Blown headgasket @ 125k

T

TheJellyfish

New member
2004 Limited 4wd
125k miles
all regular maintenance performed by me or at a dealer.

Driving to work I look down and notice that my temp is almost to red. Immediately turn off A/C and pull over as soon as possible. As soon as I turn off the A/C the temp drops like a rock back to the normal position on the gauge. Towed to dealer. Dealer calls and says they checked thermostat (good), water pump (also good). They find oil in the coolant and conclude a blown headgasket. They want $3800 to put in a new gasket. I'm going to call a few Toyota specialists around town on Tuesday. $3800 for a headgasket seems insane.

Any advice on new gasket vs. new engine? I don't want to spend $3k on a new headgasket to learn that I in fact have a warped block. Any other possibilities?
 
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I recall there being an issue with the radiator that could allow oil in the coolant line somehow. Something to do with the oil cooller being built into the radiator. Just a thought.
Yep, that price seems steep. May want to check into a independant shop that specializes in imports. Hope all goes well for you.
 
Burt said:
I recall there being an issue with the radiator that could allow oil in the coolant line somehow. Something to do with the oil cooller being built into the radiator. Just a thought.
Yep, that price seems steep. May want to check into a independant shop that specializes in imports. Hope all goes well for you.
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:iagree: on shopping around, $3800 is insane!

Burt's point about the radiator is valid, sort of... Especially the the 3rd gens seem prone to allowing the transmission fluid and the engine coolant to co-mingle (a bad thing).
:cheers:
 
V6.

I'm definitely going to call some independent shops tomorrow.

If its really a blown or leaky headgasket, and if its $3k to repair, I figure I have four options.

1. Do nothing and sell / trade 4Runner
2. Replace headgasket and sell 4Runner
3. Replace headgasket and keep 4Runner
4. Replace engine with low mileage engine or rebuild and keep 4Runner.

When I bought this car in 2004 I had every intention of keeping this car until 250k miles minimum, Now, I'm not so sure. If I keep it, I'll probably sell by 200k to avoid another gasket issue.

I never saw the obvious tell tale signs of a blown headgasket. I blew a gasket in my 1990 4Runner (pre-recall) and I had the billowing white smoke, milky oil, etc. At roughly 70k miles, I got a new engine (paid for by Toyota) and I drove the 4Runner until 230k without any other engine issues. It never even needed another headgasket.

The dealer said it was a "leaky" gasket. I guess this is different than totally blowing out the gasket. I did not ask if they had pulled any codes from the computer. I read the sticky where "the Josh" had a warped head and block. It seemed like he was throwing misfire codes, etc.

KBB is $13k to $14k although last month I bought my girlfriend a 2004 Beetle Turbo S for about $5k under KBB.
 
I don't read about very many 3.4's blowing their head gasket. I don't think it's very common at all . I was looking at some link recently posted here to re manufactured engines and your quote is almost a rebuilt long block. I would also make certain that it's not a rad failure causing trans oil to mix with coolant and them 'guessing' that its a h/g leak . Good luck man .

TheJellyfish said:
I'll probably sell by 200k to avoid another gasket issue.
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I'd choose option 4, but that's just me. You can buy a 1gr dirt cheap ($1500) and drop that in as easy as replacing the headgasket and have a low mileage engine. That's just me.

I looked into the option when looking for an engine to drop into my friend's MR2. Turns out the dimensoins on the 2gr worked better, but the 1gr was cheaper.
 
TheJellyfish said:
I found an engine with 31k on it for $2500 shipped. Any guesses on labor?
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You need to find someone that will swap it on the side and it'll be less than $1000 to get it in. I'm about to help swap a 2zz into a MR2 spyder for $400 if you were only closer...

Natchez Salvage in MS has an engine for 900 with 67k on it. Bonhanon has one with 80k for $1500. Check car-part.com as they have tons on there. It shouldn't be more than $200-250 to ship it if you have a place with a dock to ship to.

If you're not worried about mileage it will be cheaper to do the headgasket ($700 or so I'd guess)
 
Thanks for all the replies.

Talked to the dealer. He can do headgasket for $3800, used engine for $5300. If I choose to only do the gasket and it turns out I have a warped head or scorched valve, he will apply the $3800 to a used engine.

Sdtruckshop.com
Talked to James. Granted, he hasn't seen the truck so these are total guesses. $2000 for a gasket. Guessing $500 additional machine shop charges which would apply if the head needs work. He said for $5300 he could put in a remanufactured engine.

Any additional questions I should ask the dealer while the car is there? His main diagnosis was based on finding hydrocarbons in the coolant, pressure testing the coolant system, SMOG check. Coolant level was low when it was towed in.

Any advice or other shops in town to call?
 
Yeah, WHY IS THE CAR AT A DEALER?!?

Dude, find an independant shop and you'll cut the cost a ton. A lot of times the dealer uses engines from the scrapyards if they're good (around here they use massey's allt he time) and you're going to get that engine. The other thing is anything internal they pretty much avoid doing and make you choose the new engine route... call around at the import garages and they'll let you know what they'd want to swap out the motor if you supply the new motor and also a cost on the headgasket. $2000 is REDICULOUS!!!
 
Car is at dealer because this happened at 430 on Friday. Everyone else was closed for the weekend. I also just moved here 3 months ago so naturally a dealer was an easy first tow.

$3800 is the dealer estimate for new headgasket.
$2000 is an estimate from an independent shop
 
I think I'm going to put in a Toyota remanufactured engine. The SD Truck Shop is going to call me back tonight with a better estimate.
 
I am a little concerned about the longivity of the 4.0 V6. It came out in 2003 and was the first all aluminum truck engine. I hope this doesn't become a pattern.

Sorry to hear aobut your problem and I hope you figure something out.
 
I doubt that. They've been making aluminum engines for years. Hell, my old 944 used them back in 1984! It's a sound technology but you're always going to have one here or there...
 
Turns out I had a hole in my radiator, which cause the overheating. We replaced the radiator, hoses, water pump, thermostat, serpentine belt, head gasket, and did a valve job. Sent the head to a machine shop to bench test it. Not warped, no damage to the head at all. Valves were slightly leaky so thats why I did the valve job.

However..... the bad news.

I went to pick up my truck and there seems to be an issue with the 4wd ECM. Truck thinks it's in 4wd Lo but it is definitely in 2wd. 4Lo indicator light blinks and beeps when I try to shift it into 4Hi or 2wd. We can get the actuator to shift if we move it manually, but nothing with the dash control. Got out the multimeter and tested EVERYTHING. At this point we are pretty sure the 4wd ECM is shot.

I haven't spoken to a dealer yet, but my mechanic tells me that the original part number has been replaced by a newer part number. And they're backordered; not even making the old part anymore. New ECM is $850.

What could cause this? I just used 4wd, locked center diff, etc. about 3 months ago without any issues. I find it hard to believe that I'm having all these issues all at once.
 
try calling junk yards. it'll be much cheaper and you can find one of those working off a truck since it's not a common failure. You'll save a few hundred at least.

car-part.com
 
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