Blown Head Gasket Repair - Advice Please

[ecally]

I purchased a 2008 4Runner, V6, last Monday, with 50,200 miles on it. I found this forum the next day and I've spent hours on it - I appreciate all the info. In a recent thread I found a link to the Toyota/Owner site, so I registered my 4Runner.

I pulled up the vehicle history, and all was going well until I saw that at 45K the vehicle had to have a new head gasket. The details are that 'the customer stated the vehicle overheated and all the coolant was lost, code P0506 found coolant in No 6, removed head, found head gasket was blown, machined head, and replaced necessary gaskets'.

Geez, this just happened in June, and the work was done at the same dealer who just sold it to me. I feel kind of ripped off, or at least misled.

I did purchase a 3yr/36K extended warranty through Toyota. I would appreciate your thoughts on what you think about this. What would have caused the blown head? I don't see too many references to blown head gaskets in 08 Runners. If 'all the coolant was lost' then it's very possible the engine overheated enough that there could be internal or cylinder damage? What should I be watching out for or looking for? Also, is it possible to repair a damaged head and gasket, and have the engine last still for a long time?

I know it's my fault for not looking into the service history myself, but I asked the salesman, who had the history right with him when I bought it, and looked down through the list and told me all the oil changes were performed.

Thanks for any advice. Right now I'm a little sick in my stomach.

 

[wvuviv30]

Having worked in car sales at one point in time... the Cars Sale and Service did not interact with each other.

 

[scojoe]

but I asked the salesman, who had the history right with him when I bought it, and looked down through the list and told me all the oil changes were performed.

I think I'd go ask the salesman if he would go for a ride with me ,In the desert, On a really hot day. Sorry to hear you had a bad experience when you bought you new truck. About all you can do is keep a close eye on the fluids and check the number six plug every once and a while.
Unless you have some sort of legal rights in your state

 

[ecally]

This is more prevalent than I thought, I see many threads about this same problem on 4th gen 4Runners, and cylinder 6 seems to be connected to most of these. Seems like many people caught it before it overheated though.

 

[scojoe]

Yes it is a known issue
At least here on the board

 

[THE MACF]

How is that the 1gr-fe in the 4runners are blowing head gaskets but the 1gr-fe in the X-runners are fine even up to 350-400whp?

As someone that had a 332whp/350wtq xrunner and is about to purchase a stock 09 sport 4wd i would really like to know before I drop $28k.

 

[TegoXR]

How is that the 1gr-fe in the 4runners are blowing head gaskets but the 1gr-fe in the X-runners are fine even up to 350-400whp?

As someone that had a 332whp/350wtq xrunner and is about to purchase a stock 09 sport 4wd i would really like to know before I drop $28k.

I've never heard of such issues on XRundeground.com

 

[THE MACF]

I've never heard of such issues on XRundeground.com

That's what I'm wondering. The only guys that had problems were the ones running turbos. All the MK3 and TRD never had these problems. Same screen name over there btw.

 

[Texas_4Runner]

Honestly man, this is what I would do.

I would go down to the dealership and ask to talk with the General Manager. I would sit down very calmly and talk to him about the situation. Be sure to be very polite and remain as calm as possible.

Ask him what he thinks is a fair solution. See what his response is. Do this tomorrow. Don't wait.

If he is an ass and gives you a response you don't like, then feel free to express your displeasure however you see fit.

 

[scojoe]

+1 they may give you the warranty free.

 

[jimithing]

How is that the 1gr-fe in the 4runners are blowing head gaskets but the 1gr-fe in the X-runners are fine even up to 350-400whp?

As someone that had a 332whp/350wtq xrunner and is about to purchase a stock 09 sport 4wd i would really like to know before I drop $28k.

It's the same reason there's not reports of blown head gasket's on the FJ cruiser forums. There's a troll here who registers many aliases that is responsible for many of the blown head gasket claims. I'm not saying there hasn't ever been a blown head gasket on a 1gr-fe because if it overheats it certainly can warp the head or something. But the vast majority of the claims here are done by this troll.

A few of his usernames have been banned because he can't control himself. He's got this thing where he thinks the 2uz engine is the best engine ever built and he has to find ways to make the 1gr seem like an inferior engine. He's obviously got some kind of personal issues and uses this board as a way to act out. Here are some of his banned usernames:

Toyota 4Runner Forum - View Profile: eskimochaos
Toyota 4Runner Forum - View Profile: eskim0chaos
Toyota 4Runner Forum - View Profile: PrepareYourAnus
Toyota 4Runner Forum - View Profile: V8 Brah
Toyota 4Runner Forum - View Profile: ClockWork
Toyota 4Runner Forum - View Profile: Lexus LX
Toyota 4Runner Forum - View Profile: 2UZ

Those are just the ones that I remember off hand. There are no doubt more. And, like I said, I'm quite sure he's responsible for the majority of these blown head gasket reports. There's a pattern to most of the reports - they're almost always a poster with just a few posts under they're belt and then there's a head gasket failure. Again, some of them may be legit but I bet this loser is behind most of them.

 

[jimithing]

To the OP - if I was you I would definitely be going down to the dealer for a chat with the GM. I think I would ask for a written warranty for the engine until 100k. Be polite and courteous. Don't go in there with an attitude, that won't get you anywhere.

 

[TegoXR]

That's what I'm wondering. The only guys that had problems were the ones running turbos. All the MK3 and TRD never had these problems. Same screen name over there btw.

Same screen name over there as well.

 

[ecally]

I appreciate the advice. I'm leaving for an overnight trip tonight, so I will go down to the dealer later Thursday or maybe Friday, see about getting a longer warranty or my money back for the current warrantly I just purchased.

 

[progress4m]

To the OP - if I was you I would definitely be going down to the dealer for a chat with the GM. I think I would ask for a written warranty for the engine until 100k. Be polite and courteous. Don't go in there with an attitude, that won't get you anywhere.

+1 on that.

To original OP:

I believe that if overheating was caught in time and they did quality repair job (and you assume Toyota dealer would) you should have nothing to worry about.

I used to have 1996 3rd gen 4Runner with 3.4 V6 and head gaskets were replaced as a part of Toyota HG recall; truck had around 50K on it and I was a little worried; around 4 years ago I have sold the truck to my friend, it had around 130K and now it has around 180K on it with no issues. HG was replaced @ the dealer.

The only thing I see questionable in your case is that they “machined” the heads… I would think they should have replaced them with new once… I would recommend questioning that.

Good luck!

 

[ecally]

I stopped at Toyota this morning. After one of the managers giving me the runaround for about 10 minutes, I ended up with an extension of the 3yr/36K extended warranty I purchased.

The dealership extended this for an additional 1 year/12K miles for the engine itself, over and above the 3yr/36k. They did it for 0 deductible.

The only thing that worries me, is it is for that specific dealership only, and it is written on one of their 'We Owe Customer' forms. Does this sound legit? Is it legally enforceable?

Thanks for all your advice.