2007 Head Gasket Replacement - $4k

[basselope]

Like many other people, unfortunately, my head gasket is failing.

2007 V6 with ~180,000 miles. After getting check engine codes for a misfire on cylinder #4, I replaced all plugs and the coil for #4. That initially seemed to correct the misfire that was occurring on cold starts, but it has been intermittently misfiring since then, leading me to think that the head gasket is going, based on my online research (I'm not a pro mechanic).

I took it to a shop and they confirmed that hydrocarbons were in the coolant and they could see coolant leaking into cylinder #4. No big surprise there, as that is what I expected to hear.

What was a big surprise was their estimate to do the head gasket replacement. They quoted me about $4,300 total to do both head gaskets. That is parts and labor, just necessary parts and none of the "it makes sense to do it since the engine is already torn apart" parts. This is a seemingly respectable shop in the Sacramento, California area, but that price absolutely blew me away. Am I just out of touch with how much things cost these days or were these clowns trying to take me for a ride? Thanks in advance!

 

[4RunnerIdiot]

Did you get any kind of breakdown of that 4k? How much is parts, what's their hourly rate, and how many hours did they estimate?

 

[woodman60]

This is a seemingly respectable shop in the Sacramento, California area, but that price absolutely blew me away. Am I just out of touch with how much things cost these days or were these clowns trying to take me for a ride? Thanks in advance!

I got a $3500 quote from a Sacramento area dealer, so $4300 sounds a little steep. I expect to be in the same boat and was hoping I could get it done for around $3K.

Curious to see where you end up getting it done and the cost. PM me with details if you don't post them here.

 

[BackOff]

Not a common fail for the 2007...it is after the HG change...unless you never changed the antifreeze...Seems steep but if mechs are charging $200/hour now, it is something like 20hr job...in the book. That's $4k

 

[basselope]

Did you get any kind of breakdown of that 4k? How much is parts, what's their hourly rate, and how many hours did they estimate?

I have a written estimate here that I will try to attach. It's actually closer to $4,700 looking at it again, $3,300 of which is labor. I believe I saw a sign in their shop that stated labor was at $130/hour. I've seen some posts over the last few years which made me think that $2,000 - $2,500 would be a reasonable estimate. At almost $5k, I'm questioning whether it's even worth the money.

I really appreciate any help from y'all.

https://imgur.com/a/kwzw7xI

 

[basselope]

I got a $3500 quote from a Sacramento area dealer, so $4300 sounds a little steep. I expect to be in the same boat and was hoping I could get it done for around $3K.

Curious to see where you end up getting it done and the cost. PM me with details if you don't post them here.

Looking at my quote again, it's actually closer to $4,700, so $3,500 would be a big improvement. I'm still wondering if it's even worth the money to do so at this point though. I still need to call around and see what other shops are estimating, but feel free to reach out to me if you want more details.

 

[YetiX]

Fwiw, I paid $4200 for mine. BUT, that included all the parts and labor for the head gasket replacement, very light machining of the heads, new valve seals, etc., new water pump, new radiator, new tensioners, new hoses, new belts, and turning my exhaust out to the side.

 

[2016 4Runner SR5]

While in there, make sure to throw a new timing set at it. All that will have to come off anyway, very smart to do it now. I'm in the process of doing this job now. Chain broke, possible bent valves, the job is A LOT of work.

 

[basselope]

Fwiw, I paid $4200 for mine. BUT, that included all the parts and labor for the head gasket replacement, very light machining of the heads, new valve seals, etc., new water pump, new radiator, new tensioners, new hoses, new belts, and turning my exhaust out to the side.

Still a lot of money, but that does seem a bit more reasonable with everything you had done.

 

[tom4416]

While in there, make sure to throw a new timing set at it. All that will have to come off anyway, very smart to do it now. I'm in the process of doing this job now. Chain broke, possible bent valves, the job is A LOT of work.

Hold crap! Don't take this the wrong way but how often was the oil in that motor changed? That's more crud than I've ever seen, no wonder the chain broke - check the guides and everything else under there. I had a valve cover off on mine with 130K to replace the leaking gasket and all the galleys, bearings, etc. look like brand new with none of that golden crust all over yours. Haven't seen that much buildup in an engine in many years, modern oils will take a lot of abuse before they start that kind of breakdown.

 

[asdfman7]

While in there, make sure to throw a new timing set at it. All that will have to come off anyway, very smart to do it now. I'm in the process of doing this job now. Chain broke, possible bent valves, the job is A LOT of work.

How many miles on the chain when it broke?

 

[fdbyrne]

My HG was done 3 years ago by the local Toyota dealer. It cost around $2400 on top of the parts that I bought cheap online. I bought an engine overhaul gasket kit, a water pump, coolant, oil, etc for a couple hundred bucks.

That dollar figure does include sending the heads to the machine shop for truing up, seating valves, etc.

 

[hinmo24t]

anyone entertaining $5k repairs for their 15 year old ride should really think it through. i got a pretty clean white 4x4 v6, 2004, and a repair cost like that would be 70% of what i paid for the vehicle. you could prob find an entire new ride for a few grand more than that, like i did. true story: my timing belt on my 2005 wrx snapped because of a seized waterpump while driving and i had to cut a check for 3k for the repair, only a year after i financed it for 16k from a dealer. brutal.

 

[YetiX]

anyone entertaining $5k repairs for their 15 year old ride should really think it through. i got a pretty clean white 4x4 v6, 2004, and a repair cost like that would be 70% of what i paid for the vehicle. you could prob find an entire new ride for a few grand more than that, like i did. true story: my timing belt on my 2005 wrx snapped because of a seized waterpump while driving and i had to cut a check for 3k for the repair, only a year after i financed it for 16k from a dealer. brutal.

It all depends what you have in it and where you're located. Here in California, most 4Runners are very clean with no rust so they command a higher price. I bought mine for $12k and three months later the head gasket went. I still owed more than $4k on it and figured that after the head gasket it should last me another 150-200k miles. Made economic sense.

If my daughter's head gasket started leaking, I'd throw stop leak in and see how long we could make it. But she has a V8 so . . .

 

[CookieRoe]

What normally happens is that cylinder #6 starts to misfire. Like someone mentioned, this doesn't NORMALLY happen at that particular cylinder AND the fact that it is a 2008 model. Sucks, but it is what it is. $4K is a lot of smoke, especially for a rig that almost has 200K on it.

Good luck OP

 

[hinmo24t]

It all depends what you have in it and where you're located. Here in California, most 4Runners are very clean with no rust so they command a higher price. I bought mine for $12k and three months later the head gasket went. I still owed more than $4k on it and figured that after the head gasket it should last me another 150-200k miles. Made economic sense.

If my daughter's head gasket started leaking, I'd throw stop leak in and see how long we could make it. But she has a V8 so . . .

thanks for your service!!

i saw this in Cali craigslist...couple grand more than his repair and has Leather

https://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/ctd/d/2005-toyota-4runner-sr5/6730235177.html

i hear your points - cash like that with an older vehicle is worth really thinking about though.

 

[YetiX]

thanks for your service!!

i saw this in Cali craigslist...couple grand more than his repair and has Leather

https://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/ctd/d/2005-toyota-4runner-sr5/6730235177.html

i hear your points - cash like that with an older vehicle is worth really thinking about though.

:thumb:

Last year, I bought my daughter a 2003 4Runner V8 Limited for $5k. It had 192k miles and is 2WD, but the leather was immaculate and it only needed to have the coolant hoses replaced and a few minor things. So at $6k, we had a very reliable 4Runner. If you don't have to have 4WD, it would be tough to justify spending $4k to replace the head gaskets for sure.

 

[woodman60]

anyone entertaining $5k repairs for their 15 year old ride should really think it through. i got a pretty clean white 4x4 v6, 2004, and a repair cost like that would be 70% of what i paid for the vehicle. you could prob find an entire new ride for a few grand more than that, like i did. true story: my timing belt on my 2005 wrx snapped because of a seized waterpump while driving and i had to cut a check for 3k for the repair, only a year after i financed it for 16k from a dealer. brutal.

What's the alternative though, sell your 4Runner that isn't running for a couple thousand and then buy another old truck with the unrealistic assumption that you won't have future unexpected expenses? Not to mention any money you've invested beyond stock truck.

 

[woodman60]

i saw this in Cali craigslist...couple grand more than his repair and has Leather

https://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/ctd/d/2005-toyota-4runner-sr5/6730235177.html

And you have some confidence that this one won't need a head gasket repair a few months down the road? Unloading and buying another rig just as old is a crap shoot at best.

 

[2016 4Runner SR5]

Hold crap! Don't take this the wrong way but how often was the oil in that motor changed? That's more crud than I've ever seen, no wonder the chain broke - check the guides and everything else under there. I had a valve cover off on mine with 130K to replace the leaking gasket and all the galleys, bearings, etc. look like brand new with none of that golden crust all over yours. Haven't seen that much buildup in an engine in many years, modern oils will take a lot of abuse before they start that kind of breakdown.

I bought it this way, has 246K on it. Engine is CLEAN, no sludge at all as you can see in the picture. Only thing on the engine is the normal brown oil staining, absolutely no crud at all not even down on the oil pan. None of the crusty crap you normally see inside a neglected engine. Cam lobes are spotless, tappets are spotless.