Head Gasket Leak Repair (+ Other Options?)

The other day, my truck with 315,000 miles was showing a high temp, close to red, after driving for a few minutes from a cold start. Threw on full heat defroster and temp came back down to normal. Came straight back home, and hours later tried to start it again cold and it started up and died after a couple seconds. Tried again, would turn over but not start. The next day it started it up cold just fine when I went to take it to the shop.

Shop said they did a yellow smoke test and it took a while to fail the test, but after about a minute, it failed and turned yellow. Shop says it needs a head gasket replacement, $3,400 to do the work all parts and labor, including new spark plugs, thermostat.

Coolant was low, which was the reason for the overheating the previous day.
Truck still runs fine, with no other symptoms than burnt coolant coming out of the tailpipe of course, but I don’t want to drive it and risk further damage to the engine. So other than driving it back home about 6 miles from the shop, I'm not driving it anymore. I especially don't want to cause further issues down in the engine.

And that's the real issue. If I knew that the rest of the engine was still in good order, I would do the repair without thinking further. But if the engine is worn similar to the head gasket, I don't want to throw good money at a cause that will need to be readdressed - and would be even more expensive. (+ I already did the valve cover gasket and waterpump/timing belt less than 10k miles ago so have paid for that labor once already, oh well).

The shop also quoted me two other options besides the head gasket repair on the current motor:

- remanufactured engine $5,500 (engine only, not including labor) warranty 3yr - 100k mile
- used 120k motor from a junkyard $2,450 (engine only, not including labor) 90 day warranty

Labor for each option above for dropping the motor in is the same at $3,200.

I live in So Cal. All of this seems very high even so, motors shouldn't cost this much. Is this just the product of the environment we're in now? Huge markups on all auto products beyond new and used cars, even re done engines? Seems the remanufactured should be $3-4K, and the junkyard motor should be under $2k.... but what do I know.

I was planning on buying my next Taco, a 2015 DC V6 Prerunner and giving my 1st gen to my son whose getting his license soon.... but was waiting for this 20%+ markup snafu to resolve... sometime next year. Then this happens lol...

Anyways, thoughts and advice on this are appreciated,

 

315,000 miles you did get your moneys worth out of that engine.

Are we talking 2.7 or 2.4 engine? The 2.7 seem to be in real high demand all over the country so I am sure that impacts the price.

You never know what the bottom end is like till it gets pulled apart and inspected .

For what ever reason your unable to pull the head yourself or the engine ? Have things inspected and go from there.

People thought I was crazy for quoting $800.00 for pulling the engine and dropping the replacement in.

Good luck then Pa is much different then that part of the world.

 

Thanks for your response, I don't have the ability to pull the engine myself. $800 is a great deal, I'm guessing this was years ago?
I could ask the shop to bill me the hours it takes to open it up, but then I"m committed to a complete rebuild or whatever it requires. Guessing that would cost quite a lot. On the other hand, 1st gens in good shape with 250k miles are going for $10k+ in So Cal.

Yeah with owners getting closer to 400k miles, it seems reasonable to get more out of it, but each one is a unique case both in how it was built and consumed.

It's the 3.4L V6 engine.... Interesting that they are in high demand, this is due to people fixing their 1st gens rather than buying new or used because of the market increases?

 

Sorry to see these types of threads. Faced with a huge repair cost is never fun, especially if it's the taco.

Since you're in SoCal should have many options to explore. I imagine you've already shopped around prices with different shops. If you do decide to go with a salvaged engine, take a look at car-part.com.

I know you've mentioned not having the ability to do it yourself but take a moment to review this one - he goes into quite a bit of detail. Who knows... After watching you might just want to grab an FSM off eBay and give it a go. Good luck with whatever you decide.

https://youtu.be/voLBRDZL9fE

 

The labor quote was about 3 years ago.

To bad your on the other side of the country I have a 3.4 I pulled that was running I was going to do a swap till I got hurt.

Good Luck This is a tough call !

 

I am starting to dig around. One thing is that I'm hesitant to go for a junkyard or jdm motor and drop it in, since it's an unknown entity. Those JDMs state that they have 60k mileage, which is nothing for this 5VZ-FE motor, so sounds like a great option, but there's no telling how many miles are on them or what shape they are in.... could have as many miles as my engine has on it... With the amount of labor that goes into this repair, I'm more likely to want to do something that's more of a known situation. What about this place?

https://spprecision.com/products/toyota-5vz-fe-34-long-block-crate-engine-sale.html


Some other's I've looked at:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-5VZ...a-Tundra-T-100-4Runner-1996-2004/284560600828


This one's a bit pricey....
https://sunwestautoinc.com/product/toyota-3-4l-long-block-8-94-9-04/



Thanks for the carpart link. I'll check that out.

What's FSM?

 

Am I following your prices right?
$5500 for a rebuilt motor + $3200 install?
I love my 1st gen and all but I'm not sure I'd be willing g to spend $8,700 to replace the motor in it.

 

Sorry to hear you got hurt, man. That sucks. Wishing you a speedy recovery.
Would be interested in checking the motor out if I lived in your neck of the woods.

Do you have any options on the shops/motors in these links?

Especially interested in this one... It would probably take the better part of a month, but they would be rebuilding my engine instead of shipping one and taking mine as a core.
https://spprecision.com/products/toyota-5vz-fe-34-long-block-crate-engine-sale.html



https://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-5VZ...a-Tundra-T-100-4Runner-1996-2004/284560600828


This one's a bit pricey....
https://sunwestautoinc.com/product/toyota-3-4l-long-block-8-94-9-04/

 

Factory Service Manual

eBay has multiple listings and definitely look over all listings as some of them can be sketchy. You know eBay... If you plan on doing any wrenching on your Tacoma then this is certainly a resource to add to the arsenal.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2000-Toyot...r-Workshop-Manual-Set-W-EWD-OEM-/403391022737

Edit: just saw the mention of injury. Not fun, sorry to hear.

 

For what it is worth I have heard to many stories over the years once shipping gets involved .

it gets worse when your paying someone else labor even a good warranty on the engine is not paying to pull the engine and ship back to the builder Now your at 6 grand for labor and Hope this one works.

Thing is not being able to pull the engine dismantle and inspect it yourself adds a whole new can of worms

The top link is a just a short block the bottom is a long block that is why the price difference.

Short block is no heads or cams all those goodies

 

Yep
The $5,500 motor quote doesn't include tax so it's like $9,200. But that's a Jaspar engine the shop quoted me and that's way overpriced. I've found some other options that would bring total repair to about $6k more or less a few hundred dollars. Still a huge repair. What I'm trying to avoid is paying $3k+ to fix the head gasket and then have another major problem down in the block sooner or later which renders the repair worthless.

This is going to end up being a truck for my 16yo, and I'll be buying a newer taco at some point. So it's either get a long term solution for this 2000 taco, which has been a good vehicle to this point, or buy something else in this inflated market. For example, a 2010 single cab with 150k miles is going for 13k+, at least I would want an access cab for safety reasons.

I'm currently working from home and while I don't absolutely need a vehicle (or even 2) right now, it would be quite a pain in the ass to not have one for a bit.... thing is, even to do the head gasket the shop is quoting about 3 weeks lead. So, like it or not, that's the situation I'm in. Might as well weight all options.

 

My 02 tacoma has a 2.7 with 265k.
I always thought that if it needed a motor I would get a JDM motor for around $2k and pay a local independent shop around $1.5k for the install. Now I'm thinking my guesstimate may be off.
I know you have a V6, have you looked into a JDM motor? The labor for your install just seems high to me.

 

I had the same issue around 280k I think? I had the head resurfaced and gone through by my favorite machine shop. I'm at 340k now and still running strong for the mileage, I'm starting to get blow by.

I found a cheap 3rz long block and I'm having it rebuilt. I'll keep it as a spare until I decide it's time to swap.

Maybe just have the head serviced and keep trucking, I paid a buddy $500 to swap the head and the shop probably somewhere around that price to check the head. Gasket kit was probably $200 but I honestly don't remember.

 

OP`s is a 3.4 I thought 2.7 as well because he only said head never heads

 

your prices are way lower than mine. The gasket kit i’m being quoted is about $700. Cost to drop a new motor in is like three grand for labor alone. The numbers aren’t looking good for my truck, and I have owned it almost 20 years.
Unfortunately the numbers are not good on the new new or used market either…
It is what it is

 

20 hours at $145 per hour
And I agree with you, I’m in so cal tho

 

I see your point, the V-6 has 2 sides, 3 on each

 

$700 for a head gasket kit? Maybe try oriellys and buy yourself some time to find an engine. I paid $300 for a good engine with a bad head.

If the rest of the truck is still good it's probably worth putting some money into to keep it around.

 

I checked and it's actually $550 for the gasket set, OEM TOyota part. EVerything is still high, the labor especially. I'm not looking forward to my options:
- Pay $3,500 to fix the head gasket not knowing if there are other issues. Can't pull the parts myself
- Buy a new truck and overpay
- Buy a used truck and overpay

But, one of the above I'll be doing.

 

I have had success sealing a smaller head gasket leak with K-Seal Ultimate.