Awful odor from exhaust, occasional smoke.

Kinda on the high side. When my FJ was first showing signs of a leak (externally) I got an estimate of $2200 to do both heads. It's a gamble to do only one head.
Between that and the complete brakes and other things it needed, I traded it in.

 

Opening a restaurant/hair salon...

 

what part of TN are you in? Feel free to pop over to the TN thread and ask those guys about reputable shops.. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/official-tennessee-thread.112982/page-3014

 

Acorns in your tail pipe .. transported by some critter trying to get warm....

 

Did they do a comp test? What did they cite as evidence of a leaking hg?

 

Oh, that was just their estimate in case that's what it ended up being.

 

Gotcha

 

What were your codes?
It runs fine otherwise?
Bad gas, or partially clogged cat can cause a rotten egg (sulphur) smell, is that what you are smelling?


Don’t jump to a head gasket...
2 tbsp of water isn’t a big deal on a cold start..
Leaking a bit of coolant on a 240k mile truck isn’t uncommon...

The Cooling system is a sealed system and should never need coolant added, BUT small leaks are not uncommon and not necessarily an immediate concern.

 

Its showing PO401 EGR flow insufficient. The truck runs great, same as always.

I guess I should try replacing the EGR?

 

I’m not familiar with the 3.4L EGR system, but if you have a 2.7L, you can remove the EGR from the intake and run a pipe cleaner or something along those lines through the port on the intake.
I hade the same code and on mine found excessive carbon build up completely blocking the passage, I also cleaned up the EGR Valve with some carb and choke.
Be mindful of what you use to clean the intake side, you do not want any wire bristles from a brush or large carbon deposits dropping into the intake.
I was overly cautious, but had a paper clip and a shop vac to suck out any deposits before they went in. Patience paid off and the code has been gone for years.

That being said, I was NOT having any running issues, just an annoying light..
Your running issue may be a different issue...

 

Ok, this morning I pulled the EGR and cleaned maybe half a teaspoon of carbon/sludge from the throttle body. I have it reassembled, just cleared the PO401 egr flow insufficient trouble code. Now I'll give it awhile and see what happens.

Thanks again yall!

 

Many thanks to FasterNYou for haring his advice here. I tried exactly what he posted, and the problem is solved.

TacomaWorld is an awesome place, with a ton of Great members!!
I'm glad to be here!