Blown Head Gasket at 180K miles

Hello forum,

I let my 1st gen Tundra ('06, 4.7L) get pretty hot when the 2nd water pump went out (@160K miles) & now the shop says I have hydrocarbons in the coolant + the next water pump is failing after 20K miles. 1 shop sez '$5K to fix it', another sez 'get a new truck' & another still sez 'replace the whole engine'. I love my truck & acknowledge I am the one who let it get too hot, but don't know what to do; Any advice? I know it's gonna be expensive, but what is a reasonable cost?

Thanx,
Michael

 

Welcome from Obx Michael. Does the 5k cover head gaskets and new water pump, plus labor. Seems replacing engjne is a little extreme . Replacing your Tundra with bigger and better Tundra would be best route, but on a serious note how long did you drive it overheated. If you didn't warp the pistons, then don't see why you couldn't just get head gaskets replaced. Maybe get another opinion.

 

If its gonna cost 5 grand I would want a new engine or new truck. That being said the truck would need to still be in really good shape to honestly justify putting that kind of money in it

 

Michael,

What does "pretty hot"mean? 250+ degrees? For how long? Did you run it until it quit?

Every time I have been involved with engines that have been overheated enough to blow a head gasket or run hot until they quit, those engines never seemed to be right again.

B/L: A severely overheated engine isn't worth the money or time...a rebuild won't fix the impact the heat has had on all the components, to include the block, heads, intake, etc. Can you find a 4.7 from a junk yard? Sometimes used engines can be found and they are still good.

Engine swaps on older vehicles aren't cheap, plus there are a lot of incidentals. I can see a used engine plus the labor to remove and reinstall costing $5-7K.

Or just buy another truck.

 

Thank You all for the input.

'How hot' & 'how long' are both good questions, but I don't know how to answer (this happened ~18 months/20K miles ago); If I recall properly, the temp gauge was pegged for maybe 5 minutes 'fore I pulled my head out of my arse & pulled over. With a welder's glove &/or a towel on my hand I pulled the radiator cap, jumped back & let it blow steam. The temp dropped substantially almost immediately & then I slowly added water (with the engine running) when able. I drove until the gauge got near/at the peg & repeated. BUT, this happened on a long road trip & I nursed the truck home [~400 miles!] (in this same 'heat & repeat' manner)

 

...(Woops!). In the ensuing 18 months/20,000 miles, disappearing coolant/heater blowing cold air & premature water pump failure are the only symptoms I've noticed. Within the last few weeks, the '$5K to fix it' shop found hydrocarbons in the radiator (no mixing of oil & coolant)
From what I gather, an equivalent truck (sans overheated history) will cost ~$10-$15K
So blah, blah, blah; I hope that answers the 'how hot' & 'how long' questions. Any updated advice?

Thanks again,

Michael

 

I have a 4.7l engine with 151,000 miles sitting on the shop floor. Swap the engine out.

 

Why I am sold on this truck: "True Story" So somewhere around 380,000 miles on the truck, heading back from NY on I95, all of sudden my truck starts pinging, then a look at my gauges and temp gauge is Maxed out, so I throw it into neutral and coast and put my heater on Max HI. Not going down, but I see an off ramp and just go for it, and pulled into a store complex....everything closed on Sunday, that's CT for you. It's summer time, hot, but truck is very, very hot. So I sit for an hour, all I had on me for liquid was a gallon jug of water half full, and a 6 pack of tall Genny's I was bringing back home........and of course whatever I can produce. So I already access that my top tank had a crack in it, so if I can get the radiator topped off, and you rip the gasket off the cap so it can't build pressure but still hold liquid, then heater on if needed. (sucks in summer) So I'm thirsty, but yet the truck needs the water, so a few hours later I produced enough liquid to almost fill the radiator, of course no souvenirs to take back home at this time. I still thought my engine was the big F, but I made it to the first gas station to get more water......the kind you want in your radiator this time. I kept stopping for water, but made it home. After that, I'm driving around town, being lazy about ordering my radiator, and then the trans oil cooler inside blew and pink foam in the engine and transmission. Engine is easy to flush, but transmission was a lot of time and fluid. So new radiator is in. I am still driving with the same engine and transmission, and just hit 426,000 miles. Towed a car around the country last year. SO ARE YOU SURE. Need to do a leakage test and see if bubbles come up in the coolant. Install a good water pump, NEW, never reman, companies like Gates, Aisin, Beck/Arnley, sorta in that order, Gates is my first choice. Has the coolant system been pressure checked for leaks anywhere else? I have had cars from shops and even dealerships come to me saying it needs a new engine > EX: Honda Accord, timing belt, after I did a leakage check to make sure no valves were damaged. Jeep Comanche truck, water pump. Dodge Raider, front pulley bolt snapped off. Nissan Hardbody, timing chain, water pump and new cover. Nissan 300zx z32, oil pump. Nissan Altima, replaced the collapsed radiator hoses and cap with no gasket......see ya. Just to name a few.