2005 Toyota 4Runner V6, M1 0w30, 2,300 on oil, 88k

[cpayne5]

I had suspected a leaking head gasket, so I sent in a sample. Unfortunately, it looks like I'm right. This is the first analysis I've done on this vehicle, and all the other numbers look "great", so at least that's a bit of good news.

For what it's worth, leaky head gaskets aren't that uncommon in these engines (1GR-FE). From what I've read, it usually happens around 120k miles. Toyota has new part numbers for the head gaskets, but I don't know if that means that they've updated/upgraded them or not.

Comments? Thanks - Chris

"CHRIS: Based on the level of potassium present in this sample, you're probably correct about your head
gasket leak. Potassium and sodium are the elements we see that make up coolant. The good news, though,
is that you've caught the leak early. Wear still looks great compared to universal averages, which are based
on 5,300 miles on the oil, and insolubles are low enough to show that the oil hasn't started to turn to sludge.
For now, you may be able to keep wear under control with short oil runs (and watching your coolant level).
Change this oil within 1,000 miles."

Code:


Aluminum 4

Chromium 0

Iron 5

Copper 1

Lead 0

Tin 0

Molybdenum 54

Nickel 0

Manganese 0

Silver 0

Titanium 0

Potassium 112

Boron 25

Silicon 14

Sodium 12

Calcium 2733

Magnesium 13

Phosphorus 781

Zinc 864

Barium 0



SUS Viscosity @ 210* F 55.9

cSt Viscosity @ 100* C 9.05

Flashpoint in *F 410

Fuel %
Antifreeze % POS

Water % 0.0

Insolubles % 0.3

 

[Skid]

I would consider yourself lucky. Get it fixed right away or you could not just wear out bearings and so forth, but if you overheat the head, you wind up squashing the gasket, brinelling grooves into the head and/or block, warping the head... at some point, it becomes very difficult to fix.

A warped head can be resurfaced flat, but on an overhead cam head, then the cam bearing journals could be warped... thus, you need to have the head straightened before it can be shaved, and when you straighten, the geometry on the valves gets messed up, requiring a valve job...

Ergo, fix it ASAP.

 

[cpayne5]

Originally Posted By: Skid
I would consider yourself lucky. Get it fixed right away or you could not just wear out bearings and so forth, but if you overheat the head, you wind up squashing the gasket, brinelling grooves into the head and/or block, warping the head... at some point, it becomes very difficult to fix.

A warped head can be resurfaced flat, but on an overhead cam head, then the cam bearing journals could be warped... thus, you need to have the head straightened before it can be shaved, and when you straighten, the geometry on the valves gets messed up, requiring a valve job...

Ergo, fix it ASAP.


Absolutely.