Ok folks, i guess i must be number one thousand something who is reporting to have a head gasket problem. I tried to post as a reply to another thread but it didn't go into the system.
My car: 2004 4runner SR5 V6 (1GR-FE) 2WD. Bought it brand new on Jan 2004 and have over 155,000 miles on the car. The car has been flawless...until last week. Never tow and just simply using this as a commuter car to/from work. Gas mileage is the only complain of course.
All 3 lights (engine, VSC and trac off) and engine code P0306 was thrown one morning. The car vibrated violently in the 1st 15 seconds but went away after the car was warmed up. My car was way overdue for spark plugs change so that is what i had my mechanic do. A new coil has also been replaced (misfiring on cylinder 6) was reported. After 2 days of normal experience, the lights came back on again and that is when my mechanic suspected about the head gasket issue. After running the color radiator test, it was confirmed (yellow color which shows gas leaking into the radiator). After i got a big quote for the fix, there's when i hop on to the internet to find hundreds of reports about this issue dating back to as far as 2008. The issues affect mostly 04 4runners with V6 engines. My mechanic has done work on a FJ cruiser a few months back so he has seen this before already. The symptom is the same as what others are experiencing here.
Contacted Toyota customer service to report this case. No recall or repair assistance was offered. My case # 1309061140 was recorded. Only 4runners from 88 to 93 were on the recall list. So i am on my own.
Quick question, if i fix the head gasket issue (which i have to do whether i keep the car or not), will I be required to do this again sometime in the future knowing that it is a design flaw? I have seen reports of this with engines around 90K.
What else should I replace while everything is being taken apart for this big job?
My car: 2004 4runner SR5 V6 (1GR-FE) 2WD. Bought it brand new on Jan 2004 and have over 155,000 miles on the car. The car has been flawless...until last week. Never tow and just simply using this as a commuter car to/from work. Gas mileage is the only complain of course.
All 3 lights (engine, VSC and trac off) and engine code P0306 was thrown one morning. The car vibrated violently in the 1st 15 seconds but went away after the car was warmed up. My car was way overdue for spark plugs change so that is what i had my mechanic do. A new coil has also been replaced (misfiring on cylinder 6) was reported. After 2 days of normal experience, the lights came back on again and that is when my mechanic suspected about the head gasket issue. After running the color radiator test, it was confirmed (yellow color which shows gas leaking into the radiator). After i got a big quote for the fix, there's when i hop on to the internet to find hundreds of reports about this issue dating back to as far as 2008. The issues affect mostly 04 4runners with V6 engines. My mechanic has done work on a FJ cruiser a few months back so he has seen this before already. The symptom is the same as what others are experiencing here.
Contacted Toyota customer service to report this case. No recall or repair assistance was offered. My case # 1309061140 was recorded. Only 4runners from 88 to 93 were on the recall list. So i am on my own.
Quick question, if i fix the head gasket issue (which i have to do whether i keep the car or not), will I be required to do this again sometime in the future knowing that it is a design flaw? I have seen reports of this with engines around 90K.
What else should I replace while everything is being taken apart for this big job?
