2006 Toyota Corolla Head Gasket Leaking

Hello -

To better assist you is your model the CE, LE, S or XRS and what is the engine size in liter?

Hello â€

Thanks for the info.

Lots of good questions there....... Let’s review them.

I took my car in for a scheduled tire rotation and oil change at 105,000 miles. The shop told me my head gasket is leaking.

How do they know it was leaking... What were the signs... Have you had white smoke out the tail... Has it been running hot... Is there oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil? How do they know?

He also told me that its strange because Toyota's aren't known to have this problem, even at the high mileage mine is at.

Are you the only owner of this car... Has it ever got hot on you..... They are correct that it is odd but ONLY if it has not gotten hot and the heads warped. Also... It is possible that there was a defect in the head or head gasket and it was just time to go. There are many variables here. But then I go back to the first... How do they know it was leaking.

My question is, how bad is this? It can be very bad and the car not run

What kind of repair, cost does this usually take? Could be between $1200 to $1800 depending on if you had any valves that were bad or other parts that needed replaced.

How quickly do I need to take care of this? I commute to work every day (hence the high mileage) so I am very concerned. If it is leaking then yes, you need to get it fixed or you will be stranded.

Is this something I should go to the dealership for, or can I go to a local car shop and feel comfortable about the repair? If you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself...I would check around for reputable shops that do this..... Get several estimates and talk to some folks to get some recommendations on places.

My car has never had ANY problems and I have always taken good care of it. Please help! I am sure you have taken great care of it....... But no matter how good we do it is still mechanical and things break..... Just happens.......

So first we need to figure out if it is leaking........... You can put leak detector in it and test it. Though your local say, Auto Zone or O’Reilly’s

Hello -

If there are no signs of a head leak... Mmmmm... If you are not loosing any coolant, the oil is not filling... Ie with coolant or your are not losing any ie into the coolant... The color of your coolant looks fine and no oily residue, there is no smoke coming out the back... It is not running hot and it runs just fine..... Then for now I say you don't have a leak.

Try the leak kit for sure.

Next, Please go to Auto Zone (AZ) or O'Reilly's (OR) and for FREE they can pull the codes to the car. Most important: Once they check your codes, if they find something and you don't get it fixed and need to get back with us, please make sure you tell us exactly what the code was, number and all. Example, if the code was E0568 O2 Sensor bad. Then make sure you give us all of that. While there for FREE also they can bring their tester out and check your battery and alternator.

Now, I know you haven't' had any codes that you know of... But lets assume it threw a code and the light reset and you didn't see it. So ask them to pull your codes (it is free) and tell me as above if you have something. My thought is if you are burning water a couple of sensors may be going a little crazy so let's check just for the peace of mind... Since it is free...

Let me know.