2005 SR5 2wd
145,000 miles
runs perfect / tranny too
no HC issues
no white foam in oil cap
no overheats
SAME THERMOSTAT AND wp
coolant levels has been same for last 15 year
I drain radiator every 8 months and add
Zerex asian (says for Toyota on the gallon) red coolant (150,000 long life / GUARANTEED) for Toyotas on the gallon jug
Temp range where I live is 60 F in winter 95 F in summer
no exhaust bubbles in coolant
oil conventional 10W 40 (every 4500 miles)

Scott Kilmer with 50 years mechanic experience on cars says he's used HC sealers (like Bars Leak) for decades. YouTube

His net worth is estimated at $15M

Welp, mine's at the shop and they can't find any issues. Compression is fine, it's not misfiring (naturally. It was doing it every morning and evening after work for me.....), the cylinder is dry.

What was it that made anyone else's shop determine that the issue was their headgasket?

Mine had the waterfall sound on startup for over a year. Then on a road trip though Az it started to over heat when stopped. I was able to add some coolant (level dropped low) and was good to make it home to SD.
Took it to the dealer and they ran a test on the coolant system and found Emission gases. Wanted a second opinion so I bought a test kit and tested it myself, got the same results.
I would have gone on forever with the waterfall sound, but once it over heated I didn't want to take my chances.

I've got the waterfall sound, as well. We'll see. He said the'd run some more tests on it. Hopefully they can find *something*.

Just noticing I never posted my failure details here (had it replaced last year).

@120k miles
2005, 2wd
Unknown Manufacture date
Had waterfall sound, over heated (once), tested and found emission gas in coolant (twice).

I've put 16k miles on since with no issues. Had the work done at an independent shop in San Diego. Total work cost $2500.

I don’t endorse this site but it’s an article with great info:

How to Test for a Blown Head Gasket in Under 15 Minutes

My 2006 gets a waterfall noise when starting up also. But it also occasionally makes the noise when I hit the accelerator after sitting at a light. Is this the symptoms y’all are having?

I have a 2005 SR5 2WD with 150,000 miles and no HG issues - runs like a new car.

There are approximately 1.5 million 4 runners that were built between 2000 and 2019. I think 90% will get to 350,000 miles without HG issues.
My car was build in Japan by Japanese. Not made in USA in Alabama.

I've never had a "code" or check engine light in 15 years.

youtube Bar's Leak HG-1 HEAD SEAL Blown - Bing video

Tests done:
Compression
Checked coolant for gasses
Checked oil for coolant
Checked injectors, plugs, and coil packs (I'm going to actually swap injectors, as I'm not sure if they tried that, or just ensured that they were all firing)
They pressure tested my cooling system for 14 hours...and supposedly it never misfired for them.
I had my battery tested and it's fine

It didn't for a few more days for me, but then it came back. I cleaned my throttle body (which was really bad) and that helped my idle, but it's still missing the majority of the time when I start it up.

At this point I'm honestly not sure what to try. :/

According to my mechanic, the problem shows up between 160-220k miles. Mine happened at 193k and it cost 1900.00 to fix it, but that was a steal. Don't brag too loudly, your day is coming if you keep it long enough. Mine is a 2003. The issue was fixed in 2006 so anything built after that shouldn't see the problem.

Just an FYI, all T4Rs were and are made in Japan including the ones with the early V6s that have been having head gasket issues, none were made in Alabama, many Tundras were however made there.

I've never had a 'Code' or CEL either, other then when doing mods or mucking with stuff. And if I wasn't looking for the signs or doing a long road trip in hot weather with a loaded truck, then mine to would be running "like a new car".
Just say'n

New here.

Bought first T4R, a 2004 Limited 4WD last week, 181,009 miles, at a good price but seller didn't disclose coolant issues until after sale, which diminishes the bargain , A LOT.

On highway trips coolant boils over and spurts out the overflow vent leaving reservoir full but radiator low.

Going to take it to the dealer to diagnose, but it's probably a HG, right ? Having since joined here yesterday, I'm learning a little late I probably should have avoided this model year.

At idle , I can add fluid and burp radiator with no more bubbles, but it seems like higher RPMs might be when the HG leaks into rad. So far coolant and oil colors look normal.

Any hope it's just a bad water pump, tstat or rad cap ? Radiator has been replaced this year, but my money says the old radiator got blown out by the HG, hence the replacement.

Hi Everyone,

First post here. Wish it was in another thread.

I just purchased an 05 SR5 with 164k miles on it. The Truck is in fantastic shape in every way. Before purchase i had it inspected at a local Toyota dealer who gave it a clean bill of health which i soon figured out wasn't worth much. A couple of days after taking delivery of the truck, i popped the radiator cap and saw green coolant in the radiator and Pink in the overflow. No good. I also notice the waterfall sound coming from under the dash on cold startup.

Ruh roh.

Take it back to the Toyota dealer, get my inspection funds applied to a cooling system flush and fill and ask them to insure there isn't a head gasket issue. They say there's no head gasket issue and that the issue with the waterfall sound is fixed. Next morning, waterfall sound again so i take it back to the dealer. They tell me they'll use vacuum to get the coolant to pull through the heater core and get the bubble out. Next morning, waterfall sound.

Now i find out about the head gasket issues.....i have 30 days to return this truck which i absolutely love. No rough start issues, no overheating issues. I have a scangauge and i've been monitoring coolant temps and they are between 185 and 191 while driving around.

I have a bunch of service records on the car but nothing regarding coolant changes, though i know someone did put green in it at some point.

So....might I ask the collective wisdom of this fine forum for some advice? Would you continue performing tests or just return the truck and walk away? It was built in June of 05....

I bet the dealer suspects the head gasket, but wants to charge you for all these pre-inspections before it gets around to doing a compression test and hitting you with the big work order.

Bought mine private sale, wish I could be in your shoes with a 30 day return policy !

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