wyldelee

Hi,

My son bought his first truck a 1988 4Runner 4WD ($900) with 245k miles. He is wanting to fix it up as his DD. The body and interior are in great shape, the truck runs and everything works but doesn't like to start up again once it is hot at least until it cools down completely. It has oil leaks in a number of places so he was going to replace all the gaskets, but since he would be pulling the motor for that anyway, he is considering doing a complete rebuild using Engnbldr's master rebuild kit.

The question is would you rebuild the engine it has or replace the engine? And if you would replace it where would you suggest looking at getting the replacement engine from?

thanks

yayfortrees

Tough question. The prices can come out close to the same considering replacement or rebuild. Usually, the replacement is a little bit more cost, but it requires far less tools, less time, and will usually come with a warranty. To rebuild will require machine work, more tools and know-how, more time, and no warranty.

There are lots of places to get a new or rebuilt motor from. I got mine from japanengine.com. In fact, there are so many places, you will just have to search on this forum, and online to find them. Some shops offer a lot of different levels of rebuilds, from stock to high performance. I have no experience with them, but you can check them out here: http://22reperformance.com/Home%20-%...20Engines.html

Some others: www.lcengineering.com
http://www.doaracingengines.com/
http://www.22re.com/main/toy/toymainprice.asp

It all depends on experience, time, and tools available.

yayfortrees

I forgot to mention that when I replaced my motor, I of course had to tear the head off the old motor (wanted to get that burnt valve as a souvenir). I had 2 or 3 of the head bolts snap, so if I was rebuilding that motor, I would have had a horrible time removing the threads of the very strong head bolts. Those are made from some tough metal. Drilling it out and retapping the threads in the block would have been a nightmare, and yet another item I do not have the tools for.

I would have needed a full machine shop to get them out.

MortonPhotographic

I have an 88 4runner with 22re, and I pretty much had the same issue as you. I started thinking I needed a new head gasket. I have since replaced the block, got a new head and purchased several other new items.

I tore my engine down and replaced as needed, which turned out to be almost everything. If you have the time, the know-how and the space to do this--go for it. The only reason I would suggest just getting a new engine is of you have to swap it out fast.

I did find a new (not remanufactured, but new) engine online. It was around $2K, which means to me it could not be Toyota brand.

I got all my work done at Autospecengines.com . Phan is the guy who own's the place and builds the engine, he is great and I like what I got done there. I got a new casting head, new to me used block, new cam, head bolts, oil pump, timing chain kit and cover for just over $1000 out the door. He ships anywhere in the world.

Tell him Paul sent you (the guy who took all the pictures). And, no, I don't get any kick-back. I just like to supportgood work as it is so hard to find these day.

Hope this helps a little! Good luck!