As we say in medicine and I'm sure elsewhere, if it's not written down, it didn't happen.
The Car Care Nut talks UR V8 blown head gaskets (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter dudemancool1904
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The service history would be interesting this is like the few 5.7's that have crazy oil consumption it effects a small handful of trucks, but was caused by beating on the motor before the pistons rings have time to seat if I remeber reading correctly. So the owner may do something to exacerbate the head gasket blowing.
I am 99% sure the UN uses land cruisers so does the red cross and other global organizations. If head gaskets where a major issue I am positive they would not be using them in lethal environments as war zones, remote areas of Africa etc.
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xeuxaz
SILVER Star
Do these international variants use 3URs?
That's a very valid point to bring up I am assuming it's a healthy mix of diesel and petrol powered. I am not 100% though.
prharper
GOLD Star
Looks good. Not much towing but the truck is heavy, lots of upgrades and mods. Lots of trails and highway.
No worries.
Fully agree. My 3UR is in my Tundra. He mentioned in the video a GX460 is affected also, this implies all UR engines are affected by the issue. There are literally millions of UR V8s on the road in all the continents, dont know about Antarctica. UR is in high durability/abuse applications and high performance applications. All have a solid reputation of reliability in general. If this were a common issue, or even rare issue, I'd think someone else would have discovered it. I think its something to consider, but realistically, not lose sleep over. These engines came out in 2007. The oldest ones are closing in on 20 years old. No the UR is not perfect by any stretch, but for head gaskets to suddenly now pop up as a issue now seems off. The fact this is the first time majority of people are even hearing of this shows its very rare. Its been 20 years. Maybe not the UZ engine, but take whatever you think the most reliable engine in the past 20 years is and look hard enough and you will find a rare issue. I still personally would have 0 issues buying a maintained high mile UR.
Takes 20 years to put 200k miles on it. 10k miles a year being average, right.
Just as an example, Subaru had a bad rap with head gaskets blowing at 100k miles if you remember. They cured the problem with a multilayer head gasket design. Now they last 200k miles.
Something to think about.
Just as an example, Subaru had a bad rap with head gaskets blowing at 100k miles if you remember. They cured the problem with a multilayer head gasket design. Now they last 200k miles.
Something to think about.
The one benefit of being in Chicago... if I ever blow a head gasket, I'm going to have my truck towed to TCCN's shop in the southwest suburbs.
Here's to hoping that never happens though
Here's to hoping that never happens though
radiator replaced at 80K due to crack in usual spot.
this is results at 121K, no towing, just mall cruising.
this is results at 121K, no towing, just mall cruising.
I'm at 8 years and 83K miles. Almost all towing something, often a 4K lb camper with a mix of forest roads and Interstate to campsites. Also fairly frequent short trips (3 miles) of deep sand in summer temps and 4Lo. Original coolant. Looks and tests like new for both pH and freeze protection.
And sometimes not even then.
so it would appear as though CCN is wrong in your case. Your coolant is as good as new.
So I’m the second owner of the 200 in the video. I sold it to the current (third) owner. It was originally a Georgia vehicle and I bought it here in Illinois in early 2020 because it was super clean and completely rust free.
I’m trying to remember the mileage when I bought it, but I think it was around 135-140k. At that time, it had an aftermarket radiator in it but I’m not sure when it was done, so coolant was changed at least once before I got it. I’ll look to see if I still have the carfax when I get home from enjoying Pure Michigan later this week.
I changed coolant and all fluids when I bought it around 140k miles.
I discovered the valley leak around 165k in late 2022 and at that point I had already bought a 23 GX460. I fixed the valley leak, and decided to sell it with about 170k miles on it to the current owner in early 2023. It’s currently got about 220k on it, not 200k as the video said. Current owner had car care nut replace the radiator with Toyota around 200k. I traded the GX460 in on a 2018 200 not long after.
So to recap:
Coolant was changed at least once in the first 140k miles (80k sticks in my head from the carfax for some reason).
I changed coolant at 140k miles.
I changed coolant at 165k when I did the valley plate.
Car car nut changed coolant around 200k.
I’m trying to remember the mileage when I bought it, but I think it was around 135-140k. At that time, it had an aftermarket radiator in it but I’m not sure when it was done, so coolant was changed at least once before I got it. I’ll look to see if I still have the carfax when I get home from enjoying Pure Michigan later this week.
I changed coolant and all fluids when I bought it around 140k miles.
I discovered the valley leak around 165k in late 2022 and at that point I had already bought a 23 GX460. I fixed the valley leak, and decided to sell it with about 170k miles on it to the current owner in early 2023. It’s currently got about 220k on it, not 200k as the video said. Current owner had car care nut replace the radiator with Toyota around 200k. I traded the GX460 in on a 2018 200 not long after.
So to recap:
Coolant was changed at least once in the first 140k miles (80k sticks in my head from the carfax for some reason).
I changed coolant at 140k miles.
I changed coolant at 165k when I did the valley plate.
Car car nut changed coolant around 200k.
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Sounds to me like you changed the coolant at least to spec or close. And coolant degradation was not the issue, at least to the limits of your control.
xeuxaz
SILVER Star
It's nice to get the facts. Thanks for sharing.
In the video he states that the block is warped
2 thou. Toyota states if the warpage is more than the maximum, replace the block. The maximum warpage allowed is 0.00276 in. So the block is less than maximum, why would you recommend to replace the block. Unless you see some kind of a nick or imperfection. When you put everything back together the torsional effects will distort the deck anyways. If the engineers are happy less than maximum then it should be good to go. Also in the video he stated the heads needed to be machined that they were 2 thou of warpage.The standard warpage for the cylinder head is a little bit less than 2 thou, 0.00197. maximum warpage for the cylinder head is 0.00394 in. So according to Toyota, the block and the cylinder head are within specification. Unless there's some surface damage that we can't see in the video, I'll bet putting on a new head gasket and slapping it back together is going to work for a long time and the proper fix.
2 thou. Toyota states if the warpage is more than the maximum, replace the block. The maximum warpage allowed is 0.00276 in. So the block is less than maximum, why would you recommend to replace the block. Unless you see some kind of a nick or imperfection. When you put everything back together the torsional effects will distort the deck anyways. If the engineers are happy less than maximum then it should be good to go. Also in the video he stated the heads needed to be machined that they were 2 thou of warpage.The standard warpage for the cylinder head is a little bit less than 2 thou, 0.00197. maximum warpage for the cylinder head is 0.00394 in. So according to Toyota, the block and the cylinder head are within specification. Unless there's some surface damage that we can't see in the video, I'll bet putting on a new head gasket and slapping it back together is going to work for a long time and the proper fix.
If it was my 200 in the video... it would be getting a new head gasket, and I'll bet that would take her for another 200 k miles (yeah, I know it's conjecture) 
Sounds to me the first owner overheated the 3UR-FE as part of the radiator issue, then replaced it by an aftermarket one, potentially sold it soon thereafter. Most people do not watch their gauges frequently and will not immediately stop by the road. IMO that explains all there is to it.
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I don’t know if that’s the case though. It’s had at least 80k miles put on since then - 30k by me and 50k by the current owner.
It’s my understanding from the CCN video that the block deck warp coupled with the thicker head gasket needed to compensate for the machined head would be enough to cause head gasket issue sooner rather than later. Running a new head with the in spec block warping may be fine but the cost of new head, possibly 2 because he had only town down one bank, along with the other costs associated with replacing heads and you’re getting to the cost debate of engine vs roll the dice on heads not being terribly far apart.
At least that’s my pea brained understanding of what he was getting at in the video.
This begs the question of how long after a bad overheat would it take the head gasket to fail. 80k does seem like a long time but it may not be. I have to think that modern head gaskets are damn tough.
Thanks for coming with the facts on this truck. It’s always good to know some history for issues like this.
