Hey all,
After pulling the heads, I found I have a bad head gasket, but no other damage, so I'm gonna go ahead and just replace both of them. The only gasket maker I know anything about is Fel Pro, so that would be my default, but I wanted to know if there are others that would be more appropriate for the 3vze.
ThanX

1990 4Runner 3VZE auto

 

They’re usually what I use.

 

An aftermarket gasket will probably be cheaper; maybe much cheaper. My guess is that the probability of a successful and durable installation will be higher with a genuine factory gasket.

 

I would go with the Genuine Toyota head gaskets.

 

OEM Toyota. It's not a job you want to do twice. My Toyota truck is 35 years old with 478,000 miles. Still same OEM Toyota head gasket.

 

Felpro makes good gaskets. I've overhauled enough engines in my 40+ years of working on cars and run them successfully for decades after the rebuild to know that without doubt. The biggest problems are people just not doing a good and thorough job preparing the surfaces, getting everything clean and flat, getting the head bolt holes cleaned out properly and doing a good job with the head bolt installation. If the person doing the work does a good job, the high quality gasket of their choice will be fine. If they leave the block surface warped or the head bolt holes dirty, the gasket is probably going to have a short life. My 2 cents, YMMV.

 

I'd go OEM. I've heard good things about Fel-Pro for domestic cars but for our trucks I've seen them go bad very quickly. Look at the OEM and Fel-Pro gaskets side by side and you can see how much better the OEM gaskets are.

 

I used FelPro when I did the head on my 87 4Runner. "Friend" of mine borrowed my truck, threw the water pump belt, and drove it till it overheated, stopped to let it cool, drove it till it over heated, etc all the way back to my house. Needless to say, he cracked the head. Idiot had a replacement belt and the tools needed to replace it IN the truck with him, it was just too hot for him that day to bother. Jerk.

Anywho, I replaced the head with a FelPro gasket set, and it's still running very well. This was more than 25 years ago, so I have no complaints.
Just my experience...
Pat☺

 

i have no problem with fel-pro, but the oem gasket in my #1 ‘87 lasted 33 years, so when it failed, i replaced it with oem (via mcgeorge toyota). i used a fel-pro in #2 ‘87 after rebuilding it two years ago, too, because the machine shop recommended it. both are still working just fine. i’ll get to find out which was the correct choice.

 

Yeah, the head gasket in my 87 pickup is still factory, at 372,000 miles. No signs of failure or leakage so far
I'd say OEM is a good choice.

I read on a forum someplace, though, that the OEM head gasket isn't slippery enough for when it needs to be replaced, especially with a new head. Either that, or it's too slippery. I can't recall exactly, but in any event, they didn't recommend a OEM head gasket for installation when replacing the head(s).

I may well be totally wrong about that, though. I'll see if I can dig up where I saw that information again.

Good luck!
Pat☺

 

Thanks to everyone who responded.

 

You know, I think we all actually missed it on this one. The best head gasket solution is a multi-layer steel (MLS) gasket with ARP head studs in place of the bolts. That takes additional prep work on the heads and block deck to get the flatness and surface finish up to the requirements, but it is technically the hands down best choice for sealing and longevity if the prep work is done correctly.

 

I didn't mention MLS head gaskets because of the resurfacing needed and the OP isn't removing the block.

 

During the 3VZE headgasket recall Toyota struggled at first to come up with a design that worked. We redid a few engines that had the recall done early on, something Toyota almost never did(or pays for). But once they got it right they pretty much nailed it.