Greetings All,

My brother has a '96 4-Runner V6 SR5 (3VZFE)

He just got a card from his Toyota dealer requesting that he bring his truck in for service due to a recall. The reference code on the card was 'X01"

Has anyone experienced the same or similar with their 4-Runner.

Although he has an appointment, we're trying to figure out ourselves what recalls would've affected the 1996 model or similar.

Thanks for your time.

Hmm, interesting. I am a Toyota technician at a Toyota dealership. The X01 campaign was for the 5VZ-FE engine, not the 3VZ-FE. 1996 4Runners should have the 5VZ-FE in it. Are you sure that it's a 3VZ-FE? The X01 would cover head gasket replacement. The 5VZ-FE had headgaskets that leak externely, as opposed to internally like the 3VZ-FE head gaskets. I have done many (probably 30 or more) X01 campaigns. It's a relatively labor intensive job. Expect your truck to be apart for a full day or even two, depending on the experience of the technician doing the work. Take the oppportunity to replace the timing belt, the labor will be minimal because only the lower timing belt cover needs to be removed to replace the belt. You may also want to replace the water pump at this time. If it is not already leaking, chanced are that it will in the near future. Once again, the labor is minimal. You might want to have new drive belts (A/C, alternator, and P/S) put on at this times as well. They all come off to remove the cylinder heads, so there should be no labor charge.
Good luck.

does this recall apply to 98 4 runners as well? wit hthe 5vz-fe engine?

Hmm, interesting. I am a Toyota technician at a Toyota dealership. The X01 campaign was for the 5VZ-FE engine, not the 3VZ-FE. 1996 4Runners should have the 5VZ-FE in it. Are you sure that it's a 3VZ-FE? The X01 would cover head gasket replacement. The 5VZ-FE had headgaskets that leak externely, as opposed to internally like the 3VZ-FE head gaskets. I have done many (probably 30 or more) X01 campaigns. It's a relatively labor intensive job. Expect your truck to be apart for a full day or even two, depending on the experience of the technician doing the work. Take the oppportunity to replace the timing belt, the labor will be minimal because only the lower timing belt cover needs to be removed to replace the belt. You may also want to replace the water pump at this time. If it is not already leaking, chanced are that it will in the near future. Once again, the labor is minimal. You might want to have new drive belts (A/C, alternator, and P/S) put on at this times as well. They all come off to remove the cylinder heads, so there should be no labor charge.
Good luck.

Sorry for the long wait in response guys, but I've been off my computer for a while due to other circumstances.

Actually, I stand corrected from my original post.

What I should've stated is that my brother's 4-Runner is a 96 with the 5VZ-FE, not the 3VZ-FE. He took the truck in and they replaced the head gasket.

Sorry for my error.....and this is for me...:twak:

Anyways, while he had it there, he also had the timing belt changed too.

Since then, the truck has been riding fine with no problems...

I have a 1997 4runner would this be covered? the engine # is 5vz/fe. I just called my dealer and they told me there is no recall.

What's up with that?

Only some of the 1996 5VZ-FE engines were affected. Not all of them and none in 1997 and later.

The following post implies that some 1997s were affected by this maintenance. I apologize if my information was inaccurate.

Here is a site i came across might be worth looking at.

recall (http://www.consumerreports.org/main/detailv2.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=19363&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=18151)