New to the forum head gasket Q

So first off, I apologize in advance for the novel I'm about to write but I just want to make sure I cover all the bases before I just start asking for answers. I got givin my first tundra. Sounds like a great deal except it has 239k miles and blown headgaskets. Now, besides the head gaskets and a broken leaf spring, everything is kosher and works as it should. 4wd works and there isn't even a check engine light on. The truck was my step dad's so I also know that he almost never hauled anything, and of the 239k miles, somewhere between 100k and 150k were spent driving too and from Boston from central Maine with my little brother several times a month for his MANY doctor appointments and hospital stays. My step dad (prior owner) brought it in to a garage for over heating issues and they through a new radiator at it and that didn't fix it then they decided it was head gaskets (disappearing coolant and white smoke out the tail pipe) I think there's also some oil in the coolant but not sure as when I drained the coolant to pull the intake manifold there was less the 3 quarts of coolant in it. And it's been sitting behind my mom's place for the last 8months to a year. This was my step dads truck and as hes no longer around there's some sentimentality and i really want to get the truck fixed right and I have nothing invested. I live in Maine and this has been a Maine truck its hole life, which is what makes it surprising when I say that the thing is solid. I have quite a few years before I have to worry about rot. Now, I have it in my garage and I've pulled the intake, but I'm at a point where I honestly don't feel comfortable "just figuring it out" as I've never done any motor work, only thing I've done motor wise is a few bolt ons to my Subaru and a few manual cam chain tensioner on my Honda superhawks. Now I looked around and I'm finding it terribly difficult to find any videos online about head removal or repairing head gaskets. So if anyone would have any of the following that would be awesome!
1. Link to a video or detailed tutorial on head removal/headgasket replacement for my truck
2. Advice on what else I should look at or replace while I'm in here(please be sparing with abbreviations,there's a good chance I'll be googling these parts you mention, my step dad brought his truck to the garage so no, I didn't grow up in the garage)
3. Recommendations on what I should buy for seals when I'm ready to start reassembling. I'm making this up as I go and I'm thinking a random "headgasket kit" might not end up being ideal.
Once again, sorry that was so long, but I'm probably in over my head right now and I wanted to make sure I didn't leave out anything important. I'm also sorry if there's a post on here somewhere covering all this, but I've spent a few hours searching for things as I go and it seems like this isn't a common issue as I'm struggling to find any info on it. And finally i want to thank everyone that decides to help me out, every bit helps. I don't like asking so much on my very first post, but scrolling around the forum hasn't really yielded me any results yet. Here's a few pics

 

Thanks bud

 

Welcome from NY.

 

Welcome from Nevada

 

Welcome from TEXAS

 

Thanks for all the welcome guys

 

No worries! I'm sure someone will stumble upon this at some point and I posted as I was cleaning up for dinner anyways so no more garage time tonight

 

https://www.tundras.com/threads/05-tundra-advice-head-gasket.40971/#post-1252689

Check this thread, @Aerindel has a good post. #18.

 

Welcome from Ohio.

 

With that many miles and if your capable mechanically to replace head gaskets I would probably just find a low mileage engine and swap it out.

 

I read that and I tend to agree with @Aerindel on this one only due to the fact that the truck runs mint till it overheats(no ticking, no power loss, sat all those months and started on like the 3rd crank if that) and this is the first issue this trucks ever had

 

I have looked into a new to me motor and I've found a few online I could order(none around me for sale so would have to be shipped across country) but I was hoping to try to get this running for a few hundred bucks and if that fails or i send the heads to a machine shop and they're terribly warped or cracked I could try ordering a motor. I just dont know about replacing the motor when I still runs really good besides starting to over heat.

 

What year is the truck? Is it an 05/06? If so it's got VVTi and requires more effort/steps to get right. This is an interference motor and if you get the timing wrong on re-assembly all the head work will be wasted as the motor will likely be damaged once it's running. My FIL was a Toyota master tech for decades and he said these timing belts are not ones to start on for the inexperienced...they take some doing and the consequences of getting it wrong is bad, bad news most of the time.

Doing the heads DIY is a monster job, honestly. But when doing it you should absolutely do the timing belt and water pump, and associated idlers and tensioners, as well as the belt drive stuff (around $300 or so for the kits). The timing belt is a big job by itself, but it all has to come off for the heads anyway. This is why it can sometimes be easier/cheaper to swap in a known running used engine. Unfortunately on these engines, it's not as simple as just pulling the heads off and dropping them back on.

Even if a shop does the work, you'll have a solid truck for a few grand in either case. DIY and you'll have solid truck for less than a grand, but you're going to need the shop manual to do it correctly.

 

It's an 05 with the iforce. So if that's the case maybe I am better to buy a used motor for it. The only issue is there's no where around me to buy one that I know is running and I'd hate to buy a motor just to find out it still needs work to it. Anyone ever had luck with any of the Ebay motors? I found one online that's got 81k miles but not entirely sure now if it was a VVTi

 

Welcome from a fellow Mainer.

You should be able to find a Tundra parts truck if you're patient. Up here, it's the frame and body (mostly the frame) that rust out and make an otherwise perfectly good truck a scrapper. There's a 2002 right now on CL in Windham... unfortunately, it won't have the VVTi you need for your '05.

Expand your search to Sequoias too. They share the same engine as the Tundra. I'm not sure what year the Sequoia switched to VTTi.

Even if you have to spend $500 - $600 on it, you can get some money back by parting it out -- both locally and on this forum.

Good luck!

 

Thanks bud I didn't know about the sequoia option I'll have to keep an eye out for one. There's a 02 (I believe) in bucksport that's rusted out for around 600 but same scenario not a vvti

 

Sequoia should be 05-07 for the VVTi you need.

 

I would properly diagnose that it is indeed a headgasket issue first. Most likely it is only one of the head gaskets and not both. Spend $50 and get a compression tester and figure out which side it is on. That is unusual that there is no check engine light. I would put the reader on the OBD2 connector just in case and check for codes, as the bulb could be out for the CEL.

The 4.7l is used on Tundras, Sequoias, Land Cruisers and 4runners during these years. Do a search for 2UZ-FE head gasket and you'll find a lot more. Especially from the Land Cruiser and 4Runner forums. As stated earlier the VVTI requires an extra step with resetting the timing, but is not impossible, just need to really pay attention to the instructions. You'll need to replace the water pump and timing belt as well. I would personally call my nearest Toyota dealership and ask them for a head gasket repair kit. It should come with all the gaskets you'll need. Once the head is off, you can drop it off at a local machine shop where they can inspect it for flatness/warpage and any cracks. Most will perform a valve job as well.

You will NEED a Toyota Factory Service Manual to do this. I would not rely on a Chiltons, but maybe it is OK, I don't use them. You can find the FSM online and read through. Here's one I found with a Google search.

 

Awesome. I may have found a 07 sequoia I can get cheap.

Probably cant do a compression test on a engine that has the intake and fuel rails/injectors ripped off though huh? I got a bit excited and started ripping into the truck before I posted this

 

I think I'm going to buy a service manual and start by pulling the heads. I'll inspect as much as I can while I'm down there and if something seems discerning I'll look for a replacement motor. Besides a motor does anyone know if a sequoia shares any other major components with a tundra? Like drive train or front end parts?

 

Never do just one head. Its a hard enough job its always worth it to do both.

You could do a compression test without the fuel rail technically but you would spray fuel all over the place unless you disconnected the fuel pump etc.

 

Yea I'll probably just tear into it and check it out ok once I get in there. And if I do a head gasket, I'll do both head gaskets.
I am in contact with a guy who has a totaled 2007 sequoia that i'm considering picking up if I can just drop that motor in and possibly be able to grab some other parts off of it

 

The link below has a PDF of the 05-06 Tundra Factory Service Manual

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-5MhfqaHsHObmt6RDVhOGtKWjA/view?usp=sharing

 

Sweet Jesus... that's a 5000 page document!

Thanks for posting!

 

Awesome! I could only find Chilton's or Haynes for under 700$

 

Where are you in Maine? Parry motors in Portland is an awesome independent Toyota shop that I would chat with. Chris is super helpful.

 

Just south of Bangor in a smallish town called newburgh. If I was down near Portland area I'd be having a lot more luck finding spare motors lol. I might have decided to swap out the motor first and formost