socsmm6

my son has managed to kill his 88 yota pickup. not long after he bought the truck last year it blew a head gasket. at that time he knew nothing about wrenches except they were in my tool box (i can turn a wrench but don't know much about engines). I let him take the head off and replace the head gasket himself, and replaced the timing chain also. I don't figure he will ever be rich so he better learn some do it yourself. the truck ran pretty good after he got it back together. he has a problem of keeping it in the mud, as a result he packed the front of the radiator full of dirt which made it run hot. the 22re developed a knock which turned out to be a rod bearing. he dropped the front diff and removed the oil pan. changed out the rod bearings, put everything back together. he fired the engine up and it purred like a kitten. I was almost proud of the boy for doing it all himself. the next day he pulled the radiator and cleaned the dirt out of it, put it in and filled it up with antifreeze. him and 2 of his friends loaded up and went for a ride. he calls me later on to come and get him, the truck has quit. I get there and take a look at the damage. there is a hole in the side of the block with a rod sticking out of it. he tells me that it blew the radiator cap off but the temp gauge never ran hot. the radiator cap is sitting on top of the battery and there is no water or antifreeze anywhere, none on the ground ,motor,or engine bay. THE BOY HAS DRIVEN THE TRUCK ABOUT 25 MILES WITH THE RADIATOR CAP SITTING ON THE BATTERY WHERE HE LEFT IT WHEN HE FILLED THE RADIATOR UP!!! anybody got a truck for sale, must be cheap, he has no money. sorry about being long winded, I just had to vent so I don't shoot him later lol.

gilby4runner

check craigslist for another engine. Might be cheaper than getting a new truck.

1lowtoy

Damn, that sucks. In the market place i seen a few for sale. Good luck with finding one, they are pretty easy to come by but it is hard to find a good running one.

Junkers88

First let me say that sucks!

Second let me commend you on helping (making) your son do the work himself. Something like that will pay dividends for the rest of his life.

My advice is to hit a local "pick-n-pull" if you have one near you. The one near me will sell a complete motor for 150$. You have to go out and pull it and transport it home although they do have engine hoists and things to help you (bring your own tools). Then put it on an engine stand and you and your son can rebuild it. More to the point he can rebuild it while you watch. Heck you might luck into a low milage (<200,000) runner that you can just drop in.

Then tape the old radiator cap to the gauge cluster as a reminder.

Hope this helps.

Kiroshu

I bet he won't do that again.
_____________________________________________
95 Toyota 4runner SR5 V6 3.0 4x4 Automatic 150,000 Miles

socsmm6

I'm glad it was his own hard earned money that he used to buy the truck in the first place. if I would bought the truck for him it would have been a bad situation. the boy is 19 and having to rely on mama to take him to work lol.

Junkers88

Just saw this today and figured I'd let you know although I'm not sure how much it would cost to get it to you. ]

http://albuquerque.craigslist.org/pts/604004436.html

just a 22re

im here in cali and ill be here for a wile if you need a good tech for weekend work ill rebuild it cheap i did mine and 4k on the clock i drove here from milwaukee,WI and only used 1Q of full sen amsoil and what do you know it dont even knock at all just ask ozzyironmanoffroad we meet up in vegas he has a nice rig to so let me know man i can do it all for cheap and i think i can get you the parts or if you just wanna do a full swap we can try that to

p.s. i did mine with out a engine lift just a stand and yes a lift to get it back in but not out

socsmm6

found a wrecked 4runner minus front axle shafts for 450. the rear end ,tranny, transfercase and engine are supposed to be good, so he says. I know the truck 4runner has been sitting there for several years. there is enough spare parts there to buy the truck and the scrap would bring around 200 bucks. just don't know if the engine would be worth the trouble to try. I would go ahead and replace the timing chain and guides if I got the engine. what else would you consider doing before you put the engine in short of a complete rebuild.