275k miles, now what....
 

I have a 93 4runner with 275k miles and still running. The problem is that I am starting to go thru a lot of oil lately.(must be burning it, because she doesnt leak)Anyway, this just got me thinking about my motor and the fact that its not gonna last forever. If it does go out on me, I dont want to scrap my truck. Would I be better off rebuilding the motor, or replacing it entirely for one with lower miles on it? And I dont know how I have gotten so many miles out of it. To be honest I dont take great care of it...guess I should consider myself lucky...

-How much is 'a lot of oil?'
-What motor are we talking about?

WOW! 275K is a lotta miles. The engine may be the last thing to go. Tranny/transfer case might die first. Either way once one goes, the other may not be far behind. I hate to think about givin' up my 2nd gen also, but by then you will have lots of maintenance to do: wheel bearings, ball joints, diffs,, etc. You may want to consider trading up to a 96 or so,, with the 3.4L. You'll get better mileage and reliability, to boot.

Mike in AR

I know exactly what you mean. I've got 205,000 on the odometer and she's starting to act up. I've got a line on a lowish mileage 3.0 but who knows what its been through. And I'm finding out a complete rebuild is big $$$, that I don't have right now. Its always hard justifying putting thousands of dollars into a vehicle that isn't worth thousands of dollars, even if we do love our trucks.

I know what I'd do if I had the money, I'd do a rebuild and have it done right. That is just me. Others will tell you to do a 3.4 swap.

You will find multiple posts about buying a remanufactured motor from jasperengines.com or orientengines.com .

Any way you look at it it is some real money. Unless of course you can do the work yourself, which I can't :dunno:

Is burning oil the only problem? Any blue smoke from exhaust? If you haven't already, I would try a 15w-40 oil, or a 20w-50 oil and see what happens.

Could you be buring it because of a PCV valve or somethin in the EGR system that is pumpin g the oil into the intake? Just a thought, diagnose problem with a leak down test, maybe you just need a valve job.

My 92 with 283k+ goes needs an extra quart at 1500mi, I just ad and change at 2000-2500, Still clean alot of times.
If your not smoking, Try a short run with 5w or rislone before you change, It helps the rings scrape into shape and loosens more crud then go back to what you normaly use.
I know everyone has oil prefferences but just to let you know I use Penzoil 10/30 or 10/30, Cheapstuff.

Do a compression test to see how things are looking all around. There are several reasons you might be burning oil, but not all of them are bad. Shoot ford engines burn oil when new, but that could be why i drive yota.

My 22RE will blow a puff of blue about 1/5 starts, but it hardly ever shows on the dipstick, mabye 1/2 qt every 3K. I only change my oil once a year, I love amsoil, but do the filter at 5K, and check it every K...

Coloradodragon, Its probably just showing some ring wear. Tell us what motor. (most likely the 22RE, since a 3.0 is very lucky to go that distance)
Drinking oil at a high milage isnt that big of a deal, just use a thicker oil... check it often, add oil as needed. Those pistons rings can only last so long before they dont seal so well. (unless the oil usage is very sudden, and/or excessive, then something is wrong)

4X4nala, (must defend faithful vehicle!) I have a 97' F150 4X4 4.6 V8 with 102,xxx miles.

It has lived a hard life. First off, its not my daily driver. (the 4Runner is!)
Point is, its mostly used as a toy. I beat the living p!ss out of it, every time I drive it. (manually shift it to run RPM into redline, drive it off road like its robby gordons trophy truck... sling mud like there is no tomorrow.. ect)

Secondly, before I owned it, it was the US governments truck. for the first 7 years of its life it was strictly an off road patrol vehicle, used in the rec areas here in california such as glamis, ocatillo, ect.

Its never been parked in a garage, either. (The 4Runner or Accord + all my toys go in there!)

It doesnt but a drop of oil in 5K (hard, and forever taking!) mile intervals.
Its been a very, very tough truck. Only problem was an o2 sensor at 90K.
Just gotta show my love for the ford V8! (and truck in general!) :rockin:

http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/6495/img19174co.jpg

To defend my resopnce I have owen two ford new off the showroom floor. Both spent more time in the shop than on the road, thus I am not a ford fan anymore. But we do have a 81 F-250 with a 400 in alaska that runs great. Its got over 150K, and sits for 9 months a year, when it runs it always fires and doesnt burn oil. But my 98 and 99 rangers were hunks of junk, and a friend of mine has a 98 mustang GT that goes thru a extra qt every oil change, and he bought it with 60K...... Ford has had some good vehicles, and dont forget the 300 I-6, a great engine. I personally choose to drive Toyota, and not a Fix Or Repair Daily......

My love is most deff. Toyota, too. but my F150 has been beat off road for 9 years, and hasnt had to be fixed yet. Not a bad vehicle in my book.

My 4runner has the 3.0, not the 22r. It probably needs a ring job. I am suprised that you guys are so dowm on the 3.0 engines. My brother has a 93 4Runner with the 3.0 with 250,000 miles on it. He did have to do a valve job at around 200,000 I beleive though. As a side note... anyone know how much I can get for 4 factory toyota rims. They are the 4 spoke (split 8) Alum. that came on the 89-95 4runners.2 are in great shape and 2 are a little pitted and oxidized slighty.

this may be the wrong place to post this, but I had some guy come in at work someday, and he said that ford does something to their computers to make the transmissions go out at about 60K miles. This sounds really made up, but I do know Ford has a bad rep for tranny's going out early. Also, I would hate to drive a car that can blow up because the cc is faulty. :eeek: I really oppose Ford, and lean more towards the Chevy's and Dodge's. I especially hate when people say Ford can tow more than Chevy. :pop: I always hear "the new Ford can tow x lbs" but this is the max, and it's always a special edition, and it will have to have all the right equipment. Not to mention I always see Ford's pulling med sized trailer's and 5th wheels, going really slow and you can hear them reving high, or they'll be parked on the side of the road, with the hood up and steam pouring over the sides. I can go on and on, but it would be too much. :great:

The best way to really tell how good a vehicle holds up for me is to check resale values. Money has a way of settling a lot of these peeing contests I always listening to. Personally I think the best bang for the buck on a full size is the Nissan Titan right now.

Nissan Titan? :barf: :barf: :barf:

My old neighbor bought one of those, sold it with 20K when Nissan claimed a rod knock was normal...

Give "Engine Restorer" a try. It has curbed all oil consumption on every vehicle that my friends and I have used it on. Use the 8 cyl version. It's worth a try.