05 V6 Head Gasket Purchase

[Toy2play]

How hard would it be replace the head gasket on this if I were to do it myself? I've never done a head gasket, but I've done quite a bit of work on my 3rd gen. Replaced timing belt, added a supercharger with 7th injector, added lift and done a ton of maintenance on my 3rd gen.

I've seen one for sale for an 05 that has a misfire in #4 and runs rough. Would make sure it's in fact the head gasket. They want around $3000, it's an 05 with around 200k miles. I have the time and space to be able to work on it when I wanted it. Wouldnt need to drive it either until fixed. How in depth would this be? They have lowered their price once and thought maybe I could pick it up for 2200-2400 that I may want to try to do it. They say everything else works fine. How much would I be looking if I wanted to do it proper? I dont mind sending the heads off get machined if it needs it. I have a good collection of tools, impacts and such.

 

[Toy2play]

Just read through a bunch of write ups and I feel confident that I can do this. Does anyone know the worst case scenario with these head gaskets? Like if it over heated and warped or cracked the head, the extent of the damage is to get new heads? Cant really know for sure how bad the heads are until it's taken apart. Trying to price this out and see what the worst case is.

 

[MikeinNH67]

I don't have any background on replacement for a Toyota but have replaced a few on other cars. Generally a warped head will stand out and not really be drivable, things like massive coolant leaking into the exhaust or exhaust gasses coming out the radiator. A good engine machine shop will check the heads for warpage and cracks. You could call around for that cost plus the milling work. One thing to think about is getting the exhaust manifolds off, not a simple task at least in my rusty area. Also should you replace the timing chain while in there?

 

[T4R2014]

Steep price for a potential bad head gasket.

 

[radlynx]

How hard would it be replace the head gasket on this if I were to do it myself? I've never done a head gasket, but I've done quite a bit of work on my 3rd gen. Replaced timing belt, added a supercharger with 7th injector, added lift and done a ton of maintenance on my 3rd gen.



I've seen one for sale for an 05 that has a misfire in #4 and runs rough. Would make sure it's in fact the head gasket. They want around $3000, it's an 05 with around 200k miles. I have the time and space to be able to work on it when I wanted it. Wouldnt need to drive it either until fixed. How in depth would this be? They have lowered their price once and thought maybe I could pick it up for 2200-2400 that I may want to try to do it. They say everything else works fine. How much would I be looking if I wanted to do it proper? I dont mind sending the heads off get machined if it needs it. I have a good collection of tools, impacts and such.

Go for it. I have a 2005. Never had a problem. I'm sure it's just a head gasket.

 

[Toy2play]

Go for it. I have a 2005. Never had a problem. I'm sure it's just a head gasket.

Thanks for your input. I talked to the fellow, said that the 4runner has never overheated, said that it runs, but wouldnt recommend driving it more than a block in fear of doing damage to it. Which kinda worries me that it's more than just the head gasket. From my research, it sounds like the head gasket produces a small leak and is driveable for some time. I dont mind if its the head gasket, but I also dont know if there is something worse going on. From their description, it sounds like they tried to fix the misfire by getting a tune up, new injectors, and new coils which didnt fix it. I asked them if they tested for a head gasket and said they did not. I assuming that who ever diagnosed it said that it's probably the head gasket and at that point they decided to sell without doing any further tests. They didnt deny or confirm that it was the head gasket. Not sure what else it could be, unless the head is cracked or warped beyond repair which I'm not sure what else that could cause.

 

[cpayne5]

The headgasket isn't too bad of a job. I did it on mine back in Fall 2011. It was the most intense DIY I'd ever taken on. I basically just did it step by step, reading from the FSM. I pulled the engine on mine to do it. I figured it would be easier on a stand than in the chassis.

It sounds like you have the skills to do it, so I say go for it. :thumb3:

 

[gaber6]

Make sure the head bolts insides are CLEAN before attempting to loosen.
I almost almost almost rounded a rear driver side bolt. Had 1/4 of the material left (The part that the tool didn't go into initially due to grease/gunk) to get one last hammering into the bolt and turn of the breaker bar.
They are tight as hell, and will need a breaker bar with 2-3 foot extension.
You'll likely need the crank bolt removal tool as well, but otherwise, I did mine with all hand tools, label stuff as it comes off and keep the envelopes with bolts in order.
There are decent free timing belt alignment writeups on the autozone website that have generic diagrams that work.

 

[djpope09]

Make sure the head bolts insides are CLEAN before attempting to loosen.
I almost almost almost rounded a rear driver side bolt. Had 1/4 of the material left (The part that the tool didn't go into initially due to grease/gunk) to get one last hammering into the bolt and turn of the breaker bar.
They are tight as hell, and will need a breaker bar with 2-3 foot extension.
You'll likely need the crank bolt removal tool as well, but otherwise, I did mine with all hand tools, label stuff as it comes off and keep the envelopes with bolts in order.
There are decent free timing belt alignment writeups on the autozone website that have generic diagrams that work.

I rounded the rear bottom head bolt on the passenger side while doing mine. Probably because of gunk build up like you described. I cracked the other bolts loose then used a 4 pound hammer and chisel to bust the head off the rounded bolt. It actually worked without warping the head.

The exhaust manifold on that side was so rusted that I couldn't get it off. I took it like that to the machine shop and had them cut it off and then got new nuts and studs for it from Toyota.

I did the whole job with the engine in the truck and the hood and bumper on. Would probably be a lot easier with the engine out of the truck lol.

I would agree with the crank bolt removal tool. Either a pulley holder (Schley 64300) or one of those thick sockets that puts more force on the crank bolt.

 

[Nevek08]

The headgasket isn't too bad of a job. I did it on mine back in Fall 2011. It was the most intense DIY I'd ever taken on. I basically just did it step by step, reading from the FSM. I pulled the engine on mine to do it. I figured it would be easier on a stand than in the chassis.

It sounds like you have the skills to do it, so I say go for it. :thumb3:

Hey. Did you change anything from other than the head gasket while you were in there? I keep reading advice that if I'm going to rebuild I should rebuild the entire engine... Trying to find the balance between cost efficiency and pragmatism.

If I'm in there I'd like to replace everything I can (that makes sense) so I can get another 200k+ out of the truck.

 

[cpayne5]

Hey. Did you change anything from other than the head gasket while you were in there? I keep reading advice that if I'm going to rebuild I should rebuild the entire engine... Trying to find the balance between cost efficiency and pragmatism.

If I'm in there I'd like to replace everything I can (that makes sense) so I can get another 200k+ out of the truck.

Mine only had 88k on it when I did the job. I bought an engine seal/gasket kit from Toyota and replace any gasket or rubber that I came into contact throughout the job.

If mine had double the mileage, I probably would have considered changing the timing chains and tensioners. I would have certainly put them under scrutiny for replacement.

Other than that, if the engine is running fine, I wouldn't go crazy. Besides the head gasket issue, it's a proven engine that should last a long time with simple, routine maintenance.