Can anyone help please.

I have replaced the head and gasket with a remanufactured head, Toyota gasket and new bolt set. Also fitted a new water pump.

Now its all back together again.

However I think the coolent system is under to much pressure. When its warm the top hose feels too firm to me. I can squeeze it a little bit (just a few mm) but it does bulge along the length of the hose. The other hoses also feel too firm.

I checked the block and new head for flatness and they were fine. Though I didn't spray the block with the blue dye for finding cracks; should have really so there could be a problem with that, though its unlikely.

I torqued the head bolts as instructed in the manual (2.4 EFi 2LTE).

I am lot loosing coolent as far as I can tell, but I think it is a matter of time before it goes pop.

Please help, I really want to get the bus back on the road. I did drive it about 2 short journeys of about 3 miles last night with no problem but I don;'t want to damage the recored radiator or anything else on the engine.

Hi again,

In addition to the above, the engine takes a couple of goes to start and it isn't a smooth start. I give the heater plugs a couple of cycles to warm up the chamber. (It used to start first time before it all when wrong in the summer). Idles ok when cold, but rev it up and it sputters badly (like a missfire). When warm there is an occasional cough. Then the tone of the engine changes and it is smooth after that. By this time the hose is firm.

I have changed the two upper o-rings of the fuel pump as it was leaking. Now that has fixed that.
The injectors appear to be ok.
I'll change the fuel filter as I was using a mixture containing sunflower oil on the way and back from Hungary in the summer. Is there another inline fuel filter on these SC?

Yesterday the car was stood for around 2.5 hours between the journeys and when I came home the motor started first time without sputtering. Perhaps it could be something to do with the cold start or automatic choke?

I am going to book the car into the garage to have a compression test and coolant pressure test for a start and hopefully find out something.

Thanks for reading and sorry to be so long winded...

Leave all heater valves open.......When stone cold (am) remove the cap...squeeze the hoses to see if here is air in there (particularly the far raised end of the top hose)...it might just be a delayed bleed.
Try not too worry too much....

Put a new thermostat in it if not already done (pretty easy).

Thanks Chris

Will do. Changed thermostat already.

Will take it to garage to pressurise the water jacket, see if it holds its pressure.

Also will ask them to check the new rad cap is opening at 88kPa (13psi)

I try no to worry, but I don't want to damage the new engine

Some fit the townace cap...(same psi).
On cool down this sucks the water back requiring hardly any vacuum as there is no spring in the sucky bit. Advantage of this is its unlikely to suck air in on cool down from any dodgy hoses/connections....a very small difference really.
I've been paranoid about the head around 7 yrs now....the thing works fine though...