Update: Blue Devil Head Gasket Sealer Worked.

Hi guys, new to the forum.
Just wanted to give some insight on a recent issue I had on my 05’ V-6 200k Miles.
Temperature gauge went up one day while in the freeway, and I had to top off my coolant. Was worried where it was going since I had no visible leaks.
After letting truck sit a few days at a time I noticed the engine sputtering at startup but smoothed our after warmup. Threw a CEL for a Cylinder 4 Misfire.
I changed plugs, changed Cables, and reset CEL. Still same problem.
After doing some online research I came to terms that I had a head gasket leak in cylinder 4 which is why I was low on Coolant and had the engine sputter at startup due to water being burnt out of cylinder 4 after sitting a few days.
I can’t afford to have it fixed or time to do a head gasket job myself so I looked into Sealers. Blue Devil had come out as one of the better products.
I ordered the Qt. on Amazon, $45, did a clean out flush and drain.
I decided to bypass the Heater core for good measure and then started the Blue Devil Proces per instructions. Did the 50min idle, then flush, then coolant refill.

So far it’s been 2 weeks and about 100 miles. No CEL, No Coolant lose and no rough idle start. Engine is so far running good. Pretty impressed but I don’t want to get too excited!

 

So my question is, if all goes well and it runs fine for the next month or so, would you chance it taking the truck out for longer mileage trips?

I want to go camping soon which would be about 300 miles one way. But I’m not to sure if I should chance it with about 200 lbs. of gear in the back and me and my GF in the cab which is about 300lbs. In cab.

At 200k miles, would you just prefer to do a head gasket job or possibly used engine swap?
I’m mechanically inclined and I’ve seen head gasket jobs on YouTube which takes about 20 hrs. from a professional mechanic who has experience with the tundra gasket job. So I figure it would take me about 30-40hrs. To complete.
Not looking forward to it!

 

I’d personally look at an engine swap.

 

I would second that. Truthfully that would be the easiest and quickest/ most reliable fix.
Bet it could be done in a day.
The 1GR's are very common so I don't think price will be through the roof.
Find a reputable salvage yard and pony up for the lowest mileage engine you can afford.
I've heard/ read that there has been a few handfuls of people with 2005 1GR's with head gasket issues. It may be worth trying to find one from a newer Tacoma. Anything up to a 2015 Tacoma should work if you swap all your accessories over to the new block.

 

I dunno. If he's able to do it himself he will save a ton of money and still have an engine he knows the history of. With a swap, you never know what you'll pull from a junkyard. A guy I follow on The Gram did his headgaskets over the course of a week after work.

 

I have yet to look into another JY 4.0 but I’ll do that next and weigh the options.

Not sure which years would be a direct bolt on. There are a ton of JY here in Southern California so it shouldn’t be too difficult to find one.

I know I can do the head gasket job myself but being self employed and needing my truck for work,the amount of time loss from work may not be worth it. Id have to double my work the week beforehand. Regardless both options will take some time away from work. I’ll have to weigh the options.

What years would be a direct bolt in to the Auto Trans?

 

Replace the head gasket. You did an emergency or short term fix.

A head gasket cost nothing, and your fortunate to have the mechanical skill to get the job done yourself. Do that now before your temp quick fix stops and you warp the head or overheat and possibly fry the motor trying to drive it home or to a shop.
Secondly, a head gasket replacement job takes a days work if you have the right tools and know how to turn a wrench. Mechanically inclined is a loose term, and could very well take 30-40hrs or more to get the job done right. A mechanics shop will have it done in one day at the very most from start to finish.

Take a chance and go on a trip with your girlfriend in tow?? Nope! Why make her miserable with complications of what happens during a major breakdown while on a trip, and your being at the mercy to paying a mechanic at full rate book value with marked up parts cost to get the job done. Or turn around and tow it home with a rental U Haul trk, or whatever. Overall, could very well become an expensive bummer of an attempted trip where everyone becomes unnecessarily frustrated.

I wouldn't even consider having my gal getting me out of jail with any vehicle in that condition. A cab ride home is cheaper. So what's your game plan? Bus, train or plane??

 

O2Goes,
Well put, I guess I’ll start looking into fixing it when time is avail.
I have no doubt I can do it, just need to make the time.
The valve covers have a small leak as well so I can get that taken care of as well.

 

Nope. I would not trust it. I would do the HG job. Haven't tackled it on a tundra but it doesn't look any worse than a subaru and I've done a bunch of them.

 

Just get yourself well prepared in advance with tools, materials and familiarized with shop repair book. Because the front end of motor is removed, now's the time to get the Aisian Timing Belt with water pump kit to get that out of the way. Plus a new serpentine belt.

 

Did someone say what fluids are affected and need to be drained and changed after a blown head gasket?

 

I don’t think a timing belt kit will do much good for a 1GR.
I know you mean well, though.
And yeah, at a minimum he’s looking at changing the oil and coolant. A coolant flush would be preferable. The power steering and AC can probably stay connected if you can get their pumps off the engine from the front and leave them tied up to something.

 

I know the 3rd Gen 4runner 3.4 Timing belt is recommended to be changed every 100k but I wasn’t aware of the same for the Tundra 4.0. I thought the 4.0 was a timing Chain.
But if that’s the case then I might as well do the Timing and water pump swap as well.

I have noticed a slight tick coming from the Driver side. I did my best to look for an exhaust leak but it sounds more like it’s coming from a valve. I’ll have to do a smoke test on the exhaust system when it’s not running to be sure it’s not coming from a cracked manifold. But it sounds more like an internal issue.

 

Well it’s currently Thanksgiving 2020 and I’ve put about 15k miles on my truck since I did the Blue Devil sealer.
I check my fluid at least once every 2 weeks or so and I have yet to notice any drop in Coolant or sputter when starting.
I do top it off a bit every few months but the coolant level rarely drops below what I can see from the radiator cap.
No CEL has gone off and I can say that the Blue Devil did what it was suppose to do.
When I have time off from work than I still plan on doing a New gasket and timing belt job. Hopefully at the beginning of the new year!

 

That's cool! I just saw this post for the 1st time . . . I was gonna share a story of an older Tacoma I had that had a leaking HG. We did the same as you and it worked. Had a friend offer to buy the truck afterwards, . . . he actually watched us do the Blue Devil Sealer! He understood that it may last a day/week/month/or year. Saw him a while back and it's still holding! I think he said he's put over 35K miles on it since the repair!

 

Yeah I’m really impressed.
Granted, I do understand the chances and the leak may have been small but it was big enough to fill the cylinder after sitting a good 3-4 days. Now, it doesn’t burn anything.

 

We have a few V6 guys come in with this problem. This may be something we recommend now. One member actually tore his engine down and rebuilt last spring.