Head Gasket Leak Repair (+ Other Options?)

Know going in it is just a bandaid to buy time

There is a sealer that the local School district uses on the Buses to get them through to the Summer when the Job can be done correct.

It is not cheap it was about $60.00 for a quart a few years back

Directions need to be followed or you wasted your money and time.

You never know it might work a few months a year or two .

With your high mileage it might be get you some time to decide

 

How long did this fix last?

 

Which product is this?

 

Parts for a full gasket replacement with water pump and timing belt should run around $5-700. I like Rock Auto. It's a full 2-3 day job if you've never done it before, but it's very doable. Labor-wise I think about 12 hours at $100/hr is fair, so you should be under $2000 for a repair, no engine replacement.

 

3+ years, 30K+ miles

 

I am not 100% sure and the Autoparts Store that sold it has closed up.

Then I seem to never be able to find the bottle I have on the shelf.

I might be able to find out but The former employees might not remember.

 

Thank you everyone for your input. I'm still deciding on what I want to do. On top of the issues with the current market, this truck has been my only vehicle for the last 18 1/2 years, so this is a tough one for me.

 

there are a lot of convenient band aid fixes posted

300000 miles are alot of cycles on most engine parts

reports of longevity / mileage cant be compared

a head gasket at that milegae is only tip o iceberg many things are worn at 300k

likely to go after 1 fix or the other

i understand the sentiment of miles driven /enjoyed & Ur son

U need a solid business decision minus sentiment

band aide fixes wont get U another 100k.......200k ........300k miles

$5 aweek EZ rainy day fund for 18.5 years....................U got to look towards the horizon

a short term sentimental convenient ez fix could go double

 

Here is a $2500 JDM in San Diego for consideration.

https://www.jdmwestside.com/jdm-toy...96-2004-4runner-t100-tacoma-5vz-fe-motor.html

 

Thanks for the link. I have seen some for between $1,500 and $2,000 as well, supposedly with 60k miles or less.
I'm more concerned about labor for installing it.

 

This is true, but a new engine doesn't fix that problem either.

 

the circumstance are divergent allowing for sentiment + expectations

solving the issues are minus both factors

the bond /attachment doesnt help at all

the expectations must be grouned/reasonable .........................

if not more $$$$$$ spent later chasing longevity

 

Typically the 3.4 bottom end is going to be ok if it’s been maintained.
When my head gasket popped at 480,000 the engine still used zero oil.

your biggest problem to think about is if the heads are cracked and you need new heads.

My situation ended being that the heads were cracked.

I found a used motor with 90k that was running in the truck for 1500 and got it installed for 1500.

 

I did my head gasket on a 98 V6 recently with 290k miles (did the work myself) , even if it just gets me just another 50k well worth it. I was lucky no head cracks.

If you have a high mileage Tacoma and can't do the repairs yourself it will be a serious money pit like any high mileage car. Unless you really love the truck I would get a new vehicle. About 5 years ago I decided to keep mine and replace all of the obvious wear items and parts alone probably cost me $3000 plus $1200 for manual trans rebuild and $1000 for the head gasket parts and valve job labor. Still worth it to me especially considering used truck prices now.

Basically at 300k miles/20 years all of the rubber based parts will start to fail, i.e. all of the hydraulics, brake booster, vacuum lines, coolant hoses (although I could not believe how good my original hoses looked), radiator (twice), cv boots, ball joint boots, center bearing. Even my clutch rubber hydraulic line failed. And not even mentioning all the various oil seals.

 

Just hit 375,000 on my 2002's 3.4L. Also just invested a chunk of change in a complete OEM timing belt/ water pump/ radiator job. The engine still runs great and heads have never been off! yeah some things wear but i truly believe these to be 500k engines if properly cared for. Anyhow shop around for the head job and if possible have em run a compression test on the good side. Compression will tell you a lot more about the health of your own engine then a bunch of dudes on a forum. Shoot if i was buying a JDM motor and wanted to be sure it's low millage i'd arrange a way to do a compression test on at least two cylinders on the palet.

I've also contemplated the "what if the head gasket goes delima" and because i do most of my own wrenching if i wanted to keep the truck i'd for sure buy a JDM engine (going for $1,900 here in the bay area CA) and do my own install. Jasper's quality control sucks and you'd never get another 300k trouble free miles from those so beware. (Used to work in a shop and installed and warrantied quite a bit of these)

All the quotes you mentioned sound stupid high (even post covid) so i would suggest shopping around a lot for everything (head job/ engines/ labor). Shoot there is a even a guy up in Santa Rosa on craigslist selling/ rebuilding 3.0's and 3.4s with warranty and paperwork all for a around $2k + core.

the other question you should also be asking is how is the rest of the drivetrain? If you invest in your motor does your trans, rear axle, brakes, suspension have another 100-200k in them to make it worth it?

I bought my 02 with 300k and the previous owner had done a Marlin Crawler rebuilt 5 speed at 200k. It needed a new clutch when i bought it and that was $1,500 parts/labor for OEM Aisin full clutch kit/ master/ slave cylinders/ new flywheel. It's now leaking a bit and has a notchy 2nd gear. Just got done paying $600 for a shop to do my rear axle outer bearings/ seals which is a weak point in these trucks. Before that i threw $800 into Bilstein 5100's and new springs all around mostly because the truck still had the factory TRD stuff which was really tired/ worn.

Nobody likes getting rid of their 1st gen but also weigh out your finances and the fact that at 300k lots of other things start to wear.

Seemed i read one of your quotes they mentioned redoing your timing belt/ water pump for the head job even though you had just done it 10k ago?! Absolutely not necessary! If anything all they would have to "replace" is the timing belt tension-er but the belt, rollers and other items are totally reusable, water pump wouldn't even need to be unbolted from the block.

As for the head job it self it's silly to pull a head from a 300k mile engine and just swap a gasket and call it good. Not saying people don't do it or get away with it but it's not good practice. Having the head off is THE best time to send it to a machine shop to get it inspected, cleaned of all carbon deposits, resurfaced/decked (if needed), along with a proper valve adjustment when reinstalled. And i don't know if this needs to be said but make sure you do BOTH heads/ head gaskets if going that route.

hope any of this helps!

 

Whoever you do do not reuse the head gasket bolts. They are torque to yield and must be replaced with new TTY bolts. I have seen catastrophic failure due to reusing TTY bolts.

 

Solid advice and helps me map out what the future of my Tacoma looks like. I just purchased a 02 with 130k miles on it and plan to keep it for a long time and like to pre-plan for what could happen. Thanks!