2004 5VZ-FE leaking Head Gasket

I have an 2004 3.4 that I bought used and now has about 54K miles. I check the engine bay about once a week and noticed this weekend that the passenger side head gasket is leaking. Pulled the plug and sure enough there was a trace of coolant. There's no overheating issue but cylinder 5 seems to be the culprit and I can see coolant seepage between the head and block. I used a head gasket sealant that was added to the radatior and it seemed to have stopped the leak and I know that is only a temporary fix. I'd never done any work on a 3.4 before but I have worked on the 3.0 with the same issue but after about 80K miles on the 3.0 it developed a leak again. The options I am contemplating are pulling the heads off the 3.4 and replacing the gaskets and having the heads checked for warpage or cracks but as I stated before, no over heating and looks like I caught it early. I will also replace the timing components while it's off. This is by no means an easy job and I am no mechanic and I estimate cost to be about $1k or less.

My second option is buying a used engine from Japan with approximately less than 50k miles on it with a cost of about $1.5K.

The 2nd option cost more but there is less to be done as I will simply pull the whole engine off and swap with the other.

Any opinions on either option?

 

Are you a decent mechanic? If so, its not a difficult job and could easily be done yourself.

 

I'm sure I can get it done. I understand it's time consuming as there are many parts to remove to get to it. Like I said, I've done the 3.0 before. If I do take on the head gasket, I still would have to send the heads out to get checked.

 

Any local machine shop should be able to deck the heads and get you going again

 

Im pretty sure the 3.slow is harder to work on than the 3.4l. There is alot less room to work with on the 3.0's and there's alot less wires and hoses. If you did the HG on your 3.0, then you shouldnt have any trouble doing the 3.4l. I would look into replacing the HG before buying a new engine. Especially since your only at 54k.

I overheated my 3.4 last winter when the water pump failed. I replaced the pump and belt and since then I havent noticed any coolant leaks but there's definitely some oil seepage coming from the HG and Valve Cover Gasket. Im also burning oil. My 3.4 has almost 250,000miles and still runs strong. I have a spare block and engine so im thinking about running into the ground.

Question - How did you test for coolant on the plugs?

 

I recently flushed my cooling system and just used regular coolant(green). I think the original owner had a problem with his water pump and over heated as accorinding to Toyota Owner's record, the water pump was replaced at 39K miles. Anyway when I pulled the #5 plug, it had a tint of green on it so I knew it was the head gasket not to mention the seepage between the block and head itself.

It's been two days now and so far no external leak after the liquid head gasket sealer. I'm hoping it will last until February or March when I will have time to work on it. I remember the 3.0 being a pain to work on.

 

Can you snag a pic of the leak between the block and head?

 

I'll try to take a pic of where it was leaking as it's no longer leaking now.

 

This is the passenger side. Leaks right between the end of the head and top of block.

 

But a used engine from Japan with less than 50K miles comes whole with everything from the throttle body all the way down to the starter. 03-04 TB's are around $1200 alone plus remove and install would be easier and then rebuild my engine in my spare time. I have a couple of months to think about it.

 

The head gasket on the 3.4l is pretty straight forward in replacing, just take pictures and mark things and it should be very easy. That seems very early for a head gasket to go out though, I have 305,000 on mine with a stock head gasket and it is still in decent shape.

 

I think it's because the 1st owner had some kind problem as water pump was replaced at 39K.

 

While the idea of buying one of those imported Japanese engines and installing it may sound like a good idea, you have no idea what kind of maintenance and wear and tear is on that engine.

 

Yep, I've taken that into consideration. That's why I've decided to just tear apart my engine but first, compression check.