2004 Tundra SR5 - 4 door - Cracked Head Gasket?

Hi all,

New member looking for some advise. I am no mechanic. Live in Raleigh NC.
My 2004 Tundra is a 4 door, AWD, TRD model. 120,00 miles. Bought it from a good friend and Tundra lover about 4 years ago. Fabulous vehicle.
Wife was driving and the truck overheated on the highway. Radiator hose looks like it blew off. Picture attached.
Filled it with water to try to drive 10 mile home. Major valve noise prevented that. Had it towed to a shop. Mechanic says probably blown head gasket (although he didn't do a compression test or any other chargable repair) He gave me a 12K quote for a 90K used motor replacement.
I drove it back home 5 miles. It did overheat on the way. Going to put a new thermostat to see if that's what may be keeping water from the engine.
Any thoughts, suggestions on tests, repair vs buying another used? etc?

Thanks/George

 

$12k is absurd, new truck territory. Half that is about right for a qualified Toyota-specific shop.

I would never trust a mechanic who is not only willing to overcharge you like that, but also confident to put a claim of "blown head gasket" without taking a few minutes to do a compression test and prove it.

If you replace the t-stat make sure you clock it with the jiggle valve between near noon, at least 11-1 o'clock.

Also make sure you are running the heater full-blast to get air out of the system, take caution to avoid air bubbles.

 

New t-stat, replace the upper and lower hoses. Put some pink coolant and burp 2-3 times. My buddy overheated his sequoia (same engine) over heated on the way to Vegas. Same thing happen, the hose blew off. Did a parking lot fix at the hotel. Car drove home np,

 

This reminds me, BE CAREFUL to install the hoses the correct way. If you install them backwards, it won't be obvious at first, but you'll get some serpentine belt rub. Try the orientation before you commit fully. And yep, red Asian coolant only, assuming that's what you have (you should have it already, if not, flush out whatever's in there and replace w/red).

 

Out of curiosity, did the shop print out your estimate? If so, do you mind posting it? You can cover up the business name if you want.

 

Wouldn't it be smart to do the compression test first before throwing parts at it? If the gasket is fubar, he could then decide which direction to go.

 

12K! 12K! Sheeeeit!

 

Definitely do a compression test before you start putting any money into it. and even if the gasket is bad. If the engine spins good and the valves aren't pooched(which you would find out while replacing the head gasket) Replacing the head gasket should hopefully run about $1000-$1500

 

A compression test may not tell you anything.

What you need, is a leak down test.....which may not tell you about a blown HG either.

What you need is a test for exhaust gases in your coolant. Only way to be sure.

Also, that price is insane...obviously.

 

Thanks for the feedback. Installing the thermostat tomorrow. Will advise on that outcome. Here's a copy of the estimate. Names removed.
Thanks.

 

Well, first off, you don't need a 'new' used engine if your head gasket failed. You already have one of those in your truck.

You just need a new head gasket.

And you don't even need to pull the engine out of the truck to replace that....so there is is a lot of the cost gone right there.

Find a new mechanic.

 

x2

But not before you properly refill and burp the coolant system as recommended in #2, and drain the oil. If your head gasket is actually blown, you're going to see one of three things after these two steps:

• Smoke out the tail pipe.
• Oil in your coolant
• Coolant in your oil

Water and antifreeze are both heavier than oil, and will puddle in your oil pan to some degree. Keep a close eye on OR capture the first half-quart or so of oil in a glass jar and let it sit to separate for a day or so. And honestly, oil in your coolant should be obvious.

I'm actually kinda pissed at that shop. I feel like they're totally bullshitting you, but I can't wrap my head around the motive, other than raking in $$.

 

Shifty - I told him I wasnt going to repair it for that amount. He agreed. Said if I had a friend, relative that wanted to replace the engine that would be worth it. Whatever. Find a new mechanic is right!

 

Exhaust to coolant is the most common internal HG failure. (They can fail and leak either oil or coolant externally)

Of the three systems, the cylinders are the highest pressure. 90% of the time when an HG fails internally, its cylinder to coolant failure.

And IF that is the case here, that is what happened if he is overheating.

+2 to this as well. HG failure should be the diagnoses once everything else is eliminated.

I cannot stress enough that you need to go to a reliable mechanic, and have test for exhaust in the coolant. This will either rule out, or confirm HG failure.

To the OP, ask your mechanic if he has ever worked on a toyota or subaru engine before....

I gather on old American cars, a HG failure usually means the engine is worn out anyway...but this is not the case on Japanese engines. Hell, you can end up replacing the HG on a Subaru every 4-6 years for 400,000 miles.

My 93' toyota blew its HG in 2010, I paid a mechanic $1K to fix it and drove it another 100K.

The HG is not magic, its just a gasket, like many others, just more work to replace. No reason to replace the engine, especially not a low milage engine. You just clean the heads, re-mill them if needed (its usually not) and put in a new gasket.

IF its an HG, and you get it fixed, don't let a mechanic re-mill your heads unless he actually tells you what the measured warpage is. Some mechanics just do it as a knee jerk reaction, but it can be tricky to do, and most of the time, isn't needed, they just don't want to clean the heads so they re-mill out of instinct.

Its only needed if warped, something that is easily checked for by any mechanic with a precision straight edge and feeler gauge.

 

I'd be ecstatic if i popped a head gasket or snapped a timing belt.

https://jdmenginezone.com/products/...nT75FCXsqrG2BR9ZuAHE0rEDpgf8DhbBoC1PwQAvD_BwE

 

$107.49 for an ignition coil? Wow. And does that say $4k for a motor, then $4.5k to rebuild it?

 

Awesome!

 

Update - The HG definitely failed. Lots of coolent in the oil. I ended up getting an 02 engine with 140K on it for $1,500. Got a different mechanic to do the labor for $1,300. Adding timing belt/water pump kit, new radiator, fluids and 2 Yr parts and labor warrant was right about $4,200. That's 8K less than the 1st guy estimated. Seems to be running fine. Have an O2 Sensor check engine that I'll get fixed along with a tune up here in a bit. Thanks for all the advise and councel.

 

A little advice on the O2 sensor, @MisterK

If you've got the v8 you'll have two sensors for each bank of 4 cylinders: An upstream sensor (between block and exhaust) and a downstream sensor (between the cat and muffler).

Obviously, that means you've got two banks: The 4 driver side cylinders (bank 1) and 4 cylinders on the passenger side (bank 2).

General rule of thumb is, if one sensor on a bank is failing, replace both. I know it's not the cost effective way, but I can't count how many times I've replaced and seen other people replace the one the ECU thinks is bad, only to find either (A) the other one goes bad within a few days/weeks/months or (B) the ECU got it wrong because of other inputs it was getting combined with the readings from the failing sensor.

It's worth it just to swap both, and be done with that bank for another 5-10 years. Use Denso parts on this one. Some folks have had luck with Bosch, but Denso costs about the same.

For 2004, if you've got the V8...

Downstream for 2WD: Denso p/n

$53 234-4161 Oxygen Sensor with 15.35” 4-Wire Harness

234-4161
Downstream for 4WD: Denso p/n 234-4162
Upstream for all: Denso p/n 234-4169

If you've got the V6....

Upstream for auto trans: Denso p/n

$135 234-9001 Upstream Air Fuel Ratio Oxygen Sensor with 10.6” 4-Wire Harness, for Auto Trans Equipped Vehicles

234-9001
Upstream for manual trans: Denso p/n 234-9003
Downstream for all: 234-4161

 

Fortunately he has the V8....

 

Thx, I was too lazy to scroll up

 

Probably trying to snag your vehicle for himself

 

Seems like it would be better to just fix the blown head gasket rather than buy an entirely different refurbished engine. Especially yours being low mileage. I'm just surprised that this happened on the 4.7L at only 120k. Was it used as a work truck previously?