possible head gasket leak, eating alternators need opinion

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Anoo21

New member
Hi guys,

Got a 1988 alltrac with the 1st gen 3sgte. Been going through alternators like it is going out of style. Went through a few napa and now oem toyota alternators. Checked my coolant and everytime once a week it has been getting low and low been topping it off and bled the system but seems to still be eating coolant. Have not had time to do a test, but now my alternator crapped out again.

Long story short, thinking of swapping a full st205 engine and transmission or 4th gen 3sgte engine with a t205 transmission into it to save the headache if I do have a slow head gasket leak and keep spending money on small little quirks on the 1st gen 3sgte.
 
___Scott___

___Scott___

Active member
Just a tip for new ST165 owners. When the alternator dies, buy the lifetime warranted replacement from someplace like Autozone so there is always one near by, no matter where you are.

I put eight alternators (from Checker/O'Reilly) on my Blue ST165 and I'm on my second replacement (from Autozone, they may be better) on my gray ST165 over a similar time span. It's nice to not have to keep paying for new ones when they die.

As for the head gasket, probably dead. If the car is not your daily driver and you can afford the down-time, do the 4th gen 3SGTE swap.

I replaced the head gasket on mine not that long ago, but in the end, after a lot of work, I still have a 1st gen 3SGTE.
 
A

Anoo21

New member
___Scott___":2hepdy6o said:
Just a tip for new ST165 owners. When the alternator dies, buy the lifetime warranted replacement from someplace like Autozone so there is always one near by, no matter where you are.

I put eight alternators (from Checker/O'Reilly) on my Blue ST165 and I'm on my second replacement (from Autozone, they may be better) on my gray ST165 over a similar time span. It's nice to not have to keep paying for new ones when they die.

As for the head gasket, probably dead. If the car is not your daily driver and you can afford the down-time, do the 4th gen 3SGTE swap.

I replaced the head gasket on mine not that long ago, but in the end, after a lot of work, I still have a 1st gen 3SGTE.
Click to expand...

Totally with you on the alternator lifetime warranty. It gets to a point of annoyance sometimes and with a possibly head gasket leak I think I might be done with the motor. I would rather take the money and put it in a 3rd or 4th gen and make more hp with newer technology. I will keep you posted but might get a used alternator to keep the car going and save up for the newer motor as it goes.
 
A

Anoo21

New member
Well just because if the transmission and ease of the w2a intercooler I might be leaning towards a 3gen. I do not have the know how to open up the engine do it would be nice to make more hp without needing to open the engine up.
 
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