2004 V6: Suspected Head Gasket Leak

[toyota fanboy]

Yeah, we must just have a tiny leak .

I'm assuming my mechanic just wasn't able to get enough evidence to determine it was a head gasket leak. They're kind of nicely treating me like I'm paranoid over nothing. But they offer no explanation for the coolant loss, in fact they insisted it wasn't low for them . Okay.

However, they did give me an estimate for a rebuilt engine swap for if it ever does blow a head gasket , $6500. They wouldn't give me a price for doing the gasket, but they pretty much told me the price difference isn't worth it on an engine with 180,000. My manifolds are rusted onto the head anyways, sure they could stay on , but be nice to replace that manifold gasket too while it's apart. New engine with new head would solve that.

Wish I had done my research on the 2003, 2004- would have at least gotten a 2005 like you so I could use the newer motors.

Sort of interesting they priced out the motor swap without me asking - maybe they know it's leaking a little and don't want me to worry about it.

My wife thinks I'm crazy and cynical over this. She's usually right.

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[bricew25]

Sounds similar to my wife. Always thinking I look for new issues with the vehicles just for fun.

I didnt even realize you couldn't do a 06-09 swap because of the VVTi, thats annoying..

My plan was to find a used motor hovering around 130,000 miles when its needed. Looks like they go for $2300 on average around me and then add the labor costs.

Atleast with a motor swap, I dont have to worry about warped heads and such, as they will be replaced anyway. Mine as well ride it into the ground.

 

[toyota fanboy]

Sounds similar to my wife. Always thinking I look for new issues with the vehicles just for fun.



I didnt even realize you couldn't do a 06-09 swap because of the VVTi, thats annoying..



My plan was to find a used motor hovering around 130,000 miles when its needed. Looks like they go for $2300 on average around me and then add the labor costs.



Atleast with a motor swap, I dont have to worry about warped heads and such, as they will be replaced anyway. Mine as well ride it into the ground.

Haha ! How else would we have fun ??

I like your run it into the ground mentality, I think I'm just going to chill out and go that route too. I'll just plan on buying a replacement engine instead of a replacement truck ! I'm sure this engine will keep going forever even with the leak, because it runs totally fine. I just want a full radiator damn it, like a normal engine !

Pretty impressive that you can tow with a leaking head gasket and the engine still works [emoji16]

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[AuSeeker]

Yeah, we must just have a tiny leak .

I'm assuming my mechanic just wasn't able to get enough evidence to determine it was a head gasket leak. They're kind of nicely treating me like I'm paranoid over nothing. But they offer no explanation for the coolant loss, in fact they insisted it wasn't low for them . Okay.

However, they did give me an estimate for a rebuilt engine swap for if it ever does blow a head gasket , $6500. They wouldn't give me a price for doing the gasket, but they pretty much told me the price difference isn't worth it on an engine with 180,000. My manifolds are rusted onto the head anyways, sure they could stay on , but be nice to replace that manifold gasket too while it's apart. New engine with new head would solve that.

Wish I had done my research on the 2003, 2004- would have at least gotten a 2005 like you so I could use the newer motors.

Sort of interesting they priced out the motor swap without me asking - maybe they know it's leaking a little and don't want me to worry about it.

My wife thinks I'm crazy and cynical over this. She's usually right.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Did your mechanic look into the cylinders with a bore scope for signs of coolant on top of the piston, they would need to do this on a cold engine after it sitting overnight?

If they didn't check with a bore scope which is the definitive test/check to determine if it's indeed a head gasket, I would get a second opinion.IMHO

 

[toyota fanboy]

No boroscope, they changed all the plugs though, said they weren't wet.

My personal opinion is that they are wrong or do not want to tell me it's a head gasket. I would prefer that they were just wrong, because dishonesty hurts. I suppose either way my continued patronage is in doubt.

The truck needed a bunch of other repairs , and I had told them I didn't want to do the other repairs right away if the head was blown, because I may just need to cut my losses and sell it for parts .

So I probably just set myself up. Don't want to be cynical, but I took a leap of faith being honest with them. But now I feel like maybe they were worried they wouldn't get the other work. I had exhaust leak, 2 bad tires, 2 bad calipers and worn out rotors and pads, messed up window regulator, bad front axle. All things I knew were in disrepair and they recommend on their own. So, they said head gasket was fine and I gave a green light to the other work . My only consolation is that even though I may not have kept this truck if I had known the head was blown, now that I have this other work done to it, it's work that needed to be done, so it's not all for naught.

I may get a second opinion later on down the road , if this ends ups effecting the vehicle performance in a noticeable way.

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[AuSeeker]

No boroscope, they changed all the plugs though, said they weren't wet.

My personal opinion is that they are wrong or do not want to tell me it's a head gasket. I would prefer that they were just wrong, because dishonesty hurts. I suppose either way my continued patronage is in doubt.

The truck needed a bunch of other repairs , and I had told them I didn't want to do the other repairs right away if the head was blown, because I may just need to cut my losses and sell it for parts .

So I probably just set myself up. Don't want to be cynical, but I took a leap of faith being honest with them. But now I feel like maybe they were worried they wouldn't get the other work. I had exhaust leak, 2 bad tires, 2 bad calipers and worn out rotors and pads, messed up window regulator, bad front axle. All things I knew were in disrepair and they recommend on their own. So, they said head gasket was fine and I gave a green light to the other work . My only consolation is that even though I may not have kept this truck if I had known the head was blown, now that I have this other work done to it, it's work that needed to be done, so it's not all for naught.

I may get a second opinion later on down the road , if this ends ups effecting the vehicle performance in a noticeable way.

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Just an FYI, they for the most part wouldn't notice anything unusual simply by pulling the plugs, especially if it hasn't sat overnight and cold, reason being is that after shutting off the engine with a bad head gasket the coolant will leak slowly into the cylinder/s until the pressure in the cooling system subsides and even then there may not be enough coolant in the cylinder/s to show up on the spark plugs, any coolant in the cylinder/s before the vehicle has been started will be burned off and or blown out with the exhaust gases when the engine starts and any coolant that may leak into the cylinder/s while running will also be burned off and or blown out, so to be able to see any coolant in the cylinder/s with a bore scope you need to allow the coolant to leak overnight and not start the engine before checking with the bore scope.

 

[toyota fanboy]

Okay, I've always wanted an excuse to buy a boroscope. Maybe it's just something I'll have to do myself. I understand now that their spark plugs observation is not helpful now, thank you. I tried about 3 times to convince them my head gasket was blown, it's too embarrassing to insist anymore.

The first time they pressure tested the cooling system. They say it held pressure. So, I asked if they could do more, so they tested the coolant for exhaust gases with the kit, said it came up negative. I was still unconvinced, possibly on the border of insulting them, I asked if there was anything else they could test . So they did a leak down test, and documented that it met Toyota specs. At that point, I just felt out of arguments for insisting any further , but I still did- I asked why is the coolant still low then ? Simple answer, it's not low for them. Oh well !!

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[AuSeeker]

Okay, I've always wanted an excuse to buy a boroscope. Maybe it's just something I'll have to do myself. I understand now that their spark plugs observation is not helpful now, thank you. I tried about 3 times to convince them my head gasket was blown, it's too embarrassing to insist anymore.

The first time they pressure tested the cooling system. They say it held pressure. So, I asked if they could do more, so they tested the coolant for exhaust gases with the kit, said it came up negative. I was still unconvinced, possibly on the border of insulting them, I asked if there was anything else they could test . So they did a leak down test, and documented that it met Toyota specs. At that point, I just felt out of arguments for insisting any further , but I still did- I asked why is the coolant still low then ? Simple answer, it's not low for them. Oh well !!

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I'm sure you'll find many uses for a bore scope, if you haven't read yet, the cylinders that are affected by the V6 head gasket failure are usually #4 and # 6 cylinders, so check those first, hopefully you'll find no coolant in the cylinders, also just an FYI you maybe able to find a loaner bore scope at a auto parts store, most major auto part stores loan out tools for free but do require a deposit which is refunded when you return the tool/s.

 

[toyota fanboy]

That's a good idea about the auto parts tool loaner program. However, buying one might be nice, as you say - many uses. I'm an electrician and there's been many occasions where I wish I could turn my eyeball into a snake to look up into a wall [emoji18]

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[Dillusion]

Pressure test doesn't always work. My Camry with the dreaded headbolt problem help pressure just fine while sitting still, running and revving. Not a drop of coolant loss. Drive it around and it drank coolant like cool aid.

Good luck finding the issue.

 

[toyota fanboy]

There's a lot more of these "dreaded" issues out there than I would have thought for Toyota. My dreaded caliper issue has been resolved at least.

Which Camry engine has the dreaded head bolt?

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[Carwoman]

Ive got the same symptoms with my 05 and bought a test kit myself. First test resulted in no exhaust fumes in coolant, but after hauling a trailer for 8 hours, I noticed more boil over in the external tank. Re-tested and now have positive result for head gasket leak. I always hear the air bubbles whenever I drive and I notice I am always very low on coolant, but I never overheat. Ive driven 1-2 hour and never see the tempature rise, so its still my daily driver.

Trying to get at least another 20,000 miles out of it and then decide on a motor swap.

Bricew25 - if you're still around, I'm wondering how your plan to get some more miles out of your 2005 worked out? I've got a 2005 which is said to be in the early stages and HG repair isn't an option for me (it needs bodywork and wheel bearings too). But I'd like to get some more miles out of it while finding a replacement. Thanks in advance!

 

[alextmullis]

Mine never overheated, reservoir was always full (radiator wasnt pulling from it due to air pockets), could hear air pockets in the heater core (waterfall sound) for months, got the cold start cyl 4 misfire code once randomly, did a leak down test shortly after, failed. Opened up the motor and it was obvious it had been leaking. $3900 later and it’s fixed, that’s including discounts for working at Toyota. But I also took care of a lot of other parts while I was in there.