kcdehart
New member
Yeah, currently waiting on a refund for one of those eBay/Amazon sets........
Napa should be fine. My rockauto one was a refurb for around $35 (with $10 core) and is working great.
*** V6 Head Gasket Action Request ***
- Thread starter morphious
- Start date
Napa should be fine. My rockauto one was a refurb for around $35 (with $10 core) and is working great.
alextmullis
New member
The “running water” sound got much worse over the last week, at start up, idle and driving. Then I got the P0304 on cold start with back to back startups but it disappeared. Heater started blowing cold air until i gave it gas and you heard coolant rushing through the heater core and the air would finally get warm. We tried burping the cooling system and got never ending bubbles. Leak down test confirmed. 181k. 2005, early to mid 05 build date. Might do a hydrocarbon test for fun but probably pointless. I should add that I never saw the temp gauge rise over half or just below halfway.
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BackOff
New member
I may just be a nut job.
I seemed to be noticing this HG deal a number of years ago.
Convinced myself i was also effected by this.
I loose 1/4" from the overflow res every 5k miles, for about the last 10 years.
I am assuming it is passing out the #6 cylinder.
Never over heated.
Have 82k on it now.
Actually had a small piece of what looks like a chunk of the HG gasket come out of the radiator after that last 3x drain and fill i did last spring.
Some thoughts...
Say you loose 1/4" like i am every 5k and do not ever notice, eventually your going to be low...maybe the "waterfall sound" effect due to air gap?
This low condition may amplify the condition causing failure.
Again this is just some idle ramblings of a T4R owner.
I seemed to be noticing this HG deal a number of years ago.
Convinced myself i was also effected by this.
I loose 1/4" from the overflow res every 5k miles, for about the last 10 years.
I am assuming it is passing out the #6 cylinder.
Never over heated.
Have 82k on it now.
Actually had a small piece of what looks like a chunk of the HG gasket come out of the radiator after that last 3x drain and fill i did last spring.
Some thoughts...
Say you loose 1/4" like i am every 5k and do not ever notice, eventually your going to be low...maybe the "waterfall sound" effect due to air gap?
This low condition may amplify the condition causing failure.
Again this is just some idle ramblings of a T4R owner.
martinbril
New member
Have you performed a coolant pressure test? I wonder if a lot of intake manifold gasket/water pump leaks have been misdiagnosed for HG issues.
kcdehart
New member
I found that my throttle body was leaking and just burning off on the cylinder head. Likely causing my loss of coolant
martinbril
New member
Wouldn't it create external smoke visible under the hood?
kcdehart
New member
I could smell it. It never leaked enough to smoke though
martinbril
New member
From what I gathered, it barely takes a drop to smoke a lot. But I cant confirm.
BackOff
New member
I did the WP at 60k.
Was weeping.
I used a NAPA, BK. 700-1006 universal combustion leak tester...no leak per test results. Is used on the radiator.
Bought a Actron compression tester kit, has sat collecting dust.
Was not sure how to disable the EFI at the time, so i never followed up on it, master procrastinator...couple years ago...pull the EFI fuse...duh.
Connects to the spark plug hole.
I have no visible antifreeze leaks...and its actually been closer to 7years i have been loosing coolant.
... I only put 5k/year on the old girl.
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martinbril
New member
I'm sure you've probably done it..
But if not, try smelling your exhaust on startup and see if it's sweet.
At least you'll know if you are burning coolant.
martinbril
New member
Ok guys..
I don't know if anybody is reading this thread anymore but here is my udpate.
Mechanic confirmed it’s leaking. Very small sip that seals back up when engine is hot so would pass all the usual tests when running. I pulled the rad cap this morning and it had a faint smell of exhaust. Oil is clean, which is a typical non symptom on the 4Runner.
Coolant in cylinder means rusting that gets scraped off every time you start cold. Not a good thing but fixable. My engine apparently runs like a champ so was not advised to do a swap if I’m not looking to do that.
I got lucky, got recommended the best guy around for the job. I mentioned the resurfacing issue that can come up and he knew all about it. I felt much more confident after a long discussion.
So all in all, with all the parts (as well as new radiator and pulleys I was going to get installed), including timing set to prevent any future chain stretch that is common on the V6, I'm out $3k. It was going to come to 2400 but I asked to get as much stuff replaced as possible so I will never even have to think about my engine again until I hit 300k.
I wrote an email to Toyota a few days back about my concerns. I was surprised to get a call and email back today to follow up. Maybe I’ll get some sort of compensation once the bill comes in, maybe I’ll just be able to tell my story and that’s that.
Anyway, moral of story, if you’re buying check the radiator for low coolant. Start it up cold and smell the exhaust. Previous owner could have symptoms for years and not know about it. Or just screw you because you don’t know what to look for and it’s not very obvious.
It's frustrating to think that the previous owner probably new about it on mine as the specific coolant smell was there from day 1, just didn't know it was a thing. But it was 8 months ago, nothing I can do now.
I don't know if anybody is reading this thread anymore but here is my udpate.
Mechanic confirmed it’s leaking. Very small sip that seals back up when engine is hot so would pass all the usual tests when running. I pulled the rad cap this morning and it had a faint smell of exhaust. Oil is clean, which is a typical non symptom on the 4Runner.
Coolant in cylinder means rusting that gets scraped off every time you start cold. Not a good thing but fixable. My engine apparently runs like a champ so was not advised to do a swap if I’m not looking to do that.
I got lucky, got recommended the best guy around for the job. I mentioned the resurfacing issue that can come up and he knew all about it. I felt much more confident after a long discussion.
So all in all, with all the parts (as well as new radiator and pulleys I was going to get installed), including timing set to prevent any future chain stretch that is common on the V6, I'm out $3k. It was going to come to 2400 but I asked to get as much stuff replaced as possible so I will never even have to think about my engine again until I hit 300k.
I wrote an email to Toyota a few days back about my concerns. I was surprised to get a call and email back today to follow up. Maybe I’ll get some sort of compensation once the bill comes in, maybe I’ll just be able to tell my story and that’s that.
Anyway, moral of story, if you’re buying check the radiator for low coolant. Start it up cold and smell the exhaust. Previous owner could have symptoms for years and not know about it. Or just screw you because you don’t know what to look for and it’s not very obvious.
It's frustrating to think that the previous owner probably new about it on mine as the specific coolant smell was there from day 1, just didn't know it was a thing. But it was 8 months ago, nothing I can do now.
Schmidty1211
New member
2003 4runner Engine trouble (most likely head gasket)
This is my first post so here goes... My 2003 4runner overheated and shut off over the weekend and I had to have it towed back to the house. I looked it over and the upper radiator hose was jerry-rigged to fit onto the radiator causing the coolant to leak slowly and at some point, the hose connection on the radiator cracked. I replaced the radiator but when I got it to turn over the car kept very low RPMs and had a clicking noise that was much louder than before. When I drained the coolant there was oil in the anti-freeze which leads me to believe the head gasket blew. The engine has 215xxx miles and I'm weighing my options on whether or not to fix the head gasket or just swap the engine. If I swap the engine I'll probably sell it, but I don't know what that would do to the reselling price. Any advice would help
This is my first post so here goes... My 2003 4runner overheated and shut off over the weekend and I had to have it towed back to the house. I looked it over and the upper radiator hose was jerry-rigged to fit onto the radiator causing the coolant to leak slowly and at some point, the hose connection on the radiator cracked. I replaced the radiator but when I got it to turn over the car kept very low RPMs and had a clicking noise that was much louder than before. When I drained the coolant there was oil in the anti-freeze which leads me to believe the head gasket blew. The engine has 215xxx miles and I'm weighing my options on whether or not to fix the head gasket or just swap the engine. If I swap the engine I'll probably sell it, but I don't know what that would do to the reselling price. Any advice would help
NEVER had to use this stuff, and my coolant level is always on the money and "clean"! = 2005 SR5 4runner with 150,000 miles. For maintenance I drain off a gallon of old coolant and replace with Zerex Asian red every 12-18 months. 4runners total coolant capacity is 2.5 gallons. Is this right?
https://www.amazon.com/Zerex-Asian-...zerex+asian+red+coolant&qid=1570886985&sr=8-2
Another 4runner writes:
"I developed the dreaded white smoke and coolant loss of a leaking head gasket in my ford truck. So I tried this stuff and in a few days the smoke was gone (it does come back now and then but, it seals right back up) and no more coolant loss. I was loosing a quart every few days out the pipe.
This stuff stays in the coolant, and keeps resealing as needed. It shouldn't clog up the radiator or heater core, but be aware if the core is OLD and dirty like mine, it sure does. It hasn't to the radiator yet.
My STRONG suggestion is before you use this great stuff, flush the coolant system out and backflush the heater core. Had I done that I would have heat.
This product as far as I can find out uses waterglass as the active sealer, and back int he old days that was how we did it with a jug of Sodium silicate....but thats a lot more involved than this stuff and this stuff works great. it has fibers and flakes to help strengthen the plugging and that little stuff is what cloggs up a dirty core or radiator, not the Sodium silicate. It takes near boiling temps to gel up Sodium silicate so it only gells and hardens up IN the breached head gasket. Any radiator or core clogs can be backflushed out.
It might not be a permanent fix, but its still working fine a year into the treatment. Once in a while, the head gasket starts to smoke out the pipe, but it stops after a day of running. The Sodium silicate seal is brittle, and they crack and blow out over time. Keeping this in the coolant allows it to reseal the head quickly when it does.
When your head gasket breaches, you don't have much to lose to at least try it, right? "
5STARS / FOR WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS & RUNNER IS OFF TO JUNK YARD - perhaps worth a try?
https://www.amazon.com/Bars-HG-1-Bl...003RGIWO0/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
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alextmullis
New member
Pretty surprised i didn’t get more cyl 4 and 6 misfire codes.
mechahayai
New member
2005 V6 with 218K. No CEL or other codes right now, but the PO cleared a PO306 code and added gasket sealer to the radiator then sold it to me as "problem free". I found the code later and erased it and it hasn't come back in 2+k miles over the past couple weeks. PO is a douchebag, but I love the truck. So do the pups.
BackOff
New member
Never noticed this.
On occasion, when its REALLY cold i get a steam effect out the tail pipe... until it warms up, 100*f+.
Randomly i get the antifreeze smell after i pull into the garage and the 4runner sits, but is still warm.
Nothing wet in the engine bay or on the radiator.
I am still really just guessing as to my 'leak'... to much T4R.org intake.:ranger:
Seems to be increasing leak slightly over the years.
I think i have actually reduced my 5k miles/year to closer to 4k/year last 4-5 years.
I am going to try Steel Seal, here next week or so...:wow2:
I keep thinking when i get to 90k or so, do the HG rebuild.
Was thinking i would have hit that by now but am at about 83k...that's another 2-3 years for me, more antifreeze pumped into #6 cylinder...
Will report back as to blown up motor or FIXED/temp.
The quick fix never hurts to try. My dad drove a 4.0 v6 1996 Aerostar with leak-fix until 260k miles.
I used leak fix in my 05 4runner for about 6 months until I had time to open up the engine and do the proper repairs. It is a good idea to replace or check other parts for 100k+ worry-free miles.
I used leak fix in my 05 4runner for about 6 months until I had time to open up the engine and do the proper repairs. It is a good idea to replace or check other parts for 100k+ worry-free miles.
toyota fanboy
New member
Anybody here working for Toyota, secretly stalking this forum and feeling really guilty for not doing anything ?
Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk
Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk
What makes you think you have a coolant leak into heads?
BackOff
New member
The loss of 1/4" antifreeze from the overflow every 5k miles.
No visible leaks in engine bay or on radiator.
Chunks of HG coming out of radiator after drain and fill.
The HG fails at the water jacket surrounding the top of the cylinders letting coolant enter the cylinders, usually its the #2 or #6 on the driver side, from what i gather reading here on the forum...:music: Toyota corp still will not even acknowledge the HG fail on these 4th gens.
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