2005 1GFRE Blown Head gasket and post op care

Today was D-day. Had bubbles in the coolant overflow. Took to dealer and pressure tested. Moisture in cylinder 6 with the scope. 134000 miles. No mercy on pricing, though he is aware of the HG design flaw.

Looking for help specific to Charlotte region. Any engine shops to try or avoid, any good places to source an engine, or anyone willing to lend a hand for a DIY? Got a buddy who works at Mercedes in Charlotte who has offered to help. Hes not afraid of the swap or the HG, as he done both at Honda and Mercedes, but not in a Taco. Ive assisted with a swap a Model A engine & transmission recently, but have not done an engine swap in a modern vehicle.

So far, dealership willing to help source a used 2007-2011 Taco V6 4.0L engine. Im being told a DOHC like a 4runner engine will not work, though I have my doubts on this.

Labor quote was $2900 on top of engine purchase. They think they can get a used one for $2800 with a warranty. They would do water pump gratis as part of the deal. So a grand total of about $5700. Too sweet for my taste.

Head gasket and new guides is $4000, so unless I can get a better deal on a HG, Im looking at a used engine.

Any input, or help is welcome.

 

Need it to get to work? Have a warm garage?

 

Ive got a warm garage with heaters. And plenty of beer. Im open to new engine or HG, just not at the price mentioned. I dont have enough head space for a swap though, would need another one if we go that route.

 

Source one from a newer model from a junkyard and swap it.

 

That's a tough call. If it was at 250K miles, I would say you've gotten your money's worth out of that engine and swap in a low mileage engine. At 134K miles, there's still a lot of life left in that engine as long as you didn't overheat it when the head gasket went. Changing the head gaskets yourself is certainly going to be cheaper than sourcing a nice low mileage engine, but, there's going to be a lot more risk of an "OOPS, I screwed up". I would still lean more towards a motor swap to an engine that nobody's had apart. As for the overhead clearance issue, back the truck in the garage, unbolt everything, push it outside and yank the motor.

 

I appreciate that ^^ too. Yeah theres definitely alot of life left. Dealer said its at 1/3 of its useable life. Eg, they expect them to last 500k miles.

Theres a time factor too. Much more labor in a HG vs engine swap. Nearly 40 hours for HG. Swap is less, according to dealer. This is especially important if we go the DIY route.

Issue Im debating is trying to justify $1700 difference in new engine vs exploring an engine and running into things, eg new head bolts, chain, chain guides. I found this one on ebay, total rebuild. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-1GR-4-0-4Runner-Tacoma-Tundra-Remanufactured-Engine-2005-2009/273599305491?hash=item3fb3ca1713:g:OFoAAOSwf15aiu~q:rk:1f:0&LH_BIN=1

Update: Do not buy this engine, read post #29

I have a steep driveway, approx 30 degrees. so that was in the back of my mind too. Dont want the engine rolling down the hill. But I suppose I could lock/chock the wheels.

 

Yeesh! That sounds scary. Any chance of coasting it down the drive to the street and then doing the motor pull on the street? Obviously not good if you live on a busy street. As far as getting it back up your driveway, any chance of winching it? Do you have 1 of those steel posts that protects the water heater? Another option is to have a tow truck put it back in your garage, but with a steep driveway, that can be a little iffy too.

 

Yeah street is quiet but definitely preferable to find a better garage.

 

After many phone calls, discussion here, and much deliberation, I decided to have the dealer do the gasket. Toyota was able to do the gasket and water pump for $3500. But he guaranteed the head gasket for lifetime. it will also be marked in Toyotas system as officially repaired under the VIN number for any future buyers. FWIW its not just the head gaskets they do, its a whole gasket and seal kit they put on, eg exhaust etc.

So it was worth it for peace of mind and future proofing the truck. In the end I had a problem trusting used engines (kept hearing " pull the head, pull the head" which is hard when they are all a distance away from here) and a problem doing the repair head gasket repair myself, given all the risks noted above. Truck is in the OR for the next few days. Til then the 4runner has the driving duties.

 

Good choice. Nothing wrong with a getting a guaranteed repair and documentation. Itll keep the value of the truck up high where it should be

 

Just confirmed my taco has blown head gaskets yesterday as well.

I’m thinking of replacing them myself though. It’s only $130 for the gaskets themselves.

OR - my brother suggested Blue Devil Head Gasket Sealer...

Not sure if this really works or not. But I might give it a shot. Im thinking it’s worth trying, on mine at least.

Anyone else ever used it?

 

Sorry to hear about your head gasket man. That's the third one I've heard of this month. @DannyBFresco also had one this month.

I've not heard good things about gasket sealer. I heard they can do some significant damage to your engine and your radiator. There are a couple threads here on Tacoma world about it.

Trust me I really really really wanted to fix it myself and I'm fairly good at fixing things but there was just too much risk involved to try to do a head gasket myself. Look at an earlier post here from @ovrlndkull. It's just not worth the risk when a lifetime warranty is on the line.

 

This makes me laugh as a gasket can fail at anytime without warning even these updated ones. I can see warranting them for a time but lifetime wow. Oh well that is good for you glad to hear it.

 

Stay away far far away. I have had to work on vehicles after someone put some of that stuff or similar in their coolant system. Needless to say it cost them with a larger repair bill and frustration down the road. I've seen stuff like that clog heater cores, parts of the radiator, gum up the internal engine passages, etc.

 

Right on. Thank you. I appreciate the honest feedback.

I’m doing some research on the Blue Devil. Definitely leary of any fix-all solution in a bottle.

otherwise I do think that after just ripping apart the motor and replacing the timing chain that doing the HGs wouldn’t be too much more of an hassle.
Check out my build thread, where im chronicaling my adventures. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/darth-haul-dark-yota-build.583386/

 

Right?!? Sometimes I think it's just all 05/06 but maybe we're just the canaries in the coal mine. We're also the oldest second gens so who knows what the future holds for later models. I have seen some 07 and 08 head gaskets blown on here too. Certainly above 100000 miles it's all fair game.

The dealer service manager is a friend of ours so he pushed for a good warranty given the info on 05/06. That said, most people trade their vehicle so often they'd never exceed the warranty anyways.

 

Awesome. Well I've seen some piss poor HG designs and aftermarkets that leak just because. But there are some better designs that "should" last for ~life of the vehicle but in reality it's being exposed to huge temp swings, pressure, etc. and can fail at any moment. The 3.4l in the 1st gens HG was much more prolific than the 2nd gen ones. That and we live in a microcosm here on TW so we see/hear about a lot more but I bet if we look at the #'s it isn't that big of a percentage. Also if you look a lot of those issues are from like you said 100k and up also I would bet $$$$$ that a lot of those failures were from poorly maintained vehicles. Just speaking from experience here.

 

Absolutely. I have no idea what the first 12 years of my Tacos life was like. Well, carfax but you know how that shit goes. I just did the best I can since Jan 2018. Dealership is gonna send me pictures of the internals after the repair and they may shed light on it.

 

Unless you want your cooling system completely plugged up then stay away from those products !!!!

 

Possibly still will be hard to tell.