Cameron707

I flooded my runner 3.0 with water now when I try and crank it over it will turn over a couple times then make a grinding noise and freeze up and doesn't turn anymore. Bent rod or something in the bottom end? I have no clue what it could be and thoughts or advice would help thanks....

Trents3.slow

I would....pull all the plugs and slowly turn it over by the crank shaft or alternator pulley to see if there is water sitting in the piston bore. Don't use the starter. Check and advise

Cameron707

I pulled the plugs and turned it over with a rachet on the harmonic balancer. It turned fine the first rotation but the second time around it hit a spot and froze up. With the starter it hits that spot and makes a grinding noise and freezes up

Cameron707

I've got the intake phelum off and one valve cover off so far it's not the starter I checked that.

Cameron707

Mabe a bend valve hitting the piston? I'm not sure what else to check

Trents3.slow

Did any water come out of the spark plug holes? Water in the oil? It could be a lot of different things. Take your time and maybe get a helper to find where exactly the bind if coming from. Don't force anything!

atcfixer

iTrader: (1)

I was thinking bent valve too. How's your timing belt look, and is the crank and cams still in time?

I suspect the grinding noise is a weak starter/battery and once it gets to a high load, the starter gear isn't pushing out all the way and is slipping on the fly wheel teeth. Grind as little as possible, might have to replace it if you get careless.

I have a family member that had a 3.4L (same basic bottom end) that did a similar thing. I don't remember if he bent the rod or broke the piston, but he dropped the oil pan and put in one new piston with new rings and he drove it 75k+ miles before he rolled it and ended up in my hands. Not exactly done "correctly" but it worked in his case. It still runs great with ~260k miles and he's beat the snot out of it.

Cameron707

I pulled the starter cleaned the inside of it out and check it with jumper cables the starter works fine. The no broken teeth on the flywheel. I had the battery and alternator checked there good and charged. I'd doesn't look like there's any water in the oil. But water did get everywhere else. My uncles helping me try to figure out what the problem is. And he's not sure so he said go online to try and figure it out. So here I am

Cameron707

Checked the timing and It's in time. The belt doesn't look the best but it's has all it's teeth. The only thing I can do is to tear it apart more to check for a bend valve?

atcfixer

iTrader: (1)

For the battery, did you try a load tester on it? Just pure voltage means almost nothing for battery health, it's just the charge state it's in.

For the starter cleaning, did you clean the motor, or the internal contacts of the solenoid? Here's a good source to read on the subject.
http://www.yotarepair.com/startercontacts.html

If a vale is stuck down, you should be able to see that from the top side of the head with the valve cover off. With the cam positioned where the valve should be fully closed, there would be a gab for ones stuck open yet. Might have to wiggle rocker arms etc to feel if the gap is larger than others or not (not sure what the 3.0L design is exactly). Speaking of vales and design, I think the 3.0L is a non-interference engine, so even with stuck valves, the pistons shouldn't hit them unless you have a dropped valve.

When you turn it over by hand, note the spot it locks up (crack, or something on the cam etc) and turn it backwards till it stops again. Is it close (but not quite far enough) for when the mark was, and did the crank make almost 2 full turns? This is why I jumped straight to valves or things relating to the cam since it turns 1/2 a turn per 1 turn of the crank. Based on that description alone, it sounds to be a top end issue of some sort. It might be best to just pull the cams and heads and visually inspect them for damage. If it still does it, I'd be pretty stumped. Not sure how exactly a bent rod would effect things in the bottom end, but I'd think it would effect it every turn. Maybe someone else has more experience in this area?

Cameron707

Well i thru a rod thru the engine block. Small hole in the side of the bottom of the block so we got the 3.0 pulled out today

Trents3.slow

I'm sorry to hear that. What's the plan for a replacement?

atcfixer

iTrader: (1)

That sucks . If you were near Michigan, I have like 3 of the 3.0L's I could sell ya. I do have a 3.0L that's for parts, maybe shipping the block is a reasonable price? Probably be cheaper/better to find a whole engine locally though.

If you're not scared of wiring and fab work, a very common swap is the 3.4L 5vz-fe. 190hp 220ft/tq, bottom end is the same basic design as the 3.0L, top end is completely redesigned. The add on TRD super charger adds 75hp and 7th injector (URD?) is something like another 40hp on the top end and probably requires headers. That's all I drive any more is a T100 with a 3.4L and my last truck was a Tacoma with the 3.4L too.

Good luck with whatever you do!

Cameron707

I'm gunna make it easy and find another 3.0. I saw a few wrecked 4runners on Craigslist for pretty cheap that are local. So I'm probly going that route

atcfixer

iTrader: (1)

To make things even easier, check the distributor plug (dizzy as some people call them). There's two types both 4 pin, single row of 4 vs 2 rows of 2. I've read the distributors are not interchangable, and if there's a difference with the harness besides that, you'd have to spice it in. Good news is, the plug wires are the same for both styles, so it's fairly simple thing to deal with.