1995 Toyota 4Runner Limited from North America - Comments

I purchased a 1995 Toyota 4-Runner in August with 108,000 miles on it. It ran great for 1,000 miles, then over heated. I thought a radiator hose broke, but my mechanic said the head gasket failed and the estimated repair is $2,700 to $3,500. I have decided to junk the vehicle. Thank you all for your comments, it has helped me understand the problem. I have owned numerous Toyota vehicles and this is my first major problem.

Our engine is gone also! Six months ago we bought a used 95 4runner with only 77,000 miles on it. We thought we would drive this truck for many years. Suddenly the engine started running bad. We had it towed to the Toyota dealer. They told us we needed a new short block. The repair would cost $5,000.00. No way we can afford that. We still have years of payments to make on the purchase of it. All we can do is sell it for parts. I will never buy a Toyota again!

Macbrude@cox.net.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

I am terrible sorry to you all, I feel your pains. I read nearly all of them and it is staggering how many there are and yet I hear the same thing said about Toyota all the time, "They run forever!" "Legendary reliability" YADA YADA YADA... Sounds like a bunch of CRAP! People are such sheep. It sounds like if anyone talks to an actual Toyota customer they may be surprised.

If I hadn't stumbled upon this thread I would have bought a '95 4runner tomorrow!!! You all saved me!!! It would have been the first car I ever financed too so it would have really sucked. This vehicle sounds like the last thing I need in my life right now. Good luck with your next purchases!

Another one for the ever growing list... I have a 1995 4Runner Limited which I bought new in 12/05. I have pampered the car for its 148,000 miles and yesterday I noticed the idle was rough. Within 15 miles, the check engine light came on and this morning, there was white smoke billowing from the exhaust. Dealer says, "it's either a head gasket or a cracked block." There was no mention of any recalls nor a history of problems. Fortunately, the car never got hot so I may escape with "only" the expense of a couple of head gaskets and labor. I also own a 2006 Sequoia Limited, which I love, so this is bitter sweet.

Yes, I too share in the misery of the blown head gasket. I have a 1995 4-Runner limited that I bought over a year ago. It only had 125,000 miles on it then, and now it has 137,000 and a blown head gasket. I never had any warning! I drove it home from watching football at a friend's house and it just started to overheat. I drove it to my mechanic (who does not do head gasket jobs) and he tested the compression in the cylinders, looked at the white smoke bellowing out of the exhaust, and showed me the white "gunk" that is all around my oil filling cap and told me "uh oh".

He changed the thermostat (which was bad) and it stopped the overheating... so I drove it a couple more days without a problem (less the white smoke). I never saw any antifreeze on the dipstick, or an excess of oil dipstick levels (as was told I would), but it most certainly went through engine coolant.

Now, it is being worked on by a friend of my mechanic's who told me I should have my timing chain (belt) replaced, since he has to go through it to do everything else. He hasn't told me how much it will cost yet, but I'm sure it will be around $2,000.00.

I guess I'm getting it fixed and trading it in. Please let me know what is going on with any recall info that you hear of. My e-mail is sking4@stny.rr.com. Thanks for any help you can give.

Hi all, add me to the list of 95 4runners with blown head gaskets. Currently have 206000 kms and was driving home from work, motor started to miss and lost some power. Stopped at the store on the way home, had problems re-starting afterwards. Got it started after third try, got the car home just in time for the giant clouds of white smoke and coolant to start blowing out from the exhaust. The ironic thing is that I'm a certified auto technician and have been working at a dealership for the past 5 yrs. I also found the dreaded white deposits on #6 spark plug, I have always maintained my vehicle and have always known bout this problem with these motors. I've called a buddy who works as a service writer at the nearby Toyota dealership and was told the same thing, not covered under your VIN, take it up with Toyota Canada, blah, blah, blah. I will be fixing problem myself of course, but just another waste of time and money (at least I save on labor). Will be getting rid of the truck shortly after repairs are finished and getting into a 03 Honda Pilot, was considering 03 4runner, but not anymore.

I have a 90’ 4Runner with 168k I bought it about 4 months ago and one day on my way back from work it started to blow white smoke. The next day on my way to school it started to over heat in the middle of the freeway so I tried to turn it off and keep on coasting and got it on the side of the freeway I tried to let it cool down. I drove to the auto parts store replaced all the hoses thermostat radiator cap etc and flushed the radiator and put it all back together and tried to get back home, but about 5 minuets later it started to overheat and now blow way more white smoke, I parked it and got a ride home. the next day I came to pick up the truck with my friend who is a mechanic and told me to start the car real quick, but it did not want to start come to find out once we towed it to his house I blew the heads warped them and the valves seized and now I need a whole new engine. Plus I took out a loan thank god it was only for 2000 but I cannot afford to replace an engine.

Boy, am I glad to see that I'm not the only one having these problems! I have a 1994 4Runner V6 SR5 with an auto trans. My first head gasket was replaced by Toyota under their factory recall program when the truck had about 65,000 miles on it. At 105,000 miles I noticed an antifreeze leak. My mechanic looked at the truck and told me the head gasket was leaking again! He quoted me a repair price (over $1,300), and since I was unemployed at the time he suggested that I contact Toyota about getting it fixed - after all, they replaced the head gasket the first time and it's not unreasonable to expect a head gasket to last more than 50,000 miles (or are my expectations too high, given that this is a mighty Toyota product)? I contacted the zone office in NJ where I live and they shuffled me off to Toyota HQ in California. There, they told me that "Well, since the mileage on the truck was over 100K (the fact that the mileage on the replaced head gasket was only 50K was conveniently ignored and a non-issue to them)...go scratch! We're not going to fix it." I told them that I was unemployed at the time (it was true), and having owned 3 Toyota vehicles (a Supra, a Camry & the 4Runner) I felt that a little good will and a free repair would go a long way when I considered my next vehicle purchase. They didn't care - what they offered me was a voucher good for a $1,000 discount toward the purchase of a new Toyota...HELLO! HOW'S AN UNEMPLOYED PERSON GOING TO BUY A NEW VEHICLE??? There are more important things like food and shelter to consider. I scraped together the cash to have my mechanic replace the gasket. Now at 150,000 miles as Casey Stengel would say, it's deja vu all over again - another head gasket leak!!! I just replaced the trans 3 months ago... The mechanic, knowing the history of the vehicle and my options simply put a sealer in and said to see what happens. If there's a class action lawsuit I'd want a piece of it! To me, the Toyota name = CR*P now. I have a GM sports car now, and my next SUV won't have the double chrome ovals on the grille..

Add another 1995 4-runner to the list with problems with the head gaskets. I cannot believe that such an outstanding company would not step up and at least assist with such costly repairs, especially when it is apparent what is happening is not just an isolated case of neglect. I really like the vehicle, but cannot afford to go thru such a repair over and over. It really makes the vehicle a throw away if you cannot do it yourself or find a good mechanic that will do it on the side. HONDA HERE I COME.

Add me as well. I've had my '95 4Runner since 01. I bought it from a guy who is in his 70s and took amazing care of this truck. It had like 80,000 miles on it when I purchased it. Not 6 months later, I started having oil problems. I couldnt keep oil in it at all. My mechanic replaced pretty much every seal he could, and yet I was still having problems. It was to the point that I carried a case of oil at all times in my truck. I was in college at the time, and had no money for a new car, so I stuck it out. Plus, I loved the truck. Well, summer of 04 my truck started running really rough and making a lot of noise. I was on a major highway during rush hour, and had to go through a tunnel to get back to my friends house. We prayed we'd make it back. I get back to her house, shut my truck off and we go get her dad. He's a mechanic. he starts my truck.. and I'm like please tell me its just out of oil. He's like nope.. its out of an engine. It's shot. here I am, 2 hours from home and stuck. My dad called my mechanic, got his tow truck and came and got me at no charge other than the gas to get my truck back home. My mechanic is a lifesaver... he got me a brand new engine and had it in my truck in less than a week after it had blown. The reason? The headgasket had blown on it. A friend of my moms had the same truck and had dealt with that problem so she told me to call Toyota. Wanna know what they told me? Yes my truck was under the recall.. but it had been fixed at 75,000 miles. Hmm I may be blonde, and I may be a girl.. but if it was fixed at 75k, then why at 110k did the same thing happen again? I was told tough luck by Toyota. I was like that's fine.. just know that I will never buy another Toyota and everyone I meet will always hear my story. And I've stuck to it. I still have my truck, as the engine only has 35k on it now... but the truck as a whole is starting to need work. Gotta love the bumpers that rust out in 5 years huh! Oh and you can't find them any cheaper than 150 a piece.. and you need 2 pieces for the ends of the back bumper. My next vehicle will be a Ford... I never had issues when I drove them.

I am right there with you all. I recently purchased a '95 4 Runner, that was well taken care of. I got it from a friend at a very reasonable price. It had 210,000 miles on it. It looked and ran good. It needed tires and a alignment. It also had a oil leak. I made a appointment to have the tires installed next week. I took the vehicle down to my mechanic today to have him check out the oil leak. He just called me with the news...yep, it is the head gasket. I am glad I read up on this problem prior to investing any more money into this vehicle. So sad, I really did like Toyota.

I'm another person profoundly grateful for this site and these reports. I just wish I'd found them before my third, and last ever, Toyota. As a journalist in the outdoor fishing industry, I hope to spread the word a few tens of thousands of times.

Heres another notch to the list. I have or now had a 1995 4runner. I bought it back around 80,000miles and now about 120,000. pretty much ever since I had it, there has been a small oil leak. by the time I would change the oil on the schedule (3000 or 3 months) I might loose anywhere from a half to 3/4 of my oil. So I would usually top it off in between changes.

Well, last weekend (Friday) I go to leave from work and when I start it, the car started funny... had to turn the key twice which was unusual. and it seem to putter for a minute or so then acted fine. drove home and nothing out of the ordinary.

Later that night got in it to go to the store and I had to turn the key about 10 times before it would start. every time I got it to start, but it would putter, then die. so after I got it going it would putter until I got up to about 15-20 mph, then it seemed fine.

Didn't drive it Saturday. Did an oil change. We had some hard rain on Thursday and Friday, thinking maybe some water got in the gas tank and an oil change wouldn't hurt. after the change, started it up and seemed fine, so OK.

Then on Sunday, got in it and it started just fine, backed out of the driveway and two houses down the road I notice the white smoke of death. So I drove back home.

Parked it. upon first inspection, couldn't find anything wrong. proceeded to check/change spark plugs. Did the passenger side and they all were pretty bad and replaced them. Then got over to the drivers side and removed one plug. I saw something shiny. got the flash light and the shininess was green! so now I know there is coolant where it shouldn't be.

I am going to miss my truck...

I'm glad this website is here, I'm in a bad situation. I just purchased a 1994 4runner about 28 days ago to be exact. driving home from work today it wouldn't stay running at stop lights and would shake violently. With either black smoke coming out the exhaust or white. I DO not have the money to get this fixed. As I type, this the vehicle is sitting in my driveway and will not start. I have 3 years left to pay on this. I'm at a loss for words on what to do...

Well, I'm another one on this list. My 93 4runner just blew the head gasket tonight. I decided to look up the problem and see if anyone else had ever had problems with the head gasket. WOW. I had no idea this was such a problem with Toyota. Of course, I had no idea a recall had been made, but it sounds like it wasn't much of a recall. Most people on here were turned down. I bought mine used about 4 yrs ago with 109,000 miles on it. It has 144,000 now. They probably sold it for this very same reason. What am I thinking now, well, I think Honda is much better then Toyota and will probably look for a Honda CRV. I am through with Toyota. I never thought they were better then Honda anyway.