New to the forum, and I must say I have learned quite a bit. I am about to purchase a 1991 Xcab 4x4 toyota with the 3.0 and 5 speed for 500 bucks from my wife's best friend. Its a hella of a nice truck, and dirt cheap. The kicker is the 3.0 is "blown" in her words. A little quick history on this 3.0 motor, it made it to 200k before finally dying. So her dad had some dude rebuild it and it lasted 8k...She doesn't know anything bout cars and her boyfriend (at the time) was driving it when it died. The only story I got from her was "it started knocking hard 10-12 times and before he could shut it down and it blew/seized." So I went to check it out. I checked the oil, and it was still full, and hell, looked better than my DD's. Its been sitting for a year or so also. I also checked the radiator and no oil or anything as well. So I pulled the oil plug and I could see a few metallic reflections. I mean, if you weren't looking with a flashlight and hard, you would miss it. But the real catch is that sucker is seized for sure. We tried puttin a wrench on the pulley, no dice. Put it in gear and rocked it in reverse and fifth, not budging. So its def seized. My question is, what do you think it is? My cousin lost 3 main bearings on his 383 stroker and could cycle the engine no problem. His oil was pure silver too. Do you think it’s a cap/piston? Block is toast? Either way, 500 bucks is 500 bucks. I know I won't truly know till I start tearing it down. But whatcha think?? Any experiences? Any help is much appreciated.

 

instead of throwing money into a problematic motor you would be better off in the long run putting in a 3.4v6 from a tacoma but it sounds like the bottom end needs a rebuild

 

For 500 bucks, I would say its a deal. 3.5-4k in motor work or swap and you are good to go. Sounds like a project in the making. Keep us posted and include lots of pics. We love pics. Thats what motivates us. Check out my 3.slow rebuild on "engine paint question". Use the search to find it.

 

Bigarms- I appreciate the feedback. I have thought about the swap, but to be 100% honest, I live in California and I am very ignorant about the engine swap laws and rules and I can't ever get a legitimate answer. DMV says I have to ask the smog technician, and the smog technician says I need to talk to someone else etc. So I don't think that’s a burden I want to endure, and I honestly know nothing about the 3.4 and believe it will be more expensive than my wife is willing to let it be.

Rocket- I saw your thread, and I must admit, that motor looks great! I am not a huge red fan, but after seeing that I am. Since you have rebuilt the 3.0 yourself, you having any second thoughts or regrets? I keep hearing how its junk, and swap it, replace it, anything but it etc. But considering I have never really been told a legitimate reason or example of why they suck other than they blow and are gutless. The basic fact that the one I have in this truck went 200k with a high school girl driving it the last leg of its life, I have reason to believe they are good enough for what I am looking for. Now if the block I have is truly trashed, than a swap is something I will consider. However if the 3.0 block is still serviceably sound, its what I will use. I will post some pictures of it once I figure out a plan. Thanks for the help.

 

if you're gonna pursue a engine swap in cali:
http://www.bar.ca.gov/80_BARResource...e_Centers.html

 

Awesome, thanks for the link abecadarian.

 

Origionally, I was going to do the swap. The whole smog question is actually fairly simple to do in Ca. Once done, you need to take the vehicle to a smog referee who does the inspection. There is a fee involved but I dont know what it is. The reason I decided to rebuild is I didnt like the idea of putting a motor with 150k miles in my sons 4-runner without knowing how it was treated and ran or without rebuilding it. Rebuilding it would add cost. The way I priced it out, I would be looking at about 5K including rebuild. Rebuilding the 3.0 is goona run me about 3k with headers and exhaust. I should be dropping it in the weekend after Thanksgiving. I will be posting more pics as I progress. It you have any questions with your rebuild, this site is a wealth of info. Best site I have found so far and has been a huge help to me. Good luck.