head gasket replacement by previous owner a concern?

[4flyer]

I was looking through the records for my 4runner and saw that back at 144K miles (180k now), and saw a major item in the records. Looks like the head gasket was replaced. The bill was a whopping $2,880 but the records also indicate that at the same time, the alternator was serviced, the camshaft housing plug was replaced, along with a seal washer, grommet, spark plugs, antifreeze, power steering fluid, brake fluid and trans fluid. Some parts were also greased and the radiator and transmission were conditioned. I am pretty sure that this was just a major service that was done on the vehicle by a responsible owner but the fact that the head gasket was replaced makes me worried whether it was preventative maintenance or not. No real way of knowing. What do y'all think?

 

[Scramble]

Nobody sane does headgasket's as preventative maintenance. If the job was done right you should be fine.

 

[4flyer]

Nobody sane does headgasket's as preventative maintenance. If the job was done right you should be fine.

Cool. It was done at the Toyota dealership so I assume that it was done fine. So the big hype about head gaskets is that they are expensive, right?

 

[nobb]

It's fairly uncommon for head gaskets on our rigs to fail at that mileage. Chances are the engine was probably overheated so my concern would be the block warping. That being said, if the repair held up for 40k then it's likely fine.

 

[Scramble]

It's fairly uncommon for head gaskets on our rigs to fail at that mileage. Chances are the engine was probably overheated so my concern would be the block warping. That being said, if the repair held up for 40k then it's likely fine.

It's an iron block, kinda hard to warp. You can have a HG failure without it overheating. If you do overheat it I'd be more worried about internals like engine bearings.

 

[BrianSD_42]

It's fairly uncommon for head gaskets on our rigs to fail at that mileage. Chances are the engine was probably overheated so my concern would be the block warping. That being said, if the repair held up for 40k then it's likely fine.

The HG failure is actually more common than you would think. 150K is not super abnormal. 200K definitely not unusual.

 

[4flyer]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I don't think I am going to worry too much. The job was done by Toyota so it should have been done right. It was done when the first owner had the truck. The second owner was a mechanic so if he saw a problem, I doubt he would have bought the truck. Not to mention that that job was done 40K miles ago. Things should be alright. Let's hope i make it to 300K!

 

[sambishop]

The HG failure is actually more common than you would think. 150K is not super abnormal. 200K definitely not unusual.

Obviously you've read it happening with that statement, but I've been on this forum for a few years and have maybe seen 1 post about that happening man.

 

[nobb]

Obviously you've read it happening with that statement, but I've been on this forum for a few years and have maybe seen 1 post about that happening man.

Yea I can't name the last time I saw a post of a HG failure for the 5VZ. In comparison when I had a 2nd gen and lurked around that forum section, HG failures was a weekly topic for the 3.0 3VZ. If you are regularly changing the coolant with the proper stuff and don't overheat the engine, HG failures should be very rare on these engines.

 

[amalik]

Yup. HG? Not really an issue. LBJ's and Pink Milkshakes? all day

 

[Scramble]

Cool. It was done at the Toyota dealership so I assume that it was done fine. So the big hype about head gaskets is that they are expensive, right?

well, it's a $1200 job at a local mechanic. Dealer probably double. It gets real expensive if the head cracks & needs to be repaired or replaced.

 

[T4R2014]

Here's my hunch, and I've seen it done before:

They typed head gasket instead of valve cover gasket. People make mistakes. No biggie.

 

[3bears]

Here's my hunch, and I've seen it done before:

They typed head gasket instead of valve cover gasket. People make mistakes. No biggie.

when I bought mine, after carefully looking at all receipts, I found mine had the head gaskets replaced at the dealer at 110k. I was worried, but looking at the parts listed, it was what we call the valve cover gaskets.