2003 Tacoma 2.7 head gasket

I have a 03 Tacoma that started up and felt kinda funny. I pulled up to a stop light and was followed by a huge cloud of white smoke from the exhaust that I could tell was antifreeze. I immediately pulled over and had it towed home. The truck has 225000 miles and in decent shape and no way can I afford a new truck. I'm going to take on the head gasket and was wondering should I just swap the complete head with an aftermarket or should I take the old head to the machine shop. I feel like all the valves and other adjustments would be done on a new complete head. It is a second vehicle so time isn't an issue.
Any thoughts and considerations would be welcomed. I've never takin on a head gasket and I guess this is my chance.

 

https://www.cylinder-heads.com/

A place to shop if you want to go the reman route and don't have shop in your area that you are familiar with.

But. If the head isn't warped or cracked, a gasket may be a fine solution.

Consider all the items you'll touch on the way in and out. With that mileage, likely worth replacing.

Not affliated, regardless of my screen name.

 

Definitely go through the head one way or the other. I have the V6 so can't speak directly. I heard those heads have soft valve seats and and go out of lash spec. Good luck.

 

If it’s just the gasket it might be ok if you didn’t drive it. I’d take the head off and test it with a precision straight edge and feeler gauges to check if it warped and the block as well. I’d recommend checking out this site for what ever it ends up being. https://209yota1.com/products/

 

Good news.... is you can buy anything you want for these....probably only Jeeps are out done in after parts...

2.7 engine is a blessing and a curse.....its worst problem is the head gasket thing.
But also the head cracks..... a lot.....Can not take any over heating.....And often you cant see the crack......stays hidden until some heat and pressure....

So look at the head real careful......same with the block......rings good?......

I have the 2.4 with same head, decided not to gamble and went with new head....and reman block.
While in pieces....might as well do new time belt, oil pump, seals,guides, water pump,......and I'd do the balance shaft delete.....get rid of that chain/guides/bearings failure point......
Now I dont have to worry it for 250K miles.....other than changing oil/coolant....


Toyota 2.4/2.7 2RZ/3RZ 8 port intake Assembled Cylinder Head | King Cylinder Heads

 

Here's pic of my steam machine......looks like leak was on 3, right between 2 and 3....

 

I have bought a couple of vehicles needing a head gasket and had a couple fail on me as well. I generally get the head refreshed by a local shop and put it back on. Use the shop that the local racers use, not a budget place.

 

I would look for a local shop to rework the head. I had mine done that way and it was $427, a couple hundred cheaper than one off the internet.


The job itself isn’t too bad if you’re patient, but it is time consuming, especially if you’ve never done it before. I did mine in evenings after work and it probably took a month, working off an on.

Toyota sells a complete gasket kit for heads that includes everything you need to do the job, I have the part number in my email somewhere.

 

I second the local shop if one in your area, my 5vze head valve job for both heads was only $300, I was worried that it was too low but they did a good job, they even wrote down all valve clearances.

IMO main thing with a shop is that they have been around for a while, if a shop can weather a recession they are probably good at what they do. Also I suspect the one I went to mostly does work for professional mechanics.

The problem with internet, and we have seen it here many times, is that they have a massive potential customer base so they can screw over people again and again and it won't really matter. That probably won't work for a local shop for long. And yeah I know you can check the reviews but all a business has to do is change their name. I'm told the dishonest roofing companies work this way, change the company name every year.

 

Thanks for all the great info. I started to cut into yesterday and I'm feeling pretty good about it. I'm sure that feeling will change sooner or later. Anybody have any favorite penetrating oil. I'd prefer something that doesn't stink. I usually use PB but it stinks the house up. Also what other jobs should I do while everything is apart. Someone mentioned checking the block. Is block failure common. One more question why an aluminum head. Sorry I'm old and if I don't ask while it's in my head I'll forget.

 

I'm hooked on the 'Deep creep' from seafoam.......couple yrs ago it was judged best.....
that and a little torch has always won the battle........there's been some knuckle busters.....

I got a m12 fuel 3/8" impact......and I can take a whole engine bay apart in a morning.....no kidding.....wish I had this SOB 20 yrs ago....

 

And yes aluminum heads are good......aluminum blocks rarely are....

Unfortunately these iron blocks with some alu heads are susceptible to warp if you overhead for extended time......
And these heads are cast so minimal they are also susceptible to cracks forming between valves at cylinder top, especially if u over heat......

2.7 seem to overhead the most.......but since these are in the base model for many many lines, for years, may not be fair accessment.....

Back in the day, mid 70's chevy tried to put a iron head on a alm block......no sleeves.....
what a disaster........but that sob was fast.....

 

OMG you hit the nail on the head with that one, I used blaster on a water heater anode rod and I caught holy hell for that. It got into the house water and had to run a wash of clothes twice and clothes still smelled of it. Don't even wash any rags contaminated with that stuff, it will stink up the washing machine.

Don't sweat your HG job too much, just follow every step of the FSM, Toyota does a great job on these but sometimes the English is a bit weird so may have to read several times and also sometimes I have to look at the pictures for a quite a while to see what they mean. You can check your block deck flatness but the straightedge is not cheap - don't bother with any Chinesium made ones as I have heard they are absolute crap, I don't have one but would only trust a Starrett. As long as you did not overheat badly and did not milkshake the oil it should be OK.

Also I don't think Silver taco is referring to the Chevy Vega because fast it was not but I had one of those, first car. I think I replaced the HG twice on that, maybe 3 times. It was like a maintenance item for me. I did not know Chevy did any other alum block, iron head engines because for sure they should have learned their lesson on the Vega.

 

It's working out nice to have the time to do the job with out rushing. Liquid Wrench Professional seems to be working very well with out the odor. I really didn't overheat the engine but I definitely have antifreeze in the oil. Hopefully I can just get the original head in working order. I found a great machine shop not to far. Oh well I guess we'll see.

 

I believe toyota uses aluminum blocks worldwide, iron sleeved.....
they just dont sell em hear because of epa.....
Same with diesels, they sell a ton of them worldwide, just not in the states..
Because epa and because they cant get out of their own way unless its a standard......

 

Make sure that you replace the torque to yield head bolts as they are not reusable.

 

So one thing that's not really thorough in the FSM is checking the head bolt holes. By scraping the gasket you are inevitably putting debris in there. So I hit the holes with some compressed air, sprayed with brake cleaner and ran an old head bolt all the down to check for resistance. Ideally should not feel much resistance. Yotashop sells a cleanout tap for this but should not need it. The other tip is just before putting the new HG on, clean block and head with brake cleaner since oil will compromise seal. Don't tip the head too much though, buckets can fall out.

Other than that I think FSM has everything you need except dont reuse head bolts as USMILRET says.

 

More questions and comments
1. I used Lucas upper cylinder lubricant in the gas tank before the head gasket went. Any chance it had something to do with the failure. I read an article that someone wrote and they swore it was responsible for there blown head gasket. Just curious
2. I tried liquid Wrench pro and I'm truly shocked how well it works. The rusty bolts that I've sprayed seems like the rust falls of and they look new and very low odor which is a plus.
3. The exhaust looks to be headers instead of a manifold. Is that stock or after market. If it's after market I doubt the factory gasket will work.

 

Your head gasket most likely deteriorated with multiple heat/cold cycles, worn out engine coolant and plain old age. Not Lucas upper cylinder lubricant.

 

I'm down to the head removal. Before I take out the cams should I check shim clearance or can that be done later. Also I have no idea what I'm talking about I just don't want to remove the cams prematurely. It seems like head bolt removal starts in the middle and works it way out. Do I loosen them so much and move to the next bolt and continue working the same pattern or just loosen them all the way.