Blown Head Gasket 19k

Am I missing something, when did purchase this truck? Your last post says the dealer diagnosed a blown head gasket on 7/24.

 

I purchased it 12/08 but the guy said he had it sitting in his garage for about 4 months bacause he couldn'tt afford to fix it and make the payment, since toyota denied the claim.

 

Wow, something is way too fishy here. Who makes the payments on a broke truck and just lets Toyota give them the shaft? Maybe you should be doing some more digging or visit Toyota and tell them they need to fix the problem.

 

Your two best options would be this. Drain the antifreeze, fill it back up with toyota antifreeze and take it to another dealer and get it done under warranty. That would be your best option. Or you can buy a new motor or find one out of a wrecked tacoma and have it put in. Either or would be your cheapest, and most reliable solution.

 

odd..

 

It sounds like the original owner screwed himself by putting non-Toyota antifreeze in due most likely to the fact that it had a blown head gasket and the coolant was low. You can't just buy Toyota antifreeze anywhere, so he probably had no choice but to buy something else or blow the engine. It looks like he would have been better off to let the engine blow.

 

I believe there's a whole lot more story to that truck. I'm amazed you want to fix that engine. With an unknown history and extremely premature failure, I would yank that engine and never look back. Find a motor from a low mileage wreck and swap it out.

 

Did you buy this truck on ebay? I remember there was a truck described just like this one same mileage that had a blown head gasket. The guy said debris hit the radiator one night and he kept driving it resulting in the blown head gasket. Either way if it were me I would buy a used engine and put it in or have it put in. Seems you got a fair price for the truck and coudl afford to put a little more in it to make it right again.

 

Like I said before, I would drain and fill with Toyota red and take it to another dealership and plead innocence since you just bought it.

I guess if stranded in the middle of nowhere with an overheating engine due to low coolant the best advice would be to refill with water (as long as temps aren't below freezing). Of course roadside assistance would be the most logical choice if available.

 

If the only reason they denied you warrenty was because of a diffrent antifreeze, remind them of the Magnuson-Moss Act http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson%E2%80%93Moss_Warranty_Act.

Using a different antifreeze is no different than using a different oil. They can NOT deny you warranty service for this. This presumes there is no other reason they know of (low level, abuse, something else not discussed here yet).

Also just taking it to another dealer won't work as it's in the corporate service history it was denied service for this issue. You'll probably need to work with corporate if your dealer refuses to work with it.

 

Running out of power is a clear sign of overheating. Just because the temp gauge said it was running at operating temp, does not mean it is. If there is not any coolant surrounding the sending unit, the gauge will give a faulty reading.

If you get coolant in the cylinder because of the blown head gasket you take a really good chance of blowing a hole through a piston, cracking the block, or bending a rod, among many other things.

 

This whole thread smells fishy. Previous owner knows the real truth on what went on with this truck. Damn shame, great looking truck.

 

At this point your better off dropping a used engine in that truck. You basically have no information why it went in the 1st place.

 

I'm draining and flushing the antifreeze from the radiator and block a few times, then I'm taking it to the dealer tomorrow, I guess its worth a shoot all the can say is no, and if that doesn't work I'm getting a used engine and installing it myself. Thanks for all the replys, and yes that was the same one that was on Ebay

 

Good luck. The rest of the truck looks good.

 

My previous truck (Nissan Frontier) overheated and blew the head gasket, it's no big deal IMO. Yes a decent amount of labor is involved, but you basically pull the head get it machined (if it is warped) and replace the gasket. If you don't get through at the dealer, shop around and see if you can get a better deal. Also remember you still have to find out why the gasket blew in the first place.

 

Perhaps we need to pay the original owner a "visit". I'll hold the Louisville Slugger. (I don't mean a hockey stick either)

 

So you were aware of the issue before you purchased it?

 

You were obviously aware of the problem when you purchased the truck for a 10K discount. I would by and install a new or slightly used engine and not look back. The truck appears to be in great shape otherwise. I guess I would take a close look at the rest of the truck before I spent the time and money on a new engine.

 

Blew the headgasket because too much air pressure was coming in through the scoop.