NHTSA Complaint #10086618 — 1992 TOYOTA 4RUNNER

I HAVE A 1992 TOYOTA 4RUNNER WITH V6 3VZE ENGINE WHICH TOYOTA KNOWS HAS A BAD HEAD DESIGN AND HEAD GASKET FAILURE. THEY HAVE A RECALL FOR ONE TIME ONLY REPLACEMENT WHICH WAS DOEN IN 97 AT 51K MI. BY THE PREVIOUS OWNER. LAST DEC. I STARTED HAVING PROBLEMS AND THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP DID NOT ADVISE ME THAT I HAD A BLOWN HEAD GASKET. THEY WANTED TO CHANGE OUT FUEL INJECTORS SINCE IT WAS RUNNING ROUGH. THE ROUGHNESS WAS FROM COOLANT LEAKING INTO THE CYLINDERS. AFTER RESEARCH I FOUND ALL THIS INFO. OUT. AT THE TIME I WAS IGNORANT AS TO THIS PROBLEM. FRED HAS TOYOTA SHOULD HAVE BEEN UP FRONT WITH ME AND ADVISED ME F THE SITUATION INSTEAD OF MAKING ME PAY FOR SOMETHING I DIDN'T NEED. AS THEY HAVE DONE TO ME IN THE PAST. THE EXHAUST GASES ESCAPING INTO THE COOLANT SYSTEM ARE OVER PRESSURIZE MY SYSTEM AND IT GOT TO THE POINT WHERE IT BLEW THE BOTTOM HOSE OFF THE RADIATOR. IF I WOULD HAVE BEEN IN A PARKING LOT OR EVEN MY OWN FAMILY WOULD HAVE BEEN STANDING 15 FEET IN FREON OF THE VEHICLE THEY WOULD HAVE HAD 3RD DEGREE BURNS. THUS, I HAD BEEN DRIVING IT SINCE DEC AND LEARNING OF WHAT MY PROBLEM IS. IT WAS A SLOW LEAK AT FIRST , BUT GOT PROGRESSIVELY WORSE. IT STARTED OVERHEATING ON ME SO I CHANGED THE THERMOSTAT, FAN CLUTCH. RADIATOR, AND RADIATOR CAP. PAID ALL THAT MONEY TO FIND OUT THAT DOES NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM. THE PROBLEM IS THE EXHAUST GASES OVER PRESSURIZE THE COOLANT SYSTEM DUE TO THE BLOWN HEAD GASKET. TOYOTA HAS STOOD THEIR GROUND AND SAID THEY'VE LIVED UP TO THEIR ONE TIME ONLY RECALL. IM SURE YOU ARE ALREADY AWARE OF THIS "MASSIVE" AMOUNT OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT THEIR HEAD GASKET PROBLEM. I JUST WISHED TOYOTA VALUED CUSTOMER SERVICE/LOYALTY. *JB