HELP 1995 head gasket leak

[Sean7187]

So I'm looking at buying this 4runner and it has a head gasket leak. The owner just wants it gone and is considering taking my offer of $200. He said that once he noticed the leak he stopped driving it. Is this a costly fix? I plan to do the work myself, but just not completely sure how costly it would be? Can I drive to to my house 30 miles away or must it be towed?

 

[KidVermicious]

What's a head gasket leak? Are we talking a blown head gasket mixing oil and coolant, or is this an external oil leak, external coolant leak, what?

A head gasket set will run you less than $100, although there's other stuff (belts, water pump, etc) that you'll want to do while you're in there. A full rebuild can cost over a thousand, more if you get excited. You're not going to know which you need until you tear the motor down and have a look. Listen to it run before you buy, and if there's no funny noises, go for it. I wouldn't drive it, though.

 

[Sean7187]

The owner said that once he noticed the head gasket went he stopped driving it and that he doesn't think it's completely blown. I'm starting to think he doesn't know what he's talking about lol. It's either blown or not. I am going to have to go look at it and see whats going on. He says it ran fine then one day it began to run a little rougher. I think maybe the valves need to be adjusted and/cleaned, or maybe it just needs a new water pump And timing needs to be done. I'm sure I'll have more questions in the coming days.

 

[541joseph]

you could get it down to as low as about 200 or so with all the gaskets youll need but 400 for a truck isnt bad. but if you want to do it right if it is blown your looking at about 400-500 in parts

 

[timlyttle]

i just purchased the parts needed for my 1990 3.0 the kit was 90 bucks from 1aauto.com that included every gasket i will need. they have a kit with the head bolts too but it was 160 so i bought the head bolts separate from rackauto.com and saved 40 bucks so its not to expensive. but you will want to replace the waterpump and maybe the radiator as well then your looking at over 600 in the truck which isnt bad i must say if you get another 100k out of it.