Dealer says I need new head gaskets?! Help plz.

Simple - put a Stant or any other pressure hand pump on your rad at the cap (When cold) and pump it up to 15 PSI and let it sit. If the pressure drops, you have a leak and most times you will see it if it is external. If the pressure holds possibly leak at waterpump seal which you can visably see after running a while. (there is a hole at bottom of pump near where pulley attaches - usually it will be wet or rust coming from hole if leaking. I have seen many head gasket changes that did not need doing and a lot of times intake manifold leak instead . - hope this helps

 

This right here. I smell bullshit.

 

05-06 4.0’s are known for head gaskets going, but not yours. If ask how he diagnosed that from just looking, and be very suspicious of it..

 

First off, they didn't state which cylinder? Second, losing that much coolant and no misfire OBD code thrown?

Does it idle rough?

When you start it in the morning, do you hear water swooshing sound?

In the morning, put a paper towel under the tailpipe on the ground. Start it, let idle for like 20 mins, does an abnormal mount of water drip on the paper towel? If so smell it, does it smell 'sweet'?

Not sure if your a do it yourself guy, but, pull the spark plugs, put a borescope/endoscope in the spark plug holes, if one cylinder looks really clean compared to the others, possible bad head gasket, if your not a do it yourself guy, get a really good flashlight, shine it in the holes, if one of the cylinders looks nice and like clean metal Vs the others, may have head gasket issues.

In the morning, after sitting all night, pop the hood, pull off the radiator cap, put heater on high. Start it. Let it idle for about 20 mins watching for any bubbles in the radiator. See any bubbles, possible bad head gasket or heater coil.

Get a bright flashlight, at night, check all of the coolant hoses, and below the overflow jug. Look for white crusty residue. That's from dried coolant that leaked out. See that, you have coolant leak, no bad head gasket.

Personally, I don't think you have a bad head gasket, maybe a leak in coolant system, or dealership is fullfull of... Well you know.

If they are basing a bad head gasket diagnosis on loss of coolant, find another dealership!

2013 is not a year known to have head gasket issues unless the previous owner overheated it and warped the heads.

As far as warranty, I wouldn't commit to anything until warranty company approves it.

The price they quoted you is waaaaaaayyyyy too low! At dealership labor prices, what they are billing for is to loosen the timing cover enough to remove the heads, pop in new head gaskets and reinstall heads.

Toyota protocol states, engine over haul gasket set, all gaskets replaced, valve job by machine shop.

Smells fishier than a beach full of dead fish, lol!

If your really worried and not a do it yourself guy, have another dealership run a pressure test through the coolant system, scope the cylinders, and hook a shop air compressor to each cylinder, rotate the crank to close the valves and check for bubbles in coolant. A waste of prob $500 though.

My $0.02 worth

 

Unless he performed actual testing and can back up the claim, you definitely DO NOT submit to anal ripping without getting a second opinion. What you need for a second opinion is to get someone who knows that you have insurance, and that it CANNOT be used except at the Toyota dealer, this way he will be aiming for the best diagnostics job possible rather than marking you for a repair job.

Be aware that coolant drops over time. All vehicles, even with no leaks at all, will slowly lose coolant through evaporation. The cooling system is not sealed, the radiator cap is a valve that lets liquid and vapor escape into the overflow bottle when the coolant expands, and draws it back into the cooling system from the overflow bottle when the coolant contracts. The loss of coolant will be slow, but it WILL happen. Assuming that nobody has ever inspected, topped up, or flushed the coolant, at 90k miles, the level WILL be down somewhat.

 

For what it's worth my 2013 had reached the low mark twice since i've owned it (since 2013). I just refill it and call it good, it took about two years to go from the mid mark to the low mark each time. Spooked me at first but I think it's just evaporation. I don't see any leaks anywhere, oil looks fine and comes out the same amount as I put in. I have 101,000 miles currently.

 

Also CHECK THE THERMOSTAT HOUSING.

I thought I needed gaskets for weeks until I actually looked to see why the coolant was leaking. Sure enough it was the thermostat housing. Been doing great ever since!

 

How much coolent we're you leaking prior to discovering the leak?

 

The plastic reservoir bottle would be empty or really low every few days. I'd say probably every 3-4 days. But I drive a pretty good bit.

 

That's a serious leak, good thing ya caught it

 

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I'm definitely looking into this some more. I'll report back when I've got more info. I appreciate all the insight.

 

Sorry if I missed it but who did the "diagnosis"? If it was a quick lube or similar just disregard anything you were told and either test for yourself following the suggestions here or have a real mechanic/shop look at it.

Never ever use those sealing products. You'll end up with a block full of hardened lead like goop plugged heater/radiator etc. In short you'll end up worse off.