80 Series Blown Headgasket

[Jacob80450]

Hi all, I have a 1997 lexus lx450 with 245k miles. Unfortunately last week i blew the head gasket when i overheated on the freeway. After calling a couple shops that have experience working on 80 series they both estimated a cost of around 6k for the head gasket replacement. I’m just curious does this sound correct and what questions should i ask the shop? Just a fyi i live in the california bay area.

 

[TurboDennis]

It really depends on the extent of the damage from overheating. It also depends on what exactly they're doing as part of that $6K quote. If they're getting a brand new head, replacing all the seals/gaskets/head bolts/any other worn parts, then $6K is reasonable. If they're just taking the head off, resurfacing it and slapping on a new HG, then $6K is not reasonable.

 

[Devils Paw 80]

As I recall, a former Toyota mechanic now working out of his own garage quoted me $1500 for the basic job a couple years ago. I was just curious what number he'd come up with.

 

[Fj80oregon]

West coast would be $5-7k depending on what else was replaced. Machine work is 900-1500 depending on the shop if you can even find one. I would get a detailed quote of what is being replaced and how many hours of labor they are charging. Then you can have some solid numbers to compare. If they have experience with the 1fzfe than sounds like they know what it takes.

 

[bicycleagent003]

The search function on this board will give you a lot of great info on how to go about getting this repair done right. Also, you might want to post a separate question asking for shop recommendations close to you. The Bay Area is pretty large, you might to ask for recommendations closer to you or within the distance you'd be willing to take it. It's not going to be cheap, and if you want to be a wise consumer you'll have to do some homework about what parts, which will be Toyota vs. aftermarket, machine work, head studs vs. bolts, whether you're getting new valve seals, who the head gasket will be from, etc. Good luck. Maybe others have gone down this road successfully.

 

[Kernal]

There's a long list of other items to fix while you're in there.

Wait for others to chime in

 

[thedoughboy]

@Jacob80450
If you live in the Bay Area take it to Mudrak in Sonoma. You won't need to ask any questions as they basically have been there, done that. It'll cost you. They'll most likely recommend rebuilding the topend of your engine.

Can't speak highly enough about Gary and his crew.

 

[Kernal]

IME the cost for a 1FZFE head gasket job (US) has more than doubled in the last 10 years. Example: one "boutique" Land Cruiser shop in GA now charges (AFAIK) in the range of $10k using the original head but that includes some of the other services that should/can be done while everything's apart.

Cheapest I've seen was ~$1700 about seven years ago in Florida completed by a small local shop. IDK if that included machine shop work for the head
but likely none of the other while-you're-in-there maintenance items were done.

 

[efjayatee]

Hi all, I have a 1997 lexus lx450 with 245k miles. Unfortunately last week i blew the head gasket when i overheated on the freeway. After calling a couple shops that have experience working on 80 series they both estimated a cost of around 6k for the head gasket replacement. I’m just curious does this sound correct and what questions should i ask the shop? Just a fyi i live in the california bay area.

I took mine to Yota1. Thats all they do-they use OEM parts.....$6k-$7k is about right.

 

[John McVicker]

valley Hybrids in Stockton. 1.5 hrs from SF. @orangefj45

 

[efjayatee]

valley Hybrids in Stockton. 1.5 hrs from SF. @orangefj45

If you can get a slot......Georg referred me to yota1 (Nick) since they were 11 months out during that time. Valley outsourced their topend work to yota1.

 

[John McVicker]

Yota1 has an excellent reputation. You can’t go wrong with them.

 

[peacesells63]

If I am doing the job, toyota parts only and all rubber parts that are not like new need to be replaced, injectors cleaned/flowmatched, replacing broken injector clips, head studs or new bolts, pcv valve, coolant flush, spark plugs, cap and rotor, oil change etc. ends up around 6k on average. About $6600 if you want the head and intake ported. If the head is badly warped, add the cost of a used head.

 

[Mark W]

Seems to be a LOT of guys wanting to make the job as big as they can in your area. AND here on mud.

Mark...

 

[peacesells63]

Seems to be a LOT of guys wanting to make the job as big as they can in your area. AND here on mud.

Mark...

Its called doing the job the right way. I won't install cheap chinese parts, nor will I ignore failing parts that I have to touch and will soon be an issue. If I agree to do a job, it will be done correctly and my work wont fail and ruin my customers vacation. Any professional mechanic does the same.

 

[Kernal]

A shop who's known to do good work on this model/engine is the most important factor IMO/IME as they would know what else to
service while they're in there, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

 

[Mark W]

Its called doing the job the right way. I won't install cheap chinese parts, nor will I ignore failing parts that I have to touch and will soon be an issue. If I agree to do a job, it will be done correctly and my work wont fail and ruin my customers vacation. Any professional mechanic does the same.

You can certainly justify 6-7K if you start looking for things to do just to make the most off of the job. If that is the job the customer wants, great! But if the rig is in good shape with no issues prior to a head gasket failure and the customer is not looking to engage in major work just because "it can be done now", I am not gonna bulk the job up just to make a little more off of it. I am gonna take care of the failure at hand, anything that contributed to the failure and any items found during inspection and repairs that might be actual pending failure points which the customer is unaware of and should reasonably be addressed at this point.

Anyone who wants to insinuate that I am less than a "professional" or that I am using substandard parts or doing a substandard job because I understand and care that my customers might not be made of money can **** right off.

Mark...

 

[bj70bc]

truth, on everyones part...
a person just has to be ready for doing all the s***e thats going to essentially fall apart when you take it off, and the things that only make sense wile youre right there ie. a water pump thats got 150k+ on it, all the rubber, faulty injectors, warped head etc

 

[peacesells63]

You can certainly justify 6-7K if you start looking for things to do just to make the most off of the job. If that is the job the customer wants, great! But if the rig is in good shape with no issues prior to a head gasket failure and the customer is not looking to engage in major work just because "it can be done now", I am not gonna bulk the job up just to make a little more off of it. I am gonna take care of the failure at hand, anything that contributed to the failure and any items found during inspection and repairs that might be actual pending failure points which the customer is unaware of and should reasonably be addressed at this point.

Anyone who wants to insinuate that I am less than a "professional" or that I am using substandard parts or doing a substandard job because I understand and care that my customers might not be made of money can **** right off.

Mark...

For someone who "doesnt really care that much" and has a signature based heavily on anti-internet arguing, you sure like to argue.

I never said anything about you, I talked about the way I do things - which is the right way, and your troll posts are not going to change that.

I do turn down a lot of work because I take a lot of pride in my work and cannot feel confident in a job unless it is done properly. I make sure my customers and I agree on everything beforehand, and if we dont - no big deal.

@Jacob80450 - a few things to expect if I were doing this job for you - a good shop will be similar. If a rig comes to my shop dirty, it gets degreased and pressure washed before it goes inside - no exceptions. If the head comes off, it is going to the machine shop. At an absolute minimum, it will need an inspection, resurfacing, valve seals, and a valve adjustment. If it has been overheated, there is a good chance the head is warped. Any more than .006" diagonally and the cams will not spin freely when torqued, so head gets replaced or you will have a broken cam in your future. I dont reuse TTY head bolts regardless of measurments. I dont leave a customers rig with broken electrical connectors and usually several break during this job on vehicles from the southwest. If a new engine harness is cheaper than my time to replace connectors and spice brittle wires, its getting a new engine harness (about $500 and an hour of labor to install at the time of an HG job). I dont re-use coolant and if there are any signs of sludge or green/red coolant mixing, it is getting flushed. Every time the motor gets opened up, it gets an oil change after. If the injectors have 245k on them, they are getting cleaned and flow matched and a new fuel filter. Every gasket and O ring I have to touch is getting replaced. Swollen or brittle hosees are getting replaced. If the radiator is brittle, its getting replaced. All vacuum and evap lines under the hood are getting replaced. If the customer lives in a non emissions area, we discuss desmogging. I am going to check your TPS sensor and adjust as neccesary. If the TB is worn out and will not return to the throttle stop, it is getting replaced. I dont upcharge my customers on parts and I dont charge extra time to replace items that I have to remove to do the job - most shops are the same but be sure to ask about it up front. Most of my customers have or are prepping for forced induction, so usually I pull the motor, reseal it, tig weld an oil return bung in and stud it. That only ends up being a few hours more than doing the head gasket in the truck and the savings on ARP head studs over oem head bolts is enough to cover that difference. This is also the time to do any transfer case upgrades you may want, as the whole drivetrain comes out together. These are all things to consider, if you plan to keep the rig forever and dont want to worry about driving cross country then take care of all of these things now. If there is a possiblity of you adding forced induction later, do studs now. If you have a leaky rear main, you may want to have the motor resealed now. If the front of the motor is leaking oil, the motor can stay in the truck but have them replace the crank seal and oil pump o-ring now. Make sure they are using all toyota parts.

 

[Mark W]

For someone who "doesnt really care that much" and has a signature based heavily on anti-internet arguing, you sure like to argue.

I never said anything about you, I talked about the way I do things - which is the right way, and your troll posts are not going to change that.

Perhaps you should have not chosen to quote my comments if you did not want me think that your words were directed at me. Just because I have no time to care about internet bickering does not mean I will never respond to passive aggressive slights from out of the blue. You might want to rethink just who is trolling here.