1st gen blown head gasket... opinions needed

Hey folks, just hoping to get some opinions on this situation, probably familiar to many of you here but it's my first time....

'99 4x4 SR5 with the 3.4 L engine. 276k on the engine with a rebuild by the previous owner at 215k. I have owned it for 4 years now. I love this thing and am not really ready to let it go... I've got an HG leak but it stills drives, with some misfiring upon startup. Oily deposits in the coolant and white smoke and all that. My mechanic who is a local Toyota guru says that a cylinder is likely corroded already from the leak, and that it's not worth it to do the HG replacement if the cylinder is messed up. He says I should either: drive it into the ground and then sell it for parts, OR try to track down another 3.4L and he will do the engine swap.

What do folks on here I think? I love this truck but it's not exactly mint condition. I live in Western WA and the price of old Tacomas is really high, and if i sell it I won't be able to afford another one. Is the engine really toast? How hard is it to track down a different engine? How much could I get for it as it is now? Any opinions appreciated.

 

Find another used 3.4, swap it in and get on with life.


Or....


LS swap it and start draining your bank account with the materials to build that into a mean SOB!

I vote for option #2.

 

Thats totally up to you ...repair is gonna be pricey either way

 

How many gallons of coolant do you add per 100 miles of driving??

If it was me I would pull the heads see if they are cracked then make your decision.

I have never seen a cylinder corroded for a leaky head gasket.Always a first!!

In any case the heads will need to come off.

 

Little bit less than a gallon per 100 miles. Yea I think I will have to get the heads off to see regardless. But then if it is toast, it wont be worth trying to put everything back together....

 

Because it is a labor intensive job paying labor to get it done gets expensive .

If you need new heads even more expensive.

Being the heads are off Timing Belt??

no wonder so many shops suggest a used engine.

Good Luck!

 

Ok this was literally me a few months ago..

How much are you willing to spend?
I got a full head gasket kit and two refurbished heads for $1300. Did the whole job myself.. twice in fact. I’m at 299,000 and it’s running even better than before.

 

If one can do the work I say go for it!

When you pay full labor rate it gets expensive.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/was-trouble-installing-cams-now-restarting-hg-job.787833/

Head gasket thread

 

Thats a good question... depends on how much I could get for the truck as is, and also depends on if I can find a replacement engine.... but regardless I'm not able to tackle this kind of job myself. but my guy will do it for under the shop rate. good to know you are at 299k and still going strong!

 

There are many products out there that can seal a blowed head gasket, do your research. I have seen some videos of it sealing the leak and running for years. It may only cost 20 bucks and if it works your golden. As far as the cylinders being eroded, if coolant has gotten into combustion chamber it will actually clean the valves, i have seen it before. If you do nothing it could draw in a large amount of fluid and coolant does not compress, and the piston can explode. I seen a toyota 4x4 that leaked oil into coolant system and he ran it for years. Try the head gasket sealant and follow the instructions perfectly, might get lucky.

 

I just found something fishy in my radiator, it looks like the bars radiator or blowed headgasket sealer. The tail-tail copper in the radiator stuff. So either the rad was leaking or the head gasket was leaking. Tomorrow i will run an exhaust gas test on radiator to see if it ok. The motor does not run hot, no boiling over, just got a nasty idle until about 2000 rpm, then she sounds better. I changed plugs no oil burning or signs of coolant in the combustion chamber. The really looked good.

 

Yeah I've seen these trucks get an additional two years out of them using the barr's and following the directions.....

Some leaks will not seal.....just the luck of the draw....

Of course you severely limit the life of your radiator and/or heat coil if not thought thru......
if either of those are old ......barr's might do em in.......

 

This is the best place to start.

 

3.4 replacement cheaper than vehicle replacement. I’d start searching for a 3.4.

Then you can start chipping away at bringing ’er to mint condition