Engine issues with 2-2 Diesel

[psg-1]

Hi. I have a 2007 2.2 Diesel with a few issues. First, the engine does not run good around 2000 rpm. It sometimes stalls for half a second, but it has never stopped. So when I drive, I try to either be around 1500 rpm, or 2500. Response from the throttle is also slow, it's like half a second from when I push the petal, untill the engine reacts.
The other issue is, the engine get warm when I push it, like going uphill in a large hill, or overtaking other cars. It quickly comes back to normal temperarture when I'm on top of the hill, or finnish the overtaking. Coolingwater is disappering, but I found that it spit out some coolingwater through the overflow valve in the expansiontank a while after I shut of the engine. I don't know if it keep wenting out water while driving.

Sorry for my bad english, I'm not from an english speaking country.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Moved to the Rav 4 club

[philip42h]

Take a look at charliefarlies-guide-to-the-toyota-2ad-diesel-engine-and-its-issues to check the symptoms and hope that they don't match your experience - that would be bad news ... but it's somewhere to start ...

[Dippy]

I recall that spitting some cooling water out via the overflow is a symptom of the infamous head gasket issue.  But I'm not sure the others are (hesitation around 2000rpm, overheating going up hills).

[psg-1]

Thanks for your help. 

 

After reading this, and doing more investigation on the engine, I think my head gasket is leaking. That fit's with many of the symptoms. The expansion tank for cooling water is always pressurized when I open the cap after the engine has been running. If I open imideately after engine shut off, it will blow water out of the tank due to pressurized air in the coolingwater system. The overheating going uphill and when overtaking, is due to higher rpm on the motor, blowing more air into the cooling sysytem, pushing away the cooling water. As soon as normal rpm is used, the temperature will sink to normal within a few seconds. And when starting the engine when cold, with the cap in the expansion tank open, there's smoke comming out of the tank. I pressume that is exhaust smoke from the leaking head-gasket. 

 

So I guess that is game over for my car, since they will not change gasket, but replace the engine. Really annoying. 

 

 

[Auris James]

If It's the same 2.2 litre 177bhp engine as used in my Lexus IS220D then mine blew out coolant from header vent but no overheating as didnt drive it and kept topping up. After a month it got far worse and undriveable. Overflowing from start up and dumping it out with bubbles like a volcano.

Tried K seal. Useless. Scrapped it and got £350. It had 184,000 when scrapped. It has been my worst car! Didn't like the Gearbox mismatch, turbo lag. Build quality, colour, comfort and safety was good. My £250 Volvo 940 petrol automatic has been great in the 4 years of ownership. Now run in at 200,000 miles!

Bought a 2015 Auris hybrid which I like with 26,800miles.

You could try steel seal?

James.

[Dippy]

Sorry to hear that Thor.  How many km on the engine, and what would your car be worth in your country, without this problem?

[psg-1]

The car has 154000 km, and the value is around 10 000 Euro. But I went to the dealer to ask advice, and they will give me a price to change the gasket. It will be expensive, since they need to remove the engine to do it. They said the gasket can be changed if the top is still straight. The technician there explained the problem to me, it's carbon build up on the pistons, and the clearance to the top is very small. So with this build up, the pistons hit the top. 

 

If it's too expensive to do this at the workshop, I may try to do it myself in my own garage. It would be nice to save the engine, and get some value out of the car. If I do, I may write about it here. I'm not a car technician, and don't know a lot about engines, at least not so new engines, but I know how to do mechanical work to some degree. 

[philip42h]

The key symptom of the issue alluded to in CharlieFarlie's guide that leads to "carbon build-up on the pistons" is excessive oil consumption - specifically as stated by Toyota: Oil consumption worse than 0.5 litre per 621 miles (1,000 km). Is you car suffering from excessive oil consumption? Specifically, bearing in mind the fact that it has done 154,000 km and therefore things won't be quite as tight a fit as they were when the car was newer.

If you have such excessive oil consumption then changing the head gasket won't fix the problem and you are probably better off cutting your losses.

If you don't have excessive oil consumption then the problem could well be just a failed head gasket - any car at higher mileages could suffer a failed head gasket - and it may well be worth the cost of a repair.

Now, as your technician has told you, the clearance between the pistons at the top of the cycle and the head is small. So, if you have to skim the head to obtain a flat surface to seal with the gasket there is a risk that the pistons will indeed hit the top - which would be 'bad'. Thicker gaskets are available to address this problem - the thicker gasket adds back the depth of clearance removed by skimming the head. It is a little worrying that your technician doesn't seem aware of this but maybe something has been lost in translation ...

Disclaimer: I'm a largely theoretical mechanic (these days at least) and I only know what I do from following the posts on this forum and others. There are other posters on here who have a much better understanding of the practical issues of a head gasket replacement and hopefully one of them will be along to give further advice.

Edit: Here's a post that might be worth a read: https://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/192187-t180-head-gasket-repair/

[psg-1]

No, it's not using any oil at all, so that is not a problem. 

The technican told me that there are 4 different thickness of the headgasket for this engine, so he could not just order one, he needed to meassure the old one first. So he is aware about it. It is a Toyota dealer. He also told me about the differences when they replace the engine to not have this problem again. And at last, he said this will only help for the next 150 000 km if they only clean the piston and everything else that has build-up. But that is ok with me. 

Thanks also for the link to read. 

[psg-1]

I got the price today to replace the headgasket. around 4000 Euro..... So I will try to find a replacement engine, and maybe I can try to fix the old one and sell it later. 

[Dippy]

4K!!!

sounds a lot to replace a head gasket. Is that an official Toyota dealer?

im sure you could find a trusted independent to do it for less. 

[psg-1]

Yes, it's a Toyota dealer. It's a big job, removing the engine from the car, split it, clean the pistons and wherever there is carbon build up, then reassemble, new oil, filter and coolingwater. I just replaced oil, filter and coolingwater myself, what a waste. I think I will try to do the job myself, maybe just get a new engine, or somthing like that.