My 01 4runner blew a headgasket. Just wondering if anyone else has delt with the same problem. I know there was a recall on the 3.0 L. I thought the problem had been fixed on the 3.4 L.

I got water and oil pouring out of one of the heads in the back of the engine. No water in oil, but oil in the radiator.

I'm pondering on whether to attemp the fix myself or not. Does anyone know where to get good gaskets and parts for this? The timing belt hasn't been changed and it has 110000 mi. so Im going to have to do that also. Appreciate any info.

Toyota dealer is the best place for parts. You can get discount parts online at places like www.1sttoyotaparts.com or www.partznet.com


It's a pretty involved job to change head gaskets, but can be done if you have patience and follow directions. Timing belt will be coming off so might as well do that at the same time.

Send the heads to a machine shop to have them checked for cracks and have them decked and machined if needed. Replace the head bolts too. They are one time use. And clean out the head bolt holes THOROUGHLY. And then dry them out using brake cleaner that evaporates. You don't want any liquid in the holes that will mess up your torque values.


We do have some FSM's (factory service manuals) available for that truck over in our Tacoma section. (Tacoma has the same 5vzfe engine as the 4Runner) Read the procedure and see for yourself if its something you'd want to do

http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/index.html

To add:

http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/maintenance/timing_belt/

You'll also want to change your oil and filter if you had a milkshake in there; coolant contamination.

Thanks for the input and FSM and parts links, very helpful. Well, I started taking a better look today and I may not have a blown HG after all. The oil and water mixture pouring out was actually ATF and coolant. I was draining the radiator and touched one of the trans. cooling lines and it just fell off. So I drained the trans. fluid and it was full of the milk shake. Does the trans. have a breather kinda like a diff and maybe that was where this ATF and coolant mixture was pouring out or did seal break somewhere? Any way, I know I need a new radiator then I'll take it from there. Thanks.

Your trans cooler is built into the radiator. Trans fluid goes through a cooler INSIDE of the radiator. The coolant cools the trans fluid. There is a leak in your trans cooler located inside the radiator, that is why the 2 fluids are mixing.

2 things you can do. Flush the radiator and cooling system VERY well, and seal up the trans lines on the radiator. Get an external trans cooler.

Or you can buy a new radiator and hook things back up like it came from the factory.

I put a new radiator on the other day and everything seems fine. I put transmission fluid in the in the trans. about 2qt. , but according to the dipstick it still seems low. I was wondering what the correct procedure is for checking the trans fluid on the 01 4runner. My factory manual that came with the vehicle has no instructions about checking the fluid. I know on some vehicles you have shift through the gears and check while the vehicle is still running. I don't have a service manual, so I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice.

Also, I still have ATF and water residue in both the new radiator and trans. I have drained the radiator a few times and it's still there. I've got some radiator flush/cleaner that I'm going to try. I was just waiting till I drained it a few times until I gave it the full treatment. But what about the trans.? I was planning on draining the fluid and refilling, but I didn't know if there was a better way to flush out the trans. Truck is running great again trans. is not slipping or anything. Thanks for all your help.

Proper way to check is to get the vehicle and trans up to normal operating temperature (after a long drive) and then check the fluid level. Trans is kept in park.

The only way to get all the coolant out of the trans is to flush the tranny. Either pay someone to do it, or do it yourself by disconnecting the cooler lines from the trans, have one bucket of clean fluid with one of the lines put in it, and one empty bucket to catch the old fluid. Start the truck up and let it suck the good fluid up, and let it run until you see clean fluid coming out into the other bucket. You will go through a lot of trans fluid to get it clean, but it needs to be done.


And for the radiator, you need to flush the ENTIRE cooling system. That means the block, radiator, and the front and rear heater core. Drain the coolant from the radiator at the petcock, remove the drain plug from the block, located near the oil filter, set the front and rear heater selectors to hot, and run a garden hose in the radiator. Water should flow out of the block. Keep water flowing until it runs clear. Then let all the water drain out of the block and radiator. When its done draining, put the block drain plug back in, close the petcock, and refill with new coolant.