30th Sep 2007, 13:00

Got a '94 Forunner with 115000 miles on it. Car was working great, but when I parked it, I heard a sizzling noise and looked under the car to see a stream of antifreeze leaking from the seams (joints) of the engine.

Hummm I'm guessing... head gasket?

If I'm right please let me know? Or is it something else?

Jarigden@yahoo.com.

2nd Oct 2007, 13:53

My mother has a '95 4Runner. 130k, and treated with the utmost care. It started acting like the tranny was slipping, and loss of power. Oil pressure dropped, and it started smelling hot. Took it in.. Head gasket. 1,400 - 2,400 to fix it. So what you guys are saying here is, that even though they fix it, the head gasket could go again?

14th Nov 2007, 02:57

Another one bites the dust...for the last time. I bought my 1995 Toyota 4Runner used in 1998. In 2000 the head gasket blew the first time. I remember it overheating and it died on me on the freeway home. Don't remember how much we paid for it, but it was not cheap.

Then in 2003 while my husband was on vacation it blew again. : (

Husband had it repaired, again paid lots of money and he had a working car again.

This summer the head gasket blew again, overheated and coolant boiling and steaming everywhere. We are not repairing it again.

So sad, I loved that car.

15th Nov 2007, 02:19

Add one more 95 4runner to the list. how come no pickups seem to have this problem? more importantly, how come I didn't come across this page 1 yr ago when I was doing research? let's get the word out and make sure everyone knows. thanks.

13th Dec 2007, 08:56

Well I just picked up a 90 V6 4Runner, it was a tread with another car, but it's missing the muffler, it leaks transmission fluid, blew the fan and broke the radiator, it leaks break fluid and won't start until it feels like it. The AC doesn't work either and the front end sounds like it's falling apart. Any feedback would be appreciated as I don't want to start spending money to fix it and then have the motor blow up. It's got 100K miles on her.

13th Dec 2007, 15:03

Like so many others, I wish I had known about the head gasket problem last August when I bought my 95 Limited.

It had 125,000 miles at the time. This week, with 152,000 miles, the head gasket blew. Just got it out of the shop yesterday - $1,800 later.

Here's hoping I can get at least a year out of the new gasket.

Does anyone know if the problem has been fixed in any of the newer models? I really like my 4runner and would like to get another one after this, but am obviously leery now.

26th Dec 2007, 16:38

My '95 4Runner just blew the head gasket at 140k miles; now I still owe money on this peice of crap, so I got to make payments on a truck I cannot afford to fix.

2nd Jan 2008, 21:36

Add me to the list..95 4runner. Thing is I knew about this issue when I bought the car. I called the dealership and asked about my specific VIN and they said it was not part of the recall and the issue had been fixed. OK, I feel stupid now, but at least I got 170,000 out of it and it still runs.

3rd Jan 2008, 23:06

Mine just went out with 140 k. no warning, just white smoke.

8th Jan 2008, 16:53

Add me to the list. Unfortunately I just found out that I have two blown head gaskets on my 95 V6 4runner. Is there some kind of law suit going on or something? If so I want in on it. I am still making payments on this car and I will be for the next year and a half because there is nothing that I can do. I am going to try and call the numbers that I found on here and see if they can help me at Toyota, but if anyone knows anything else that I can do please contact me by email as soon as possible. The email address is hacking4kix@yahoo.com.

Thanks

11th Jan 2008, 00:31

Someone asked why why no trucks have been mentioned having the same issue?

Well, today's your lucky (unlucky actually, considering the outcome) day!

Be prepared, this is a lengthy post.

I purchased my '94 Toyota SR5 4x4 X-cab truck with all the bells and whistles back in Oct. '94. It was my first ever new car purchase, so I was excited to say the least.

Sometime in '97 I went in to my local Toyota dealership to buy a small part, and the parts clerk that I'd become friends with there clued me in on the "voluntary recall" concerning the head gasket issue.

From what I was told however, it wasn't/isn't truly a poor head gasket design. I was told that one of the water passages in the block is extremely close to the #6 cylinder, which causes the coolant to super heat and damage the head gasket, and in some cases warp the head and/or block.

So although I wasn't having any problems with the head gasket when I took the truck in at 60k for a timing belt replacement, I told them the truck was periodically billowing white smoke from the exhaust and was losing power.

The dealership checked it out and said the head gasket was indeed leaking slightly, and that they would replace both of them under the warranty recall while they replaced my timing belt = saved me some $$$ on the timing belt repair.

Fast forward to 165k miles, and this time the head gasket actually did blow.

So this time I took it to one of those big engine "re-manufacturing" companies to have them totally go through it and freshen everything up.

The passenger side head was replaced since it was warped, and since they were honing the cylinders, I decided to cough up the extra money and just have them bore it 30thou over.

The total cost was $2,400, and it ran better than I recalled it running when I first bought it!

Fast forward again, this time to 210k miles, and the head gasket has blown AGAIN!

Simply having the head gaskets replaced would run me $1,500 (not recommended since the rest of the engine has seen wear), or having the engine gone through again would cost me anywhere from $1,800 (cheap Chinese parts) to $3,000 (OEM parts with the "redesigned" head gaskets).

I could replace the head gaskets myself IF I had the time (currently I work two jobs), but I'd likely be right back in the same boat "XXX" miles down the road again.

So since two years ago, my truck is basically "art" just sitting under a tarp in my driveway. :(

If you really love your Toyota truck or 4-runner and don't want to part with it, there is a solution out there to remedy this folks!

Swap in a Chevy/GMC 4.3L Vortec V-6 engine.

There's a company in Santa Fe Springs, California (Downey Offroad) that sells all the necessary conversion items needed - wiring harnesses from "Painless Wiring", engine adapters and mounts, bell housing adapters, etc.

While the initial investment (about $1,500 ~ $2000 plus the cost of the donor engine) is a bit higher than the cost of fixing the POS 3.0 Toyota engine, it's guaranteed the 4.3 WILL last longer, and have more power = win-win!

I had initially considered just having a friend tow my truck down to the local Toyota dealership and park it out front at the curb with a sign reading "Toyota won't stand behind their vehicles" or the like on the weekends, but I've wasted enough time and energy on this already.

So now I plan on doing the 4.3 Chevy/GMC engine swap later this year when I have the remainder of the funds needed (Christmas gifts killed my bank account).