2016 Aygo Cylinder Head Gasket Fail

[Aygo aygo]

Anyone else had this problem?

It all started about 4 days ago, when I noticed all the coolant had gone from the radiator but the expansion tank was on full.

After refilling and starting it up to get rid of air bubbles, I noticed the water was fizzing, and the oil cap and filler was milky, but the oil on the dipstick was clean, so I stupidly put down to the car doing short trips.

I purchased a pressure tester, and after pressuring the system, removed the spark plugs in the vain hope of hearing air, it was silent, then manually rotated the engine to find red coolant filling up the plug hole in no2 cylinder as the piston rose to the top. My heart sank!

Today, I purchased a complete gasket set, as I thought this is an easyish job, and after removing the rocker cover, realised easyish was an understatement.

Next task was to buy a Haynes manual, which turns out to be a complete bust, as the only Aygo manuals available cover from 2005 to 2014, and cannot find for love or money any workshop manual that covers the 1KR engine.

So far, I have managed to remove all the sump bolts bar 2 which are within the clutch bellhousing through an inspection hole gearbox side, which are extremely difficult to get to, and the only way I can see of removing the timing chain cover is to remove the sump, so I'm thinking I may have to pull the whole engine block out just to get to these wretched bolts.

Am I thinking on the right track here? Or am I flogging myself a dead horse?

If be very happy for any info you could give me on this very difficult issue.

[FROSTYBALLS]

What mileage has the car done?

A 2016 UK market model should still be covered under the new car warranty (5 years/100,000 miles), unless the mileage limit has been exceeded.

Coolant used should be the Toyota Super Long Life, which is pink rather than red (Toyota Long Life).

[Aygo aygo]

It's done about 40,000, it's ex-fleet, and I'm the 3rd owner, so as I have not had the car from new, the warranty surely does not apply.

As for the coolant, I certainly won't be paying the commanding Toyota main dealer prices, so I went to a reputable parts outlet, who supplied me like for like coolant at a discount and reasonably priced named brand, which has all the long life stuff I need.

[flash22]

1kr is the same basic engine from 2005 head removal is simple, cam cover off, remove the cam chain, head bolts out, i would get the head skimmed

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Aygo aygo said:

It's done about 40,000, it's ex-fleet, and I'm the 3rd owner, so as I have not had the car from new, the warranty surely does not apply

AFAIK the warranty transfers to new owners, so if it's a UK supplied vehicle the 5 year warranty will apply.

[FROSTYBALLS]

As long as the car had been serviced annually the warranty would still have been valid - whether it is ex-fleet or otherwise. However, now you've started repairing the head gasket yourself, it probably won't apply for this repair. Your choice.

[Aygo aygo]

4 hours ago, flash22 said:

1kr is the same basic engine from 2005 head removal is simple, cam cover off, remove the cam chain, head bolts out, i would get the head skimmed

I wish it was the same, it has an aluminium sump, which has 2 bolts gearbox side which are impossible to get to through the little plastic inspection hole. 

[Aygo aygo]

Oh well, how to void a warranty.... 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Aygo aygo said:

I wish it was the same, it has an aluminium sump, which has 2 bolts gearbox side which are impossible to get to through the little plastic inspection hole. 

There really is only 1 version of the 1KR engine which is all aluminium.

BTW if you're trying to remove the head why are you bothered about the sump bolts?

 

*EDIT* Just seen your picture where you've removed the entire engine - not actually needed to replace the head gasket.

[Aygo aygo]

1 hour ago, PetrolDave said:

There really is only 1 version of the 1KR engine which is all aluminium.

BTW if you're trying to remove the head why are you bothered about the sump bolts?

 

*EDIT* Just seen your picture where you've removed the entire engine - not actually needed to replace the head gasket.

Actually, I struggled to remove the last 2 sump bolts in situ for hours, so to remove the engine and do it this way saved me time, effort and stress. 

[Aygo aygo]

Status update... 

Yes I removed the engine, which seems a little extreme, as last night's frustration of removing the last 2 bolts got the best of me. 

But, with the engine out on a work bench, I won't be stuck for hours bent over under a bonnet, or cursing that I'm cold, and if it rains, complain that I'm getting wet.

I can now see why I had to remove the sump, in order to remove the cam chain cover, as the cam cover have collet locators in it, and that stupid non removable stud at the back, so there was no way it was coming off flush without taking the sump off.

As for the 2 pesky sump bolts, the only easy way I could get to them in the end is to remove the clutch assembly and flywheel, as no universal joint on any sockets would either fit in the little hole or down the back of the flywheel so this to me was the only easy but extreme option, but on the plus side, it gave me an opportunity to inspect and clean the clutch plate. 

Anyways, back to topic, after removing sump, cam cover, timing chain, cams, got to the head bolts, cracking them loose in sequence, to find the cause of the failed head gasket, 1 head bolt that was not tight. 

So tomorrow's plan? its off to the machine shop to get an inspection done, and see if there is any warping done to the head, and see if the block itself is good.

And to think, I only asked if there was a manual.... 😂 

[Devon Aygo]

38 minutes ago, Aygo aygo said:

Status update... 

Yes I removed the engine, which seems a little extreme, as last night's frustration of removing the last 2 bolts got the best of me. 

But, with the engine out on a work bench, I won't be stuck for hours bent over under a bonnet, or cursing that I'm cold, and if it rains, complain that I'm getting wet.

I can now see why I had to remove the sump, in order to remove the cam chain cover, as the cam cover have collet locators in it, and that stupid non removable stud at the back, so there was no way it was coming off flush without taking the sump off.

As for the 2 pesky sump bolts, the only easy way I could get to them in the end is to remove the clutch assembly and flywheel, as no universal joint on any sockets would either fit in the little hole or down the back of the flywheel so this to me was the only easy but extreme option, but on the plus side, it gave me an opportunity to inspect and clean the clutch plate. 

Anyways, back to topic, after removing sump, cam cover, timing chain, cams, got to the head bolts, cracking them loose in sequence, to find the cause of the failed head gasket, 1 head bolt that was not tight. 

So tomorrow's plan? its off to the machine shop to get an inspection done, and see if there is any warping done to the head, and see if the block itself is good.

And to think, I only asked if there was a manual.... 😂 

Manuals can be accessed, printed & downloaded directly from Toyota @ www.toyota-tech.eu access is chargeable but a few Euros will get you access long enough to download what you need.

[Aygo aygo]

22 minutes ago, Devon Aygo said:

Manuals can be accessed, printed & downloaded directly from Toyota @ www.toyota-tech.eu access is chargeable but a few Euros will get you access long enough to download what you need.

Now that is very helpful, I'll give it a go, thank you. 👍 

[flash22]

oh you have done it, i have a manual for the 1KR (IQ)

 

Warranty is only valid if you have it dealer serviced or use genuine parts with a vat registered garage to Toyota specs

[Aygo aygo]

4 hours ago, flash22 said:

oh you have done it, i have a manual for the 1KR (IQ)

 

Warranty is only valid if you have it dealer serviced or use genuine parts with a vat registered garage to Toyota specs

Ah, that's good news, I'll look out for that, nice one, but are they the exact same engine? As especially when it comes to replacement parts, I'm now finding that gasket sets appear to vary alot, even though they are supposed to be oem spec, and specific to my cars number plate, vin, engine code and number. 

Well I guess I can scrap the idea of any warranties now, as when I bought the car, I took a chance on it with no history, as the last owner claimed they never had either. 

According to my local Toyota main dealer, even if I had not taken it apart, the warranty was no more, and total cost for them to do the job would be around the eye-watering £1200-£1500, so I kinda thank my own graces by taking this on myself. 

So my costly lesson so far here is this:-

Forget your local parts stores, as every single gasket set I have looked and compared at varies alot, (even though these fit peugeot Citroën subaru toyota and John Deere) and the head gaskets are very, very different, and a mandatory 2 day wait for toyota genuine parts at ridonk prices. Gulp! 

[flash22]

The only way is to reference the oem part number with the aftermarket, I can look it up shortly

there are minor changes the basic engine is the same, its handy to have some sort of reference as well

[flash22]

11115-40070 Gasket, Cylinder head 05/2015 - 05/2018

The gasket is the same as the 2014 - 18 yaris 1KR, Victor Reinz make decent gaskets they do a lot of uprated and oversize kits

 

[Aygo aygo]

3 hours ago, flash22 said:

11115-40070 Gasket, Cylinder head 05/2015 - 05/2018

The gasket is the same as the 2014 - 18 yaris 1KR, Victor Reinz make decent gaskets they do a lot of uprated and oversize kits

 

Well, I'll see what I get delivered from Toyota on Wednesday, at least with the old one out, i can compare if it's the right one rather than guessing, and save spending more money and waiting for refunds. 👍 

[Aygo aygo]

Good news!! 

Toyota came through with the right gaskets, so have spent this afternoon cleaning surfaces and rebuilding, so I'll let the Gasket sealant do their hardening thing overnight, ready to go back in the car tomorrow afternoon. 

Massive thanks to Flash22 for the links, couldn't have done it without them pointers. 😊👍

[Aygo aygo]

On 11/9/2020 at 6:43 PM, flash22 said:

11115-40070 Gasket, Cylinder head 05/2015 - 05/2018

The gasket is the same as the 2014 - 18 yaris 1KR, Victor Reinz make decent gaskets they do a lot of uprated and oversize kits

 

Forgot to add, yes, this was the one for mine, 😊👍

[Gerg]

Great job you're doing!  It sounds like you have done similar jobs before?

I'm not an owner, and I don't know the car, but if it is the same engine as an iQ 1.0, and you haven't got a manual yet, then there is a link to the Toyota manual on the iQ section of this forum.  Probably a bit late for you now.  I imagine there would have been some torque values that could have been some use.

The cylinder head bolts were almost certainly torqued by a machine at the factory, what can have gone wrong there, I wonder?

[flash22]

1 hour ago, Gerg said:

Great job you're doing!  It sounds like you have done similar jobs before?

I'm not an owner, and I don't know the car, but if it is the same engine as an iQ 1.0, and you haven't got a manual yet, then there is a link to the Toyota manual on the iQ section of this forum.  Probably a bit late for you now.  I imagine there would have been some torque values that could have been some use.

The cylinder head bolts were almost certainly torqued by a machine at the factory, what can have gone wrong there, I wonder?

All sorted, i come across some resources for the OP 😉

[Aygo aygo]

Sit rep:-

So Wednesday, my parts came in, and spent pretty much all afternoon and some of the evening piecing the engine back together, taking my time with it as I didn't want to make any mistakes, especially when it came to torque settings for the head bolts, and using a quality TFR gasket sealant for the cam chain and sump, and leaving it overnight to fully set and harden. 

Yesterday, it was plugged back in the car, and added new oil filter, oil, air filter, spark plugs and coolant. 

My previous experience with start ups after engine removals is to not connect the coils, and cycle the engine a few times to let the oil coat the inside of the engine and build pressure, then connected the coils, and went for the main start. 

The relief was when the engine fired up after a short burst on the starter with no throttle, and after much examining, not one leak of oil or water, allowing the engine to just sit there for about 45 mins bleeding the cooling system and waiting for the cooling fan to cut in, then switched it off, and left it overnight to settle. 

This morning, I've checked all round, and still no leaks, which is brilliant news, so I topped up the oil and water and run it for a further hour, and went for a 30 mile test drive, just to break it in a bit, parked up, let it cool down, checked the levels and all is well and good.

Mahoosive thanks again to the legend  Flash22 for them links, really couldn't have done this without these. 👍