Blown Headgasket on 3rd gen camry & other cars

[islander_s13]

After searching the forum i couldnt find an answer and also from google i was getting a mix of information so i thought this would be the best place to ask.

Was wondering what would the rough total cost be of repairing a blown headgasket on a 3rd gen camry. If its roughly the same price on all older models of cars let me know as well. Total cost includes labour, parts etc.

This is just a general question i dont have a car with a blown head gasket but wanted to know the costs and how hard it would be after seeing a few around in my local area thinking the reason these cars are cheap is because the repair cost might be too high/difficult.

Thanx for any information in advance.

If ive missed this topic while i was searching just post the link in here but i went through 15 pages and found a couple of similar questions but no answers i needed.

[Guest]

3rd gen camry is a 3SFE as far as i know...

the heads on these are quite easy to remove, and it can be done while the engine is in the car... as far as i can remember, a vrs kit is around 150$

an experienced mechanic should be able to do the job in a couple of hours... so it depends on how much your mechanic chargers per hour...

[Whip Cracker]

Close Mick - Gen 3s use the 5SFE (2.2L I4) and the 3VZFE (3L V6)

the 5SFE I4 would be cheaper to replace due to the fact that there's less cylinders and easier access to the heads from my understanding.

When it comes to the V6 3VZs, which are renowned for blowing the heads... it is a toss up on whether to replace the engine or get the heads done. From what I was told by a mechanic, this can take a working day or two to properly do.

3VZs... at least $800. Can't say for the 5SFE though.

[Guest]

i must have been thinking gen 2... my bad...

i always get the generations confused

in that case, then yeah, i know the process of doing a 5sfe pretty intimately (having done it before)

[islander_s13]

ahk sweet, yeh $800 seems too much for the cars ive been looking at, rather just pay 2k for a cheap roundabout

thought if it was cheap like a under $500 id do it but yeh not worth it when you can buy these cars in good condition with rego for a cheap price

[Guest]

800 seems like a pretty good buy if you can repair it yourself..

[islander_s13]

yeh i suppose im not really a mechanically minded person which is the problem. $800 for car, $800 for someone to fix it then $1600 plus rego and all that

it'd be worth it if the car was something special ill have a look online and see whats there

i want a 4th gen camry but really need somethin to get around in now so 3rd gen looks pretty good

also wanted to know if the head gaskets blown is the car still driveable or not.

Like if i wanted to just check out the transmission etc or does it have to be towed and get fixed

haha sorry for all the questions but once i know all this itll be stuck in my mind for the future :D

[Guest]

yeh i suppose im not really a mechanically minded person which is the problem. $800 for car, $800 for someone to fix it then $1600 plus rego and all that

it'd be worth it if the car was something special ill have a look online and see whats there

i want a 4th gen camry but really need somethin to get around in now so 3rd gen looks pretty good

also wanted to know if the head gaskets blown is the car still driveable or not.

Like if i wanted to just check out the transmission etc or does it have to be towed and get fixed

haha sorry for all the questions but once i know all this itll be stuck in my mind for the future :D

usually you still can drive a car with a blown head-gasket or a warped/cracked head (hell, i did it for months in my celica) but its not really a good idea.

but i guess if you aren't really able to DIY i would be looking at something thats going to have less chance of breaking.

[Whip Cracker]

Ermmm... depending on how bad it is will depend on whether it's driveable or not. Quite honestly I wouldn't go anywhere near a car with a blown HG or anything like that.

Gen 4s are ok... the 1MZs didn't have the HG problems like the 3VZs off the Gen 3.

I'm still a Gen 3 fan - they're build more solid in my books. After stepping into an 01, I hated it. It just didn't feel right... but ya get that.

[islander_s13]

Ermmm... depending on how bad it is will depend on whether it's driveable or not. Quite honestly I wouldn't go anywhere near a car with a blown HG or anything like that.

Gen 4s are ok... the 1MZs didn't have the HG problems like the 3VZs off the Gen 3.

I'm still a Gen 3 fan - they're build more solid in my books. After stepping into an 01, I hated it. It just didn't feel right... but ya get that.

yeh i just like the look of the gen 4s, they seem to look more in proportion compared to the gen 5, probs just me but everytime i look at it it looks sorta squished up??? lol, gen 3 was on the mind but was thinking of just getting a model newer since ill be keeping it for a while(that is if i end up getting it)

also the amount of things ive managed to fit into the gen 4 is unbelievable which is another reason for choosing this model

if you guys have any suggestions to what would be good , in the end ill decide myself anyway but ive been pretty one minded about this

also doubt im gonna bother with the headgasket stuff and just get somethin decent

[Whip Cracker]

Well, Gen 4s are great when it comes to availability of mods in comparison to the Gen 3. For instance, you can supercharge the Gen 4 1MZ much easier than the Gen 3 3VZ... mainly coz the S/C was made for the 1MZs.

If you can ever find one - the best Gen 4 you can get would be a Manual Touring Series... next one after that would be the Grande. There might be slight differences between the Gen 4 (98-99) and the 4.5 (00-01) so see how ya go with that. These two both have the 1MZ engines (3L V6)

[islander_s13]

yeh i need to learn manual as well since my parents only drove auto when i was learning, im on my greens and a mate offered to teach but he is pretty busy, also i dont really mind autos but admit they are boring as hell with a stock engine (4cyl) and im pretty sure my dad would want to drive it since his probably gonna help out with some money

do you think i should a start a new thread regarding more questions related to camrys or it doesnt matter if i keep replyin in here? questions such as common problems to look for, amount of kms and all that because on this forum ive actually gotten information that is useful from you guys lol compared to a few others i use.

[Whip Cracker]

Well, I look at three different forums - all have their own info.

TOCAU (Here) - Good for general questions about how the Camry runs...

Toyota Nation (www.toyotanation.com) - American based site and a great place to use their Search Engine for most technical questions... ie - does H&R springs go well with Tokico struts? Info on how to turbo 5SFEs... everything.

AUSCAM (www.auscam.org) - Australian based Camry club and talk only about Camrys. We have turboed and supercharged Camrys there - a very tight-knitted community. You can search there or ask the question - someone's bound to know it.