Tell me about V6s and head gaskets

[john.bfcu]

Howdy, I was hoping some of you might be able to answer my question. Lately I've been searching around for cars since I'm in need of a new one, and came across what I think is a decent deal. The gentleman is selling his 1994 Camry wagon for roughly $2000 because of a potential radiator leak which he sealed with JB Weld but it may need repairing in the future. Anyway, that's fine with me, but I was searching around for information regarding V6 Camrys from this generation since I'm not familiar with the engine. On its page on Consumer Guide Auto, here, it mentions that the V6/3.0L Camrys of this generation are known for head gasket failues, which worries me as you can understand, I'm just a college student right now.

Anyway, I searched around and couldn't find much more info about this, so do you guys have any input on this car? It has 175k miles on it, do you know at which point these head gasket failues are known to rear their heads or if it's possible to have it checked to see the condition of the head gasket?

[davemac2]

Yes, the 3vz-fe V6 has a head gasket failure history, but that does not mean every V6 will fail. There are engines out there that go well past 200Kmi without an issue. It really depends upon if the engine cooling system has been abused or the car has been driven with a low coolant level where the #6 cylinder (the weak spot) receives marginal cooling, or just plain luck. The typical failure mileage seems to be 130Kmi+. It may start with a cracked radiator failure after 100K which causes a low coolant level, which then stresses the head gasket.

You can get a test done with an exhaust sniffer in the coolant reservoir or a block test kit to see if the head gasket has any leak at all. It's also best to drive the car for at least 1 hr on the highway at 65+ to see what happens.

dave mc

[ASG14]

Just to add to what ^ says, the 1994 Camry was the 1st year for the 1MZ-FE engine, which is not know for the HEad Gasket failures like the 3VZ-FE.

[whip_cracker]

Damn... I never like hearing about 3VZ issues!

I believe I have a SLIGHT coolant leak... some small 90 degree hose that goes into the firewall... will have to get it looked at... used to have the car overheat, but found that to be the radiator fan not kicking in... these are oil driven from the power steering fluid if I'm not mistaken? Adam will let you know either way hahahaha!

[ASG14]

Shannon, that hose is likely for the heater core. It should not be too hard to replace. And yeah, the 3VZ fans are hydrolic driven by the Power steering fluid, and have hear of several issues with them stop working.

1994 1MZ-FE actually had the same setup, and was the last year for that.

[JohnGD]

The 3VZ-FE uses aluminum heads on an iron block. The different expansion rates cause much more shearing forces on the head gaskets. During those period the requirement of asbestos free material also contributed to the higher failure rates. And back then mass production didn't know anything about multi-layered steel gaskets.

But the later 1MZ-FE, which was just an aluminum version of the 3VZ, didn't fare that much better. There were coolant seepage problems with the silkscreened silicone bead seal. And good luck taking off the head bolts without stripping off the threads after periods of coolant seepage.

Now in 2000 the much delayed multilayer steel head gaskets were used (but do not appear to retrofit), I would think these problems lessened.

You already know that car's got a cracked radiator. I'd say move on to the next one.