*** V6 Head Gasket Action Request ***
- Thread starter morphious
- Start date
chrybmb
New member
Forgot to come back and ALSO add that We had to change out my Dad's water pump as well!! It had been slowly leaking too, so before it took a dump, went ahead R & R 'd it while everything was nice and removed and drained already.
Truck is purring like a kitten now!! Was finished awhile ago
Truck is purring like a kitten now!! Was finished awhile ago
Originally Posted by MikeInNH View Post
I change mine out every other year. It's very very very cheap insurance of having a head gasket failure.
It appears the problem is caused by the design of the head gasket that people say was revised sometime in mid 2005 leaving newer vehicles to not have this problem. I don't see how changing coolant could prevent the problem.
TrdLtly
New member
Since I just bought my 2004 T4R I thought that I would get an oil analysis done. I am happy to report that my '04 with 105k miles on it has no evidence of head gasket issues. Thank you Blackstone Labs.
berrow
New member
chitown40
Member
Yes, normal. It is just condensation. You'll see it more often as the weather gets colder, especially with a lot of short trips. Check it again right after a nice long highway drive.
JeRunnerMo
New member
Looks like i'm next on the list. :crybaby:
04 v6 206,000 miles coolant leak and misfire in the 4th cylinder. Quoted 3900 by my local dealership.
04 v6 206,000 miles coolant leak and misfire in the 4th cylinder. Quoted 3900 by my local dealership.
2003-4x4runner
New member
I change mine out every other year. It's very very very cheap insurance of having a head gasket failure.
Is this a spam bot post? I keep seeing this quote pop up now and then.
Oneluv13T4R
New member
Add another to the blown head gasket list.
2004 Limited, V6
4X4
146,000 miles
#6 cylinder
Same symptoms, started with a P0306 #6 cylinder misfire code and VSC lights. The truck would shake upon startup then run fine. Immediately took to my mechanic. Replaced spark plugs, pcv valve, and coil. Ran fine for 2 days and same symptoms returned. Back to mechanic and they scoped the cylinder and found coolant. Returned vehicle to the dealership where it was purchased so I could file a claim on the extended warranty that still had 5 months or 3,100 mile left on it. I purchased the vehicle with 113,000 miles. The dealership kept it for 3 days before they correctly diagnosed it as the same as my regular mechanic, a blown head gasket. They also pointed out that the warranty has a "*" next to "gaskets and seals" indicating they are not covered under warranty if the car had >100,000 when purchased. That was on page 6 of the contract. My next email is to the person who sold me that piece of junk. Enough of my rant.
I am now in the middle of the repair with a local mechanic. Confirmed gasket was blown and heads were warped. Looks like it was about to leak at the #4 also. Since it is a 4X4, had to remove engine for the repair. One of the guides to the timing chain is also broke, so replacing the timing chain assembly and water pump while we are in there. I'm now upwards of a $4,700 repair. I love the truck, but this is a hard one to swallow. I hope I can get another 150,000 + miles after the repair.
I'm new to the forum but its been extremely helpful to me with diagnosing and moving forward with the repair.
2004 Limited, V6
4X4
146,000 miles
#6 cylinder
Same symptoms, started with a P0306 #6 cylinder misfire code and VSC lights. The truck would shake upon startup then run fine. Immediately took to my mechanic. Replaced spark plugs, pcv valve, and coil. Ran fine for 2 days and same symptoms returned. Back to mechanic and they scoped the cylinder and found coolant. Returned vehicle to the dealership where it was purchased so I could file a claim on the extended warranty that still had 5 months or 3,100 mile left on it. I purchased the vehicle with 113,000 miles. The dealership kept it for 3 days before they correctly diagnosed it as the same as my regular mechanic, a blown head gasket. They also pointed out that the warranty has a "*" next to "gaskets and seals" indicating they are not covered under warranty if the car had >100,000 when purchased. That was on page 6 of the contract. My next email is to the person who sold me that piece of junk. Enough of my rant.
I am now in the middle of the repair with a local mechanic. Confirmed gasket was blown and heads were warped. Looks like it was about to leak at the #4 also. Since it is a 4X4, had to remove engine for the repair. One of the guides to the timing chain is also broke, so replacing the timing chain assembly and water pump while we are in there. I'm now upwards of a $4,700 repair. I love the truck, but this is a hard one to swallow. I hope I can get another 150,000 + miles after the repair.
I'm new to the forum but its been extremely helpful to me with diagnosing and moving forward with the repair.
Attachments
![IMG9583641_2[1].jpg](/data/attachments/151/151695-254e6041ee748a6c1151159f012864d4.jpg?hash=FOBytPhwSR)
That sucks. I was fortunate that my son is a tech so we did mine. We didn't pull the engine, but I hear some people do.
I took the truck to the mechanic immediately after the first signs of shaking. No signs before that. No obvious coolant loss. I had them change the oil at the same time they changed the plugs and the mechanic didn't mention anything out of the ordinary like it being milky. As you can see from the picture, the leak was small, where the black is missing. I think I caught it early so I didn't put many miles on it while it was leaking.
mjsettlemire
New member
Cel showed p0306
Year 2004
Production Date 07/04
4x4 or 4x2 4X4
Mileage of failure 199,970
Cylinder # that leaked #6
Year 2004
Production Date 07/04
4x4 or 4x2 4X4
Mileage of failure 199,970
Cylinder # that leaked #6
Ralph Blake
Member
People buying these high mileage 4runners,should understand why they are selling them.
Sure some of them have been well taken care of,but many have not been given this care. And to sell them they do just are doing enough to them to keep the buyers from knowing "seeing" anything that may kill the sale.
Sure some of them have been well taken care of,but many have not been given this care. And to sell them they do just are doing enough to them to keep the buyers from knowing "seeing" anything that may kill the sale.
B33R_Runner
New member
I've wondered this often myself. Within the small sample size on this site, the '03 seems largely unscathed. Personally, at 258K miles, my '03 has been free of any HG problems. :furiouslyknocksonwood:
SQUAWK3274
New member
05 Blown Engine
Recently had mine call it quits at the 140,000 mile point. Started with the cyl misfire code. After troubleshooting at the mechanic, I was told there was maybe a very minor leak. Quoted $3500 for head gasket replacement. While I decided what to do, they put some sort of stop leak in the coolant to hopefully slow the process. I certainly didn't wanna drop that kind of money, but also didn't want to screw someone else over by selling it the way it was.
Then, within a few weeks, it began the rough idle for a few seconds on start up (usually every other or third start). Then, while on the interstate one day, I had an engine overheat warning...then the coolant started bubbling on shut down...by the time I had it towed and checked out by the shop a second time (maybe 3 weeks from the first time in the shop), it had already cracked a cyl wall, and the engine was toast.
This all happened within weeks of me leaving the country for a deployment. So, as we speak, the Runner is receiving a 50k mile replacement engine while I am overseas...to the tune of $5900 bucks (part of that included the labor to get to the head gasket, then find out it was blown)...
Moral of the story, don't put it off if you are having these symptoms - get on the head gasket issue early and often, or it will bite you...either that or don't buy 04/05 Runners.
Edit: Just for perspective, I am the second owner of the vehicle. The truck was babied by the first owner (older family friend) and all routine maint done on time. It was the best vehicle I've ever owed for being so trouble free...UNTIL THIS..It's really unacceptable of Toyota IMO, and I wish we had some recourse with what is clearly a manufacturer defect. Eh, such is life..
Recently had mine call it quits at the 140,000 mile point. Started with the cyl misfire code. After troubleshooting at the mechanic, I was told there was maybe a very minor leak. Quoted $3500 for head gasket replacement. While I decided what to do, they put some sort of stop leak in the coolant to hopefully slow the process. I certainly didn't wanna drop that kind of money, but also didn't want to screw someone else over by selling it the way it was.
Then, within a few weeks, it began the rough idle for a few seconds on start up (usually every other or third start). Then, while on the interstate one day, I had an engine overheat warning...then the coolant started bubbling on shut down...by the time I had it towed and checked out by the shop a second time (maybe 3 weeks from the first time in the shop), it had already cracked a cyl wall, and the engine was toast.
This all happened within weeks of me leaving the country for a deployment. So, as we speak, the Runner is receiving a 50k mile replacement engine while I am overseas...to the tune of $5900 bucks (part of that included the labor to get to the head gasket, then find out it was blown)...
Moral of the story, don't put it off if you are having these symptoms - get on the head gasket issue early and often, or it will bite you...either that or don't buy 04/05 Runners.
Edit: Just for perspective, I am the second owner of the vehicle. The truck was babied by the first owner (older family friend) and all routine maint done on time. It was the best vehicle I've ever owed for being so trouble free...UNTIL THIS..It's really unacceptable of Toyota IMO, and I wish we had some recourse with what is clearly a manufacturer defect. Eh, such is life..
Last edited:
10ga
New member
Well I bought another 2004 V-6. I got a heck of a deal on it so not going to complain a lot but really, Toyota needs to step up to the plate and do something. This was a one owner, no issues, been serviced at Toyota with a ton of records so I decided to take a chance, 3rd 2004 4runner for my family in 1 year with a bad HG.
2004 4x4
4.0 V-6
213,000 miles
JTEBU14R740054828
Time to order some parts and get to work
What do they say about fool me 3 times? Oh yeah, dumbass
2004 4x4
4.0 V-6
213,000 miles
JTEBU14R740054828
Time to order some parts and get to work
What do they say about fool me 3 times? Oh yeah, dumbass
It sounds like you're planning on doing it yourself and that you've done it before. That's really cool. I opened the engine on my Tacoma a few years back and never got it timed right again so I now know my limits and that's why I paid to have my head gaskets done.
Honestly, if I had done three successfully I'd really consider starting to look FOR 4Runners with blown gaskets and using that to land an amazing deal on one. Assuming you don't have to pay for the labor it would be a great way to lay your hands on one dirt cheap.
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