3rd Gen headgasket repair

Hey all, just got myself a 3rd gen 4runner & noticed a burning oil smell so I checked it out and sure enough a little bit of oil is leaking from the rear and dripping onto the exhaust. I'm sure its a head gasket job. My question is has anyone had theirs replaced? About how much and how long does it take? Thanks!
-truck has no misfires or check engine btw.

 

Valve cover gaskets maybe? I paid Toyota like five hondo to do all of them. There’s also some cam plugs and rings around your spark plugs too..

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

I think you might be right on the valve cover!, my mistake.tha ks for the info. Do you remember how long it to to get it done by any chance?

 

Hey thanks! Glad to have found this forum!

 

Well actually. They charged me $400 bucks then a week later it was leaking so I took it back and they charged me another $400. I was so pi$&ed. They didn’t get the plugs and some other o rings the first time but the did something to the exhaust manifold too..,

 

Well I did a bit of research (youtube)and will attempt to do the repair myself ! Haha wish me luck.

 

https://www.4runners.com/posts/33516/

 

I actually just finished doing a head gasket job/ timing belt/ adding headers. It’s really tedious and a pain with needing certain speciality tools but it’s possible. I took my sweet time labeling everything and keeping them in ziploc bags and marking whatever I could with paint markers to remember where everything goes. You’ll need a timing kit, head gasket kit, new head bolts, a new crank pulley bolt and id recommend getting a new starter too since it’s a pain to get to after everything is on, as for tools you’ll need a harmonic balancer pulley holder, cam gear holder, and torque wrenches along with your basic mechanic tool set. Best of luck, shoot me a message if you need help with anything or get stuck.

You should post a picture of where the leak is coming from, chances are it’s the valve cover which are notorious for leaking on the 5VZFE, hopefully it is because that’s a super simple job you can do in a day.

 

Thanks so much for the link!

 

Yes I believe I was mistaken and it is the valve covers instead, and I will on the pictures soon as I'm back home this weekend! Thanks for the info!

 

Valve Covers? Do them when you have to do a T-Belt and water pump change. You have to take the intake manifold off and having the front of the engine all off and radiator out already makes it just that much easier to slide them out from under the wiring.

They aren't hurting much. I would just tighten the cover bolt down to snug and just wait until you need to do a T-Belt.

 

Shake007, what specialty tools do you need for a head gasket job?

 

Torque wrenches to get everything tight to spec. Harmonic balancer pulley holder to loosen the crank pulley. A pulley puller to pull that crank pulley off. A seal puller to remove the crank seal. Lastly cam/universal pulley holder to get the cam gears off.

i was only able to rent a pulley puller from my local autozone everything else I had to purchase.

 

Oh, so normal tools. I thought you needed something TOYOTA specific. (I have too many tools)

 

You can never have too many tools!

 

Last year I replaced the valve cover gaskets on my 4Runner. The passenger side was relatively easy. I think that took 3 hrs. Mind you we're talking leisurely work here. The driver side was more complex. That took nearly twice as long. There are several components that need to be removed. I had to number everything to make sure I had it all documented. One major gripe. There is an electrical wire bundle that sits over the driver side valve cover and this bundle gets in the way as you try to take out/install the valve cover. Unfortunately you cannot completely undo the bundle. Once you've removed its hold down screws, it just lifts up enough so that you can slide the valve cover under. Quite an annoying process (bad design Toyota). Also the wire bundle is encased and over time the casing becomes too brittle. You may find it necessary to use an alternate casing for the wire bundle.

One other thought. In order to remove the driver's side valve cover, you'll have to remove the upper half of the intake manifold. There is a gasket between the upper and lower halves of the intake manifold. I suggest that you replace that gasket with a new one. I say this because after I did mine, I noticed a discernible increase in engine torque which led me to think that I had a leak there. It goes without saying that once you remove the upper manifold, you'll need to cover the manifold pipes as a safety precaution. The last thing that you want, is to have something fall inside by accident.