1995 Toyota 4RUNNER

1995 TOYOTA 4RUNNER, 3.0V6, COOLANT LOSS, WHITE SMOKE FROM TAIL PIPE, ROUGH IDLE. IT APPEARED LIKE SO MANY OTHER 4 RUNNER OWNERS THE HEAD GASKET HAS BLOWN EVEN THOUGH TOYOTA SAID. THEY FIXED THE PROBLEM ON THE 1995 MODELS. THIS SEEMSEDTO BE A CONSTANT PROBLEM ON THIS VEHICLE IN THIS YEAR RANGE. TOYOTA NEEDED TO STEP UP AND TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS CONTINUING ISSUE. NHTSA NEEDED TO HOLD TOYOTA RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS PROBLEM SINCE IT SEEMED TO BE AN INHERENT PROBLEM WITH THIS MOTOR AND THEY SUPPOSED TO FIX WHAT WAS NOT WORKING. NO VEHICLE SHOULD BLOW HEAD GASKETS REGULARLY AT 100,000 MILES. *AK

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 1995 TOYOTA 4RUNNER. THE CONTACT LOST COOLANT, WHEN IT WAS COLD A WHITE VAPOR COMING FROM THE MUFFLER. AAA TESTED THE VEHICLE, AND FOUND 800 HYDROCARBONS IN THE RADIATOR. TOYOTA WAS NOTIFIED, AND STATED THAT THE HEAD GASKET, AND A DEFECTIVE SPARK PLUG WAS THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE. THE MOST RECENT FAILURE OCCURRED JANUARY 15, 2007. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 102,000 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 103,200. *AK UPDATED 05/23/07. *JB

MY 95 TOYOTA 4RUNNER IS LEAKING FROM THE HEAD GASKET, AND THOUSANDS OF OTHERS WITH THE SAME VIN NUMBER ARE DOING THE EXACT SAME THING. THERE WAS A RECALL ON MOST OTHER 4RUNNERS OF THE SAME MODEL BUT, NOT ON MINE. THERE IS A 4 RUNNER WITH THOUSANDS OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS VERY PROBLEM AND ALL SAY TOYOTA WILL NOT BAT AN EYELASH AT THE PROBLEM. I AND OTHERS WANT SOMETHING DONE ABOUT THIS! *JB

EVERYTHING WAS RUNNING SMOOTH AND STRONG WHEN THE 1995 TOYOTA 4RUNNER HIT 143K. JUST TODAY THE VEHICLE STARTED IDLING REALLY LOW AND ROUGH, AND FINALLY THIS AFTERNOON THE ENGINE & BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON. THE MORE IT DROVE, THE ROUGHER IT GOT. THE ENGINE WAS NOTICEABLY RUNNING MUCH WORSE THAN WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS STARTED AND TOOK OFF FOR HOME. I SHUT IT OFF TO GET A LOOK AT IT, AND EVERYTHING WAS FINE, UNTIL I STARTED IT UP AGAIN AND IT BLEW WHITE SMOKE FROM THE TAILPIPE. WATER SEEMS TO BE LEAKING BUT NOT AT THE RADIATOR, HOSES, OR PUMP. IT IS A BLOWN HEAD GASKET. FROM MECHANICAL EXPERIENCE AND SPEAKING WITH OTHER 1995 TOYOTA 4RUNNER OWNERS, I UNDERSTAND THAT BLOWING THE HEAD GASKET ON THIS PARTICULAR VEHICLE IS MORE COMMONPLACE THAN I HAD EXPECTED. *NM

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING 40 MPH, THE VEHICLE SLIGHTLY LOST POWER. THE VEHICLE WAS DRIVEN TO THE DESTINATION, WHERE GREY SMOKE WAS NOTICED EMANATING FROM UNDER THE HOOD. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A PRIVATE REPAIR SHOP, WHERE THE MECHANIC DETERMINED THAT THE HEAD GASKET HAD BLOWN OUT, CAUSING RADIATOR FLUID TO LEAK INTO THE ENGINE.

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED WHILE TRAVELING 55 MPH, WHITE SMOKE WAS SEEN TRAILING BEHIND THE VEHICLE AND THE ENGINE BEGAN TO RUN ROUGHLY. THE VEHICLE WAS STEERED OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND WAS TURNED OFF. THE PROBLEM WAS IDENTIFIED AS A BLOWN HEAD GASKET. WHEN THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT RESTART, THE CONTACT HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO THE RESIDENCE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED.

THE 4RUNNER SUDDENLY BEGAN DRIVING VERY ROUGHLY. THE SUV WAS IMMEDIATELY TAKEN TO A MECHANIC WHO INFORMED US THAT AT 130, 000 MILES THE HEAD GASKET WAS BLOWN AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. WE DISCOVERED THAT TOYOTA HAS A SERVICE BULLETIN (NHTSA # 600350) OUT FOR 1995 TOYOTA 4RUNNERS TO CORRECT THIS TYPE OF ENGINE AND HEAD GASKET TROUBLE; HOWEVER, WE WERE INFORMED BY MARION AT TOYOTA CORP. THAT OUR 1995 SUV DOES NOT QUALIFY EVEN THOUGH WE ARE HAVING IDENTICAL HEAD GASKET FAILURE DUE TO A DEFORMED MANUFACTURED HEAD GASKET. WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF HAVING THE HEAD GASKET REPLACED AT CONSIDERABLE EXPENSE. WE HAVE RECEIVED QUOTES AVERAGING AROUND $2,000.00. THE DEFECTIVE HEAD GASKET IS STILL AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME. *NM