*** V6 Head Gasket Action Request ***
- Thread starter morphious
- Start date
YetiX
New member
It's easy to check for. Insist the engine be completely, as in sitting overnight, cold when you arrive. Open the radiator cap and sniff. If you smell gasoline, walk away. If not, get inside and start it. If it idles roughly for the first 15 seconds or so, there is the sound of rushing water, or a CEL, walk away. If it does not have any of those symptoms, you're probably good to go. I would still take it to a mechanic you trust and have it checked out, but that's me.
That said, even with having to fork out the $$ to have my head gaskets replaced, I could not be happier with my 4Runner and now am confident it will run for years and years.
4thTRDRunner
Junior Member
2005 4Runner 185k
I recently purchased my 4Runner around a month ago. Has been excellent until around a week ago where it would shake intermittently for around 30 seconds after startup. Also can hear what sounds like running water behind the dashboard - not sure if that is related. Engine light came on yesterday with codes of P0306 and C1201. Everything still drives great and no overheating, loss of coolant, or anything like that that I have noticed. Will update when I confirm if it is a head gasket.
I recently purchased my 4Runner around a month ago. Has been excellent until around a week ago where it would shake intermittently for around 30 seconds after startup. Also can hear what sounds like running water behind the dashboard - not sure if that is related. Engine light came on yesterday with codes of P0306 and C1201. Everything still drives great and no overheating, loss of coolant, or anything like that that I have noticed. Will update when I confirm if it is a head gasket.
The P0306 code is documented on this thread as being related to a failed head gasket.
Combine that with the rough starting and waterfall sound and it sounds like your head gasket could be bad.
I'd take it to your mechanic to have the cylinders scoped for coolant to confirm.
let us know how it turns out.
Combine that with the rough starting and waterfall sound and it sounds like your head gasket could be bad.
I'd take it to your mechanic to have the cylinders scoped for coolant to confirm.
let us know how it turns out.
mijbr90190
New member
That's almost certainly a head gasket. My 06 was throwing the P0306 and the same symptoms as yours. Luckily the place I bought it from covered the cost ($2700). I caught it the first week I had it.
4thTRDRunner
Junior Member
Update: the check engine light went away a couple days ago. No rough start, waterfall sounds. Not really sure why. Haven’t noticed any loss of coolant either. I am not sure what to think. I feel like if it is a head gasket it would leak constantly and only get worse, not better? Anyone have any ideas? I’m not goin to take it to a mechanic unless the CEL comes back on.
cpayne5
New member
The misfires occur at startup after sitting a while (allows coolant to pool in the cylinder). Have your driving habits changed? ie, the vehicle sat for a while, threw a misfire - but now it hasn't sat for a while and no misfires have been detected and code was removed.
4thTRDRunner
Junior Member
They haven’t changed. I remember having shaking at startup three different times. Twice in the morning, and once after about 30 minutes of sitting at night when I had to take a quick drive to grocery. I still let it sit overnight and drive it every morning. Engine light came on about 10 minutes after the third shaky startup. It’s been about a week since a shaky start. The rushing water could be that I have a clogged AC drain. I tested that by leaving AC on for around 20 minutes and checked underneath the car. There was a small puddle, definitely not what I expected to see. I’m going to try and unclog it soon to see if that’s the sound I’m hearing behind the dash.
The rushing water is almost certainly related to the gasket, not an a/c line.
You might not always get the rough starting. It doesnt need to occur at every start up to be a failed gasket.
From my understanding in this thread, the gasket expands when the engine heats up and seals off the leak while the enging is warm.
I dont think i would waste your time with the a/c drain. The a/c drain is under the truck. When I run my a/c I have a puddle as well. That is normal.
Have you been able to take it to a shop to have a block test performed to see if there are exhaust gases present in the coolant?
You might not always get the rough starting. It doesnt need to occur at every start up to be a failed gasket.
From my understanding in this thread, the gasket expands when the engine heats up and seals off the leak while the enging is warm.
I dont think i would waste your time with the a/c drain. The a/c drain is under the truck. When I run my a/c I have a puddle as well. That is normal.
Have you been able to take it to a shop to have a block test performed to see if there are exhaust gases present in the coolant?
Last edited:
mijbr90190
New member
After driving the truck for a little, open overflow lid slightly. Enough so the tube is still submerged. If its a headgasket, it will smell like exhaust and there will be little bubbles coming out of the tube.
4thTRDRunner
Junior Member
I will be having it looked at by a mechanic this Friday. If the test is positive, I am going to attempt to use some head gasket sealer, from the reviews I've seen probably blue devil. I will likely get a used engine rather than change the head gaskets if that doesn't work. Will update soon.
I'm in a similar situation. I am planning to invest in a fair amount of suspension refurbishment on my 2005 with 195,000 miles, and need to consider the long term cost of head gaskets or engine replacement. I'd be curious to know if anyone has recent experience with cost of used engine/labor. Dealer quoted me $3500 on the two heads.
Truck runs like a top, but I've got an oil analysis that suggests coolant in the oil and the block test is positive for exhaust gases.
Is this a money pit? Will I be any better off with any other used 4th Gen?
The Yin
Member
This was my thought before I had mine done. Paid $2200 at a independent, plus some other expense for a total of ~$2500. Everything else is running fine (@ 120K) and I've added a lot of mods to this truck.
The way I see it, if I get another 120K out of it for only $2500, that is way better then trading in and buying a new/used car for $10000 and then still having to put more money into after 120K miles.
So it comes to pay 2 or 3 grand for 100K miles of car, or pay 10 grand for 100K miles of car? Maybe I'm over simplifying it, but that was the reasoning I worked with.
How has the sealer treatment held up?
You have to weight the cost of fixing the gasket vs the possibility of the replacement motor developing the same thing.
$3500 is to high, you can probably get it from an independent shop for 2k or so. If you have a friend that works on cars maybe you could get him to help you do it. It isn't terribly difficult, label everything. I had about $900 in parts including getting the heads surfaced, new pulley bearings and water pump w thermostat.
So 3 motors, all 3 failed head gaskets.
Back story bought a 06 runner with a blown motor, called my buddy for a used motor. He found me one with low miles for 2500. Pulled the trigger on it, it had been tested prior to removal from the totaled vehicle. Got a 6 month 5k mile warranty. Replaced the motor trans radiator etc. runs great for about a week, then the check engine light. Did testing came back hg. Called the company we got the motor from, no questions they send over another one. Replace the motor again. Runs great for about a month and 1k miles then the dang check engine light again. Yep another hg!!! My mechanic says bring it back in. So original motor went bad from a hg, 2 low mileage used ones same issue.
I finally just baught some cometic steel hg, and redid the heads on the first replacement motor since it had the lowest miles (12k). I’m now 6 months into this motor and about 5k miles with zero issues since.
This hg issue is rediculous, Toyota should step up and fix these.
Back story bought a 06 runner with a blown motor, called my buddy for a used motor. He found me one with low miles for 2500. Pulled the trigger on it, it had been tested prior to removal from the totaled vehicle. Got a 6 month 5k mile warranty. Replaced the motor trans radiator etc. runs great for about a week, then the check engine light. Did testing came back hg. Called the company we got the motor from, no questions they send over another one. Replace the motor again. Runs great for about a month and 1k miles then the dang check engine light again. Yep another hg!!! My mechanic says bring it back in. So original motor went bad from a hg, 2 low mileage used ones same issue.
I finally just baught some cometic steel hg, and redid the heads on the first replacement motor since it had the lowest miles (12k). I’m now 6 months into this motor and about 5k miles with zero issues since.
This hg issue is rediculous, Toyota should step up and fix these.
2006 on the first replacement, 05 on the second. And obviously the original was a 06.
2003-4x4runner
New member
Whats the build date on your 03? I have 2003 with a build date of 06/03. I currently have over 219k miles on mine. No HG issues so far (knock on wood) I think the early 03 4Runners may not have the HG issue, since I haven't heard of too many going bad.
Similar threads
