*** V6 Head Gasket Action Request ***

[newton22]

Hey all, I picked up my 04 V6 in October 19 . No issues when I bought it. However, in the last couple weeks I started to notice the waterfall behind the dash and I finally decided to look it up and to my surprise this thread is spelling out a grim future. I checked the coolant reservoir and it is on low and has an umistakable smell of gas. However, I have never needed to top off on coolant so I'm not sure if it has been leaking slowly or if it has maintained at this level. no engine codes, signs of coolant from the exhaust, and it fires up smooth otherwise.

I seem to remember someone earlier in this thread mention one of those liquid head gasket sealant additives for the coolant. has anyone actually had any luck using these, and if so which one?

thanks!

I'm the new owner of a 2004 V6 with 170k mi on it currently. I'm also getting waterfall behind the dash so I went ahead and conducted a chemical combustion test today.

This test comes with dark blue liquid. If the liquid stays dark blue, your engine block is sealed and good. If it turns green, there's probably a slow leak. If it turns yellow, HG is blown.

Mine came out blue, kinda teal. That means I probably have a slow leak and will probably have a blown HG in a few years. I recommend everyone with a 03-05 V6 do this.

Currently I will do nothing and test again after maybe 8-10k mi. My plan is to add Blue Devil before it blows and I think that will do the trick.

 

[jeober]

I seem to remember someone earlier in this thread mention one of those liquid head gasket sealant additives for the coolant. has anyone actually had any luck using these, and if so which one?

thanks!

Tried and didn't work. Based on the gasket leak mode seen I don't think a particle clog sealant would be very effective

 

[05Toy4Runner]

05 V6 at 248k developed cylinder #4 misfire. Scoped and confirmed head gasket. Debating now on repair vs. sell and if repair then what else to replace while in there like timing chain, water pump, injectors, etc. and get another 250k out of it.:shrug:

 

[ruckerz]

05 V6 at 248k developed cylinder #4 misfire. Scoped and confirmed head gasket. Debating now on repair vs. sell and if repair then what else to replace while in there like timing chain, water pump, injectors, etc. and get another 250k out of it.:shrug:

Get the gasket kit for like $200ish, it has all the gaskets you need (including both head gaskets). I didn’t need a new timing chain or cam shaft chains or timing guides or tensioners. I did replace my vbelt and water pump. And the pulleys for the v belt are easy enough to change at a later time.

Time consuming job but a good coronavirus project.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[babar]

I'm looking at a pristine one-owner 2003 V6 4x4 with 60k in SoCal that has been meticiously maintained every 5k at the dealership and kept in garage and babied.

Dude wants SoCal prices 12-13k. What do you guys think? I haven't seen that many 2003 V6 with the HG issue in this tread so far?

 

[Gen4SR5]

I'm looking at a pristine one-owner 2003 V6 4x4 with 60k in SoCal that has been meticiously maintained every 5k at the dealership and kept in garage and babied.

Dude wants SoCal prices 12-13k. What do you guys think? I haven't seen that many 2003 V6 with the HG issue in this tread so far?

At that price I would look for 06+ with a little higher mileage.
- Projector beam headlights
- LED tail lights
- fixed HG issue (depending on mfg yr)

 

[tom4416]

I'm looking at a pristine one-owner 2003 V6 4x4 with 60k in SoCal that has been meticiously maintained every 5k at the dealership and kept in garage and babied.

Dude wants SoCal prices 12-13k. What do you guys think? I haven't seen that many 2003 V6 with the HG issue in this tread so far?

Damn, I'm coming to California to sell mine! I think that's low mileage V8 pricing and about five model years newer.

As to your real question about HG on the 2003 models - you are correct, far less failure rate reported on here. I have no idea why that would be, no one has ever voiced a reason why since they didn't make a change in the setup until 2005 but it is what it is. I don't' worry about mine with 130K, keep all maintenance current or proactive and it still runs like new.

 

[miller507]

I'm looking at a pristine one-owner 2003 V6 4x4 with 60k in SoCal that has been meticiously maintained every 5k at the dealership and kept in garage and babied.



Dude wants SoCal prices 12-13k. What do you guys think? I haven't seen that many 2003 V6 with the HG issue in this tread so far?

220k on my 03 4runner, valve cover gasket, rear main seal and other minor stuff so far.

Transmission got a rebuild in 2017, had a seal issue but went the whole 9 yards.

 

[chengitis]

I might have the dreaded HG failure on my 05 with 154k. Overflow tank is full when driving and does not go back into radiator when cooled. Car drives perfectly fine, no rough idle or CEL. Ordered the block tester to confirm.

 

[Iluvboost]

So I had a doh moment. I watching my son at the same time as doing my head gaskets. I forgot to put the gasket sealer on the front corners of the head gasket. Has everyone put the gasket sealer on the gaskets? Seems to me it should seal. If I would have been at the shop, I would have caught it. I’m not that far along, I’ll probably disassemble them and redo that part.

 

[AuSeeker]

So I had a doh moment. I watching my son at the same time as doing my head gaskets. I forgot to put the gasket sealer on the front corners of the head gasket. Has everyone put the gasket sealer on the gaskets? Seems to me it should seal. If I would have been at the shop, I would have caught it. I’m not that far along, I’ll probably disassemble them and redo that part.

While I would say yes you need to do the gasket sealer to make sure it correct, hopefully I'm wrong but I also think that the head bolts are torque to yield bolts and are not reusable and need to be replaced once they have been tighten down correctly, just another thing to think about...sorry.

 

[Iluvboost]

While I would say yes you need to do the gasket sealer to make sure it correct, hopefully I'm wrong but I also think that the head bolts are torque to yield bolts and are not reusable and need to be replaced once they have been tighten down correctly, just another thing to think about...sorry.

You’re right. I’m looking at a fsm and I’m going to check mitchell tomorrow at work but it seems like it only take gasket sealer on the drivers side gasket.
Just checked, it takes it at both sides.

 

[chengitis]

I just did the block tester and it didn’t turn yellow. Still don’t understand why my coolant doesn’t go back into the radiator when cooling down. Car has a new thermostat, CSF Aluminium radiator and CSF cap. Should I switch back to my TRD cap? Only thing I haven’t touch is the water pump.

 

[gaber6]

I just did the block tester and it didn’t turn yellow. Still don’t understand why my coolant doesn’t go back into the radiator when cooling down. Car has a new thermostat, CSF Aluminium radiator and CSF cap. Should I switch back to my TRD cap? Only thing I haven’t touch is the water pump.

Get a new radiator cap for a few bucks plus the plastic tank cap and tube that goes to the bottom of tank. Could be either of those.

 

[Daguy80]

At that price I would look for 06+ with a little higher mileage.
- Projector beam headlights
- LED tail lights
- fixed HG issue (depending on mfg yr)

I am looking to buying 2006 Toyota 4runner. I am wondering if it had the new head gasket or not. The manufacture date of the car is November 2005.

 

[AuSeeker]

I am looking to buying 2006 Toyota 4runner. I am wondering if it had the new head gasket or not. The manufacture date of the car is November 2005.

Unfortunately..no, the date for the redesigned head gasket starts with 12/05 and onwards.

That being said not all of the old design head gaskets fail, not sure what the percentage is but I would think it's not too high of a percentage or Toyota would have been forced to do a recall, but it's still the luck of the draw so to speak if it will have a head gasket failure.

You may also want to research the maintenance history of the vehicle to see if the head gaskets were ever replaced, if they were you shouldn't have any worries.

 

[Thebeastlives]

I had our 08 4th gen fails at 270k miles. Blue devil head gasket sealant worked for months but soon after the problem was back. Had the gasket fixed and vehicle drives fine with zero issues. Sooner and later everything will fails and head gasket issues unfortunately does happen on the 4th gen and even the 3rd gen eventually with age and miles.

 

[BackOff]

I am back in this thread...again.:behindsofa:

Was loosing a 1/4" per 4-5k miles (year driving for me) from the overflow.

Looking back at my service notes, i first started thinking this HG deal had me.
After i did the water pump, 63,855miles on 1/21/2015.
I was still loosing coolant.

This last 6 months i have lost over 2" out of the overflow res.

Dumped a couple bottles of Steelseal in at 83,650 on 11/19/2019.
After a flush, did the directions on the bottle. Straight water and Steelseal then heat cycle.
Then a flush and regular antifreeze added last.

Bought this krazy UV flashlight... UV Beast v3.

Waved it around the engine bay... DAMN, NEON GLOWING antifreeze is all over, looks like the water pump... again.

Either i did a piss-poor job the first go or was a bad pump from the get go, seems unlikely.

I am going to dig into this over the next couple days.
I will add some UV pics, pretty amazing...:fear:

 

[BackOff]

So this is another water pump for me.
More of a recent looking leak.
If i had looked closer i would not have needed the UV...der.:rockthrow:

Had my front skid off not all that long ago and didnt see this.

While not exactly head gasket related it maybe a good way to rule out leaks like the water pump, hoses, t-stat or other...

Phosphors in the antifreeze glow neon pink under UV light.
No additives just the coolant.

Waved the UV light around a 2014 GX460, not a speck of glow.

Just antifreeze in first 2 pics.

 

[BackOff]

Cheap water pump gasket looks like it maybe the stuff i thought was HG material...a few post back.

...SteelSeal is BAD.
Turned into a vaseline like consistency and gummed up the radiator and who knows what else. :caked: