*** V6 Head Gasket Action Request ***

Well I guess I will be the highest mileage V6 4th Gen to be added
and being the first year of 4th Gen's

2003
02/03
4x2
253,000
And proud to say No HG Issue, or Any issue for that matter and live in one the most hottest citys, tow, offroad, and haul a** around regularly. All at the cost of just a little TLC. She's a bad B**** and a family member forever.
 
Welp, add another (my dads that my husband been working on)

2004 SR5 2WD
167, 000 miles
Prod Date (get back to U, not home)


Initial prob was P0306 "misfire Cyl#6" at Toyo Dealer. Dealer wanted to change out ignition coil for hundreds of dollars. No way, easy job we did ourselves along with all 6 spark plugs. Cleared code, but came back on our handheld scanner, P0306.

Took truck to local shop and had them to test. Showing what everybody else here has. Head gasket issue. (We did work) Still pulled out the heads to get pressure checked, re-surfaced, and cleaned. Double checking for cracks that we can't see. Being aluminum and all. That's where we are at in this fix right now.

Truck never over heated, BUT did have a shitty brake job by dealer!! My parents will NEVER go back to this dealer. They do crappy work.

Thank you for having this here!! Toyo should step up for everybody's aggravation and time, $$$$ spent!!
 
**** I am sorry I did not see the previous post by [MENTION=128313]TrdLtly[/MENTION] because I had read the forum earlier and just came back to add to list.

I wanted to show that my Dad's 2004 SR5 @143k miles blew as well. Right now, bank 2 is at a machine shop being tested. Pretty sure it's a HG.

I, myself own a 2013 Limited 4Runner. Have about 26k miles with no issues. Love Toyota, but if the amount of ppl here reporting, how many are NOT internet or forum savvy? Just saying.
 
just about 5k on the new gasket and all seems well. I can tell she is getting a little tired though, and a few things need to be done, but so far so good. Did the water pump and serpentine belt (had originals still) while they were in there since it was just the cost of parts at that point. It's nice because my timing cover doesn't leak anymore too as it got a new gasket :)
 
TrdLtly said:
Just to put this into perspective for the people reading this and thinking how unreliable the V6 Toyota 4Runner is:
Based on the amount of 4.0L's (1GR-FE) sold in 4Runner's in the USA alone: over 430k (using the years above of 2003-2006) with the majority of those being sold with the V6, the 1GR-FE does NOT have a problem statistically either. If you include the Tacoma's, the FJ's, the Hilux Surf's, the Land Cruiser's of the same years then we are really talking small numbers. I do hope that Toyota makes it right with the owners that have had issues, but if we look at the big picture, it is really a small number.​
That is why I now own one. If it fails then I will get it fixed and put my name on the list.
Click to expand...

Well put. I was growing anxious about the v6 and ended up selling it to a family member when upgrading to the v8... i was worried about nothing. Its still running strong with no problems. Just maintain it and drive it. If it breaks fix it or get something else.
 
Does anyone know when the HG was changed to a new design? Just curious which year model 4.0 is safe to purchase? I'm looking for a used double cab Taco and want to buy one that is less likely to have a HG issue. At this point I'm a little gun shy with 2 4Runners with bad HG in the last few months.
 
Geri O said:
I guess we'll add ours to the list, even though we've resolved the issue...

2004 4Runner V6 mis-fire and eventually water in #6. Bad head gaskets. 200,600 miles. Truck belongs to girlfriend. And I was just about to inquire to Toyota about the cracked dash...

It's hard to fault the truck in the particular case. It started running low on coolant from the head gasket leak, but she let it run pretty hot before she stopped. So heads are warped. Between the expense (and grief) of getting it repaired, and having the rest of the truck with the original transmission, rear end, and other parts, we decided to not repair it and she found a wonderful 2011 4Runner today.

We'll try to get a few bucks out of the old one. The old one was a fantastic vehicle for 11 years, absolutely no problems, just standard maintenance until we replaced the water pump last winter. She let it run hot then, too. So we really have no beef with Toyota over this one. And she, of course, LOVES the 2011 truck. Texting me all day about it...

FWIW....
Click to expand...

Just a quick update on the 2004...

A couple of days after this post, her son listed the truck and its ailments in Craigslist and asked for offers. We were pleasantly surprised when we had an offer from a mechanic in Memphis, TN who is familiar with this truck and is buying and repairing them. He gave her $2200 for the truck, loaded up with water, and made the 4-hour trip home in it just fine, stopping twice. He says he already has a set of heads ready to go on it. So, good for him. Everyone's happy.

She's still loving the 2011 4Runner and I imagine she will for several years...
 
Has there ever been a recall on the head gasket matter? My neighbor’s mid 1990's was repaired at no charge “by his Dealer Years Later”. His service records with the Dealer from new possibly allowed the service at no cost.

I have:
2007 V6 2WD SR5
Purchased @ 43,000 mi certified, now 51,000mi
No problems (except old brake switch now working.

Were any water matters as water getting in or on any of the failed engines as water crossings or boat ramps)? Running hot appeared as possibly a common factor but I feel there might be others. Possible Preventive Measures is my motive. Thanks
 
jow said:
Has there ever been a recall on the head gasket matter? My neighbor’s mid 1990's was repaired at no charge “by his Dealer Years Later”. His service records with the Dealer from new possibly allowed the service at no cost.

I have:
2007 V6 2WD SR5
Purchased @ 43,000 mi certified, now 51,000mi
No problems (except old brake switch now working.

Were any water matters as water getting in or on any of the failed engines as water crossings or boat ramps)? Running hot appeared as possibly a common factor but I feel there might be others. Possible Preventive Measures is my motive. Thanks
Click to expand...

There ya go...

1. From what I've read here, the #6 cylinder head gasket leak was cleared up in the 2006, maybe 2005 models.

In the case of my girlfriend's 2004 4Runner V6, we aren't sure if it was the chicken or the egg, as it were. I've read of issues cropping up with the #6 cylinder getting water in it. In January of this year, she noticed the engine running hot and called me. I rounded up water and headed to her location. As I filled the radiator, I noticed water dripping from the water pump. Okay, replaced the water pump and all seemed well.

Our recent issues started with me noticing a miss at start-up that cleared up in a minute or two. I replaced the plugs, but still had the problem. Auto-Zone's diagnostic pointed to a misfire in #6. As I was spending time looking around for another problem, she called one day on the way home from work and said the engine was overheating. So I ran out with water, filled it up, and got it home. That's when I noticed a LOT of steam from the tailpipe. So we took it to my mechanic and got the diagnosis of the leaking head gasket.

So, in our case, I really, really believe her letting the engine overheat mainly contributed to the leak in the head gasket. #6 must be particularly prone to leaking and I know a lot of folks have had the problem at much lower mileage and with no engine over-heating. Still, under our circumstances, I'm not going to indict Toyota over this. We got 200,600 great miles out of this truck and after getting over the shock of having a car note again, she's really enjoying her 2011 4Runner. I drive and I'm partial to my Nissan Armada, but her 2004 and 2011 trucks are great vehicles.
 
NuclearN8 said:
There isn't enough data to make any sort of correlation or conclusion about the HG issues some owners have expereinced. While it's unfortunate, the failures reported on this site are less than .01% of 4runners sold in 2004 (the most reported year). I wouldn't consider that a problem even if the actual number of failures was 100 times worse at 1%. So while this thread is a good summary it's pretty much pointless for the intended purpose to try to shed some light on correlations or conclusions if those members who have experienced this failure don't share all the requested information. The production date of the vehicle really doesn't matter because the engine could be assembled at a completely different time and not installed sequentially. What I'm really interested to see are the EIN's seeing how this is a potential engine issue, vehicle production date can't technically be correlated since we can't confirm engines were sequentially installed off the production line since they're assembled seperately, shelved, and then pulled for install to the vehicle at a later date.



to answer your other questions. the new 3.5L will likely go in the 6th Gen 4Runner too, yes. It makes no sense to re-engineer a new motor for essentially a Tacoma with a permanent Camper shell... it makes procurement sense from a volume pricing persepctive. It's a cost effective solution to have the identical powertrain in the Tacoma and 4Runner for Toyota.
Click to expand...


I'd like to thank you guys too, but here is a very interesting "head scratcher." My father's car, the 2004 T4R here with the HG issue, has always had his work done at the Toyo dealer. Now my father has been very meticulous and always on time with all his PM's. He even double checks their work after, lol. Is oil filled, tires rotated, that kind of stuff. Yeah, it's in the genes [emoji4]

So my point is, when this all started? Our first attempt to fix the error was to change ign coil and spark plugs. Afterall, misfire and missing from cyl #6. BUT the weird thing? Bank 1 had Denso spark plugs while Bank 2 had NGK's. Ok, why on earth?? My dad never had work done before. So wth!! Don't the plugs burn at diff temps? Had to have come from Toyo that way. It was purchased new.
 
morphious said:
[MENTION=67713]10ga[/MENTION] Not sure, see this: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/176459-1gre-fe-head-gasket-redesigned-when.html
Maybe [MENTION=66389]BlackWorksInc[/MENTION] can chime in.
Click to expand...

Hmm not sure why I didn't see that mention...

Anyways, all I have been able to find out is that the part numbers changed around '05. If that indicates an updated part or that Toyota consolidated multiple part numbers into one (as I was told) is up for debate; mostly because I have little evidence either way.
 
[MENTION=129631]chrybmb[/MENTION] Not a big deal, each bank was made in a different location then sent to another for assembly. Yes, V6's of this age have 3 Denso and 3 NGK plugs from the factory.
 
morphious said:
[MENTION=129631]chrybmb[/MENTION] Not a big deal, each bank was made in a different location then sent to another for assembly. Yes, V6's of this age have 3 Denso and 3 NGK plugs from the factory.
Click to expand...


Thanks [MENTION=93193]morphious[/MENTION] for letting me know it's normal to see. I just thought it was odd. My first thought was something was wrong. I just didn't look up their heat ranges, which I bet are the same. I jumped to conclusions. Silly girls do that [emoji6] Thanks again for helping!!

I can tell you the maching shop found no warpage. They pressure checked it and resurfaced it. It looks real good. No leaks. Just the head gasket is problem.
 
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