2005 Tacoma 4x4 5ft 4.0 Manual (Price Estimate)

Trade in at the dealer maybe 5k. They probably won’t give you more than $2500.

 

If you were in Texasid give you 5k cash. I need a project.

 

i can see someone paying around $6500

and the reasons the 1gr engine is so expensive.....is supply and demand. junkyards dont have a lot of those engines laying around, and people want them to put into the 2004-2006 4runner, and tacoma.

i had a blown headgasket on my 2006 4runner, and i swapped the engine because it was $1500 for a used engine and labor.....where a headgasket job was going to cost me $2000.

 

Not to sound to intrusive but what is your paygrade? How long have you been in?

 

based off that info I would guess the headgasket(s) are done because it suggests combustion gases (hotter and higher pressure) are entering the coolant circuit causing the excess heat and bubbling.

a way to test that is with what’s called a block tester kit. The cheapest place to get one is harbor freight, if you keep the tool. Autozone might rent them. HFT might come with the fluid.
But you have to pay for the chemical testing fluid you end up using regardless of the tool.

I just don’t know if the regular bottom end of the tool is small enough to fit the Toyota radiator cap or if using the reservoir would suffice as one might do on a German car that has no radiator cap.



There’s YouTube videos on how to use it.

If you go through the radiator cap you probably can’t do it with engine hot. Because loosening a radiator on a hot engine means hot coolant under pressure blasting up and the cap in your face.

Basically with enough fluid in the tool, sealed pushed down (maybe with a helper) you squeeze the bulb on top by hand 10 times or whatever it says to

and if the fluid changes color due to the chemical that indicates there is presence of combustion gas, aka confirmed headgasket leak

unless you pay a shop 1hr diag

but given early 2nd gen has a reputation for defective head gasket, and yours is high miles
It’s a good guess right now.


I think mechanics not willing to work on it may be more of a reflection of your particular area in the country, not the truck. Other states I have been in mechanics would not hesitate to work on it.

And I don’t get the impression your truck is rusty as shit.

Toyota also doesn’t use shitty plastics compared to other brands. Can some stuff break during removal on a job? Sure.
but an experienced mechanic will have:
-replacement parts
-skilled careful hands that know how to remove things
-tools to carefully remove things whether that be pick tools, pry tools, lubricant spray

at least what I’m referring to is the electrical harness atop the engine that would probably have to be moved out of the way to do a headgasket job

Usually when people do a headgasket job, they take their heads to a machine shop to be serviced.

The heads of a block can be cleaned by using a $5-10 carbide scraper tool. Do not use any sort of wiz wheel that will cause uneven surface and introduce abrasive debris.

But the actual cylinder heads themselves, on one side, they may not be overheated and warped needing machining.

But while you’re in there a machine shop still can service the heads if you want. Which includes running them through a hot cleaning tank and replacing all the valve stem seals with new, etc

I think a worthwhile investment for anyone keeping the truck longterm is the set of factory service manuals. Mine are locked up in storage in another state.
Workshop-manuals.com, forums, YouTube, Haynes/chilton, or temporary online manual rental from Toyota could suffice.

I’m not going to lie. It’s not a 1/10 on the easy scale. But it’s not 10/10 either.

even replacing an engine still has its own difficulty and other things involved to do, that a head job may not require.

Besides one time use big head bolts holding on the heads, they also involve camshafts, timing, and timing chains holding those Cams on. Which use tensioners. You have to know what you’re doing. Or pay attention be careful go slow whatever you wanna call it.

it’s not as complicated as a V8 twin turbo. And is not the most cramped engine bay.
But also doesn’t have a service position like some cars.

Audi has what’s called service position since probably 1995. Where the whole entire front end of the car is able to slide forward or come off in as little as 15 minutes, to gain more access on those tight cramped cars. Many times recommended or required for certain repairs.
Whereas most other cars the front end doesn’t come off, you just lay in weird contorted positions reaching your hands down.

then you’ve gotta thing about cleanliness. Chemical cleaners. Degreaser. Water rinse if needed. Good lighting to see what you’re doing. Picking good sealants. Installing them fast enough and leaving cure time.

checking timing. Pre lubing things if needed.
It’s probably at least 4 or 5/10 on the “wrench difficulty scale”

depends if you wanna learn
How much prior experience you have doing other shit building up to that
How confident you feel, what help you have around, how much time you have


Working on cars is measure twice cut once. Hopefully properly not causing damage.
As in researching enough about the job to where you’ve rehearsed it in your head can do it eyes closed imaginary. THEN you go and do it.

if I was local I’d help. Or if I had a house and empty garage I wouldn’t care if you left if parked and we wrenched on it.
Not sure what kind of folks and enthusiasts you might have in your area.

sometimes life does have these moments of “forcing you to do some shit” where it is painful but if you pull it off at the end it becomes a learning experience looking back. It really depends on how you look at it.
Could be “oh man that was a waste of time and stressful af”
or, “I now have more skill, confidence, and tools”
(that is assuming it gets re-timed right and not blown up)

shop also does assume liability. If you fuck something up, uh oh.
If a shop fucks something up, cool, now they owe you a motor and eat the cost.

You might be able to find a mechanic looking for side work at $50/hr labor which on a big job is worth it but the problem is every mechanic nowadays will advertise themselves as The Fuckin Best even if they’re not, which is hard to figure out the truth unless you know enough shit to quiz them on

 

Also about the shift knob
I didn’t notice
You do whatever works for you.

other cheap options I’ve tried is the grey pool ball style OEM TRD. I later got the same Black and Red kind FJ Trail Teams Edition.
but I didn’t like the exposed nut underneath that kept either cutting or jamming my finger.

so later I switched to the AJT Designs knob that hasn’t given me that problem.

they do have a lot. And nobody needs them. They upcharge because they know it’s a fanboy brand. Just like how upgraded motor mounts for a common Jeep are only like $50. More Toyotas wreck than 1GR’s fail.

 

Thank you for your time and effort writing this.

As of rust, I don’t believe I have a problem with it.

Here is a couple of pics (Just an general overview)

As for prior experience, not much if any. My experience goes as far as than changing the oil, changing my brakes, flushing the coolant, and thermostat.

As for confidence, if I’m going to be honest, low if I were to do it myself. I do have a buddy that is a mechanic for our company that said he was up for it, but I don’t know how much experience he has out of the army and he seems to be backing out. I believe I would have the time, but I’m in the barracks and got the parking lot. But there was a comment earlier that brought up the idea of going to the service members shop on post, so there is that. I also already do have the OEM gasket kit on hand.

I really do think my circumstances are pushing me into the direction of taking it to a mechanic. I do however have a peaked interest in figuring out how to fix my own truck. I think I want to start on smaller fixs and build myself up rather that tackling this major project by myself.

Once again, I really do appreciate your advice and direction.

 

I’m an E-4. I’m been it just over 2 year. Are you military as well?

 

I might just have to take you up on your offer haha

 

Yes I am. Do you have family nearby? Or have you talked to your platoon sergeant about what dealerships to avoid, oftentimes a lot of the dealerships near the base will try to take advantage of military guys...and honestly you have a pretty nice truck that is def. worth fixing.

 

there is multiple ways a head gasket can blow (I think 7 ways), when mine went it was not detectible by the coolant gas test you have pictured. I had replaced everything short of the engine itself to try and solve my overheating. It still overheated. I found it after replacing the spark plugs and pulling them to find one was bright pink and smelled of coolant.

I did all the work my self and It was the biggest mechanical project I had ever done at the time and took me a month. but I will say it better to replace the engine than to try and fix the head gasket. Independent shops wouldn't do it with my trucks mileage (228k), Toyota wanted $4k, and It was too much for me. I bought a new engine with 3k miles for $2,700 and figured out how to swap it myself. glad I did because now I have an engine I fully trust. Toyota only warranties their work for a year and a low amount of miles. Researching further into it, there has been people on ti=his site who have had it done by a shop or Toyota to only have it have to be done again.

 

OP, as someone who was in your exact spot id replace the whole engine with an 08-11 junkyard engine or just get rid of it