I looked at a 1992 4Runner last night with 142K and in immaculate shape, except for a blown head gasket. The gasket was replaced in 99 under Toyota's V06 campaign. Once the woman realized the truck was overheating, she called 3 mechanics, who all told her the gasket was blown. She then parked it, this was New Year's. I checked the oil, it's a nice chocolate milkshake consistency. The question is, if I do the work myself, is this worth the effort? In other words, is it more likely than not that I may wind up having to do more than heads and gaskets because of coolant in the bearings? I don't want to buy this and then find out that I need to rebuild the engine and/or replace it. She wants $2000 for it. Thoughts?

If you like it and can afford to repair/rebuild/replace the engine, offer her $500 for it. $2k is too much with a bad engine.

( amorton ) I had the head gasket go in my 4Runner about 4 years ago.
I have a 1994 4Runner SR5 V6, I had the gasket replaced and haven't had a problem with it since so in my experience it didnt affect the engine in any bad way at all but they are prone to having the head gasket go more than once so it's something to think about. Personally I wouldn't get rid of my 4Runner for any other vechile on the road.

Good Luck
OzzyO :smokin:

I agree with the first poster. Give her a low offer because she won't have many people lining up to buy it. It is possible that the blown gasket damaged the block. If that is the case then new gaskets will not seal.
If you do it yourself keep in mind that a vehicle that old will need new rubber hoses. When you pull the heads off you also need to remove a mile of vacuum hoses, etc. Replace all of them at the same time.