From what I have read here, it is a matter of Toyota not torqueing the heads properly from the factory. I sounds almost as if they never did it correctly with the MK111's. Most of the guys that really know the cars inside and out recommend at least torqueing the stock bolts about 20 lbs more. I am not sure if Toyota ever came out with a bulletin regarding this and maybe some of the other more experienced guys might know.
It seems that most have replaced their gaskets at the 100k mark, give or take a few miles. So maintenance doesn't seem to matter too much because of the problem with the original torqueing. So if you have quite a bit of miles and it doesn't leak, then more than likely it has been re-torqued or the gasket has been replaced. Or, and if it is still stock, it will eventually leak. There is no mention though of anyone having to replace the gasket after the work has been done, unless the Turbo has really been turned up.
I guess they fixed the problem on the next generation in the MK1V's.
Russ
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