myster

Took my 'fair condition' 1990 V6 SR5 4WD truck to the dealer yesterday for the steering rod relay recall. The service dept. called back and told me about the open recall on the head gasket. Sweet! I felt like I had won the lottery or something. It had been leaking oil from some seal, and the mechanic said this might fix that problem, too.

Later in the day, they called back with a list of things that I could get replaced while they're in there, for the price of parts only... you know the story.

Timing belt: $50
Water pump: $198
Spark plugs: $20
air filter (WTF?): $30
belts (oil soaked): $90
dist. cap, new wires: ~$130
clutch (apparently, easy to do with block out: $465

Yikes. So my free recall was up to $940. OK, at least I'm getting all this stuff replaced that would eventually need to be replaced anyway....without paying labor. UP to this point I was still OK with things.

NOW, the service dept. just called back and said the machine shop found a crack in the cylinder head (in a weird place, between cyl. 2 and 3). That'll be $1400 for a new one including some valve work. BAM! My 'free' steering rod relay replacement now totals $2500.

The truck was running fine except for the oil leak. Not overheating, not losing coolant, nothing.

I don't even know if the truck is worth $2500. She's in pretty good shape, but a bit worse for the wear and tear after 216,000. A good truck though.
He said they could put the old head back on, but no guarantees about the future.

Is it worth putting $2500 into it? Will the above repairs make it last for another 100,000?

Thanks for any input or advice.

Lumpy

I'd tow it home find a head at the bone yard or look a bit on the web and stick her back together...you can do better than that just look around a bit for prices. 1k ok that's a bit, but no labor ok fine I can see that. 1400 for the head work, na somethings off there.

Mind you this was a while ago, and I took the motor out myself. I had a 300 6 from my bronco rebuilt for about 1100. Lower: rings, bearings, polish. Top: New valves, and some other stuff, cant remember...

Team420

the 300 6cyl does not have an aluminum head...

I would just go to a bone yard and get a used head....

Lumpy

I understand that, I was commenting on the pricing of what I was charged for my motor rebuild and what they wanted for a bit of head work. That's all...I think they beat him up on this to get some $ for the recall work.

Team420

I'm sure they did... but IIRC... these heads aint cheap!! I would expect to pay close to 1k for a new one... $1400 seems quite steep tho...

Lumpy

Ebay has them for a few hundred... Not sure if they are the same but I'd suspect they are... Ebayhttp://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TOYOT...Q5fAccessories

myster

$1400 includes something with the valves (I'm not a mechanic, so I only have a superficial grasp of this stuff)

I don't have the know-how to go get a head from the junkyard and put one in. Wish I had the knowledge, tools, space and time to do this though.

It's at the dealer, in pieces, so I'm over a barrel.

Thanks for the input so far.

HAVOC

I have a used head you can have. It's from a 1995 3.0 truck. Where are you located?

Squiddy

See my recent thread on a similar problem:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...lament-180223/

Part of the prob is you are paying toyota labor rates and parts...for instance you could do the wires + cap for cost (about $50) yourself. Also, don't assume there will be no labor charge for most of it, because they WILL charge for anything beyond the head gasket.

Note: The block DOES NOT get pulled for the head gasket repair.

You should be able to get heads for about $250 apiece.

When you do the head gasket repair, especially given the age of your engine, you need to make sure they polish the heads, etc...this is standard but many places seem to skip it during the recall. You would also want to do the valve job. Since the heads get pulled anyhow for the head gasket repair, unclear why they are quoting you such a high price (i.e. you could buy 2 online for 500 bucks...and skip the cost of a "valve job")

The other big issue here is what the lower half of your engine looks like...i.e. if you fix it all up and then through a rod, etc in 6 months...

For me it was a choice between a $2500 non-guarantee gasket and heads, vs $4300 for a reman engine install with a 2 year guarantee....

Squiddy

PS you should be able to buy the heads on your own (i.e. online) and have the dealership install them.

myster

Yeah, the dealer said that if I get a reman. head with the valves installed shipped to them, they would put it in, but without their 12 month warranty.

This would save me the $773 they're charging for the heads and exhaust valves and the $630 for labor (to put the install and adjust the valves?).

I saw the posting earlier for the cyl head on ebay for $250. Do these typically include the valves installed?

Are there any other sources for these?

I'm in California.

Thanks again.

DudeBud

why not have another machine shop check that so called cracked head before you even think about replacing it? a stealer ship said that the head was cracked, well of course they did If anything, I bet the head is fine but I'd defiantly do a valve job on both sides.

flashkl

Is anybody else surprised that toyota's still honoring this recall, and on a truck with 216k?

myster

Can someone explain this to me?

The dealer said that if I had a remanufactued cyl. head shipped to them with the valves installed, they would install it without charging me for labor (since removing the head is covered under the recall). Apparently, putting the exhaust valves in the head and adjusting them would be $600 bucks worth of labor (the head would cost $770).

If I get a cyl. head online, will it come with the valves installed? (doubt it). Is it something that the people I buy the head from can do?

What is the general opinion of getting a reman. head instead of a new one? The ebay link that someone sent earlier is http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...id=p2759.l1259

Is installing this instead of a new one risky?

Thanks.

Lumpy

The head I posted was just the first one I had found and it was only the head, the drivers side, not sure which side you need. I was trying to say that you have other options. I my self loath the dealer and only head there when all else fails. I understand that you went there for recall work but I think they are just out to make money on you. Ya they may not be charging labor but the parts are way marked up!!!

If I were you I'd call a local guy you know and trust and tell him what's going on and see if he can help you out. I can't imagine that the head/valves/adjustment would run more than $600.00 but that's me.

I may not be right with what I'm thinking...been told that before

flashkl

The head you linked to comes all ready ie the valves are installed and adjusted. I got a pair of reman heads when I learned mine were cracked. But I got mine from a reman shop that the machine shop guy I took my heads to (who I trust) has been dealing with for over 15 years. They warranty their work and everything. I'd say buying anything that important from ebay is risky, but then again it's only 250 (mine were 400 a pop) so it is cheap...

gary96360

um that should be toyotas problem that the head cracked. they should pay for it because its their problem that they put a faulty headgasket. ive heard of people getting a free long block because their engine was toast from the blown headgasket when they did the recall

myster

I asked about the gasket being responsible for the cracked head, but the mechanic said that was not the case because of where it cracked (between cyl. 2 and 3?). Also, the gasket wasn't blown.... I was just getting it replaced because they said it would be "free".

So I've found a number of sources for reman. heads online like this one: http://www.perfectengine.com/Toyota_...o3vzel-cha.htm

"This cylinder head has the camshaft and lifters already installed with proper valve clearance. No further valve adjustment required."

Does this mean that the valves are already installed? Can they literally just put this back on the engine without having to adjust the valves and have it run just fine? I'm skeptical because this would be so much cheaper than the $1400 originally quoted.

Thanks for the explanations -- this is all a bit beyond my level of understanding.

HAVOC

Again, I have a used head you can have. Which side do you need?

Team420

Thats exactly what I was thinking.... These guys are taking you for a ride....

On the plus side.... If you go with dealer parts, and let them put it back together... It will prolly last a while, and they would (at that price) have to stand behind their work.