Matt_4runnin

Year of your Rig: 1997

Rig Type (Taco or Runner or T100): 4runner (5vz-fe)

Has your Head Gasket failed?:yes

Mileage at HG failure:195,000

Cylinder of HG Failure (if known): unknown

Did your engine overheat prior to HG Failure?: Not while I've owned it

Was the Head Gasket Recall work done on your rig prior to HG failure?: unknown

sinneDBTB

Year of your Rig: 1990 w/ '99 taco 3.4

Rig Type (Taco or Runner or T100): 4runner

Has your Head Gasket failed?: yes

Mileage at HG failure: 4000 km after rebuilding bottom end

Cylinder of HG Failure (if known): n/a

Did your engine overheat prior to HG Failure?: no

Was the Head Gasket Recall work done on your rig prior to HG failure?: n/a

apparently HG's blw easy on yota's, starting to wish i swapped in a chevy.
anyone know if the HG's work the same for both sides? I have 2 rights...

rworegon

Year of your Rig: 1995.5

Rig Type (Taco or Runner or T100): Tacoma 5vz-fe

Has your Head Gasket failed?: Yes

Mileage at HG failure: 188,500

Cylinder of HG Failure (if known): Between 4 and 6 (driver side middle and near firewall)

Did your engine overheat prior to HG Failure?: No

Was the Head Gasket Recall work done on your rig prior to HG failure?:Yes, at 15,000 miles.

Noticed slight external leak and minor coolant loss. Teardown revealed internal leak - cyl. 4 and 6 being steam cleaned. Also, coolant water bypass tube leaking and filling wells in block, but no leak visible at 'tin' plate on rear of engine.

msvphoto

Sadly, another one...

Year of your Rig: 1995

Rig Type (Taco or Runner or T100): T100

Has your Head Gasket failed?: Yes, both (left much worse than right)

Mileage at HG failure: 159k

Cylinder of HG Failure (if known): 6 on left, not sure on right...maybe 3

Did your engine overheat prior to HG Failure?: Not at all, sudden failure.

Was the Head Gasket Recall work done on your rig prior to HG failure?: Not sure, but I think so. Have almost all records since new but don't have a receipt for HG replacement. When purchased (~ 5 years ago now) had local dealer run the VIN and they said it had been done. HG has one hole (which I understand means revision 1) which also indicates it may have been changed. Build date for the truck is 06/05.

Very bummed. Just found out yesterday both heads are cracked. Now looking for options for heads to get running again.

BigBallsMcFalls

1999 4runner limited 5VZFE, always Mobil 1 since 1st oil change,
always changed +-7500-8500 miles. 209000+ miles

does not lose oil, has zero leaks,

zero HG problems

blew my tranny cooler 9 months ago, milkshaked,
overheated but was able to stop before any warning lights

after that was fixed, still zero HG
or heating issues of any type.

thing is solid

never had even 1 engine issue.
--------------
Year of your Rig:1999

Rig Type (Taco or Runner or T100): Runner

Has your Head Gasket failed?: no

Mileage at HG failure: n/a

Cylinder of HG Failure (if known): n/a

Did your engine overheat prior to HG Failure?: engine has overheated once but HG never failed

Was the Head Gasket Recall work done on your rig prior to HG failure?: n/a

dfoxengr

isnt this recall over?
you guys can call toyota care and theyll tell you if your truck has had the work done.

99SC4Runner

Year of your Rig: 99

Rig Type (Taco or Runner or T100): 4Runner Limited Supercharged

Has your Head Gasket failed?: Yes

Mileage at HG failure: 230k

Cylinder of HG Failure (if known): Don't know yet

Did your engine overheat prior to HG Failure?: No, never has overheated

Was the Head Gasket Recall work done on your rig prior to HG failure?: I don't think so.

madbomber08

Year of your Rig: 97

Rig Type (Taco or Runner or T100): 4Runner

Has your Head Gasket failed?: No

Mileage at HG failure: 184k on the truck currently w/o failure

Cylinder of HG Failure (if known): n/a

Did your engine overheat prior to HG Failure?: n/a

Was the Head Gasket Recall work done on your rig prior to HG failure?: I don't think so.

Just wondering how do you know your headgaskets fail without it overheating? Do you smell antifreeze in the exhaust, white in oil, what? I randomly decided to check my oil the other day and noticed very little milky substance at the bottom of my dipstick and the top underside of my dipstick. That was two days ago, so I have been watching the coolant and checking the oil after each time I drive it, and now I see nothing.

My main point is, what signs are there to look out for since most all of you have not experienced overheating?


EDIT: My 4runner has never overheated in the time that I've owned it.

Utah Kid 4runner

Year of your Rig: 96

Rig Type (Taco or Runner or T100): 4RUNNER

Has your Head Gasket failed?: yes

Mileage at HG failure: 238,000

Cylinder of HG Failure (if known): unknown

Did your engine overheat prior to HG Failure?:unknown

Was the Head Gasket Recall work done on your rig prior to HG failure?:unknown

if i never did have the recall work done will they still do it? if not about how much $$ are we talking to only get a new head gasket put on?

rworegon

Utah Kid, call dealer with VIN #.
http://www.toyota.com/owners/web/pag...ources/recalls

Potomacduck

Year of your Rig: 1999

Rig Type (Taco or Runner or T100): 4Runner

Has your Head Gasket failed?: No

Mileage at HG failure: 328,000 no failures.

Cylinder of HG Failure (if known): na

Did your engine overheat prior to HG Failure?: The engine overheated once, replaced the fan clutch.

Was the Head Gasket Recall work done on your rig prior to HG failure?: BTW, the head gasket recall was only on the 1996 models.

Utah Kid 4runner

Do you think that if I have not had the head gasket serviced at the dealer when it had the recall they would still alow it to be done

rworegon

Never hurts to ask. Most say this campaign is closed, but every so often there has been a positive response.

sinisstartacoma

I am new to this site, and I have 1997 toyota tacoma 3.4 v6. and at first had some issues with heater not working sometimes, then it started to overheat and boil over, and so i took it to radiator shop and that fixed the issue for about a week. one of my friends had told me to use "bars leaks" for temp fix if its the head gasket, now at this point, my heater doesnt work at all, and it overheats in about 15 min of driving, and i believe i need new head gasket, i just wanted some opinions on this, and if it is head gasket, what is aprox cost, cause i am not qualified nor have the time to do it myself, so i will take to my mechanic, just wanted to know some info on this. thanks.

ThatGuy1295

Year of your Rig: 2001

Rig Type (Taco or Runner or T100): Taco

Has your Head Gasket failed?: No

Mileage at HG failure: 191,000 no failures.

Cylinder of HG Failure (if known): na

Did your engine overheat prior to HG Failure?: Not since I've owned

Was the Head Gasket Recall work done on your rig prior to HG failure?: N/A

Utah Kid 4runner

Those quick fix products are all a horrible idea. If you put them in your engine you could be looking at some bigger problems alot of them are thick like honey and can stop a leak but also can plug up oil gallies and critical parts that need lubercation.

Jomoka

Year of your Rig: 1999

Rig Type (Taco or Runner or T100): 4Runner

Has your Head Gasket failed?: No

Mileage at HG failure: 170K miles and counting without problems

Cylinder of HG Failure (if known): n/a

Did your engine overheat prior to HG Failure?: bought at around 150K miles, not sure before then, certainly never even a whisper of trouble since

Was the Head Gasket Recall work done on your rig prior to HG failure?: Would not think so.

Gonzo4Runner

Year of your Rig: 1997

Rig Type (Taco or Runner or T100): 4runner limited

Has your Head Gasket failed?: no but head cracked in cyl #3

Mileage at HG failure: 190,000

Cylinder of HG Failure (if known): 3

Did your engine overheat prior to HG Failure?: no

Was the Head Gasket Recall work done on your rig prior to HG failure?: no

Talked with Toyota dealer mechanic and he stated that a cracked mid bank cylinder (3 or 4) was not unheard of and had seen it himself once or twice.

Snowheeler

Year of your Rig: 95

Rig Type (Taco or Runner or T100): T100

Has your Head Gasket failed?: No

Mileage at HG failure: 240k NO FAILURE

Cylinder of HG Failure (if known): n/a

Did your engine overheat prior to HG Failure?: no

Was the Head Gasket Recall work done on your rig prior to HG failure?: No recall on my VIN according to Toyota

keoni1101

Year of your Rig: 96

Rig Type (Taco or Runner or T100): Tacoma

Has your Head Gasket failed?: yes

Mileage at HG failure: 146,000

Cylinder of HG Failure (if known): Dont know

Did your engine overheat prior to HG Failure?: Yes

Was the Head Gasket Recall work done on your rig prior to HG failure?: No, and i called toyota and they did not find any SSC X01 or Recall. They will not replace my head gasket