Blown Head Gasket in Seattle, WA - Need Local Yota Shop and/or advice. (Orig. Was Portland)

UPDATE ON BELOW THREAD. GOT TOWED TO SEATTLE. I WAS IN PORTLAND ORIGINALLY.

NOW LOOKING FOR A SHOP IN OR AROUND THE SEATTLE AREA.

THANKS!!!!

Hey All,

I am looking for recommendations on a local shop in Portland, Oregon to do a head gasket repair.

Here's what happened...

I have a 05' Off road Tacoma TRD 4.0 with 195k miles on it, and was driving from Seattle to NoCal- Yosemite, when 3.5 hrs into my drive, just south of Portland, I had a loss of Power and check engine light came on and smoke started to come out the hood. The temp gauge never overheated.

Upon opening the hood I noticed the Radiator cap was on, but loose and not threaded down or tightened properly and all the smoke was pouring out of the top of the raditor through the cap. The reservoir was completely filled(above the fill line) with clean coolant.

I waited for it to cool down and topped off with about a gallon of coolant tightened the cap and drove about 500 yards and pushed the engine a bit to test it before jumping on the road to go to Advanced Auto parts or local shop to run the engine code and diagnosis.

There was power but not full power, something felt off, so I stopped and popped the hood and thats when I got scared.... A little rock in the engine block and white exhaust smoke out of the tailpipe.

I had it towed to a local shop and and upon restart and driving a little off of the tow truck and around the parking lot the Check Engine light went away and there was never a return in the shaking of the block.

The code read as PO117 as ECM Sensor failure and the exhaust smoke was minimal thin white smoke.

The shop tested the Coolant and found carbon monoxide present but there wasn't any Coolant in my oil.

They diagnosed it with a breached Head Gasket, admitted it wasn't their forte, and quoted me $3,100 (3-4 days) for the Head Gasket repair, and Valve Cover Gasket replacements.

Toyota down the street, without looking at the vehicle, quoted me approx. $2,400 for the same job.

I am looking for some insight and recommendation on the best way to proceed.

All input is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!!!

 

I'm about 20 miles east of you. I know tons of local mechanics who I'm sure can beat their prices. If your willing to get it towed. Also a Toyota dealer ship located in Gresham, or a little closer to you

 

Thanks Devin. Yeah, if you know of someone I am willing to get it towed locally. I am actually in Wilsonville, 20 Mi south of Portland off I5.

I am open to suggestions. Who would you recommend?

 

I see. So your a little further. There is a Toyota dealership located in Gresham Oregon. The mechanics are real good guys there. Mechanic I used near me is bills automotive. Located in Sandy Oregon. I don't really know of any in the Portland or Wilsonville area

 

Thanks man. I appreciate the help.

Update here.

I ended up renting a U-hual Car Transport for $60 for three days and my brother, who lives in Seattle, came down and got me late last night.

Now my search is in the Seattle are for a Toyota Master.
CHeers!

 

Good luck. Should be about bullet proof after this!

 

Thanks Man.

Yeah I'm looking at the option of Headgasket repair Vs. rebuild or replace.

I found some Toyota guys that can do the repair for $1795.00 (7days)

They can do the complete rebuild for $4950 at 2-3 weeks.

Or they can do the swap for $1700 and by sourcing elsewhere I found a 40k ditto engine for $3800 or 80k at $3100, putting the whole job for the swap at $4800 or $5500 depending on which mileage I choose.

You have any advice?

 

I’d be torn. If I was planning on keeping her for a long time and frame was in good shape, I’d want to rebuild current engine. Problem is you can sink 5k in it and the tranny with 195k take a shit 2 months later.

Maybe the best COA is to just fix the head gasket? Did the engine have any other issues prior to HG failure?

About the donor motors. Spending an extra $700 for half the miles would be worth it too me. Don’t buy a donor motor from 05-06 era trucks.

Good luck on whatever you decide.

 

Thanks for your input!!

Yeah I'm pretty torn on path forward from here.

I definitely intend to keep'er for as long as possible so I'm leaning rebuild or replace but have had the same thought about the tranny.

Recent issues with engine: The power steering just went and I replaced that and the tensioner and idler pulleys myself in the last month or so.

Also, Just did a radiator flush.

Agree with you that the $700 extra for 1/2 miles is worth if I'm already that deep into it.

As far as the new donor engines l, what is the specific issue with the 05-06 engines and reason to stay clear?

I waiting on VINs to verify year and specs before proceeding.

 

05 - 06 have a head gasket issue from the factory, leaks between cylinder 5 and 6. Maintains cylinder pressure, only way to tell is carbon monoxide test on the radiator.

 

That's exactly what happened with mine. Carbon monoxide in the radiator fluid.

Was there ever a recall on this?

Excuse my ignorance, I'm new to the taco world(unfortunately)

 

No recall as it would only happen around 100k miles or more so Toyota was (sound of washing hands) it's out of warranty. But they did fix the issue with the 07+ and removed the old part number from the system. So a new head gasket would fix that and the issue would not return.

 

Well I should clarify, it should not return as long as the block is straight and didn't over heat.

 

Copy. Thanks for the info.

So thinking head gasket fix might be the best route. And taking a look at block when it get in there before moving on a rebuild.