Car Care Nut head gasket warning

I asked the same question.

 

I agree. I enjoy his videos but lately some have been over the top to grab attention and clicks.
What makes me wonder about this video though, and all these "his" Toyota customers.
Why did he not stress preventative maintenance with them to do these coolant changes earlier ?

 

Put the driver side wheel on ramp and drain only the passenger side. On a flat surface I got maybe 1/2 qt from the driver side. Not worth it. Passenger side is much easier to access.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/coolant-replacement-the-easy-way.142235

 

That black stuff on MLS gasket is for covering light machining scratches. The head surface is far from a shiny mirror when it comes off the milling machine. You can do much better surface at home, with thick piece of polished glass, sandpaper and WD40.

That said, the warpage between head and cylinder wall has a different origin, not acidic coolant. It comes from mechanical or thermal stress, or both.

 

What size is the tubing?

 

I took it from my mityvac kit so dont know but if you have a mity vac, that tubing size will fit

 

The question I have is, does anybody here have a high mileage Tundra with the 5.7L that has had a blown head gasket? I wonder how likely this is.
Either way, I'll be changing my coolant on my 2020 crewmax around 50k just to be safe.

 

Do you have some knowledge that he didn't? Many of his customers, including this one I believe, live some distance away and only come to him for problems their local shops can't fix. I doubt they drive to him to have simple maintenance done if that is the case.

 

Another thing to consider is that The Car Care Nut has a popular YouTube channel, people (myself included) see him as very trustworthy, and knowledgeable. Because of that, people bring vehicles to him from long distance for unusual or difficult problems.
He might see more of these issues because of that, meaning that this might not be as prevalent as it appears.
Just a thought for what it's worth.

 

My question is: if you are good to go until 100K before it needs changing, why then would the service interval be 50K? It's not like changing out break in oil, where it's recommended early, before the regular service interval.

 

I think Joe333x answered this pretty well in post #27. Same reason they do away with transmission dipsticks, etc.

 

I think two reasons the first is 100,000 and the rest are 50,000.

You probably don't get all the original coolant out when it's replaced and since age seems to a major consideration, the truck is probably driven more miles per year during the first 100k than the next.

 

3/8” ID I believe

 

I used 5/16" ID fuel line. Something like 3' worth or so and ran straight into empty gallon jugs for collection.

 

I watched this video this morning and it is the first I have heard of this on the UR engines. He doesn't come outright to say thar lack of coolant changes caused this failure on that particular LC, but he certainly implies it. It would be interesting to know when the coolant flushes were done on it. It is a shame the block was almost out of spec. I be pretty upset if that were my truck. I will be doing 5 year coolant flushes on my truck, which won't be anywhere close to 100K miles, not even half of that. It's cheap insurance.

He does raise an interesting point about the lack of rebuild ability of modern engines. I have some old vehicles with cast iron V8s that are dirt simple to repair and rebuild. While we have made huge strides in long lasting reliable vehciles, they certainly seem more disposable in some aspects. Then again by 200k miles most people are aren't willing to invest much in a car anymore.

 

I actually agree with you on changing out the coolant at 50 rather than 100k, I always thought that was way too long. What I don't agree with, is that he actually conclusively proved that acidic coolant caused the failure shown with the evidence/hypothesis he provided in his vid. Just my 2c.

 

Is it possible to prove a cause of a head gasket failure like this after the fact, even? Once the gasket fails and is exposed to continued use for some time, they will all have the black finish destroyed at the spot of failure before you take it apart, yes?

I think the best remaining evidence is not where the failure has occurred already, but the places where the finish wear is apparent and progressing yet has held up - for now.

IMO, no matter what, you’re going to end up with a ‘just so’ story rather than a definitive conclusion. You can only assemble the pieces of evidence and decide what root cause seems most plausible.

 

Yeah I guess there isn't really a way to prove exactly what did cause it but obviously changing the coolant sooner than 100,000 miles would probably help with preventing it. What are some of the other factors that could cause it?

 

Machining debris

(sorry, sorry…. too soon)

 

Yeah, the ccn guy has some interesting titles but looking at the time of the video , i skip.
Who wants to waste 45 minutes watching him get to the point and summing it up. thie video should have been 10 minutes but apparently he likes to flex his know how.
Great for him, but learn to edit.

Regular coolant changes oil changes
Are key to maybe prevent the head gasket being compromised by aged acidic coolant. Toyota red swaps

 

If only pH test strips were commercially available...

 

I use my pool test strips. Question: How do I put the three inch chlorine tablets in?

 

Toyota dealers reporting a run on Coolant this Monday morning 8^)

???

Phoenix Systems 8001-B Coolant Test Strip (Determine When to Replace Automotive Coolant - 100 Test Strips)

 

Also, it's not necessarily the coating that caused the failure. He zooms in on the gasket and you can see there is passage on the edge of the gasket.

 

You can lead a horse to water....

 

Doing my 6 year old Tundra fluids in a month or 2 due to age not mileage.

On the other hand, if mine does this at 200,000 miles I'd be happy with the ownership experience and fix it and continue on.

 

I use these same ones, too. I tested mine yesterday with them, which was OEM original fill of 5yrs old and 60k miles. It tested at 7 on the ph/acidity scale and 60% on the freeze/boil scale. I am going to try another brand just for comparison to see what it says.

 

He was saying a long block and all the other "while you're in there's" would be approx. $24,000.00. Granted it's still cheaper than a new vehicle, but the rest of the truck will be rotted away, at least in the Midwest.

 

Be very careful....Toyota Coolant is very sweet compared to the big three.

Just for you guys I got curious over coffee this morning and performed a totally scientific experiment. 8^|

I am located in kind of in the middle of 3 Toyota Dealers all 40 mins away.

Sucks for parts. Anyway.

I spoke with all three dealers ( 2 mins each) on this Coolant topic. And I asked specifically about the time factor. In my case my 4runner is my daily drive, and I use my Tundra for utility – hauling, towing mostly. So I have low mileage for a 6 year old Tundra.

Two of them told me (and they were adamant) that time is not a factor for acidic levels. It has to do with the number of hot and cold cycles and the coolant running through the engine. The other third - did not know did not have an opinion.

The Time factor is a cautionary one. Just the messenger.

At $22 Cdn dollars a gallon (call around two of them wanted over $30 jug), cheap insurance for 2 jugs and doing a drain and fill.

 

Another idea: that happens only to old trucks. Could it be that knock sensors degrade and don't hear engine ringing as well as they did when new? Or knock sensor was not up to task out of the box, and that's why Toyota lists a replacement part number?