I had cyl 6 go out on my 04 4x4 4Runner with 170k. I replaced the gasket and resurfaced the heads and I'm at 181k now with no issues. Thanks for putting this thread together!
I had a similar knocking sound to what you guys were describing. It turned out to be the k&n air filter knocking on my wheel well... I am embarrassed how long it took me to diagnose. I thought for sure it was something more serious.
Hey nossliw, thanks for your detailed write up it gave me the confidence to tackle my head gasket on my 04 4Runner with 172k miles on it. I'm also in Colorado Springs and I was wondering where you took your heads to get machined?
