Is my head gasket blown? How hard is it to fix it? (1979 20R)

[Zack1978]

Hey everyone,
I think that the head gasket on my 79 4x4 short bed p/u is blown. The truck only has 37,000 miles on it and it sat for long periods of time since 79. Well here is the problem it is blowing HUGE amounts of white oderless smoke. It seems that it does it when you are decelerating and when you rev it at idle. When you are moving down the highway the smoke clears up. It did this once before for a short while then it went away. Now it is VERY bad. The smoke was starting to go away, the I checked the rad and it was low, so I added antifreeze and the smoke came back in full force. So does it sound as if the head gasket is blown?

How hard is it to change the head gasket? How much should I expect to pay a shop to do the work? How long should it take to do the job? Is there anything else I should look at when doing this job?

Thank you,
Zack

[JOKER]

No they are not hard to replace.
Get head gasket kit and a manual and follow the torque guide.

The question you should be asking is why what caused the head gasket to blow. If your timming chain guide is wasted then the timming cover may have a hole eaten in it by the chain. When you pull the head you should be able to tell.

Here is a pic of what the chain will do....
http://www.4x4republic.com/southwestvoodoo/toyota_engine_rebuild/P1010065c.jpg

I have to do one Monday on my street runner it is blowing steady bubbles in the radiator.

[Zack1978]

Do you think that the gasket could have blown just because the truck is old and it sat for long periods of time not being used. It only has 37,000 miles on it, as it was used as a plow truck only! Do you think that I could have damaged worse by driving it? I hope I didn't hurt the engine!


Zack

[Zack1978]

What might be some reasons that the head gasket blew? Could the timing chain be done after 37,000 miles?


Zack

[bbagwell]

If you ever overheated it that can cause a head gasket to blow. I think sitting for long periods of time may be a possible cause as well.

[johntoyota]

Hey man, the head gasket job on that is easy. If you have any experience at all than you should be able to do it in an hour or so. Its really just pulling a few bolts and then torquing them back down right. Nothing to it

[fenderbmxer86]

when you say that your radiator is getting low makes it sound like a head gasket. let your truck run for a second and then check the inside of your muffler with your finger and see if it is wet.

pull your oil cap off and if the cap has a milkey white residue then good chance you have a blown headgasket.

iv only hurd of head gaskets going out from overheating but im sure there is other ways.

the average headgasket install time is about 5 hours.

hope that helped.

[D-Krawler]

ok to see if you have a blown head gasket pop the radiator cap turn the truck on and see if coolant or alot of air is blowing out of your radiator cap, also check the dipstick for water, if your truck has been running lean it will blow a head gasket, my freind blew one because he was sucking extra air in through his radiator hose some how he has efi though, if that makes a difference, it shouldn't be to hard to replace the gasket but make sure you didn't warp the head. good luck