Head gasket leak advice

Hoping to get some advice from you fine people out there. I’ve been having a rough idle on cold starts that settles after 30 or so seconds and drives fine the rest of the day. The cold start rough idle is every morning. It’s thrown the P0300 random misfire code twice, but hours later the CEL turns off as I drive it. I did a head gasket combustion leak test and the result was negative, the color of the fluid never changed. There’s no overheating issues, no white smoke from the tailpipe, engine oil is clean, however I do have a very minor amount of coolant loss somewhere internal over time. Also, a few weeks ago I had two plugs, 3 and 5, that were nearly seized. Once pulled the plugs didn’t look too bad to me though. Once the plugs were all changed the rough idle went away for a few days before returning.

I had a diagnostic done at the dealership today and they found a small amount of coolant on the plug in cylinder 4 and recommended a tear down of the engine to determine either a blown head gasket or cracked cylinder head.

The cost is extraordinary for the head gasket repair at 9k, plus a two month wait time on the machining service which is outsourced. The cost to replace the cylinder head along with whatever else is 14k. They estimated an engine replacement to be around 9k as well. With those costs in mind, none of these are options really. I’m not set on the dealership of course, but they’re the only shop in town wiling to deal with repairs like this.

I believe the leak I’m having is minor as of right now, and I’m wondering how some of you would proceed in this situation? Currently the truck is very drivable, with only the rough cold starts and periodic random misfire.

Is head gasket sealer an option in my case? Can it work well with a minor leak, or will it ultimately do more harm than good? If it’s something that may help, any recommendations on brands out there? I’m reading a lot of mixed reviews on every sealant.

Any thoughts on where to find engines online so I can do the repair myself?

Lastly, any other general advice or opinions out there on my situation?

I love this truck, but there’s only so much money I can reasonably dump into it. It’s mileage is at 223k, and I’ve always taken excellent care of it.

Really appreciate any feedback. Have an awesome day, my friends.

2002 Tacoma 3.4L

 

Our local school district swears by the Blue devil sealer it gets the bus on the road till the repair can be done correct in the summer. At $60.00 a quart it is not like the cheap products that fail.

Follow the directions to the letter any antifreeze in the system will cause it to fail.

I always loop the heater hoses to keep it out of the heater core .

Op this will buy you time to decide your plans this fix could last you for months or years you never know.

The prices for parts and labor are crazy .

Depending where you live I would look fora complete Donor truck with a bad frame but a good running 3.4 engine.

Good Luck!

 

I had the same exact problem last year. Blue Devil may or may not work. I used one bottle with no effect. I talked to a blue devil rep over the phone about it and he confirmed with me that I can use an additional bottle. My radiator fluid turned to paste. I followed directions to a T. That being said, I used the stuff that you can pour straight into the radiator and mix with the coolant. They do have other stuff that you pour and mix with distilled water instead which I think is suppose to be better. Once it seals, you drain that distilled water and refill again with regular coolant. Just beware and do your research.

I did the head gasket myself on mine in January. If you did it the way I did, I’d say I spent around ~1200-1450 on parts. Which included head gasket kit and two refurbished heads for 400 each (which was the best deal I could find on heads at the time). I had my own circumstantial reasons for buying the two new heads instead of sending mine to a machine shop. Either way, If you’re willing to do the labor you could save a helluva lot of money.

 

9000? Holy crap. I ordered a remanned engine from Sunwest for 4K and having a mechanic install for 2500. That's a crazy price for that. Seems like they are trying to rake you over the coals or do not want to do it.

 

Thats called the "We don't want to screw with that" quote. I use this quoting method quite frequently in the machining world. Much more reasonable people out there

 

Seems like so many no longer want to work.

Bill one job high enough you only need to work a few days a month.

I could never be able to do that to many projects now.

 

Leaning towards trying this blue devil pour ‘n go stuff, but definitely a little freaked out about putting it in the system with all the mixed results I’ve been reading about. I’ll take the thermostat out if I do end up using it.

Looking into other shops outside my area that can do the head gasket job at a reasonable price.

 

How about buying a junkyard engine for ~$1500-$2k, and having a local engine rebuild shop rebuild it. You might be $6k ish all in with a brand new engine on this truck that you've always taken excellent care of. You could drive it as is while the rebuild was underway, then do a relatively straightforward engine swap when the engine was ready. That'd be roughly the approach I'll take if my 5vz ever calls it quits

 

You need the engine temperature to reach operating temperature to flush at all the coolant !!

Most times it took me at least 5 cycles till I was happy . Drain fill heat and drain repeat .

Using the Blue Devil got me Home from 2000 miles from Home . Then another few months till I built a new engine.

 

Sounds like an option. OP, depending on where you are, scope cold weather states in particular as there might be frame rot issues but solid running gear beneath it.

 

If you wait a week, the FlexSeal line of products will probably have some miracle

 

I have seen many videos on what might happen if you do not address the issue by doing a teardown. You may or may not have a cracked or warped head. If you do not address the issue soon, it could also lead to a cracked block. From what I am hearing, you might have a leak between adjacent cylinders. Those 'miracle' sealant products don't always work and are a temporary fix. Like others, I believe that quote is too high on R/R the engine. Sometimes it is better and cheaper to get a new engine (not rebuilt) and have it swapped.

 

Just wanted to update the thread on how I ended up handling it. I used the blue devil pour n’ go and it had no effect, good nor bad.
I ended up working with a local mechanic (ex-Toyota mechanic) and went into it assuming the heads were cracked, which they were. There were a total of 5 visible cracks. I included a picture of two of those cracks. Head gasket was holding strong. Replaced the heads with remanned heads at a decent price, and replaced all the gaskets/foam/hardware/knock sensor for the job with a kit offered by yotashop. Also cleaned up the throttle body/IACV and ordered new gaskets for that. Replaced a few hoses as well. The blue devil gunked up the radiator pretty bad, but it was the original anyway, so I ended up replacing that with the Denso version also through yotashop. In addition, all the necessary fluids of course.
The truck is running beautifully again and I couldn’t be more stoked.
Total cost of parts was around $2,200 and labor was $1,200. It’s a good chunk of change, but I didn’t even flinch at it compared to the other options I had which were astronomical. With the help of an awesome Toyota-loving mechanic, the 2002 will live to see many more miles.

Just to note: Blue Devil held up their guarantee and sent me a check for the cost of the bottle

 

Much better than dishing out 12k for something else's problem

 

Glad to hear you saved this Tacoma for a reasonable price.

About how much coolant were you losing? Like how many miles did you have to typically drive to notice a change in the reservoir?

 

With a head gasket failure......loss should be slow and steady...

But a crack in the head is weird, may not leak very much for weeks.....
and then bam.....the stars align and lose a bunch at once....

Same on the hot restarts, sometimes starts, others you get a dead battery before the plugs burn off.....

As things progress, when the end is near, you have to pull the wet plugs and dry em......or call for a ride.....

 

Much truth, @PennSilverTaco had some weird patterns on his re loss and it didn't even mess up the head.

 

My truck showed no obvious signs of a blown head gasket until until a few weeks after it overheated for the very first time. My truck had a couple hot restarts before it overheated for real in September 2022 at like 157K miles.

I started seeing traces of oil in the coolant reservoir (but never any coolant in the oil) as early as April 2021, but my mechanic did numerous tests and those tests (compression, leak-down) never hinted at a blown head gasket.

I had the water pump replaced as a precaution in November 2021, when the frame was replaced under recall, with about 140K on the clock.

I had a fuel injector and all four coil packs replaced in the spring of 2022 because the truck was misfiring; I also had my buddy who has 2005 Tacoma and is a Toyota tech clean out the fuel injection system.

The first "hot start" was in July 2022, and there were a couple more before the big overheat in September 2022. My mechanic replaced the thermostat and heater bypass pipe and that solved the problem for maybe three weeks.

I had another "hot start" in my friend's driveway in October 2022, and brought it to my mechanic the very next day. At this point, you could smell coolant at the exhaust, and the radiator did not perform very well in a pressure test.

My mechanic would have done the job for five grand and the dealer would have been double that. However, my mechanic had never replaced a head gasket on 2TR-FE and wanted to make sure he didn't fuck something up, and it would have taken him at least a week. He did not have the ability to give me a loner car, either.

I have a good relationship with the service department at the dealer that did my frame (Thompson Toyota in Doylestown, PA) and was able to get them to meet my mechanic's price. They did the job in three days, I got a loaner car, and the warranty on parts and labor is good until October 2024!

The head gasket and timing chain were replaced, and the cylinder head did not have to be machined or whatever you call or, because it was not warped. Almost a year and about 20K miles alter, my truck runs great!

 

Yeah I forgot that too.....the greasy coolant overflow...
....I thru the old one away.....no coming back there.


And I did the same thing....new injectors....plugs.....vac hoses.....temp sensor...ect...

none of them fixed that leak....did it....

only temp solution was carry around extra plugs....and a jug of water....check oil DAILY....


IF you got an old radiator dont mind destroying and bypass the heat core...the barrs may be the best hail marry......the old fashioned one that has to be pure water.....not the new stuff...
But again wont do anything for a head crack......just plain screwed there....




Yeah after all that....I got new heads....did not want to dance this dance anymore...




.........dont crack the next one............whatever you did....just dont do it again....
right...

 

So for $3400 you have an engine that's going to keep running for a very long time. Not a bad deal and worth it IMO. Especially since you can have the confidence in it being a reliable vehicle from here on.