Blown Head Gasket

How many miles on coolant? And what was the application?

 

'21 tundra 22k miles '15 Camry 149k original coolant.

 

22k miles and coolant already shot? Wow... I changed mine at 48k. I guess, I will be replacing it based on the acidity test now.

 

No, both checked good. I just checked the Tundra for shits and grins.

 

read the tube. Both are testing perfectly fine.

 

It seems odd to me that 22k coolant and 144k coolant would have what appears to be little to no difference between them on the test strip or between fresh/new coolant. I still have my 60k coolant I haven't taken in to recycle yet and I have those same Phoenix test strips. I might have to test it against the fresh fluid too. Like you said it makes me suspicious of the test strips.

 

2005 Volvo w/ 273k miles, 4 years and 10k miles since engine rebuild. Volvo sells concentrate which you have to dilute 50/50. The test shows the correct glycol percentage: 50%



2019 Tundra w/ 53k miles, replaced coolant 5k miles ago. I think it shows glycol between 50% and 60%?



2022 Sequoia, 20k miles on factory fill.



All 3 together: Volvo, Tundra, Sequoia:



I'm not sure what does the test indicates with your glycol content close to 100%. Glycol has about 1/2 of specific heat capacity of water. Running glycol and no water is bad for cooling. But perhaps the test just sees something it was not designed for and tints heavily.

 

Finding this thread after watching the CarCareNut video has me 2nd guessing a 2011 sequoia platinum purchase I'm about to make.

Dealer states that the head gasket has been replaced....the vehicle has 185k. Didn't know the 5.7s had this issue. I have owned several gen1 sequoias with well over 200k on a few and the last one had well over 300k.

I really like the 2nd gen but I might have to look a clean 1st gen.

Anyone fix the head gasket issue and have a repeat of the issue?

 

This “issue” is overblown by the car care nut. Gotta get them clicks somehow..

I’ve seen very few head gasket failures - certainly not enough to make it an issue. IMO, most were related to poor maintenance or a secondary issue that was not fixed, such as a leaking water pump or valley heat exchanger gasket causing the vehicle to overheat. And some were simply luck of the draw.

Several of us are running supercharged vehicles without ever touching the head gasket or having any issues with them - some with over 200k or even 300k miles. Superchargers often increase the thermal demand on the cooling system by 50% or more; if head gaskets were weak, I’d think they’d be more problematic in that circle.

 

Totally agree. Issue is "overblown." My buddy had a 2007 w the 5.7. Bought w 80k miles used 15 years ago. Coolant was replaced by Toyota dealer at 80k. Then buddy replaced coolant at 200k and then 400k and used Walmart brand 'universal coolant' whole time LOL. His engine computer fried, at 500k miles. Maybe rodents? Maybe lightning strike? He traded in for $5k in 2021. Check out the 'I Do Cars' youtube channel. He dissects several very neglected 5.7 motors and no real HG issues, but other freak issues. My 2012 (bought w 135k miles) had its coolant replaced at roughly 95k by previous owner. Then I had dealer flush it at 143k roughly. I do not have valley plate, HG, etc. issues, leaks. Was pressure tested for half an hour in 2024. Coolant still at solid levels. I did look at a used 2017 Tundra DC TRD4X4 5.7 w roughly 98k miles, at a local Toyota dealer about 6 months ago. Was for sale for approx 1 month at their lot. Owned by one of their mechanics. I suspected owner towed the crap out of it. Checked oil cap. Both oil filler tube and cap had that milkshake residue. Not tiny bits here and there. But it fully coated the neck and cap. I suspected smaller cam tower leak as well. My 2012 cam towers are fine btw. I walked.....

 

I didn't realize im in gen2.5 as this is a 2011.

Sounds good. I test drove it and it drove great! Very very clean. I am going to go ahead and get it as the price is very good imo given the reported work that has been done prior to it being listed for sale. I would imagine that it will easily last another 184k. They didn't service the transmission/transfer/diffs so I plan on getting it done when after I get it, hopefully tomorrow or by Friday, waiting on the paperwork to be emailed.


"We are by appointment only so please call, text, or message us to set up a test drive!

2011 Toyota Sequoia Platinum 4WD 5.7l with 184k miles and a clean title.
This Sequoia is in beautiful condition, inside, outside, and underneath. Runs and drives like a dream. No leaks, no mechanical issues, well maintained.
This was just serviced and inspected by a Toyota Master Certified Diagnostic Technician. This service included, new rear main seal, new head gaskets, cam housing seals, valve cover gaskets, and timing cover reseal. All of the leaks that you normally see with the 5.7’s has been addressed with this car.
All of the bells and whistles like radar cruise, parking sensors, heated and cooled seats, heated rear seats, rear entertainment, JBL sound system, Bluetooth radio, steering wheel controls, etc."

 

I'm not buying that because I was warned by my local dealer about this real world issue back in 2017 when I bought my 2007 with a 5.7L, this was years before the TCCN video in question and years before my head gasket failed between cylinder #5 and #7 last year.

 

How many miles and what was the coolant change history?

 

315,000 miles and the only service history I have begins at 270,000, I flushed the coolant at 270,000 when I bought the truck, and I was just about to flush it again but the failure occurred before I got to it. There was a period where I was loosing coolant from the overflow tank at around 285,000 ... I replaced the radiator cap and that stopped the coolant loss.

Also, there is no recorded service history available for this truck prior to me buying it and evidence indicates that previous owners ran it very hard hauling and towing well beyond it's capacity. The transmission had been replaced before I bought it.

 

Hard to get mad about when it's over 300k knowing it was abused. I've run mine hard, 120 degree ambient temps, towing, overloaded, off-road, even a some hot laps through the cinders... I'm hoping to get to 400k out of it but can't say I'd be mad about 300k.

 

Coolant does become acidic and that causes problems wether u want accept it or not i been a diesel tech for 15 years now btw

 

So far not one person with any amount of mileage has posted a strip with acidic coolant. One video by a self described nut who theorizes that acidic coolant caused an isolated failure at the thinnest spot between two cylinders on a head gasket is not much to go on. If that truck had acidic coolant, and we are blaming the failure on that, why not a more global breakdown of the head gasket? Why not more than one area of degradation or failure?

 

I’m in the habit of doing a radiator drain and fill for all my Toyotas every summer now, I don’t want to take a chance. I think my 2003 Camry had a bad head gasket as well as my 94 Mustang, both of which I never replaced the coolant as I had no idea what I was doing then lol. Maybe coolant maybe not but 30$ buys two jugs, enough for 3 cars and 1 hour or less to do all three.

I have a clear hose from Homedepot for draining and that prevents needing to remove the double skid plates from the 4r/FJ which are very annoying if youve ever done them.

 

Nice truck, you should not have any problem making it to 400k.

I wasn't mad about the failure, I was warned about the issue and the damage was done by the previous owners. I am doing everything in my power to ensure the replacement motor survives another 300k or more, and the repair cost was a fraction of what a replacement truck would have cost me.