WillRadford

I've been looking around the site and haven't seen any straight up basic information on cost and difficulty of rebuilding a 3.0, so if its out there, please point me in the right direction, but if not, any information you could share with me would be appreciated.

I'm looking at purchasing a '94 4Runner with 200K miles on it with a 5 sp manual transmission. The owner says that it has engine problems. He has it listed for $2000, but I think he'll let it go for $1500. The body looks good except for a little rust behind the rear door. So, before I buy it I need to know what the possibility of rebuilding the engine myself would be if I decide it needs it. If I can get it running good I will either turn around and sell it or sell my current 94 4Runner.

I have had some experience with engine work. I took the heads off my current 4Runner and had a machine shop rebuild them. While I had the top of the engine off I replace a bunch of crap like timing belt and other stuff.

So if I could get info on cost of kits, special tools I'll need, and cost of machine work to the block, I would appreciate it. Let me know if I'm getting in over my head. I think I could get the engine out of the vehicle fine, and I've had the top end of the engine apart before, so the new experience here would be taking the crank shaft and pistons out.

Again, Im not looking to increase power or do any mods, Im just looking into info on a basic rebuild. Also, is there any good literature on step by step rebuilding this engine?

Thanks,

Will.

suprathepeg

http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-b...sm/engine.html

Tigerstripe40

I just recently rebuilt my motor. But I also layed out the coin for OEM parts, and for the machine shop to 'fix' some of the inherant problems with the 3VZ.

You can do it all for about $1500 - 2000 using mostly OEM parts. When all was said and done, I was into mine about $1600 in parts and labor from the machine shop alone.

Then there was the gasket set I used (OEM, but I got a deal), head bolts(aftermarket), timing belt(oem), water pump (oem), oil pump (oem), clutch set (aftermarket), various other seals and gaskets not in the gasket set I had(all OEM). At the same time, I also had the injectors rebuilt and flow tested. Also, I put in a forged crank and rods from a 3vz-fe as the stock crank was toast, and I found the OEM forged parts cheaper in a junkyard than an aftermarket crank.

All in all, I am into my engine rebuild roughly $2700 or so. But you could do it about $1000 cheaper than I did mine if your oil pump, water pump, and crank are all good, and don't mind using aftermarket parts.

Tigerstripe40

I just notcied you are local to me.

Take the block to Pro Machine in Salt Lake and they will treat you right.