MaK92-4RnR

Yet another 3vz gave up the ghost last night. Surprise surprise...

Long story short. Driving down the freeway, radiator burst out of the top and started to overheat. I pulled over instantly, inspected the damage, and checked the oil. Oil was perfect, I figured it was just the radiator. So I towed it home, slapped my spare radiator in there, and fired it up to burp it. Well, smoke came billowing out of the exhaust and the new radiator... Fun stuff.



After that, I called around for a top end gasket set. not too expensive, and while asking around I called Toyota looking for a price on their set and their labor ( 3800 dollars to do a top end at Toyota... LMFAO ) I also had them run the vin number to see if my head gaskets had been done by the recall. and my mind was blown when they informed me that it HASN'T been done...? That's only the beginning...

Anyways, I called three different dealerships. So i'll just number them 1, 2 and 3.

1) Dealership number one, who initially informed me that my headgasket wasn't replaced was MORE THAN HAPPIER to help me out, until they saw the price tag ( $7,800 ) to replace my entire motor and honor the recall. After talking about getting it towed and discussing rental vehicles, they decided to inform me that the recall is no longer in affect and cannot be honored because of that. I asked them how long ago was it canceled and they simply couldn't/wouldn't tell me. ( total BS because people are still getting their recalls done in 2013, 2014 )

2) Moving on, I called the next nearest dealership to me. ( 25 miles away ) And again, they told me the same thing but with a twist. They fed me the "Your 4Runner is definitely eligible for a headgasket recall, but we would need to inspect it first." Which is fine, I mean its a $3800 dollar minimum fix on a 26 year old truck. I understand they're trying to cover their ass and I'm totally ok with that. But I don't really want to tow the truck 25 miles without some form of guarantee. Regardless, I made an appointment for Tuesday at noon.

3) STILL not satisfied with my answer, I call the next closest Toyota dealer, they run the vin, tell me its eligible for the 3rd time now, and they ask me if I want to use my recall and I told them yes! They say tow it up right now and we'll work on it! With me in utter shock, I get off the phone, call a tow truck and then shortly after they call me back and apologize that they cannot honor this recall because not only is the recall nearly 20 years old, but the "parts are hard to come by" .......... What the hell? Mind you, I'm talking to a certified Toyota dealership and apparently their own parts are hard to find. No idea if they're consumed by prius drivers or what, but that's probably the dumbest thing I've heard. So I hang up, cancel the towing, and now im here.

So, what can be done? Am I up ˟˟˟˟ creek because I have a 26 year old truck? And the recall is more than 3/4 of the value of the truck? I feel as if Toyota is strictly beating around the bush because their afraid of their own overpriced prices and when they see that my truck is just some 26 year old 4Runner, they could give a rats ass about what has or hasn't been done to it.

Is my best bet to simply suck it up, and do the gaskets myself, or maybe I should pursue this further and eventually find a dealer that will honor my "out of date" recall? Or should I just chase a 3.4 swap and be done with it all together?

What's everybody think? What can be done here?

Thanks Yotatech.

Marc

Try contacting toyota directly. You can email them with your VIN.

MaK92-4RnR

Link to this?

Chaser Johndoe

use the Toyota website to get the info.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

Find out just what the deal is Being your in California Things are just plan strange.

Granted you have a older vehicle

As long as the rest is in safe driving condition and they can`t put it out of service for anything you should be fine.

This is the reason I never did the frame recall on My Tacoma once you take it to Toyota if the vehicle is inspected and found unsafe you were walking home even if you had just spent $$$$ on anything.

Would you need to pay someone to do this job if so do you think it is worth it.

I find that parts were hard to get funny perhaps they meant they weren`t close enough for overnight delivery.

MaK92-4RnR

I can definitely do the work myself, its only 150 bucks for a gasket kit. And I could always put headers on it when I assemble. but its like jesus Christ... come on, Toyota. I personally went into the one closest to me and he SHOWED me that the truck has the recall on it and wasn't used. They're literally just beating me around the bush. I'm emailing Toyota directly about this right now. maybe they'll help me out

jdrum1

I really thought I remember reading somewhere that therecall is closed (may have imagined that).

I hate to be negative, but I’d be shocked if they honor it.Given its age (and it surely has a number of miles on it), it would be hard todetermine that poor head gasket design had anything to do with it going. That’sa hard argument to make on a 26y/o truck (to prove that the failure is theirfault when most other cars of similar vintage are long gone).

There a chance that the radiator failure may have caused it?

Good luck (it’s a cool looking rig).

JJ'89

Certified mail...doesn't cost much...nothing ventured; nothing gained...good luck on it.

MaK92-4RnR

You definitely have a good point. It is a 26 year old truck. But when I'm physically told by 3 dealerships that my head gasket can still be serviced for free? Who in their right mind with a 3vz would say no to that...

The radiator that was in the truck was in good running order. It looked exceptionally clean and not that old. ( i couldn't personally tell you how old ) but it was definitely working 30 seconds before the radiator exploded and THEN decided to overheat. The truck never saw red on the temp gauge. I turned it off before it got there, and rolled it from 65 mph till it stopped on the side of the road. The truck got a little hot, but never went into red on the temperature gauge. The steam was from the radiator exploding and being released into 45 degree rainy weather, so it in no way overheated.

I sent an email to Toyota, maybe they'll be nice, maybe they wont. who knows. Either way, Itll be fixed.

thefishguy77

iTrader: (1)

Good luck on this. I would suspect Toyota will hold up their end of this. Especially if you told them about 3 separate shady dealership experiences.
Send them a certified mail letter. You can call them that way and follow up. And let them know exactly who and when signed and received your letter.

SacRunner

Not to nit-pick or anything, but there are 4 dealers within 15 miles of Roseville (95661), you have more options than you're presenting.

And yeah, it makes sense that the dealers don't want to honor that recall because (from what I've heard at least) the dealer has to foot the bill, then they'll be reimbursed a flat amount from Toyota corporate (which will likely be less than their actual costs), and it's Toyota corporate that's keeping the recall alive (if it's even still valid).

When I went in looking for a top-end gasket kit after discovering the 3.4 I swapped in had a bad head gasket, the parts guy looked up the 3.4 VIN to see if it had been done or not. I'm not sure if he was looking so that I could bring the truck in and have them do the work, or if he would have just given me the gasket kit to honor the recall; that could be an option to ask about.

However it works out, good luck man, I feel your pain.

SCToy

Well , to be fair the gauge won't go red until it's too late anyways... So hard to say whether it over heated before the radiator failed or not.

MaK92-4RnR

I have an email into Toyota right now. We'll see what goes down.

For now, I'm looking into how much itll cost for me to do the work. I can get a head gasket replacement kit for 150 bucks ( which comes with all the gaskets for the top end of the motor ) Machining the heads is about 300 total. So for 450 bucks, and my time, I can get this done. I'll even throw in a 3 row HD all metal radiator ( 230 bucks ) and I might even contemplate headers again. since it'll all be torn down anyway and is much easier to work with on a SAS'd rig.

MaK92-4RnR

The dealers I called were Magnussen Auburn, Roseville, and Elk Grove.

MaK92-4RnR

the gauge only got to just above half. it usually sits just below half. Not that the stock gauge is completely accurate, but its all I have to go off of as of right now. I have a water temp gauge to put on the truck, but unfortunately, never got around to it as I was taking my time on how to retrofit the sensor into the top radiator hose.

scope103

For what it's worth, Kelly Blue Book puts a 1994 (they don't go back any farther) 4wd pickup at around $3,300.

But what is important is what YOU think your truck is worth. If you think it's worth $5,000+, then you should fix it, because you won't be able to replace it for what you could spend to repair it.

Don't get too excited about your $450 figure. That sounds close enough for the gasket set and machining, but if you're like most of us you'll run into other items as you start disassembling. You WILL replace the timing belt and water pump. How about the TVV and the injector connectors? (just a few of the items that don't age too well). These "extras" might be why your local dealers are reluctant to tackle the job on such an old truck, even IF they get reimbursed for the head gasket part by Toyota. I'd set aside closer to $1,000, but you may do better.

DO let us know what you learn, and what you plan to do. Good luck!

MaK92-4RnR

I'm actually pretty excited about the 450 figure. I've replaced all the vacuum lines with quality silicone hoses. timing belt, water pump, and fan bracket were replaced at 198k ( im at 203k now ) fan clutch and fan were replaced from the previous owner and bought at Toyota. ( the tags are still on them ) the only thing I'd be worried about is like you said, fuel rails, injectors and such under the intake manifold. who knows whats under there.

but I'll definitely be putting in a new radiator. I've also thought about putting an oil separator on and moving it out so I can change it. Usually its pretty hidden and hard to get to on 3vz. Its not smog legal here in California, but a definite help as far as keeping blow by out.

I'll do a few things here and there. It'll be done right. If Toyota doesn't approve me, then hell... I'll do it myself. I have no problem doing that, except for the fact that my Roush mustang would have to go outside while the truck gets torn down. which isn't a big deal. I have a all weather car cover for it. so it wouldn't see much dirt/rain.

Shoua

I would say they are supposed to perform the recall, regardless of what year it is. As far as I know, it never expired.

Sure seems like they're just giving excuses not to do it. That's BS. They're giving you the run-around to tire you out so you won't bring it to them.

Shoua

Call Yuba City Toyota, just for ˟˟˟˟˟$ and giggles.

SCToy

If you do end up doing it, i'd consider ARP head studs and sending the injectors to witch hunter. I also used an oem head gasket with my rock auto top end kit.