'05/'06 Tacoma Head Gasket Failure Poll

Been seeing this info around here for a while now, and have heard mixed outcomes from people. I have read that if it appears, it's typically around 140,000 miles.

So being the owner of an '05 @ 93,000 miles, I'm curious about how prevalent this is, or if the bad news is just overblown. So if you have one of these years throw in a vote so we can get an idea of what we're looking at.

 

It just may be the luck of the draw on this one. I am at 122 K and still going.

As far as preventing the failure goes, I have replaced the coolant a few times with the hope that the chemical in fresh fluid may help to hold things in check.

If the gasket does finally go, I will drain the fluid completely, add pure water and try Steel Seal gasket repair. Steel Seal is not compatible with Toyota fluid. If it works, I will run the truck for a week or two with only water and then go back to Toyota anti-freeze once the Steel Seal has completely set.

 

Curious to see what comes of this thread since I have an 05. Ive placed my vote.

 

Of course it's overblown. Enjoy your truck. Dont worry about things that are out of your control

 

I am also curious, just bought my 05 with 225k was in mint shape and runs kike a champ. Doesnt leak any oil or anything but would like to know what to look out for or what to do for preventative maintenance....

Dont get me wrong I do love it and am setting it up more every day for my side lawn business and hunting truck so I just want to make sure it lasts for 500k

 

I also have 122k

 

I've got 137k on my 05. I've got a reman motor with only about 10k on it though so I shouldn't ever have an issue.

 

Not stressing about it, just curious.

There are a lot of things (on this site especially) that get said, and then get parroted by a bunch of other people, and then becomes gospel. This is a known issue, just curious to see the percentage of people that chime in with, or without the issue.

But I think your probably right about it being overblown, and this poll should give everyone a better idea about what to expect.

 

The HG on my '05 went last year, around 180k. I replaced the gaskets with the updated design, replaced the timing chains and a few other parts while I was in there...and haven't thought about it since.

Honestly didn't give it much thought before either, because it's just a gasket. All this worry, mostly for naught. The updated design can fail too, but who cares. Maintain it like it's supposed to be, drive your truck until it breaks, then fix it and continue driving.

"ounce of prevention, pound of cure"

 

I've got 268k on my 06, no known issues until recently, but I'm pretty sure my current problem is a thermostat housing gasket.

 

Cast my poll. I have an 06 that is at 142k. Hopefully I will get many more miles out of it.

 

I picked up my truck February of 2006. 315,000 miles today and never had a head gasket issue.

 

Here we go again, another one of these threads that has no traction for us with these year models. Even if mine does have these issue, the truck is has been paid off long go and it's just a head gasket repair, which can occur on any vehicle or year model. You could just sell the truck for an issue that may not occur and get a newer tacoma and be stuck in monthly payments for the mental insurance for an issue that could also occur in a newer model.

 

Boy your making a bunch of assumptions here huh? No one's talking about selling, or not selling, or how often this even happens.
As for this subject having traction, or not, that's the whole point of the thread, to find out if it does.

If this is a subject you either don't care about, or are sick of seeing, look at the thread title, and move on. Pretty simple.

 

Don't take offence but there's another current thread on the OP that's worrying about the same issue. I almost thought it was from the same OP.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/sell-before-it’s-too-late.595981/

 

This is an overhyped failure. Obviously there is a design flaw in the earlier headgaskets which usually do result in a failure at some point. Is it going to happen to every 05/06 because of it? No.

I rarely even see Tacoma's at the shop I work at, the one I did diagnose that ended up having a blown head gasket had 341K on the clock. That is DARN good if you ask me.

 

I think its a useful thread just for the statistical information alone. As youve stated, things get said on the forums and then somehow it becomes gospel among this "small" group of people. At the time of this post there is 1 blown gasket out of 22 votes, doesnt seem like a high failure rate. While this is an issue that shouldnt be a problem on a modern engine, unless you own a subaru, it is good to see what the failure rate actually is and get more information about what mileage and conditions its happening at.

 

That thread is one of the reasons I started this thread. As I said before, I've been seeing this subject get thrown around a lot lately. A lot of times, it's mentioned as, if you have one of these years, you will be getting this issue. I tend to agree with those that think it's overblown. Again, the whole reason for the thread. So we can get some type of numbers to show what we suspect is actually going on. No emotion here, just data.

 

Worrying about it will do nothing. Could happen to any vehicle.

If it happens, 3k tops and you are good to go for another 100k miles or so