My 94 4Runner had a blown head gasket about nine months ago to which my dad and I used Bar's Stop Leak to reseal. We drove it for those nine months without issues. Yesterday, we took a short trip to pick peaches which was a longer drive than the vehicle had been used to in the past couple months. We drove around a little bit and we stopping and going because we were trying to locate the grove. When we found it, we noticed the cold air kicked off when we still had the a/c button on. About 10 minutes later, both of us noticed the temp gauge starting to rise. On the way home, when the engine was opened up, the air was cooling off the engine causing the gauge to drop, but when we stopped and it engine idled, the temp gauge nearly redlined to the point that my dad had to come out of idle to keep the engine from shutting off.

Today, I came outside when the engine was cool and checked the radiator and found it to be a half-gallon empty and the coolant reservoir with only a small puddle at its bottom. Could this be the head gasket again or something else? I understand the stop leak wouldn't last forever, but was hoping it would last at least a year or so.

Any diagnosis or fixes because we don't want to have to replace the head gasket cause of cost and it being difficult for us to do.

 

The Stop Seal is a Band-Aid at best. It's not a fix, not permanent at all. It very likely restricted the radiator and heater core passages, and, possibly, restricted some of the coolant passages in the engine. It bought you a little bit of time and the time has ran out.

It's time to fix the head gasket properly.

 

I also notice that there was no water thrown into the oil pan when I checked the dip stick.

Also, does anyone know for sure when the recall on head gaskets for this model ended? I've heard mixed answers and I figure has more than likely been closed for some time now.

 

On the recall, call your Toyota dealer and give them your VIN. Some have lucked out and got the HG done many years after any of us thought the dealer would do it.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...update-271575/