2006 Tacoma Blown Head Gasket

A friend has a 2006 Tacoma V6 4.0 l, 4 door and 6 foot bed with 210k miles on it. Good shape and was running good up to two weeks ago when it started blowing coolant out the expansion tank. I helped him diagnose the problem as blown head gasket (we did chemical test of coolant and bubbles from radiator smelled of exhaust). Since then he has mis-fires on multiple cylinders. Last night he was driving home and he noticed heater would not blow warm air (heater core empty of coolant I would guess) then the truck went into red on temp gauge. As he was driving temp went to normal and he turned engine off at his house. He says he will sell me the truck for $4,500. Do you think I will just need head gaskets or are the heads warped. Advice appreciated. Thanks

 

alum block and heads. my bet will be on a replacement motor. but for $4500, i'd be all over that thing as a project

 

Forgot to mention she is 2wd. What would the cost be for new heads (from say rock auto) if that is what I need? Could I not just replace the heads instead of new motor? I think the engine should be in good shape as this guy took good care of the truck and mostly highway miles. I only run about 10k per year so I could get maybe 10 years out of her.

 

One question on the head gasket- I might try to do it myself. It is a V6. Is this a timing chain and does the chain or belt need to come off to remove the heads. (is the cam shaft in the head). If it is a chain, how do you remove a timing chain?
Thanks

 

The heads might be fine, about a year ago I was having almost the same problems. Cylinders misfiring so had my whole engine taken apart and the heads were fine. My first guess was there was a crack on the block, but after taking it apart everything was good. Got my gaskets replaced and then found out it was my water pump that had a leak, so I replaced that and the truck was running perfect.

 

All I know is I have a 2006 with 160,000 miles

But yes I would be all over it for that price, especially if youre mechanically talented and will do all your own work.

 

hopefully its what CDsurf is saying. Toyota motors usually will run in excess of that if they are taken care of. But if he let the temp gauge go into the red, thats not a good sign. They are timing chain motors so typically you'd have to unbolt the timing gears from the overhead cams. Have not taken one of these motors apart personally but that is the typical config.

Not sure if Rock auto sells refurb heads? I've seen some of these motors for sale from wrecks. I'd look into that.

 

Mine had a blown head gasket at 123k miles. Toyota dealer fixed it under their 30 day warranty as I had just bought the truck from them. From what I understand it's quite common for early 2007-older trucks to blow the head gasket on the #6 cylinder. If you catch it soon enough it doesn't do any damage besides obviously needing to replace head gaskets. But if it's been run low on coolant and into the red I would think a replacement motor would be the way to go especially with 200k on it already.

 

Sounds like a good base for a Tundra 5.7L conversion.

 

this and some LT. you'll be set

 

Thanks for the replys. Just found this manual on this site and did some reading:
http://www.customtacos.com/tech.old/files/05FSM/repair.html

Looks like to remove the heads it is a very involved job as you need to dismantle the two cam shafts including their journal bearings. A local shop quoted me at about $2,500 to do the work- not too bad of a price I would think considering all the labor involved. Unless the heads are warped, which could add another $1,000 based on rebuilt head cost from O'Riely auto parts.

 

I think there is a head gasket tutorial for the 1GR-FE somewhere. I can't seem to find it.

 

Replaced the headgaskets on my 05 last week. Very involved and time consuming job, even in my shop with all the right tools. Cylinder heads were perfect, but there was a small area on #6 cylinder into the coolant jacket that caused the issue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNaX8goqxxk

With that said, the price you could buy the truck for, I'd go buy a good, used lower mileage engine and drop it in. Being 2wd, it'll be easy and can be done in a day.

If you don't buy it, let me know, may be interested if it's located in Southern California

 

Cool vid.

 

Sorry to hear that. Wonder how that even happened? My brother in laws 03 4runner has 255k on the 4L and absolutely purrs so this is unusual. A whole new (used) motor may be the best bet here honestly. But if he doesn't want the heartache I would be interested in it depending on location.

GL

 

Thanks for vid. How long did the job take? Was it necessary to pull the engine to do the head gasket? What would a fair price be for a low mileage engine?
Thanks

 

3 days. Could have had it done in two, but since I have an extra vehicle I allowed longer curing time for the silicone and didn't feel rushed.

You can definitely do it in the vehicle, we've done a couple that way here at the shop, but it's a toss up on what requires more work. There is a lot of surface cleanup involved, final head torque it done by a 180* turn, and timing chain cover alignment all make for a pain in the ass when your bending over and working in a engine compartment...

Used, low mileage engine is going for about 2K in my area.

 

Why problem around cyl 6? Poor passageway? Anything we can do to prevent? Regular coolant flushes?

 

Toyota superseded the head gasket part numbers, so I assume there was a design change.

Prevention? Not much you can do on a case like this. Coolant replacement is never a bad idea though, as it becomes acidic when it ages.

 

Thanks. Will do. I only have 49k on my 07. I do reg oil hanges but fluid changes are on spring list to dos.