My family had 3 2004 Toyota 4Runners and over a 2 year period all had to have the head gaskets replaced. By the time it happened to the 3rd one, I started connecting with Toyota through local dealer and corporate, it did no good. Even the tech at the local dealer said they had several 2004 - 2005 4runners come in with bad head gaskets. This was only a problem in the 4.0 V6, not 4.7 V8 problems, matter of fact, the 4.7 V8 is one of the best engines ever made. The tech also said Toyota changed the design of the head gasket in 2006 models so no issues with 2006 or newer. Also, for some reason most of the problems were with 4Runners and not Tacomas, I don't know why but that's what I found through research.

If you're looking to buy a 2003 - 2005 4Runner, might be a good idea to have it checked and see if it has had any codes thrown for a misfire on one of the cylinders, that's a pretty good sign it may have a bad head gasket. All of this being said, I still think Toyota makes the best trucks and SUVs on the market but they should have taken care of the the head gasket issues like they did on the older 4Runners with the 3.0 V6, they actually did a recall and replaced those.

I have a 2004 4Runner SR5 with 190K Miles and have a Leak in Head Gasket, its not bad leak but its leaking. first I took it to 3 different mechanic and they couldn't figure it out what is the problem and then one mechanic gives me this bad news have a Blown Head Gasket and the signs he showed me I checked it on google and youtube. I don't know what exactly to do cause mechanic is telling me to change the whole motor and its gonna cost me $3000. I need to know if there is a Recall for this issue cause I have lot of people having a same issue with this particular body style. Please advice me what exactly to do cause I don't another $3000 to get it fix.