Blown Head Gasket

[Charlie b1]

Found out today that head gasket definitely gone. Known prob by toyota but I am out of extended warranty. Any ideas what figure I should be looking at to fix? Thanks

[Duggerz]

I don't know what figure exactly but we do know here that the gasket may not be the only thing that needs to be replaced. Depending on how bad the blow, and how long the vehicle has been run after the blow started, and other factors such as if there is hammering due to carbon deposits, the whole engine could be scrap. It's not uncommon for the head to be scrap because of warping. So you may have to pay quite a few hundred to find this out. Often with the older models, the cost of repairs scraps the car.

Sorry it's not better news.

[Ben565]

I had the Head gasket go on my 2008 D4D, fortunatly it was within the extended warranty period. I don't have the exact figures to hand but the claim was for a few thousand. Circa £1,200 labour plus a new short engine from Toyota.

[Heidfirst]

it's a "how long is a piece of string" question. Until it is stripped & inspected you don't know what work is necessary - it could be anywhere from just under £1000 > nearly £7000 to fix it & any underlying cause.

[Druid Boy]

An engine change for a scrapper is probably cheaper but does carry the risk of the fault occuring on the replacement engine. Unless you can get a warranty certified engine.

[Firstpeke]

I just had my 2.0 D4D head done...... gone between cylinder 2 and 3, eating coolant.

Skimmed head, valves reworked to set them into head more, new vlave stem guide seals, new cam chain, new water pump, thermostat housing and stat.... gaskets, bolts etc....

Done by a engine / cylinder head specialist in Glasgow.

£1,400.00

The car was only bought in March, 72,000 miles then, about 91,000 when done in September......

I had to get it done as I work in Northampton and live in Scotland so commute home at weekends.....

The saving grace was that the day I was going to pick it up, I received a tax rebate for a couple of hundred more than the repair.

Now if someone had said I would spend that getting the job done I would have had to think about it long and hard..... but when push came to shove, I wasn't going to commute on my motorbike over the winter...... or at all....

It was worth it in my book and the car will now have to stay for some time.....

[TomdeGuerre]

Les, that's interesting to know that you've had the head gasket successfully done when there's the odd dire warning on here that you can't get the head skimmed on these engines . Was it done by the engine room? So how many miles you done since then and has it been OK. Did you have to take it back after 1,000 miles or so to have anything re-checked?

[Heidfirst]

It's not that you physically can't get the head skimmed but that Toyota say that you shouldn't (presumably due to reduced thickness & the high pressures).

Firstpeke, it will be interesting to see how long the fix lasts - given your high mileage it should be a good test.

Care to name the company that did it?

[Firstpeke]

I was of course wary of the head skim, but options were, after all, limited.....

I tired to get two garages in Dunoon to take it on but both were busy and short staffed.... so was given the details of the place they allegedly take their cylinder head and other engine work.

Cylinder Head Express was the place, went their solely on the recommendation of the place in Dunoon....

The cost was higher than expected, but there again, the car was not going to be scrapped for lack of a cylinder head..... I only bought it in March and it wasn't "cheap"..... if I had known then what I know now, I may have spotted the early signs.... none of which are normal head gasket failure indications.

[grahamco]

Am in a similar position. Any update on how the engine is a few months on from the new head gasket + skimming? Wondering is there life after this!