J2F42C

That is what I thought. Damn, I am sorry to hear that.

I know Charleston and the Lowcountry has a lack of decent junkyards but I would have thought that they could have found you a used one for under $2000.

www.car-part.com. It looks as if Johnsons in Scummerville has one for $850. If you have access to a pickup or trailer, then make a drive to Olanta, SC, where there is one with 110,000 miles on it.

Or if you don't go that route, get another 4runner. Good luck.

98SR54RUNNER

iTrader: (1)

Thanks man. Yeah, I don't think I'm going to get rid of her yet. I think I'm going to try to get a cheap car or maybe even a 4Runner with a low payment in the interim. Then get together $1200 or so for a new motor and try to do the swap with a friend of mine. Then hopefully sell one and get the car paid off. We'll see.

J2F42C

My friend who lives in Asheville sent me this CL posting concerning a 98. It looks as if it is still live. I have seen some on CL in the Charleston area, but not since Aug.

http://greenville.craigslist.org/cto/3402460709.html

Keep us informed.

98SR54RUNNER

iTrader: (1)

Oooh, that color is slick too. I like that one. I have an old Ford Ranger that a friend is going to loan me for a couple of months. So, since I don't have to buy a car right now, I'm kind of torn on whether I should go for a new (to me) 4Runner and just swap over my lift kit/lights, etc and then part it out. Or whether I should just endeavor to do get a new motor and do a swap.

Either way, after 24-hours of mourning, I've come to terms with the loss and am moving on. I'm pretty excited at the prospect of bringing it back to life/getting another rig. I'd love a black one, with the hood scoop. We'll see. I will most definitely keep the good people at YotaTech informed.

Thanks for your posts and concern! Much appreciated!

98SR54RUNNER

iTrader: (1)

I found a place about two hours away from me that has a lot of 5vzfe motors and called there today. A guy said they have ones with 67K, 84K, and 88K miles! And a lot more going up from there, ranging in price from $850-1000. This sounded pretty good since I was looking at one nearby with 110K miles for $1100. Then he says, "Look, I'll be honest, I'm swimming in these motors. if you come here with $850 cash, you can take your pick of any 5vzfe you want." I'm going to try to get up there in the next few weeks and get one of those and do a swap!

yodafan93

thats awesome dude congrats. if you dont mind me asking, what place is this? might have to give them a call.

J2F42C

Likewise with the name of the yard that is swimming in 5vzs.

It is good you have got a feasible solution to your problem.

98SR54RUNNER

iTrader: (1)

Here's the information of the place I called. It's in Marion, SC.

Case Used Parts - 843-423-4711 / 800-234-2928

Have at it, but leave one 5vzfe for me! As soon as we get my buddy's LT1 trans back in and out of the garage, I'm heading up to Marion myself and picking one up.

J2F42C

Thanks for the info. I have been to and through Marion ( I dated a girl at CofC who was from Mullins, Marion's neighbor). She liked to drive up 17 to Myrtle Beach, then take 501 through Conway to Marion. I think that taking i-95 to 76 (was it 74?) was a quicker route.

Good luck with getting the motor. When you start the swap, post up again.

98SR54RUNNER

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, no problem. Let me know if you end up getting a motor from there. I'm curious to know how they work out. Hah, small world. Where in the OBX are you? I've got some friends up in Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach, and I used to spend a lot of time at Figure Eight Island with an ex-girlfriend.

From what it sounds like, the motor swap isn't too difficult, so I think I'm going to go for it. I'll surely update when I do get the motor. The tow truck driver told me he had a hard time getting the car into neutral when loading it back on the truck at the dealership. I'm hoping they didn't mess up the trans, that was fine when it went to them. Yeah, I'm never going back to the stealership again.

98SR54RUNNER

iTrader: (1)

Looks like I'm going to go through with attempting the rebuild. I'm going to try to get the motor on the 26th or 27th.

My buddy and I got the 4L60E back in the LT1 and got the beast out of the garage. We used a rebuild kit from Dana at ProBuilt Transmissions, with a new Edge 2800 stall torque converter. We hit some snags along the way, but got it worked out, and so far, so good. It sounds so mean, and gets sideways quick. It's pushing about 450hp, and badly needs some tuning. But, that will wait for this motor swap!



Got the 4Runner pushed up into the garage and angled to give us good work space.



Got the hood removed, and that's all for today.



I'll update when we get a motor and on from there. Until then, Merry Christmas to all!

maachine

ouch man, what a hard lesson. but you are moving on. i wonder if your oil pump went out with the oil coolant mix up. did the dealer say if it had any oil pressure?

98SR54RUNNER

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, it was was a tough lesson. I felt pretty bad about it for a while, but if this swap works, I'll be in a good place with a younger motor. Dealer didn't say anything about the oil pressure, just told me there was a bad knock in the bottom of the motor. I don't think they did much with it. I think they just started it and ran it...even after I told them there was no oil going to the filter.

98SR54RUNNER

iTrader: (1)

Got new motor today from Case Used Parts in Marion, SC. I was told this motor has 88K miles on it by Keith at Case. It cost me $850, for a total of $909.50 after tax. (Is there any way to guestimate mileage on a motor?) Motor came with a 30-day warranty.

Case has two pretty large warehouses full of all kinds of parts:



Motor in truck, sitting on some tires.


On some tires in the garage:






Pulleys look rusty, but I'm told that'll come off when they're turnin' again.






Rubber is all chewed up on motor mount. Not sure what the deal was here, but I guess the old one will be swapped over.



Driver's side of motor. Bad picture, it's sorta sideways on the tires.



Labeling/bagging everything coming off:


And, that's how she sits tonight:



The motor looks okay, some rust in expected places. The throttle butterfly is a little rusted and sticks pretty badly when trying to manually turn it. I hope this just means it's been sitting in a warehouse for a long time. I guess I'll be swapping over the full old intake plenum.

Airbox, radiator, fan shroud, power steering pump, compressor, alternator, and upper intake plenum are off. We also got the 6 trans bolts and the lower intake y-pipe bolts off (lots of PB Blaster) and will go from there tomorrow. My friend and I spent all day driving around getting a hoist, the motor, and tearing down. Very sleepy and slightly under the weather, so that's all for tonight. We'll start again tomorrow, and hopefully get the new motor in. Stay tuned!

J2F42C

Can't wait to see the finished project.

That said, before you put the engine in, I'd personally redo the valve cover gaskets, oil pan, and oil cooler O-rings. Also think about the timing belt and rear main seal.

98SR54RUNNER

iTrader: (1)

Thanks! I'm about to make a trip to the stealership to get valve cover gaskets, oil pan gasket, plenum gaskets, and I'll grab some oil cooler o-rings. Also, before any of this mayhem happened with my rig, I sent Santa a little note asking that be bring me this timing belt replacement kit. Santa was a little irritated that my rig was downed after purchasing the kit, but no worries, it will be put to good use!

As far as the rear main seal, my buddy says we pretty much need an air compressor to do this, and ours is kaput. He's planning on getting another one soon, but it looks like the rear main won't be on our list. Hopefully the one on the motor will last for a while longer.

I'll update here soon. Thanks!

J2F42C

Keep the pics coming of the progress.

If you are in it for the long haul, change out as much as possible now. If not, and you make $$$ here soon after grad school, then let someone else deal with it.

If I was able to get off work and travel down to Charleston to see my parents who live at Folly, I'd give yáll a hand for sure. But work is nothing short of slammed for me at the moment.

maachine

too bad you already put the engine in. while you had it out of the truck you shouldve replaced timing belt, water pump, and valve cover gaskets. much easier to do on an engine stand. well, thats what i would have done anyway.

maachine

but i guess you put the engine on tires...which means you didnt have an engine stand....if you were closer i wouldve helped out too. got tons of tools in my garage. including the always in my way engine stand

98SR54RUNNER

iTrader: (1)

@J2F42C: Yeah, I'm halfway through the swap now, so I'm in it for sure. My friend that's helping me says the rear main is too much for us to do now and we don't have the tool to do it, but as you'll see below, I'm replacing some important stuff. Thank you for the offer, really! Let me know if you're ever down this way and want to hit a mudhole!

@maachine: As you'll see back below, engine isn't back in yet, and I'm doing all the stuff you said. I don't have an engine stand, but I have a hoist. We're going to do the timing belt/water pump using the hoist and with it resting somewhat on a tire. It ain't the nicest way to do it, but it'll work. Thanks for your offer of help! Hopefully we won't hit any snags with the timing belt stuff to come. Thanks!