Pls advise: 1995 - Blown Head Gaskets $500.00 Worth it?

[mmjcarr]

Sup Y'all......... Happy Thursday!

A co-worker of mine has a 1995 4Runner SR5 V6 3.0. He's the original owner and has all of the service records. The truck has 156k miles and is in good shape with the exception of some rust spots on the rear wheel wells and rust on the tailgate. However, the head gaskets just blew. I realize that's a typical problem on these trucks but he is willing to sell it to me for $500.00 bucks.

I found a shop that can do the repair for just under a $1,000.00 bucks.

Is it worth it? Do they ever run the same after a head gasket repair?

Any suggestions? Save my money?

What would you do?

 

[fourwd1]

If the HG job is done correctly there's no reason the engine wouldn't run fine.
Since it has rust, it could have frame rust, which can be bad depending on where you are. You may want to inspect it closely.

 

[Robdawg]

If you know the previous owner with records, 500.00 seems to be a deal. I paid 1,000. for a 93,rust free Arizona 4R with a rod knock but still ran. I swaped the motor with a JDM 1500.00 now runs great for the slow runner. The motor I replaced had 222200 miles and to my knowledge had the heads done around the milage of your purchase. I would check for frame cracks,rust as mentioned.

 

[MrGaryFish]

To answer your question about it running the same, my previous 4runner that was totalled died at 180k. It had the head gasket replaced under recall at around 90k, right before I bought it. I had to replace it again when it went out around the same time your buddy's did, at about 156k. It ran strong until time of death, and had the same amount of power it did before the gasket blew. Even if you just had the head gasket fixed, you could probably flip it for more than $1500 if its fully functional. Good luck.

Sup Y'all......... Happy Thursday!

I found a shop that can do the repair for just under a $1,000.00 bucks.

Is it worth it? Do they ever run the same after a head gasket repair?

Any suggestions? Save my money?

What would you do?

 

[rvschulz]

if everything else checks out AND you like it ... could be a great deal.

 

[Redneck92]

If the rest of the truck is in good order I say go for it. A head gasket job isn't to hard to do. If you have a little more than basic skills and the tools to do, oh and common sense thats important, than you can do it yourself.