Blown HG, options

head

Have you done a carfax on the vehicle since you bought it or before? 120k seems very early to have a head gasket problem. I did one on mine AFTER I bought it and found an extra 100k miles laying around lmao.
 
buccaneerbandit said:
Have you done a carfax on the vehicle since you bought it or before? 120k seems very early to have a head gasket problem. I did one on mine AFTER I bought it and found an extra 100k miles laying around lmao.
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I did do one on it prior to purchase. Checked out clean. Not sure what could have caused it as I have babied it since I got it. The previous owner had it sitting for long periods of time as he traveled a lot. Doubt that could have led to this. I checked all vin numbers throughout and they all match. No accidents or anything. May have been poorly maintained previously, not too sure but I got a killer deal on it so I was willing to take my chances.
 
jpshoe said:
I did do one on it prior to purchase. Checked out clean. Not sure what could have caused it as I have babied it since I got it. The previous owner had it sitting for long periods of time as he traveled a lot. Doubt that could have led to this.
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Sitting for long periods of time is not good for an engine. Seals and gaskets get dry, and degrade quicker. For example, oil still looses its lubricating properties with time AND mileage. Timing belts wear with time and mileage also. I would buy a high mileage vehicle over a super low mileage vehicle anyday.

Fel-Pro are good parts, if you are going to keep the vehicle, go OEM all the way incluing HG.

I just did a timing belt/wp job on my 02'. I replaced a ton of stuff including all my idlers, hoses, fan bracket pulley, and incidentals for $400. The rest of the gaskets themselves can't be $900. With replacing what you need, I bet you could be ~$500 with machining and new valve seals on both banks.
 
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stir_fry_boy said:
Fel-Pro are good parts, if you are going to keep the vehicle, go OEM all the way incluing HG.

I just did a timing belt/wp job on my 02'. I replaced a ton of stuff including all my idlers, hoses, fan bracket pulley, and incidentals for $400. The rest of the gaskets themselves can't be $900. With replacing what you need, I bet you could be ~$500 with machining and new valve seals on both banks.
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Not to thread hi-jack, but why the hell do you have two 4runners?

The only thing I can think of is you can wrench to death on the 02 and still have a ride in the 5th gen.

The only other thing I can think of is the Torsen center diff which awards you all-time 4H and optional 4L on dry pavement; but that's only available in the limited 5th gen, and you have a TRD Pro :P
 
amalik said:
Not to thread hi-jack, but why the hell do you have two 4runners?

The only thing I can think of is you can wrench to death on the 02 and still have a ride in the 5th gen.

The only other thing I can think of is the Torsen center diff which awards you all-time 4H and optional 4L on dry pavement; but that's only available in the limited 5th gen, and you have a TRD Pro :P
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The TRD Pro is my wife's ride I got for her. I have put a lot of time and money into my 02', all the work I have done myself. I had a 06' Corolla XRS 6 speed and I decided to sell that instead of my 02' to get the TRD Pro.

There are several other forum members who have 3rd and 5th gen T4Rs.
 
stir_fry_boy said:
The TRD Pro is my wife's ride I got for her. I have put a lot of time and money into my 02', all the work I have done myself. I had a 06' Corolla XRS 6 speed and I decided to sell that instead of my 02' to get the TRD Pro.

There are several other forum members who have 3rd and 5th gen T4Rs.
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Cool man. I'm not a fan of the 5th gen honestly.

But, 4th gen V8 with VVTI and full-time AWD. YES. :)
 
I don't like the look of the 4th Gens as much as the 3rd and 5th. I do like the V8, and it is very attractive. My dad has an 03' V6 and it's not as comfortable as my 3rd or 5th Gen.

Sorry for the thread hi-jack.
 
To be honest I would never do a head gasket I just do a JDM swap to me it is cheaper and you get a motor with lower miles 900 for the motor and 12 hours of work to me it is a better deal... I hate doing head gaskets buy the time you get them off and machined you could have already had a motor swap done.
 
So I've begun teardown and everything has been going well so far. I ran into a little issue getting the camshaft timing pulleys off. The right (passenger side) camshaft timing pulley rotated about 1/6th of a turn when i was taking it off. Already had the timing belt off so it rotated independently of the others. Will this be an issue? I know I am pulling the heads of so can I just readjust it whenever I put the heads back on? Thanks
 
jpshoe said:
So I've begun teardown and everything has been going well so far. I ran into a little issue getting the camshaft timing pulleys off. The right (passenger side) camshaft timing pulley rotated about 1/6th of a turn when i was taking it off. Already had the timing belt off so it rotated independently of the others. Will this be an issue? I know I am pulling the heads of so can I just readjust it whenever I put the heads back on? Thanks
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In an non-interference motor like the 5VZ-FE, it is not an issue. Yep, you will get the engine in time after you put the heads back on.

I used my crank pulley holding tool with the timing belt on and cracked the cam bolts loose. There are many ways you can do it.
 
stir_fry_boy said:
In an non-interference motor like the 5VZ-FE, it is not an issue. Yep, you will get the engine in time after you put the heads back on.

I used my crank pulley holding tool with the timing belt on and cracked the cam bolts loose. There are many ways you can do it.
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Cool thanks. Yeah I built a service tool lol. By built I mean I drilled two holes in a board and stuck a few bolts through it and cranked like there was no tomorrow.
 
jpshoe said:
Cool thanks. Yeah I built a service tool lol. By built I mean I drilled two holes in a board and stuck a few bolts through it and cranked like there was no tomorrow.
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I just used the starter bump method to get mine off, then used my homemade tool to crack the cams loose.
 
Making good progress..

So I've gotten down to having the cylinder head covers off. I'm a little perplexed. It appears as thought the previous owner painted them red at one point, and then painted over them with black. I have a feeling they did some serious tinkering and a lot of damage to give me a blown head gasket at 127k. I will know more once I get the heads off and take them in and have a better look. I'm struggling with the exhaust crossover pipe and intake manifolds. Just old gnarly bolts and very tough to get to. Anyone have suggestions? Can't get the impact gun on most of them. Also, nervous about getting the camshafts out. Process looks tedious and I feel like I will screw something up. I looked ahead and I don't think I need any special tools so that is a plus.

I have invested a grand total of $0.00 into this so far. Well maybe $2.50 in bandaids. I'm not ordering anything until I get the heads checked out. Oh yeah, pictures....

You can see a before the craziness, and where I'm at now, followed by my organization system and my weird read head covers. I have an entire other table full of parts lol. Gotta keep it organized.
 

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You could just unbolt the exhaust manifold from the head instead of the connections further down. Or visa versa.

Why do you need to remove the camshafts?
 
Someone has gone into that engine at least twice, once to paint them red and then to paint them over black. Would not surprise me , despite the carfax, if that was not the original engine. Did you get a compression reading before you pulled it all apart? I had my doughts about fixing the head gaskets before and now there is no way that I personally with continue with that engine. Find a engine that has come out of a wreck and throw it in. At least it will have factory specs. The crossover bolts are a threaded stud with a nut. worse case you can cut the nut off and work the stud out later or drill out the stud and put a stainless nut and bolt.
 
amalik said:
Have you personally pulled the heads and know it can be done otherwise?

Just wondering cuz fsm says to pull the camshafts out as OP said
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The FSM says a lot of things. There is more than one way to skin a cat.

Let me give you an example: For the 3.5L V6 Camry / Highlander / Avalon / Rav 4 / Sienna engine, the FSM says to remove the engine entirely to replace the water pump. Is that the case? No. Many Toyota techs have told me that you can do it without removing the engine. Toyota later released a TSB to show that you don't have to remove the engine to replace the water pump.

After thinking about removing the cams, it may be necessary to do so in order to get the head bolts out. No, I have never done it on the 5VZ. On other engines, yes I have removed the head without removing the cams.
 
Only 127K miles? I'd do the head gasket job in a heartbeat. And yeah. $2K seems crazy. I haven't done one on my 4runner, but I have done them on other vehicles.
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