OMAHA

My mechanic believes the head gasket is going bad. When i start my car, it sputters badly for 5 min. with no power in acceleration....then it smoothes out and i get good acceleration. White smoke then comes out the exhaust pipes for awhile. You can also hear a "miss" when it is in IDLE. He believes this is a lifter missing, which is "early stages of bad head gasket". His theory is that when it is off and cools off, the coolant is seeping into the head gasket (if i remember right!)....when i start it up, it sputters because of this and when it "burns" the coolant off, the white smoke comes out...... the coolant has been low last couple weeks too.....he quoted me 29.5 hours for repair, lol. Time to DIVORCE?

deanshark

Time for a second opinion. That would cost you a lot less then 30 hours of labor. What he says doesn't sound right to me but maybe this has happened to someone else here on their LS. I've never heard of a HG going bad on an LS. When I blew the HG in my old Cougar it ran great when cold then didn't have power when warm, never over heated but the temp gauge would go all the way to hot a minute after I started it but came back down to half after a couple more minutes.

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

how's your oil? if it's all milky bc the coolant is mixing with it, that's a sign of a bad HG. coolant can make it into the combustion chamber for other reasons.
however based on your other thread white smoke could also mean a leaking power steering pump (which is more likely the problem). as stated already, it's rare to see a bad HG on these motors unless truly neglected.

btw, have you done the ECU capacitors yet?

Oseberg

There is absolutely NO way to know if a head gasket is starting to go bad.

It is either bad, or it is not.

If it is bad, there will either be oil in your coolant, coolant in your oil, exhaust in your coolant, or you will be burning an excessive amount of oil.

If none of those things are true, then your head gasket is NOT bad.

So, you need to test for these things. If you leave your coolant cap off, it will prevent pressure build up in your cooling system. Therefor, if your symptoms are caused by coolant leaking into your cylinders, then leaving the coolant cap off should eliminate those symptoms. Did your mechanic try this?

You can also get a kit that will allow you to test your coolant for traces of exhaust. Or you can have a sample of your coolant sent to a lab for testing. Did your mechanic try this?

As timmy0tool said, if coolant is accumulating in your oil, then your oil will turn milky. Mayonnaise is made of oil and water blended in a blender. Your engine is the blender. If your oil is turning into mayonnaise, then you have a blown head gasket. However, coolant leaking into your oil WILL NOT effect the way the engine runs until so much water has leaked into your oil that it has turned so solid that your oil pump can't pump it any more and your engine is destroyed. I doubt this has happened, because you would have noticed.

IF these symptoms that you are experiencing are caused by a blown head gasket, then water is getting into your cylinders and removing the coolant cap should eliminate this and tell you very quickly if you have a blown head gasket or not. Also, leaving the cap off will make it easier for the pressure in your cylinders to push fuel and exhaust into your coolant where it can be detected. You might also notice the coolant level changing when you rev the engine.

However, don't drive around with your coolant cap off. This will cause your coolant to boil and run out, then your engine will overheat. Especially if you have a blown head gasket that might be blowing exhaust into your cooling system that would push the coolant out of your engine. Only leave it off while you have the hood open and are watching it.

Anyway, don't just start taking the heads off to replace the head gaskets without first proving that you actually DO have a blown head gasket.

Losiracer2

Those sputtering symptoms happened to my 93 Honda Accord. Every cold start it took about 20 seconds to clear up, then was fine. I checked my spark plugs and you could see traces of coolant being burnt off on them. When I finally removed the head, I saw that the center cylinders were leaking coolant into the combustion chamber just as you had proposed.

You can do a block leakdown test to verify if its leaking and not sealing correctly.

If it is leaking, I think it would be cheaper to get a replacement 1UZ engine. I've seen some for as low as 700 from an importer. If you look on craiglist, you might even be able to find entire LS400s for about 400-500 bucks with the engine you can salvage and then have a ton of spare parts leftover.

Oseberg

How much would it cost to install this replacement engine?

A a block leakdown test is a good idea.

Make sure you prove that you know what the problem is before you start repairs. It would suck to spend a ton of money repairing the wrong thing.

dicer

You can rent the hoist and do it yourself. Just read Banshee's stuff. An older car is NOT for a non diy person, but if everything is in top shape on the car like perfect body and paint and interior. And the miles are low, it is worth the cost to fix it. Because a new car will be over the 30,000 mark and fixing the old is under the 4,000 mark, and just a better financial decision. On the 30,000 dollar car the costs are huge and the loss is just as huge. On the 30,000 car you toss that 4,000 in the toilet as soon as you sign the paper work. If the old car is not in good shape then replace it.

Oseberg

And, it's an $80,000 car that you're fixing, not a $30,000 car. You're not going to find any car equivalent to an LS400 for $30,000.

A $30,000 car with 200k miles on it is a piece of crap, but a decent $80,000 car with $200k miles on it is nicer than the $30,000 car when it was new.

Losiracer2

I can't say how much Lexus charges but when I didn't know what was going on with my Accord, I took it to Honda and they charged me $120 for a diagnostic fee. So I'm assuming it'll be somewhere around there.

Oseberg

This video is a bit strange, but could save you a few dollars.


https://www.amazon.com/UVIEW-560000-...dp/B000NPDL76/

https://www.amazon.com/UVIEW-560500-...dp/B000NPEXOQ/

Banshee365

A lot of auto parts stores rent out HG test kits.

OMAHA

its not the head gasket...no milky oil or coolant burn off....car does not like freezing weather!

Legender

I had this happen to a Honda accord. Did all the tests that you normally do that didn't prove anything, and yet, still losing coolant. I did find the exhaust had a sweet smell to it. Thing would get hot every third day due to low coolant. Put more in it and it would be fine for a couple of days. No coolant leaks on the vehicle, no coolant in the oil. Very frustrating. Ended up getting rid of it as I had lots of problems with just about every Honda I've owned.

Divorce? Thing is you're not married to it so the decision process is a bit easier. It's a financial decision and that takes the emotion out of the equation.
Do I really want to put 4-5 thousand dollars into this car and live with it for another 5 years (new replacement engine)... or just put the same money into this and live with it.
https://oklahomacity.craigslist.org/cto/6215033035.html

I still think someone should buy this. Just a quick trip down for you to look at it. Either way, good luck.

usoff89

iTrader: (2)

Have you checked the PS yet?

djamps

Sans a block tester - stick a scope down each spark plug hole. If it's burning coolant you'll see a 'steam cleaned' cylinder or two. Way cleaner/shinier than the rest.
Also, does the radiator hose get hard when it warms up? This is normal. Is it hard when cold? This is not normal.
Is the coolant temp sensor (the one that feeds the ECU) working correctly?
Honestly on a '94, I'd be more inclined to blame the ECU capacitors than the HG without solid evidence of HG issues.