Monday could have been better. My '94 4runner blew the HG. No water/oil mix. The coolant blew out the exhaust and the overflow tank from the cylinder compression. I was on the freeway when it happened and I didn't figure it out until I was exiting the freeway and steam came out from under the hood. Right about that time the temperature gauge spiked to the top. I shut down the motor and pulled off to a safe place. The overflow tank was bubbling and steam was coming out the exhaust. I had a gallon of coolant and a gallon of distilled water in the truck. After about 1/2 hour after things cooled down a bit I refilled the radiator and limped the 2.5 miles home. Lots of steam out the exhaust at startup, but I made it home.

I have had the 4runner since it had 25k. I helped a friend negotiate the purchase, brand new. When my friend died, he gave me the 4runner with the agreement that I would keep it until it just wasn't practical anymore. He asked that when it got older, that it morph into a more trail oriented rig. The 4runner has been well maintained with Mobil1 oil almost always. I just dropped a couple thousand into it a few months ago. Clutch, timing belts, valve adjustment, etc etc. The V05 HG recall was done a long time ago.

What should I do? My options are

1. R&R head gaskets and keep driving. The overheating may or may not have been that bad. This is the least expensive option, but who knows how long it will last.

2. Drop in a reman and be worry free for another 100k, at least. This is the more expensive option.

3. Do a 3.4 conversion. I am concerned about the hassle of California Emissions testing.

I plan to pick up a Toyota Corolla or something similar for a daily driver. I commute 75 miles round trip every day. That is part of why she has the miles on her. This will allow me to take my time on the project as opposed to rushing to get her back on the road.

Any comments/feedback will be greatly appreciated.

 

Has the recall been done on it? I'm assuming you have the 3.0. Call a dealer ask to check if the recall on it has been done or not.

 

I just edited the original post to include the info that the V05 HG recall was done a long time ago.

 

FYI: the head gasket recall program FAILED to perform in it's first several iterations.
I would suggest contacting Toyota and the stealer who did the work about this failure.

 

IIRC, the v05 recall was done on her at at about 75k or so. I now live about 200 miles from the dealership that did the recall. Considering that I got 150k or so out of the motor after the recall, I doubt that TMC would cover the repair.
I have also heard that the V05 recall has ended as of a year or two ago. Even TMC can't do an infinite recall program.

 

Drop a reman. engine in if the truck body is good...and no rust. You should recover your expense at resale

 

at the risk of sounding like an idiot who doesnt know much bout yotas yet (which i might be) i had the same thing happen to me only not any smoke coming out of the tailpipe, and ended up needing a radiator flush/thermostat...i had the resivoir bubling, smoke from hood, and high temp mess..might wanna start there, but i dunno.

 

EEK Man.... As long as the beast is in pretty good shape and nothing really bent or broke apart and you want to keep it, I'd send out and rebuild heads and or engine as a get to know your toy project or throw in the reman if you have the $ to burn. I put rebuilt heads on my 92 4R V6 and it runs unbelievably great - Felpro gaskets all round and TTY bolts and rebuilt heads was just under 1000$ - have some goofy heat issue now but man it runs good.

 

She is in very good shape. She has been a California resident her whole life. Very few trips to the snow. I have never lived right on the coast, so there is no rust. When I wheel at Pismo Beach she gets a thorough freshwater wash to get rid of the salt. I grew up near Boston and moved to California when I was 22. I hate snow and cold temps. Compared to the few Gen2 4runners I saw around Massachusetts last summer, she looks brand new.

I have more money than time. If I am going to do a bunch of work on her, I don't want to do it again in a year or two. I am competent at wrenching, but I can't say that I get great joy out of it. It is a means to an end, IE, saving money and making sure the work is done well. I can't afford to pay shop rates for an engine swap.

 

What I would do, for what its, worth, is to do a compression and maybe a leakdown test.

In other words, find out what is wrong. Then you can make a better judgement as to what to do. Personally, I would fix it, or have it fixed, given the care you've put in the rest of it, even if you have to replace the heads, or have them polished flat.

My guess is that you didn't warp the heads, based on the amount of time you had it overheated.

 

Love Cal but am in Denver now...no salt here. more money - then do the Reman and swap yourself.. beer party with friends. done in a day with some motivation.
hardest part is getting the crossover exaust off...well was for me , broke some nuts doing it and had to cut one off othewize theres just a bunch of parts -goes togeather faster than it comes apart.