1995 Toyota 4 Runner

THE MANUFACTURER OF TOYOTA'S HAS A MANUFACTURE INITIATED RECALL COVERING BLOWN HEAD GASKETS FOR VEHICLES (TRUCKS WITH V6 ENGINES) MANUFACTURED JANUARY 1990 TO OCTOBER 1994 (5 YEARS). I HAVE A TOYOTA 4 RUNNER MANUFACTURED IN JUNE 1995 THAT HAS THE SAME PROBLEM. BUT MY VEHICLE DOES NOT FALL IN THE COVERAGE PERIOD OF DATES, IT IS ONLY OUT BY 6 MONTHS FROM THE RANGE. I FEEL THE COVERAGE PERIOD WERE /ARE NOT WIDE ENOUGH TO RESOLVE AN EXISTING PROBLEM. *NLM

WHEN PULLING OUT ONTO THE HIGHWAY, I NOTICE A BIG CLOUD OF SMOKE COMING FROM THE EXHAUST AND AFTER AWHILE IT DISAPATED. THIS HAPPENED A COUPLE MORE TIMES AND I NOTICED THE VEHICLE RUNNING A LITTLE ROUGH. WHEN I TOOK IT TO MY MECHANIC, HE DISCOVERED THE HEAD GASKET WAS LEAKING NEAR THE #6 CYLINDER. WHEN I CONTACTED TOYOTA, THEY EXPLAINED TO ME THAT THE HEAD GASKET "RECALL" DIDN'T APPLY TO ME BECAUSE MY VIN NUMBER WASN'T INCLUDED IN THE RECALL. IT SOUNDS TO ME LIKE TOYOTA HAS A DEFECTIVE PRODUCT THAT THEY ARE NOT BACKING UP. *JB

HEAD GASKET BLOWN, WHITE SMOKE, LOSS OF COOLANT, VERY COSTLY REPAIR. AS REPORTED BY NUMEROUS OTHERS ON THIS WEB SITE, TOYOTA DOES NOT COVER THE COST TO REPAIR THIS VEHICLE BECAUSE THEY HAVE FIXED THE PROBLEM ON LATER MODEL 1995 3.0L V6. BECAUSE VEHICLE WAS MANUFACTURED IN NOVEMBER 1995 IT IS NOT COVERED. THE DEFECT IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS THOSE MANUFACTURED PRIOR TO NOVEMBER, AND THOSE ARE COVERED. IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS FOR THE LATER MODEL 1995 4 RUNNERS INDICATE THE DEFECT WAS NOT CORRECTED.*JB

THE HEAD GASKET BLEW CAUSING ANTIFREEZE TO LEAK INTO THE RADIATOR. AT THE TIME I WAS IN A REMOTE LOCATION IN MONTANA. BOTH MECHANIC AND MYSELF CALLED TOYOTA AND BOTH WERE TOLD THERE WAS A RECALL ON '95 4-RUNNER, BUT I WAS OFF BY 1 VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER, WHICH EXCLUDED ME FROM THE RECALL. GASKET REPLACED, THEN AT 89,129 MILES. ENGINE ROD BLEW. THE ENTIRE ENGINE HAD TO BE REPLACED. AT THAT TIME I WAS 30 MILES OUTSIDE MISSOULA, MONTANA, SO VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO TOYOTA DEALER IN MISSOULA. (PURCHASE WAS FROM CLASSIC TOYOTA IN MENTOR, OH.) I WAS TOLD BY DEALER THAT ONCE AGAIN, MY VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER DID NOT FIT RECALL. TOYOTA SERVICE MECHANIC OFFERED TO BUY VEHICLE FROM ME FOR $5000, TOLD ME IT WOULD COST 4,500-4,900 TO FIX. ONCE AGAIN TOOK BACK TO SAME INDIANA MECHANIC, CALLS WERE AGAIN MADE TO TOYOTA BY HIM AGAIN (ALSO BY MYSELF), TOLD SORRY WRONG VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER, OFF BY A DIGIT. ENGINE WAS REPLACED THEN AT 124,096 MILES ENGINE BLEW AGAIN. NO OTHER PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN ENCOUNTERED WITH THIS CAR-JUST THE SAME ENGINE/GASKET COMPONENT. IT SHOULD ALSO BE NOTED THAT OIL CHANGES AND DEALER RECOMMENDED ROUTINE CARE WAS TAKEN. I CAN NOT EVEN GIVE THE CAR AWAY, IT HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY DRIVEWAY SINCE SEPTEMBER 2002. TOYOTA HAS NOT PROVEN TO BE HELPFUL OR COURTEOUS IN THIS ISSUE. I WILL NEVER BUY A TOYOTA PRODUCT AGAIN. *JB

VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO PRIVATELY OWNED SERVICE AND OWNER WAS TOLD THAT A CYLINDER IS BLOWN AND THAT THE VEHICLE NEEDS A NEW ENGINE, THIS WAS DUE TO HEAD GASKET PROBLEM WITH THE VEHICLE. THE OWNER HAD THE HEAD GASKET REPLACED DURING THE LIMITED RECALL, BUT HAS SINCE HAD OIL LEAKAGE, ENGINE WAS SLUGGISH, THE ENGINE CHECK LIGHT WAS ON CONTINUOUSLY, WHITE/TOXIC BILLOWING SMOKE FROM EXHAUST AMONG OTHER PROBLEMS. I DO NOT FEEL THAT IT IS MY FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY TO REPLACE ENGINE OR ANY OTHER COMPONENTS INVOLVED DUE TO TOYOTA'S HEAD GASKET PROBLEMS. I WAS TOLD THAT THE PROBLEM WAS TAKEN CARE OF ON THE FIRST REPLACEMENT OF HEAD GASKET AND NOW I FIND OUT THAT THE PROBLEM IS NOT. OTHERWISE, VEHICLE IS IN EXCELLENT SHAPE. ALSO, NEVER RECEIVED RECALL NOTICE, HAPPENED TO RUN INTO ANOTHER RECALL VICTIM AT ENTERPRISE RENTALS AND LOOKED INTO THE MATTER AS A RESULT OF THE CONVERSATION. I AM DEFINITELY NOT RECOMMENDING TOYOTA AS A RELIABLE/CONSUMER SENSITIVE COMPANY ANYMORE. A SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM WOULD CHANGE MY MIND. AS OF NOW, MY VEHICLE IS FAILING AND I DO NOT FEEL SAFE DRIVING IT. *JB

WITH NO PRIOR WARNING, CONSUMER'S CAR EMITTED CONTINUOUSLY LARGE AMOUNT OF WHITE SMOKE FROM TAIL PIPE. SMOKE SMELLED OF BURNT ANTIFREEZE. CAR IDLED ROUGHLY. IT WAS NOTICED THAT COOLANT LEVEL WAS EXTREMELY LOW. WHEN CONSUMER ATTEMPTED TO DRIVE CAR TO DEALERSHIP TO BE SERVICED, CAR OVERHEATED. IT WAS OBSERVED THAT STEAM WAS ALSO COMING OUT OF ANTERIOR OF RADIATOR NEAR THE CAP. CAR WAS STOPPED IMMEDIATELY AND TOWED TO DEALER THE NEXT DAY. INFORMED BY DEALERSHIP IT WAS BLOWN HEAD GASKET. TALKED TO TOYOTA IN TORRANCE CA, WAS INFORMED THAT CAR WAS NOT PART OF RECALL OR EXTENDED SERVICE WARRANTY, AND THEREFORE WILL NOT OFFER ANY ASSISTANCE IN REPAIR. CONSUMER HAS FRIEND WITH THE SAME YEAR CAR THAT HAD THE SAME THING HAPPEN. CONSUMER'S CAR WAS MANUFACTURED NOV 94, THE MONTH FOLLOWING THE END OF SPECIAL POLICY ADJUSTMENT THAT COVERED 1990-EARLY1995 4RUNNER. CAR WAS REPAIRED AT INDEPENDANT MECHANIC FOR $2600. MECHANIC WAS THEN WORKING ON ANOTHER 4RUNNER WITH BLOWN HEAD GASKET. CONSUMER LATER FOUND OUT ANOTHER FRIEND WITH 96 4RUNNER ALSO HAD BLOWN HEAD GASKET. SHE WAS LUCKY THAT HER CAR WAS COVERED BY THE 1996 THROUGH EARLY 1997 4RUNNER HEAD GASKET SPECIAL SERVICE CAMPAIGN. IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYONE WITH THE 4RUNNER HAS THE SAME THING HAPPEN TO. IN FACT, CONSUMER DOES NOT KNOW ANYONE WITH 4RUNNER WHO DOESN'T HAVE SAME PROBLEM. OBVIOUSLY WHATEVER CHANGES INSTITUTED WAS NOT SUFFICIENT SINCE THE GASKETS CONTINUE TO FAIL. TOYOTA SHOULD JUST ADMIT THE PROBLEM AND MAKE IT RIGHT TO SAVE ITS GOOD NAME.