Another 2013 Head Gasket

[bones25]

I’d just get used to paying close attention to how it runs after a cold start. Especially while rolling in D or R at idle. Mine had a noticeable skip. That led me to check the tailpipe (steam), then a bore scope confirmed my suspicion. I caught mine early enough I never even got a DTC.

Then make sure you can park it until you can get it torn apart.

Having done the job, I would not do it preemptively.

All of that said.. mine didn’t fail in the middle of a 12hr roadtrip stint or anything.



Exactly. Pay attention and park it immediately.

Good info. Let’s say driver shifts into drive, keep on the brakes, engine idling. The skip you mentioned, mind sharing more details on what that’d be like?

Rpm drop and recover or something else?

 

[bloc]

Good info. Let’s say driver shifts into drive, keep on the brakes, engine idling. The skip you mentioned, mind sharing more details on what that’d be like?

Rpm drop and recover or something else?

Let it roll while covering or dragging the brakes. You’ll feel an almost rhythmic lurch slightly instead of just rolling smoothly. That lurch is the miss on the cylinder with coolant in it.

It just tends to amplify the misfire by adding load and vehicle movement whereas one cylinder out of eight at no-load idle is dampened effectively by the motor mounts.

You’d have to be paying attention but mine was pretty clearly not behaving normally. I’ll admit my mind went to head gasket within 10 seconds of feeling that lurch.. it took me another few cold starts to be coaxed into pulling the plugs to drop in a bore scope. Unfortunately my gut was correct.

 

[bones25]

Let it roll while covering or dragging the brakes. You’ll feel an almost rhythmic lurch slightly instead of just rolling smoothly. That lurch is the miss on the cylinder with coolant in it.

It just tends to amplify the misfire by adding load and vehicle movement whereas one cylinder out of eight at no-load idle is dampened effectively by the motor mounts.

You’d have to be paying attention but mine was pretty clearly not behaving normally. I’ll admit my mind went to head gasket within 10 seconds of feeling that lurch.. it took me another few cold starts to be coaxed into pulling the plugs to drop in a bore scope. Unfortunately my gut was correct.

Got it, thanks for explaining!

 

[Devils Paw 80]

@bloc, at least you have a freshly and correctly done job with updated gaskets. It’s not like you have a 3VZ V6 with fresh head gaskets that might pop again shortly. My 2011 Tundra is a work truck and sees plow duty… so the head gasket thought is always in the back of my mind.

I wonder if the Cometic Head Gaskets are better than the OE redesign?

So I've heard, yet my 1990 3VZ had head gasket replacement done by Toyota in 2000 and is running just fine in 2026.

I’d just get used to paying close attention to how it runs after a cold start. Especially while rolling in D or R at idle. Mine had a noticeable skip. That led me to check the tailpipe (steam), then a bore scope confirmed my suspicion. I caught mine early enough I never even got a DTC...

I know what you mean. That's exactly what happened with my 80 before it threw the misfire code. I thought it was a transmission problem. Thankfully it seems that the problem was simply an oil fouled plug caused by a loose valve cover.

 

[bjowett]

So I've heard, yet my 1990 3VZ had head gasket replacement done by Toyota in 2000 and is running just fine in 2026.

That’s good to hear. I suppose when the job is performed by a competent tech with good parts, that can be the result. I saw many fail again over the years.