A little late but heres the toyota site that you join and you can lookup your vehicle history
http://www.toyota.com/owners/web/pages/home

 

Cheers,

I saw this but it services only the USA. Not much help for me here in Australia :-(

 

Oh oops didnt see that. Be sure to update your location when you get a chance

 

Hm, weird. They definitely told me there was no recall here in Aus. Maybe I should try phoning them again.

What do you mean about the wreckers? Do they mean they won't supply you with gaskets or they won't do the work? I was under the impression that if the heads were still good a new set of gaskets should be about as reliable as in any other engine. Maybe the vehicle had the new gaskets fitted onto screwed heads?

The gaskets themselves shouldn't cost too much -- I found a place (http://www.rockauto.com) that will mail them from the US for about $40 each. I guess all the cost is in stripping it down. I have exactly the same dilemma and am waiting for the guys at the shop to check it out before exploring the 5vz-e option.

 

Let me know how you go with the 5vze option. Are you in Melbourne? Maybe if we get 2 cars done at once it will be cheaper.

Toyospares is local toyota wreckers / toyota mechanic. He said in an email that he wont do the gaskets as he reckons they just blow again...

One things for sure, if I get this fixed or swapped there will be a working bonnet scoop there to blow cool air down over that cross-over pipe and stop this super heating business.

The manifold is insanely hot too, i hate to imagine what the intake temps are like

 

Ok well as a last ditch effort I have used 'SilverSeal' made by Westco in the USA. I was told by a mechanic friend that this can seal headgasket hot spots for up to 24 months. Thats plenty of time for me as Ill be out of uni in 9 months and finally earning some decent cash. I plan on buying a 100 series cruiser at this point.

Anyway I have added the treatment and it is curing now I assume. Ill inform of the results tomorrow. Quick internet searches have given me enough info to be confident that this treatment will last at least 12 months.

Of course this is all providing I actually do have a head gasket leak. Since its not over heating or anything. Also since topping off the coolant it hasnt dropped below the level of the radiator fins.

Finally I should mention, when the heater switch is open I can actually hear coolant sloshing around behind the dash. This presumably means that ive got a bit of air in my heater box. The heater does work however...

Ive only had the car a couple weeks but im already missing the power of my Ford Falcon :-P

 

Update:

Ive been doing some online research but cant seem to find any other plugs like these. Ive been told that when a head gasket lets water in the resulting steam actually cleans the plugs making them shiny, obviously these arent shiny.

Any ideas: