My father noticed that my exhaust smelled sweet, and until I took the time to smell it, i never noticed it. He claims something about a head gasket? I am a complete noob on what that is. I have done injectors and CAI and exhaust. but I'm still noobish. Also I found that my car is slightly dropping oil onto my exhaust manifolds so it smells and slightly smokes. Is there a gasket around the crank case? is it hard to change? (i have a vg). Nows for the time where u all reply and make me feel Sofa-King We-Tard-Ed

 

well my max is doin the same thing but im waiting till it warms up. My valve cover gaskets are leaking so I already have all the gaskets in my trunk for when I do get time for it. I just want some extra time to make it look nice, plus im gonna clean the intake manifold and valve covers and re-paint them so they look like new.

 

Anti-Freeze has a sweet smell...so I would start by checking for a leaking head gasket.

 

how do u check for that? ive had this smell for about a yr now and my fluids are fine? I started to notice this after putting a different radiator in (koyo). My oil and coolant levels are perfect. But I still keep gettin rich smell so im guesin maybe its the lil tiny drops of oil on the manifold?

 

Do you get a white smoke from your tailpipe, even a little bit when the engine's cold?

Anti-freeze does smell (and taste) sweet and it when it burns, you get white smoke. If your head gasket has a crack in it, coolant will seep into your cylinder. It usually starts by smoking when cold because once your engine is up to operating temp, the metal expands and seals the gap. Once it's an all-the-time thing, you really need to get it replaced. If it's just a little bit of smoke, it's usually not worth the cost/trouble.

 

compression test and a leak down test should be a good start.
check if there's oil in the coolant..and check the temp of the coolant.

 

i have cleaned out my coolant container a few times. it turns a nasty light brown. and i rinsed it out. washed it. and refilled it. within a month its back to brown. yes my exhaust emits a white smoke. How hard is it to replace the head gasket on a VG? Iv'e done injectors. So how much farther down?

 

You sir have a blown head gasket..

 

Hrmm... it's a pain in the ****. My 4Runner has a blown head gasket right now, too. Fortunately, it's covered by a recall on all of the 90-94 4Runner V6s. As soon as i get it back from the shop with a new clutch, it's going to Toyota for a new head gasket. The 4Runner smokes quite a bit. Partly from the coolant, partly from burning oil and partly from burning clutch fluid becuase the slave cylinder was shot.

The head gasket is much further down than the injectors. Take those nice red valve covers off, then unbolt the head (the pretty thing with the rockers on it) and you will find your head gasket. And you have to do this to both sides. yeah, have fun getting to the rear one. You're almost better off pulling the engine. ...or finding a nice VE5.

 

How many miles on it when this happened?

 

engine has 150k. how much would it cost to have a shop do it? any guestamtes? otherwards ima buy some and goto town...

 

Head gaskets jobs are not for the lighthearted,it's a fairly complex job,much more than injectors..

My guess on labor charges would be $600+

 

awsome!!! time for me to buy some gaskets and a handle of morgan.

 

Do you have a fsm?

 

No, TheGoon sent me one but i had to reformat my pc. unless you can send ti via AIM or MSN messengers... my aim = CaptainSFTW MSN = HeresMyMind

 

this one is very common. your antifreeze is leaking somewhere. open up the hood and check.

 

feel like doing an engine swap?
at 150K it might be a good idea to get a lower mileage motor to swap in instead of trying to fix the headgasket on your motor. your head might be warped if it's been leaking for some time.

 

lack tools. knowledge and an engine

 

If you are lacking the first two then you better stay away from the head gasket.

 

Tools you can buy, knowledge is in the FSM.
Believe me, anyone can do a head gasket as long as they have the time and PATIENCE to do it right.

it only took my brother about a month to do his on his old camaro

 

 

It would be a very expensive job to have a mechanic do it, sometimes you can donate the car to a local auto mechanic school, or a High school Shop & they will fix it for you, if you pay for parts.......my neighbor got his truck painted that way, came out good too!!!

 

I can fix a bologna sandwich