Hi all,

I’ve been lurking and gathering information for some time now and just now decided to post.. I’ve got a 2004 V6 and have been in the process of overhauling my entire cooling system as well as replacing the head gaskets.

I had a single overheating issue as well as the waterfall noise for about 2 months prior. No CEL or any misfiring/rough running to speak of. I decided to replace radiator, water pump, t-stat, passenger side exhaust manifold, etc. as the car has 178K and I plan on keeping it forever. I bought it in 2014 with 140K.

Sent an oil sample off to Blackstone and they confirmed a small amount of coolant in the oil. I just got the heads back from the machine shop and he confirmed a leak at cylinders 5 and 6. Will be buttoning everything up in the coming weeks.

Fortunately I have an extra vehicle so I’ve been taking my time with the 4Runner. The information I’ve found here has been invaluable - thank you for that.

-Matt

Did you do it yourself? That is strong work man.

Hello everyone, potential new 4runner owner here. I found a very nice 2006 4runner with the v6, it has 120,000 miles on it with a build date of 3/2006. Do i need to be concerned with the head gaskets? or would this have the redesigned gasket? would hate to buy this and have them blow!! Thanks in advance!

five posts prior it says 11/05 and later got the updated head gaskets.

Hey, im sorry, somehow i didn't see that post where it says 11-05 was the change to the new gaskets, Thanks! Guess i should be ok........

It's actually AFTER 11/05. They started using the new head gaskets in December of '05. A 4Runner built in 3/06 should be fine.

Oh, and the reason I know is that mine was built in 11/05 and the head gaskets failed. When we compared the old ones to the new ones, they were clearly different.

YetiX, thank you for that information! its good to know somebody has actually seen the gaskets to verify that they were changed. The one im looking at was actually built in 02/06, so i should still be good to go! Im going to go drive it one night this week....we shall see!

Yes sir, in the process as we speak. Will see after I get it all buttoned up whether or not I made the right decision, lol.

That first startup is scary! I did mine 7 years and 50k miles ago this month. All good since.

any pics or walkthrough? im debating if i should attempt this myself ...

I've been closely watching this thread since ive been hearing a water noise from behind the dash. Recently was tested and found a head gasket leak. So disappointed in toyota, the car itself runs perfect, I just put on new brakes, tires, cv axles, fluids, radiator, etc and now have to figure out the head gasket. The other stuff I was happy with doing since its normal maintenance but this runner runs too good to be doing a head gasket on right now.

I started a thread dedicated to taking direct action and having all members that have had head gasket issues call them. I'd love to see you guys get in on it. 4th Gen HEAD GASKET (ACTION REQUEST!)

Cheers, and thanks to the OP for putting this thread together my info is below

Model year: 2004
Mileage at failure: 170,800
Cylinder: 6
Production Date 02/04,
11th digit of VIN 0

Also as a side note, I still need to get my 4runner fixed. Does anyones near the west coast know a good mechanics that has a good price? Looking to just swap in a used motor. Thanks yall

Just a couple of thoughts to think about, if you do swap the enigine you maybe getting another engine that has the old style head gasket in it and you could face the same issue later which Toyota may never help with, also IF Toyota ever does do something to help those who has suffered the head gasket failure they may not reimburse you if you just swap engines instead of replacing the head gaskets, unless you can get the shop to sign some kind of document saying the engine was beyond repair!

Was on this forum for a couple of years and then dropped off and couldn't remember my credentials so am starting over.

The last updated spreadsheet I could find in this thread was from 2016 and I've tried to read most of the posts since then. Here is my conundrum - I have an 03 with 130K, owned since new. I notice that in all the failures documented in the spreadsheet and talked about since then, only three of them are 03 models, the first year of the 4th gen. The vast majority are 04's with a scattering of 05's.

Why would this be? I think they actually produced more 03's than later years so it's not a numbers issue. I know they changed the gasket in 11/05 but there must have been something different in the 03 builds as well. I think 03 was the first year for this motor so could they have made a running change for some reason in 04 that created a problem instead of solving one?

My apologies if this has been discussed elsewhere, couldn't find any such discussion with search function or with google searching.

What zip code are you in? I know a good mechanic in Ontario, CA

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