership after the head gasket replacement. It took so long because two valve shims were on back order for about 2 weeks. I asked for new head bolts to be installed but Toyota said the original bolts were reusable. (I thought torque-to-yield bolts were only good for one application.) I've been driving it lightly for 250 kilometers now and will continue breaking it in for the next 500 to 750 kilometers.

I originally asked about replacing the OEM head gaskets with aftermarket ones. They told me if they did that then my warranty wouldn't cover the issue if it happened again.

I guess the big test will be after running it hard during an upcoming autocross in January at which point I'll see if there's any sweet white smoke being blown or any significant loss of coolant.

My car has 44,500 km on it so I guess I'm good for one more head gasket replacement under warranty (100,000 km) at which point I'll seriously consider using different head bolts and gaskets.

Just to be clear, I've only tracked my car twice and ran maybe 12 autocross events. I've also regularly short changed the engine oil.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by BlueBoy

I asked for new head bolts to be installed but Toyota said the original bolts were reusable. (I thought torque-to-yield bolts were only good for one application.)

They aren't TTY. Perfectly normal to reuse them.

[nyfries]

Interesting. I have been seeing dissapearing coolant in the overflow resouvir but don't seem to notice white smoke. Also very sproadic. Would there be any significant problem if I ignore it?

[notout86]

GREAT thread. So much sensible and knowledgeable info. contributed.

About the hole at the top of the overflo tank.... ours is not tiny. It lets dirt in which you can see up high if you peer in the bottle. I put a bit of open-cell foam over it as a filter.

To reduce evaporation I put a thick gauge Al foil heat-shield around the bottle. Have an air gap between it and the bottle to allow convection cooling. Similarly you can shield your battery.

[notout86]

Originally Posted by OkieSnuffBox

Hence proper prep. Good syn in all the driveline components, Jackson Racing oil cooler, ducting the stock radiator, extra heat protection for the number 1 coil.




Unlike in the old track car where I think it was used engine I bought off a racer who claimed it was good (yeah bad crank pulley, again). I decided I was tired of it.

Which is number 1 coil and how do you protect it please?

[Cal3000]

At 100k miles, I seem to be having this same issue. After high RPM driving from day to day, I seem to lose 0.5L of coolant every day. I don't lose as much under normal driving. After a hard drive, the overflow tank is overflowing like crazy. It's becoming annoying. No warranty=expensive repair.
I took my car to a Midas and they did a hydrocarbon test for the coolant and didnt find anything.
I don't know what's going on. lol

[jawn]

Originally Posted by Cal3000

At 100k miles, I seem to be having this same issue. After high RPM driving from day to day, I seem to lose 0.5L of coolant every day. I don't lose as much under normal driving. After a hard drive, the overflow tank is overflowing like crazy. It's becoming annoying. No warranty=expensive repair.
I took my car to a Midas and they did a hydrocarbon test for the coolant and didnt find anything.
I don't know what's going on. lol

Have you logged your coolant and oil temps?