98 Es300-coolant In Oil

[upperb]

Hi all. I am new to this forum and am hoping that you might be willing to share your thoughts regarding my 98 ES300. It has 101K on the clock. I am the second owner and have changed fluids religiously (including coolant).

Last week, while driving to work, my car just quit. No noises, lights, etc. before doing so. I tried to restart it, but no-go. After drifting off to the side of the road, I tried again. Could tell the starter was under load, but would not turn over. Got out and lifted the hood. All appeared fine.

Got it towed home. Thinking maybe I tossed a timing belt (even though I put one on 20K ago), I took a few bolts out from the front belt cover. Belt was intact. I then pulled the dipstick. The crankcase was way too full. Pulled the drain plug and out came lots of coolant.

Because the engine won't budge either direction, and the timing belt is intact, I am thinking that the head gasket blew and that I spun a rod or main bearing. If so, I suppose its time to look for another engine.

Am I on the right track?

Thank you very much for any advice you might share with me.

[Toysrme]

Well that is some severly bad luck! It's a multi-layer steel gasket so it shouldn't have blown. It could have overheated & warped the head/block. Could have cracked it too, but that's even less common.

If there's lots of colant in there & it won't move. I would bet it's seized up from lack of oil.

There's a pretty easy way to find out. Take you a 14mm & get the Y-pipe down. Then take a 10mm & drop the oil pan. That'll let you look at the bottom end.

[upperb]

Toysrme:

Thank you very much for your response. I'll be tearing into it this weekend and will let you know what I find.

[Al Cannaday]

I would suggest that you remove all spark plugs and try cranking it with the starter just to make sure that it is not hydraulic locking. I had a similar thing happen (not on my Lexus) and it was as simple as a cracked intake manifold.

[anthonyiez]

i'm with al. sounds like its hydrolocked, although i've never seen this on a toyota product, its pretty common on some gm v6's. now the key is to find out how the coolant got into the crankcase. intake is most likely for that amount of coolant.

[upperb]

Thank you all for your suggestions and advice.

As it turns out, my ES ate 2 exhaust valves (both in the same cylinder-no.5). When it did so, it bent the conecting rod and cracked the cylinder, causing it to fill the crankcase with coolant. Mind you, this didn't happen at 10,000 rpm. More like 2,500. Nor has this engine seen any form of abuse. It had seen regular oil changes with Pennzoil (I have the dealer service history) until I got the car with 65k on the clock and Mobil-1 (changed at 4.5k intervals) since then.

After removing the bucket and shim from one of the dropped valves, close examination revealed that the bucket had been/became "soft." The spot on the bucket where the tip of the valve stem contacted it had a "cup" formed into it, causing the bucket to contact the retainer directly. The valve locks had no grooves left in them. Apparently, with the locks and retainer moving around, the male portions of the locks wore to nothing, causing the valve to drop. The other valve was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The local dealer adjusted the valves 25k ago. The engine had been making no strange noises prior to letting go. Absent noticing a "sudden" increase in valve lash, I don't know how one could see this coming, especially since it would require that the cam be removed to inspect the inside of the bucket.

Just finished installing a used engine today. It runs great.

Again, thanks to all who have given me your thoughts and advice. I hope that relating my experience can in some way be of help to others.

[Toysrme]

Dear god. Hey do you still have the old engine? I'm nearly broke, but if you'll sell me one piston & one rod for cheap I'd love to buy them. I'm trying to collect a collection with another guy of all the Toyota v6's & v8's. That way we can get them to the custom parts makers to blueprint.

[upperb]

Toysrme:

I do have the old engine and would be happy to send you what you need, free of charge. E-mail me your address.

[Toysrme]

Dang, you Can't beat that with a stick!