How to Check for a Bad Head Gasket on Toyota and Lexus Engines

A Toyota Master Diagnostic Technician shares tips and tricks on how to check for a bad head gasket on Toyota and Lexus modern engines.

In this video we take a look at this almost 300k mile 2013 Sequoia which has a completely blown head gasket. We'll start with a path of diagnosis that professional mechanics take to verify that we have a bad head gasket and how severe is it to be able to give the customer a full picture before digging in.

Link to Borescope used in this video:

I hope this video will especially help Prius DIY mechanics to distinguish between a cold start misfire caused by an EGR problem and one that's caused by a Blown Head gasket on the 3rd generation Prius's 2ZR-FXE.

This message is for all those who wrench on cars. Spend 90% of your effort on Diagnosis not on the repair. Majority of repairs are just a collection of nuts and bolts that go in a certain order. thorough diagnosis is what makes repairs successful, not the nuts and bolts part.

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#thecarcarenut #toyota #enginerepair

0:00 Intro
1:53 Basic Diagnosis Method
6:06 Deeper investigation into head gasket clues
7:43 Simple way to SEE the head gasket leak (for Prius owners)
17:08 Important Machining information on Toyota engines

[nickkiriakos]

Seriously though, in terms of quality content and being a normal, decent human being, no one else on YouTube comes close. This channel is great, need to get him a mil subs.

[michaeltaylor]

I work as a mechanic. And I so enjoy listening to his videos. He is an excellent teacher

[cobradwight]

Im also a mechanic and Personally I would throw a used low mileage engine in it and call it a day . Yes other stuff can fail but I’ve seen Toyotas with 5, 6, 7 and 800k on the original engines and transmissions .from what I’ve seen that sequoia is mint and you can tell the owner took pride and care of their vehicle . I just bought a 2003 sequoia with 260k on it with blown head gaskets cheap for 1000 bucks . Gonna fix it myself and run it as long as she will go . Car care nut I do enjoy watching you and your honesty. Keep up the good work .

[MPGunther]

Being a mechanic in todays world certainly is a lot different then 30 to 40 years ago and you are truly a master at your craft

[tomr]

Best automotive repair channel on YouTube. Straightforward, honest, easy to understand and no BS.

[theodoredeleon]

This dude is so much better than scotty.

[nathanricks]

After years of looking at many many mechanic videos, this is the absolute best video I have ever seen for explaining and reasoning on engine repair or replacement of a high mileage engine. Thank you for your professional courtesy!

[rjcontruction]

had an f150 5.4l construction truck with 205, 000 when the head gasket blew so badly that it would barely idle and blow white smoke like crazy. last stitch effort i used head gasket sealer( iron tight i think), it was headed to junkyard so what the heck. after 20 min white smoke disappeared and the leak was fixed. drove it hard for another 10k and then gave it to my father in-law. that truck is still on the road and just recently turned 300, 000 miles. I know that's not what this channel is about but what the heck may be worth a shot.

[moose]

Ahmed, only a true public servant would lay it all on the line with the customer and share the BIG picture with them. The bad news is always tough to deliver but you know how to spare the customer from turning their vehicle into a white elephant. Thanks for what you do for the Toyota community.

[elijahhacks]

A genuine, blessed, and knowledgeable mechanic. There is no comparison!

[robertrusso]

Great to have a professional Toyota Mechanic like this giving advice. Hope and wish more are out there like him. Toyota's have been very good to me and I want to drive them 20 plus years, but yes sometimes just give it up and replace it. Anything after 250k is more then a domestic manufacturer can offer.

[timothyconnecticut]

So spot on about the resurfacing of the heads or the block deck. These overhead cam engines need to have proper distance between cam and crank in order for timing to be correct. That was the beauty of old school push rod engines. You could resurface heads and not have this problem. But you could still run into increasing compression ratio. If I remember correctly, you could buy thicker head gaskets to prevent this. Great channel!

[drwisdom]

I really liked the discussion about what to do about the problem and why it is too risky to fix. Mr. Car Care Nut shows that vehicle repair decisions are as much about money and risk as they are technical.

[docf.n.t.]

You are the most straight forward YouTube mechanic I have ever seen ! I was watching because of an overheating problem on my 2014 Buick Encore (1.4 ltr) engine. You have opened my eyes about these "throw away " engines, and brought me to the realization that they are in basic "throw away " cars ! The prognoses is not good for my Buick, and I've already had several quotes for $4K to replace the engine. This car is an "All Wheel Drive" that has a history of single tire replacements due to road hazards. This leaves the drive train in a very questionable condition, due to unequal sized tires ! I may have to just "drive it till it dies" then junk it. Its not a good investment !

[Pennconst]

18 year hvac service technician here. 1000% ALWAYS investigate!! Almost NEVER do major components spontaneously fail. Great technical skills here in these videos! Kudos!

[uwaisahamedimad]

Man, you are unfolding mysteries..look I've been looking for an explanation on how to diagnose a bad head gasket and this explanation is extraordinary. thanks a lot..

[kitchit]

I've been working on my cars for many years now and I've never come across a better explanation on blown head gaskets. Thanks Car Care Nut! 
You should do a separate video on the Prius head gaskets.

[DoctrDre]

I hope all mechanics are like you. God bless you.

[brucewayne]

Replaced both heads on my 02 V6 4Runner with 235k miles . Block test was good, no coolant in engine oil. No missfires, no coolant leaks anywhere. It overheated after 5 minutes of just running, clearly had bubbling in the entire radiator, low coolant gotta go somewhere, right? . It had coolant inside of cylinder #3, top of piston looked really clean compared to the other 5, that was it.

[Zephyrdaze]

AMD will be inspecting the head gasket on my LS430 soon. This video answered all of my knucklehead questions on how he diagnoses the issue. What a wealth of info here. Thank you!