MelH

Hiya

I took my 86 22ret into the shop because of some engine stuttering and a coolant leak, and as it turns out it needs a new engine. Low pressure in the 2nd and 4th cylinders, so blown head gasket. My mechanic said that if I was to get it rebuild, I would experience the same issue within a year. I haven't a change to really sit down and talk with him about why exactly that is, but he recommended a full swap. Which is a bummer because I didn't even get to drive the truck for a month... The dude I bought it from did the rebuild himself and it had barely been 10,000 miles when this happened.
I'm pretty much just looking for some advice. Has anyone had an issue like this? If I do have to do a full swap I was thinking of the 3rz but that seems like it would be way more expensive and a pain to maintain down the road so Im leaning towards the 22re. no turbo this time although it was damn fun to drive!

Thanks
mel

Co_94_PU

iTrader: (-1)

Is it a truck(manual transmission), or 4runner(automatic transmission). You might want to consider your 22re choice with an automatic.

what kind of coolant leak?
What kind of stuttering, when where how?

Bad compression on 2 and 4 doesn't mean I jump to a bad head gasket, not like maybe 3-4 when they share a gasket wall. The leak testing will tell you where the pressure is being lost to, crankcase, head, or coolant system. It takes almost no time when done along with the compression tests, and no reason a well equipped shop shouldn't have done one. Give him the evil eye and ask why he didn't pop an air chuck in there while he had the plugs out after finding a low compression reading and demand a discount, JK mostly..

For costs. I thing there are marginal difference. Most of it comes down to what deals you find when you need them.

Long blocks for all three are similarly priced.
You have a complete "working" 22-rte system
To de turbo you need at minimum, injectors, ECU, exhaust, vafm, and I believe some wiring mods to the cab harness.
3rz needs a full intake, exhaust, and computer with the various sensors.

The first you have, minimum time. The second is not to hard to peice together, salvaged is cheap but might have a longer lead time or pay the premium for off the shelf stuff it's pretty available aftermarket except the ECU unless you go tunable aftermarket and increase the price ten times. The go-to for the Rz is to find a donor vehicle you can scrap out the left overs and try to recover as much as you can or dump it on a scraper when you are finished with it.

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