*** V6 Head Gasket Action Request ***

[dpthomas]

Head gasket

Head gasket failure on 2004 SR5 4x4 at 159k miles.

I ended up with the classic good news bad news situation this week.

Good news is that the dealer finally advised that they could now order a new dashboard to address the cracked dashboard issue.

Bad news is that I won't need the dashboard because the head gasket issue fully revealed itself. Have been experiencing rough start over several weeks, eventually smoothing out after warm up. It finally threw the P306 code. Went through the exercise of spark plug replacements all the way around and also changed out the ignition coil on #6. Problem persists. Have also been experiencing the very slow and mysterious disappearance of coolant - no leaks apparent under the truck. Had also noticed that there was a slight sweet smell to exhaust recently. Mechanic provided repair estimate of $2,800 +. :cry2:

This was my 3rd 4Runner (1st 4th Gen) and I have made decision to let it go this week. Just can't justify that type of expense on a vehicle with a lot of other original parts still in place like the transmission, A/C, radiator, water pump, etc. Too many possibilities of other stuff needing cash infusion. Jumping over to 5th gen forum to investigate if I want to go in that direction using repair money to fund part of a down payment.

 

[Runner4ever]

2004 SR5
4x2
Just went through 100k
No Issues

 

[Kram]

Head gasket

Bought my 04 v6 4x4 limited a year ago I was in love. Ended up started to have issues that infamous cylinder 6 misfire.. It was the head gasket leaking, ended up fixing it in April at 147,000 Runs an drives great now about to lift it with fj springs or ome would love advice thanks

 

[Akadaryl33]

Just bought an 04' Sport yesterday. 126k dealer just replaced head gasket 4 days ago. Asked the service manager, he said cylinder 6. I dodged a bullet, they did the work and the purchase price stayed the same,

 

[cvmcbhk]

I change mine out every other year. It's very very very cheap insurance of having a head gasket failure.

 

[djtc]

Changed mine at 123xxxmiles 2005 v6. Been plagued with bank1+2 timing retarded codes ever since ... I even re did the timing chain job twice

 

[max04runner]

2004 sr5
4x2
124k miles currently
Bought at 74k
No HG issue so far but my tension pull keeps going out, replacing my second one soon. I do take it offroad and I kinda ride on it hard around town, nothing too crazy. But I'm defanitly going to change the radiator fluid after seeing this tread. Any advice on on reducing the risk of HG failure?

 

[iBison]

2004 sr5
4x2
124k miles currently
Bought at 74k
No HG issue so far but my tension pull keeps going out, replacing my second one soon. I do take it offroad and I kinda ride on it hard around town, nothing too crazy. But I'm defanitly going to change the radiator fluid after seeing this tread. Any advice on on reducing the risk of HG failure?

I'm not sure there is anything you can do, other than pray and DON'T let it overheat.

 

[elvislives]

I'm not sure there is anything you can do, other than pray and DON'T let it overheat.

Noone let's their engine overheat. The V6's have had HG issues since the 3rd gen. It's an aluminum block, in time they all will warp and blow the HG. That's why this time I went for the V8 with a cast iron block.

 

[cghjk]

My neighbor just traded in his 2004 2wd Limited with low compression on #6. He had 180K.

 

[vbmjk]

Besides the life time Tranny fluid...I'm NOT a big fan of leaving coolant in the radiator for 4 years. I change mine out every other year. It's very very very cheap insurance of having a head gasket failure.

 

[alaskaman]

Here's the deal. Companies like Toyota often will correct the problem (in this case reimburse owners) when the following happens:

1) They have enough claims which are supported by documentation of engine failure.

2) Public pressure increases to the point of potential embarrassment.

3) Oversight agencies get alerted to the issue and place inquiries to Toyota.

If you sincerely feel that this HG issue is not simply just an expected failure at higher mileage then I would do the following.

1) Increase the # of people who know about it. Potentially hundreds (maybe thousands) of owners have had the HG fail. They have no idea that T4R.org exists. Pool your money, and buy ads (paper and web) asking for owners who have had similar issues.

2) Talk with an attorney who can represent all of you and see if he/she is interested in doing the above for you.

3) Send in your information to any of the state and federal oversight agencies and alert your local congressman/woman office of your intent. Go see their aide in person. Take your data.

Gaining attention to the problem is the 1st step in any resolution which you might want. If you truly think this is a design flaw then try the above and let us know how it goes. Making people politely uncomfortable goes along way in my experience.

"you gotta crack eggs to get an omelet".

 

[blindside404]

2004
TBD
4x4
~130k
#6

 

[10ga]

New head gasket installed in my son's 2004 this past week. Thankfully the heads were good since it had never over-heated. Parts with new OEM head bolts, HG kit, OEM water pump, and fluids, was around $450. I bought the head bolts from Toyota, HG kit from Rock Auto, and found an OEM water pump on Amazon at a good price. The engine looked clean on the inside but you could see the #4 and #6 cylinder walls had been steamed cleaned a little. It has 180,000 miles on it now, hoping for another 180,000 or more. I'm getting ready to sell my old 98 T4R and I'm thinking about buying another 3rd gen for my DD but I think I'll look for a V8 or a 2006 or newer.

 

[MrEMan]

Hate to say it, but add me to the list ... 2006 Sport 4x4 V6 with 220K miles. Don't have all the specifics yet, but cylinders 4 and 6 were misfiring, coolant was low (although the engine was not overheating) and the shop has made the preliminary determination that the head gasket is blown. Replacing both head gaskets and catalytic converters is going to run me ~$3800.

 

[cvhji]

I change mine out every other year. It's very very very cheap insurance of having a head gasket failure.

 

[iBison]

I change mine out every other year. It's very very very cheap insurance of having a head gasket failure.

Change what?

 

[strathcona]

Change what?

That's a spam bot. They all seem to show they're from the UK, each has 4 posts and they randomly mention things from other posts.

 

[fdbyrne]

Add me to the list.

Mine's a 2004 V6 4x4 with 131,000 miles. I don't know which cylinder is impacted because mine hasn't gotten to that point yet. I just have an endless stream of air pockets in my coolant system that turned out to be combustion gasses. I didn't feel like spending the extra money for a leak down test just to figure out which cylinder was responsible because it doesn't really matter.

On a side note, I have to say that I'm really impressed with my local dealer. They came in just below my independent'a quote of $2600. They quoted $2200 in labor, the parts department which I have gotten to know very well gave me a huge discount on the gasket kit, and they encouraged me to bring in my own water pump to save a little more. I was expecting them to be $1000 higher at least than my independent guy.

 

[BCWN147]

Hi, i bought a used 2004 v6 , has 134k on it, same symptoms, cylinder 6, can hear the gurgling coolant during eng start, etc. from reading all the post on this wonderful forum, i am convinced it is the hg.
I will be taking it to the mechanic....