Hey guys, wondering if any of you know of any good write ups/manuals to get to help walk me through a head gasket repair on a 1997 Toyota 4Runner w/ the 3.4 v6. Any walkthroughs, or advice/list of materials to get would be great. I have found several different headgasket kits available but dont know which one to get. I know I need obviously all the gaskets and I believe belts come with the kits, head stud bolts, fluids, what else am I neglecting? I probably will get the heads milled too to be safe. What should I be expecting to invest in total here? I am hoping between $400 and $600...reasonable or am I dreaming? Also, this is on a T4R with 240k, seem worth my time and money?
Headgasket repair
- Thread starter GP2001
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shawnstcyr
New member
Hanes or Chiltons manuals are a pretty safe source of info. If you know a mechanic who has access to Mitchell On Demand, that would be even better. Most Firestone stores use this program, and for a few bucks would probably be willing to print you out step by step directions.
I have done numerous head gasket jobs. Never on our Runners, but it looks pretty straight forward to me. You will need to have the head machined and checked for cracks. How many miles do you have on it? If you have a ton, it would be wise to have a valve or two pulled and checked for the correct tolerances. Exhaust valves tend to stretch over time.
I have always had good luck with Felpro gasket sets. I'm sure a lot of guys here will tell you to run the Toyota head set. You will need to change the oil when you are done, as you will likely get some antifreeze down into the oil. This would also be the perfect time to replace your timing belt and tensioner, as well as the water pump. I would be replacing all the gaskets in the plenum chamber as well. These would likely come with a good head set.
After machining the head, your most important detail will be the correct torque tension and sequence. Make sure you have a torque wrench that is correctly calibrated. You don't want to use one that has been laying around in your buddy's garage and been dropped repeatedly. I would pull the head first before making a judgement call on the worth of the project. Look at the top of the cylinder walls and see how much of a ridge you have at the top. Do you burn oil? Mine has 225,000 miles on it. If yours ran as well as mine does, I would definetly think it worth the cost. let me know if you have any questions.
I have done numerous head gasket jobs. Never on our Runners, but it looks pretty straight forward to me. You will need to have the head machined and checked for cracks. How many miles do you have on it? If you have a ton, it would be wise to have a valve or two pulled and checked for the correct tolerances. Exhaust valves tend to stretch over time.
I have always had good luck with Felpro gasket sets. I'm sure a lot of guys here will tell you to run the Toyota head set. You will need to change the oil when you are done, as you will likely get some antifreeze down into the oil. This would also be the perfect time to replace your timing belt and tensioner, as well as the water pump. I would be replacing all the gaskets in the plenum chamber as well. These would likely come with a good head set.
After machining the head, your most important detail will be the correct torque tension and sequence. Make sure you have a torque wrench that is correctly calibrated. You don't want to use one that has been laying around in your buddy's garage and been dropped repeatedly. I would pull the head first before making a judgement call on the worth of the project. Look at the top of the cylinder walls and see how much of a ridge you have at the top. Do you burn oil? Mine has 225,000 miles on it. If yours ran as well as mine does, I would definetly think it worth the cost. let me know if you have any questions.
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Thanks a lot for the info, problem is I cant really investigate too much because it is not mine yet. I found a 97 t4r with a blown headgasket with 240k on it for $400. I want to pick it up and fix it, but I dont have thousands to invest into it. Trying to figure out if its worth my money or not... From what I am told it ran well before this,and actually still does run decently, just takes a second to turn over from low compression I would assume. Supposedly timing belt, tensioner, and water pump have all been done within the past 40k, I might re-do the belt anyway but the rest will be fine.
If the heads are cracked how much do you think it would cost to replace them? Also how costly is it to have them checked for cracks and milled out?
shawnstcyr
New member
Man, that's a tough call. The price is right. How is the body? 2wd or 4? I have a machine shop that does my machining for $25 per head. You say it is slow to turn over? What makes you guys think it is a head gasket? I can tell you some symptoms:
1. The truck will overheat ( or has been overheated, the most common cause of blown head gaskets in cars with aluminum heads)
2. There will be coolant in the oil ( looks milky tan or white) or oil in the coolant
3. While while warming up with the radiator cap off, there will be excessive bubbling in the radiator. There is a simple test out there where a mechanic can put a glass canister with a fluid in it up to the radiator neck. The chemical will change colors in the presence of exhaust gases
A simple compression test can tell you alot.. If you have good compression and all the cylinders are within 10 psi or so of each other, that is a good sign. If you have a cylinder that is sigificantly lower than the others, that could mean a bad head gasket or a bad valve. If you pull all the plugs and look at the coloration, a cylinder with a bad gasket will be an off color compared to the rest. Any oily plugs at all, run away from this truck.
As far as cost, you will just have to price it out. It may be possible to pull this off and only have $1100 or so invested in this truck ( truck price included). That would be asweet deal.
1. The truck will overheat ( or has been overheated, the most common cause of blown head gaskets in cars with aluminum heads)
2. There will be coolant in the oil ( looks milky tan or white) or oil in the coolant
3. While while warming up with the radiator cap off, there will be excessive bubbling in the radiator. There is a simple test out there where a mechanic can put a glass canister with a fluid in it up to the radiator neck. The chemical will change colors in the presence of exhaust gases
A simple compression test can tell you alot.. If you have good compression and all the cylinders are within 10 psi or so of each other, that is a good sign. If you have a cylinder that is sigificantly lower than the others, that could mean a bad head gasket or a bad valve. If you pull all the plugs and look at the coloration, a cylinder with a bad gasket will be an off color compared to the rest. Any oily plugs at all, run away from this truck.
As far as cost, you will just have to price it out. It may be possible to pull this off and only have $1100 or so invested in this truck ( truck price included). That would be asweet deal.
Body is in OK shape. Not bad, but not amazing. It was hit in the back about a year ago so it has a brand new hatch, chrome rear bumper, tow hitch which is a plus. The front windshield has a crack in it and the wheel well mold has a good scrape in it from what looks like be side swiped in a parking lot. Front seats ned to be replaced, leather is torn up, glove comartment needs to be fixed, and it needs to be cleaned badly since he used it for construction. He said he was driving it and it overheated then he brought it to a mechanic. The mechanic said it needed the head gasket replaced and wanted like $3000 to do it, so hes getting rid of it cheap. What makes you think that a valve would be bad? If the timing belt or something snapped then I would be worried about valves, but I wasnt really thinking about that since it is the headgasket.
I'm thinking if I get it and it turns out to be a mess once I pull the head I could just part out a few things, like the rims and tires, tow hitch, etc, prob get my money back from those 2 things then part out some more if I want then scrap it or try to sell it again for someone who wants to do a swap.
The truck seems to run well once it turns over, I want to ask if I can take it down the block and back to see what exactly is going on, should be fine since the 30 seconds wont make it overheat or anything.
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shawnstcyr
New member
I was just giving you scenarios. I think you can repair it way cheaper. Is it 4wd? BTW, the 6 cylinder is a non interference engine. Meaning that if the timing belt breaks, it will not damage the valves.
