EGR shake questions

Trying to pressure test the cooling system, but I can't get any of the adapters from the AutoZone rental kit to fit. One almost does but it pops off. There was some decent pressure in the system when I took the cap off the reservoir, but it's been sitting for two days.

 

Pressure test ended up not being necessary, checked the spark plugs again and #2 was soaked with coolant. Going to go ahead with seeing how drives without the o-ring on the coolant reservoir cap to keep the system from pressurizing. Drove a little around town, temps stable at 89-90C. Interested to see if it will shake and rattle the next time I start it. EGR still seems to be functioning normally with my modified ski jump. I will get HG stuff ordered shortly.

 

The risk assessment is low! Honestly, the rate of loss of coolant is very slow. With no pressure in the cooling system it will be even lower. I keep an eye on the level each time I drive. If it were to begin deteriorating (faster coolant consumption) I would reassess. But for now I think it's fine. I cranked the engine with the plugs out to see how much coolant would spray out, and there was no spray that was noticeable. The concern is hydro-locking on start-up right? I'm nowhere near that point. For context I have driven it for a few hours of drive time since topping up coolant, and I wasn't even totally sure if the level had dropped or not.

 

I appreciate the concern. I'll only drive it if I have to. The wife's car doesn't get used that much so it's usually available.

 

Replaced the head gasket yesterday. Went fine for the most part. Very long and annoying job, took me about 14 hours. A decent chunk of that was cleaning all of the sealing surfaces. The sealant Toyota uses from the factory is very strong. It ran fine for an hour on the way home.

 

I'll snap a couple of the head gasket later today when I head back down to clean up dad's garage. I left it in quite a state last night. It had clearly failed between the water jacket and cylinders 1 & 2. I didn't even look at the EGR because I cleaned it in May hoping to resolve the misfire on startup. I spent about a half hour wondering why it wouldn't start last night after the repair, it was because I had not fully reengaged the hybrid battery's safety disconnect