Head gasket replacement for a 2015 Tacoma 4L V6

Looking for some advice.

I recently noticed white smoke coming out the tail pipe of my 2015 Tacoma. Checked my coolent levels and it had dropped a decent amount, almost by half. Pretty sure the head gasket is blown. Never had it overheat to my knowledge and it has been taken care of pretty well (frequent fluid changes and what not). Got it at 100,000 Km still just under 200,000 Km.

Leaning towards replacing the gasket over a full used engine replacement but still deciding on whether or not to do it myself or just take it in to a shop. I have most of the basic tools to do it myself but I am looking for resources on the proper procedure/advice?

Any input from the community or people who have dealt with this in the past would be appreciated.

Ill attach some pictures for reference on what I had observed just in case I potentially miss diagnosed it. I'm fairly confident that it is the gasket but haven't taking it in to get confirmed.

 

Did you check the coolant in the radiator?
If the only thing you are going by is the overflow reservoir, that’s not a good indicator.
The oil cap also looks “Normal”. It shows the typical signs of condensation.

You might not have a problem, it could be something simple.

 

How cold is it there? That would be normal if it's cold out, so would the bit of cream under the oil cap.

Coolant level looks fine, it's normal for the level in the bottle to fluctuate.

Have you added any coolant?

Have you checked the level in the radiator?

Any cold start misfires?

 

Agree w/ the other replies so far, you may be thinking you have a $2,500 repair to do when in fact it's just normal operating condition for the engine.

V6 1GR-FE's are known to get some cream in the oil-filler cap in cold/damp weather if they do regular short drives where the engine & oil don't fully heat soak. Likewise, exhaust normally has some water vapor in it that is in certain atmospheric conditions of temp & dewpoint very visible.

Review this comment for some useful references on in-depth head-gasket diagnosis & repair before you go taking apart your engine:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/what-size-is-my-crank-bolt.794927/#post-28480808

 

Are you getting a misfire?

You could pull your spark plugs and read them for signs of a head gasket leak.

Compression test each cylinder?

Pressure test your cooling system?

You have way more investigation to conduct before you start tearing your engine apart.

 

I had VERY similar issue but my 05 attempted to overheat as well.. could my issue be the head gasket?

 

Could be... What are your exact symptoms?

Do you have old coolant? Have you tried replacing the radiator cap?

The 05 does have shitty head gasket, but make sure that is actually the problem first.

 

You might be lucky like others are saying and maybe your coolant is leaking from somewhere else... mine makes a ton of smoke when its cold out and especially on start up. Hopefully you just have a simple leak elsewhere! Head gasket failure on that year and mileage seems unlikely but not impossible I suppose. The gunk in the oil cap is also totally normal BTW depending on your climate. Mine gets like that after sitting in the cold over night. If you're using your coolant reservoir as a way to gauge your coolant amount it is not very accurate... the levels in the reservoir change quite wildly depending on conditions.

 

I bet for the exhaust that's just condensation from being cold.

If that much smoke was coming out from coolant it should smell sweet.

Sure way to know is have either the coolant or oil tested contamination.

 

So first I'd like to say thank you to everyone for your input on my issue.

I have read through all of the comments and the general consensus is that it probably isn't a head gasket leak.

Also ended up taking it in to a shop and got a pressure test done. Apparently no issues there and I haven't lost any coolent since. So no idea where it went but I topped off the resovor and am just keeping an eye on it.

Thanks again to everyone on this forum.

 

Naturally over time the overflow tank (thats the tank on the back of the fan shroud) will loose level simply due to evaporation (as it has to have a vent for expansion and contraction of the coolant). Your 2015 is in perfect running order from the aspects you listed above.

 

My truck has done the same thing.. for almost 10 years and is still fine
Don’t overthink it until it starts running hot or missing
I believe it’s just doing what 4.0s do

 

I keep a jig of coolant behind the passenger rear seat, it took 3 years to go through the jug “topping it off” and I’ve had no issues

 

Yeah I think i have maybe put a quart total extra in that overflow tank in the lifetime i have had my truck (10yrs and 145k miles... with lots of HOT driving).