Rats!! Blown Head Gasket.

Bummer

Good news and bad news. The good news is that I got my 4Runner back on Friday night and all seemed to be well. The bad news is that I drove it for a short distance on Saturday and when I parked it steam was coming out of the engine compartment. I am afraid that the heads are blown again. I guess I'll have it towed back to the shop on Monday. Any words of wisdom?
 
That really sucks man. I'm sorry to hear it. Whatever the current problem is, it has to be the fault of the person that did the head gasket job. Was it done at a shop or did you have a friend do it?
 
Speaking of rodents chewing stuff, I had a mouse chew through the freaking tygon fuel line on my string trimmer a couple of weeks ago. Kept wondering why the thing wouldn't crank as it's pretty new, then I check it over and noticed it was chewed clean through on the line going to the carb with gnaw marks all around. I imagine that was a good taste when he bit through???

I trapped his ass that night, so he got his!
 
fdbyrne said:
So, did you take it back to the shop? What did they say?
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Sorry for the late response FD. I was trying to forget the whole ordeal.

I had it towed in hoping that the leak hadn't caused any major damage. However, the same exact damage occurred from the rats again!! The insurance adjuster looked at it on Wednesday and wrote out another check for the repairs.

He even called me to see if I had it towed in and said he would pay for that too. I told him that I don't have towing insurance on my policy so there is no need to pay that but he said they will pay it if it is part of the claim. He said the check is the mail. That was a good surprise.

I am borrowing my parents Volvo V70 and have it parked in the same spot as the 4Runner was parked outside, with no issues. The rodents seem to prefer the taste of Toyota over the taste of Volvo. The insurance adjusted said:

"This week I have looked at four rodent damaged ones, I don’t know if it’s coincidence, but they were all Toyotas. If not caught quickly they do like to nest in the dash, and that can become a huge mess. There are a few rodent repellent products available out there, like: under hood sonic devices and sprays. It looks like it’s going to be a bad winter for rodent damage."​

Does anyone know of a good rodent repellent that works? I'll give it a try.

I have the exterminators coming out next week to setup bait stations and I'll clean out the garage so I can park in there. Hopefully, that will keep the rats at bay. I have been parking in the same spot for over 7 years with no issues whatsoever.
 
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Sounds like a potential for an evening of entertainment. Call over a few buddies, break out the .22's and a few beers and make an evening of it.
 
SilverRiver said:
Sorry for the late response FD. I was trying to forget the whole ordeal.

I had it towed in hoping that the leak hadn't caused any major damage. However, the same exact damage occurred from the rats again!! The insurance adjuster looked at it on Wednesday and wrote out another check for the repairs.

He even called me to see if I had it towed in and said he would pay for that too. I told him that I don't have towing insurance on my policy so there is no need to pay that but he said they will pay it if it is part of the claim. He said the check is the mail. That was a good surprise.

I am borrowing my parents Volvo V70 and have it parked in the same spot as the 4Runner was parked outside, with no issues. The rodents seem to prefer the taste of Toyota over the taste of Volvo. The insurance adjusted said:

"This week I have looked at four rodent damaged ones, I don’t know if it’s coincidence, but they were all Toyotas. If not caught quickly they do like to nest in the dash, and that can become a huge mess. There are a few rodent repellent products available out there, like: under hood sonic devices and sprays. It looks like it’s going to be a bad winter for rodent damage."​

Does anyone know of a good rodent repellent that works? I'll give it a try.

I have the exterminators coming out next week to setup bait stations and I'll clean out the garage so I can park in there. Hopefully, that will keep the rats at bay. I have been parking in the same spot for over 7 years with no issues whatsoever.
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Please have some pics of this.
 
fdbyrne said:
Sounds like a potential for an evening of entertainment. Call over a few buddies, break out the .22's and a few beers and make an evening of it.
Click to expand...

That would be fun if I lived in a spot where I could do that. But I live right in the middle of town with houses everywhere, in all directions, and close by. :uzi:

There is a new house being built two doors down. Actually, it is an ADU (accessory dwelling unit) which is less than 1000 square feet and on the same lot as the main house. I think that stirred up the rats living in the brush that got excavated.

Then the house right next to me on the other side burned down at the end of August and has been vacant since then. It is another possible source of rats.
 
took my 2015 sr5 premium to the dealer today

I just found out that Toyota had a bad run of cylinder heads and my engine is going to have to be rebuilt. my 4runner is the fourth one that Toyota has found so if you are leaking oil and they cant pin point it suggest they look at the engine. dealership is trying to make me buy a new one and pay more money or keep my busted one that may or may not be fixed properly. any suggestions?
 
There is no way putting thousands of dollars in an 05 4runner is worth it.
Try the insurance route,if it don't fly it's time to junk it and look for new 4runner.
 
Ralph Blake said:
There is no way putting thousands of dollars in an 05 4runner is worth it.
Try the insurance route,if it don't fly it's time to junk it and look for new 4runner.
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After having a lot of time to consider this question I would have to disagree. Conservatively, my 2005 4Runner is worth $10K (working of course). Without a working, reliable engine it might be worth $2K for the differentials and transfer case, etc. So fixing it for $4K is totally worth it. I can sell it $10K instead of $2K and the market for a junked 4Runner is tiny compared to the market for a working 4Runner.

The 4Runner is paid for so it is like having a bank account with $10K in it. While I can't get my money out of it as easily as a bank account, selling it to a dealer is pretty fast although there will be a discount for the "broker's fee" (i.e. I will only get $9K or less).

Now if I junk the 4Runner for $2K and buy a new one then my asset is turned into a liability. For example, I finance $35K for a new one. Now I have a liability that is $35K and my future earnings are now dedicated to paying that off. Assuming a salary a 100K, after taxes are accounted for, I would be working almost a half a year to pay it off. And that is for an item that has no more utility than the one it replaced. It still goes from point A to B. Granted there are some more fancy pants features, I am sure, but it is a big price to pay.
 
usmcvet said:
I just found out that Toyota had a bad run of cylinder heads and my engine is going to have to be rebuilt. my 4runner is the fourth one that Toyota has found so if you are leaking oil and they cant pin point it suggest they look at the engine. dealership is trying to make me buy a new one and pay more money or keep my busted one that may or may not be fixed properly. any suggestions?
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Sorry to hear that. I would just have them fix it and move on. Try to get an extra, extended warranty for free but since it is a 2015 you should have plenty of manufacturer's warranty left.

You say "that [it] may or may not be fixed properly." Well if it isn't fixed properly then have them fix it again. Stuff happens and things break. Don't sweat it. It is just a 4Runner.
 
thanks for the advice. I'm standing bye to hear back from Toyota corporate and then I will take it from there.
 
SilverRiver said:
After having a lot of time to consider this question I would have to disagree. Conservatively, my 2005 4Runner is worth $10K (working of course). Without a working, reliable engine it might be worth $2K for the differentials and transfer case, etc. So fixing it for $4K is totally worth it. I can sell it $10K instead of $2K and the market for a junked 4Runner is tiny compared to the market for a working 4Runner.

The 4Runner is paid for so it is like having a bank account with $10K in it. While I can't get my money out of it as easily as a bank account, selling it to a dealer is pretty fast although there will be a discount for the "broker's fee" (i.e. I will only get $9K or less).

Now if I junk the 4Runner for $2K and buy a new one then my asset is turned into a liability. For example, I finance $35K for a new one. Now I have a liability that is $35K and my future earnings are now dedicated to paying that off. Assuming a salary a 100K, after taxes are accounted for, I would be working almost a half a year to pay it off. And that is for an item that has no more utility than the one it replaced. It still goes from point A to B. Granted there are some more fancy pants features, I am sure, but it is a big price to pay.
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I looked in Kelly Blue Book what i found is it working would be worth around $8K, i am betting if you could get 5K you would be lucky.
Anyway it's your call and it looks like you know what you want.
 
Ralph Blake said:
I looked in Kelly Blue Book what i found is it working would be worth around $8K, i am betting if you could get 5K you would be lucky.
Anyway it's your call and it looks like you know what you want.
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You are right; it looks like it is only worth about $8K. But I think my basic premise still stands. For most people on the forum it would be the perfect excuse to upgrade to a 2016 4Runner.
 
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