2004 Limited Edition 4Runner 4X4 - Head Gasket

(i did break the plastic piece on one of the chain guides and replaced all 12 studs and nuts for the manifolds which cost me 120 bucks) If anyone has questions i will do my best to adress their concerns...
Oscar

I was curious and checked the studs and bolts for the exhaust manifold and they retail for $0.89 cents each. You know need a total of 12 studs and 12 nuts.

There are two types of Chain Vibration Dampers. Looks like you broke the longer one? That one alone is $84.09 MSRP. :(

The other 2 which sit higher are cheaper at $14 each.
 
Post a write up for sure!

This would be very helpful for the community. Please post all the parts you replaced as well.

I know sealing up the front of the timing cover is a special RTV sealant you are suppose to use. I would try to buy the Toyota sealant because you definitely do not want leaks at the cover since it will be PITA to do twice!

I have started one here in this thread and will continue to add to the writeup....scroll down in the thread.


http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/174451-new-member-need-help-p304-misfire.html
 
I was curious and checked the studs and bolts for the exhaust manifold and they retail for $0.89 cents each. You know need a total of 12 studs and 12 nuts.

There are two types of Chain Vibration Dampers. Looks like you broke the longer one? That one alone is $84.09 MSRP. :(

The other 2 which sit higher are cheaper at $14 each.

Unfortunately I did break the longer one :( The longer one is plastic/metal and the other two that sit higher up are plastic only...

Well the fun didn't end there either hence I haven't gotten a chance to do a writeup. I put everything back together ran the motor for 10-15 mins everything seemed fine. The following day started her up to take it for a drive and while inspecting to see if there were any leaks Bank1 (driver side) camshaft chain broke. Still not 100% sure if this motor is interference or not but either its non-interference or I was very very lucky not to damage any valves...
Had to order chain, put back everything together and everything is just fine. Been driving it for a while without any issues
 
You are probably done with this right now, but there is no reason to be removing the front diff and x member, or the oil pan for that matter. No reason at all! I know the service manual states so, but that is for replacing your pan gasket and sump. Not needed to do the head gasket, but more power to you if you did!

Thanks for the heads up!
I too am with you and did not see any reason to! As i mentioned before, I did not follow or read the FSM for dis-assembly. I Did not remove oil pan or anything from the bottom. Only thing I felt like I had more access from the bottom was the lower back bolt for the AC Compressor. I kinda glimpsed thru your removal post will post some more pics. I didn't even disconnect the PS Pump. I'm all about short cuts! :)
And after breaking the Cam chain on Bank1 and doing most of the job almost completely twice I bet I can take heads off and put everything back together under 6hrs...
 
Thanks for the heads up!
I too am with you and did not see any reason to! As i mentioned before, I did not follow or read the FSM for dis-assembly. I Did not remove oil pan or anything from the bottom. Only thing I felt like I had more access from the bottom was the lower back bolt for the AC Compressor. I kinda glimpsed thru your removal post will post some more pics. I didn't even disconnect the PS Pump. I'm all about short cuts! :)
And after breaking the Cam chain on Bank1 and doing most of the job almost completely twice I bet I can take heads off and put everything back together under 6hrs...

Agreed, Doing it once and then doing it again I figure anyone can get the process down to 50-60% of their time on the first attempt. I agree with ya on the pump, not necessary, hers was in bad shape though and whining a bit.

My digital torque wrench was maxed at 250 ft/lbs when we measure the break nut torque on the VVTi bolts, those suckers were on super tight!
 
What stealership do you work for? This site is one of many and everywhere you go to research this particular problem with misfire rough idle at start up you will see hundreds if not thousands of toyota owners having the same problem HG. So defend away and as for these guys that post they have hundreds of thousands of miles on there o4 4Runners art telling the whole truth. My 04 4 runner just turned 140000 and now is displaying the same symptoms. All auto manufacturers have there factory defects I don't care what make or model. All the owners expect is an honest solution to these problems. After 100000 miles owners should not expect to not have issues but the manufacturers should recommend proper solutions. I could rant on and on but nobody wants to listen to all the ifs ands or buts.
Now I must find the least expensive way to have the HGs replaced.
 
I'm not trying to be a jerk here but this conversation is still pretty one sided and I feel bad that any of you had this problem. However, therre are many examples of 4runners that have over 200k. In fact the highest mileage 4th gen is a v6 and he/she (8007M) has over 433K. Here are some others:

Here is another with close to 200k at 189k from oct 12
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/37419-highest-mileage-4th-gen-22.html


These are the one's that I have found just via a quick search. There are more posted on my original high mileage thread.
There are a bunch of others but they don't say what engine they have so I guess they don't count.

Overall, people need to realize that as a vehicle goes over 100k there are probably going to be problems. Whether it is a transmission or hg or something else you just have to hope you have a vehicle that only has one of these issues instead of multiple. I ve already told my wife there is no way we are going to find another vehicle that has this few of issues in our future, it has just been too good and I don't expect that of any vehicle.

I know that I have about 183k on my 04 v6 and I haven't had this problem so I will just close with a link to my original post that details how I feel about this situation. I have changed my opinion about the fact the v8 is probably more reliable but I would still take the v6 for the better gas mileage, no timing belt changes, easier access to oil filter, lower cost of entry (at the time of purchase when new) and ability to run into 2wd because the fact is anything could break regardless of how well maintained it is or how good the reputation is. The fact is this is still a rare issue, not common or widespread at all.

Completely disagree. This is not a "common problem". I keep coming back to the fact the the majority of 4runners sold are v6's and if you add in tacoma's, FJ's and the base model tundra's there have to be at least 600,000 of these engines produced between 2003 and 2010. We are hearing of a few reports of head gasket issues and we don't have any idea what the maintenace history is for most of these, nor do we know if people are actually telling the truth about their maintenence history. I can only speak for my 4runner but I suck at doing pm and didn't change my radiator fluid until 150k and I only did a drain and fill about 8 times and I have no signs of these issues at 170k. So I'm calling BS on most of these complaints. Disagree if you want but I need to see more like a 1% failure rate to say this is a common problem. __________________
What stealership do you work for? This site is one of many and everywhere you go to research this particular problem with misfire rough idle at start up you will see hundreds if not thousands of toyota owners having the same problem HG. So defend away and as for these guys that post they have hundreds of thousands of miles on there o4 4Runners art telling the whole truth. My 04 4 runner just turned 140000 and now is displaying the same symptoms. All auto manufacturers have there factory defects I don't care what make or model. All the owners expect is an honest solution to these problems. After 100000 miles owners should not expect to not have issues but the manufacturers should recommend proper solutions. I could rant on and on but nobody wants to listen to all the ifs ands or buts.
Now I must find the least expensive way to have the HGs replaced.
 
likely same issue here, P0306, rough idle for the first 30 seconds or so, ~150k 2004 V6

spark plug and coil replaced, fine for 2 days now back to the same

brought back to repair place today, think i will call in the morning and tell them to check the head gasket
 
Another HG for sure

Hi everyone it looks like I have a blown head gasket. Same simptons as everyone else. When I start up from cold start engine stutters for a few seconds CEL light and the usual other lights that come on. Just had the coolant and transmission fluids changed at the dealership. I also just got the PO136&PO156 problem solved by replacing the two after cat CO2 sensors with dealer supplied O2 sensors Revised sensors that are not available in the after market including OEM Denso, (they don't work). Check my thread on this. Anyway I noticed that the coolant level in the resevor is non existent and its throwing the code for a misfire on #6 cylinder.
I have a call in to my mechanic for a price to replace the head gaskets.
I know there is someone on this site that doesn't think this is an issue my two cents it is definitely a design flaw. I am 65 years old and owned many vehicles all with high mileage over 200K and never had a head gasket go. I also googled and searched many sites and this engine has a head gasket problem.
I could go on and on with my rant but I will leave it up to all of you to make your own judgements. I will keep you posted on the repair which I'm not to happy about I will be calling Toyota.
 
Head gasket problem call Toyota

The only way Toyota is going to help is if enough people call to complain, bottom line. I called and they were very polite took all my info and gave me a conformation number. It only takes a couple minutes that could get you a refund in the future. Keep all your receipts in case they have a recall and Toyota will reimburse you. Also speak to anyone who owns the same vehicle and let them know the number to call. Who knows how many have made the repairs and don't have a clue this is going on.

Phone number is: 1(800) 331-4331
 
No offense, but I find it very unlikely Toyota will do anything about this.... 16 internet pages and most over 100k being 10 year old vehicles.... I'd be willing to bet 99.9% of my lunch money they won't. Get it fixed, fix it yourself and move on....

I don't work for a dealership...
 
Whats the symptom of a blow headgasket? For me, I think I heard a pop and thought it was a flat tire but instead, engine related. I could still drive back home with a really loud noise.
 
No offense, but I find it very unlikely Toyota will do anything about this.... 16 internet pages and most over 100k being 10 year old vehicles.... I'd be willing to bet 99.9% of my lunch money they won't. Get it fixed, fix it yourself and move on....

I don't work for a dealership...

I generally agree with you but they did open themselves up for this sort of long-term stuff with the Frame Replacements, so you never know. If mine goes, I'll definitley be reporting it to Toyota.
 
2005, sport edition v6, 231k miles and I'm having problems with cylinder 4 misfires. Truck runs like a champ otherwise. Only getting rough cold starts every once in a while. My mechanic checked for hydrocarbons in the radiator. Got a low reading, but they are present.
 
You guys don't really understand how recalls work.recalls are to repair product defects in the name of safety as mandated by the government.some manufactures have customer satisfaction programs to replace a know issue and keep customers happy.but I've only seen few,fact is this is happening in a small percent of engines built within a certain build date and over 100k miles.some manufactures and people consider that a sucessful service life,as most people that can afford new cars trade in around the 100k mark.so it's a non issue for them,the frame rust CAN/IS a safety issue and warrants a recall.the power boost master cylinder failures starting to creep up is what we should worry about more,those are a massive safety is and would warrant a recall but there hasn't been enough failures to warrant an investigation.

I worked at a ford dealer for six years and was a powerstroke tech.those engines goes through head gaskets every 100k or less and not once has there or ever been a recall.these are machines and machines fails,hell us humans fail.its a way of life,and the garbage I've seen coming from ford the last three years I was there I would take any of our used and abused 4runners any day over a brand new pos of any manufacture.
 

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