littlerunner

well the littlerunner gave up today.bought it a little over a year ago for my son-will be 16 next year-had a dead miss,adjusted the valves & she ran like a champ.knowing the 3.0 history though i said lets sell it while it runs good & make a little money to put to something nicer.son & wife throw a fit.so i start driving it some to make sure all ok.rpl one injector,remove fuel tank to clean out rust.by the way everything happened on the right side-had to pull plenum 3 times.anyway get back from hiking today-engine miss all the way home-check compression on that hole 60psi.pick up son at mall tell him engine is down,he says-CAN WE TRADE IT FOR A CAR-i wanted to strangle him.i say no we can't trade it at all now.now i have to decide.1)replace valve & go on.2)replace engine with reman or 3)rebuild engine in the rig & keep driving.i'm sure some of you dads can relate

YotaFun

In the words of a teen...
GO FOR THE 3.4L!!!
w00t!!

All honesty though thats a tough situation...
And idea what caused teh miss initially?
And I can't believe he wants a car now...
:shakes head:
Granted I like the sporty cars myself...
But I feel powerful, comfortable, confident, and people move out of my way and stay far away from me when I am in my Runner...

The only reason I say go with the 3.4L is that well it's better.
As I see in your sig you wife drives a 97' (same here)
And that has the 3.4L (unless she got teh 2.7L option)
BUt the 3.0 could be good in it's own ways too
There are alot of guys on teh site that love tehr 3.0, franted they would like some more power, but they still like it...

just my random .02...
Good luck with your final decision

littlerunner

when i first got it & did the valve adjustment it took the smallest shim available to get any clearance on the one valve-back of my mind i knew the outcome but i fell in love with the rig,z71 beens sittin most of the time since.been looking at cruisers for myself,i'm just not sure i want to feed one.4runners get such better mileage & ride & drive better than most i've been in.also easier to manuever

chadbobb

I can't for sure tell you what to do. I am 17 and bought my 4Runner last april. I road (didn't drive it) in a 2nd gen that belongs to a friend of mines mom. Just riding in it i could feel a power difference.

Personally if you know how (which i don't cause im a noob) i would drop a 3.4l engine in (given everything else is in good enough shape)

If that isn't an option, i would just go for the cheapest long term fix. If replacing the valve isn't going to give your son a reliable car, then I would try to rebuild it or get a rebuilt engine.

Just my $.02

YotaFun

Yeah...
Whenever stepdad took business trips I would part the Olds (when I had it) and take the spares to his Runner and Use it...

The Cruiser's are nice...
I haven't had the pleasure of test-drving one :cry:

But I have had the pleasure of drivin an 05' Sport Edition V8...
That was nice.. lot so of power...
Little more comfortable then the 97' but still nice...
I believe the new V8's get the same gas mileage as the 3rd Gen V6's do...
Which always pisses me off when I think about it...

Off-topic:
I could have had a 03-04' Sport Editon V8 fully loaded...
But my aunt couldn't get in contact with our cousin who is a dealer to get us in a dealers auction...
And we couldn't wait, cause me and mom were about to drive eachother up the wall sharin her car...

On-topic-
Suprised no one else has chimed in yet...
Besides a couple of teens lol...

Maybe rebuilding the head might be an easy step, if the rest of the engine was fine before hand and you just had a little problem tehre, maybe it might be worth doing that?

littlerunner

if i were 17 the 3.4 swap would be the only choice.but i'm 40,got a kid going on 16,don't have the time for that kind of stuff anymore.you guys still have a lot of future in front of ya.rplcing one valve & drivin on doesn't sound to bad.i'm gonna ck compression on all cyls before doing anyhting-if all others good that may be the way to go for a while-first rig usually gets wrecked anyway.be a shame to wipe one out with a fresh rebuild in it.

Machine

Drop the 3.slow and replace it with a used 3.4l... If ya have to rebuild the 3.0l then the time and money you will spending could be used on the 3.4l and be a little less hassle now and in the future. The 3.4l will last him through college!

suprathepeg

Well I have a valve you can have that is out of my head before I had the OS SS ones put in. IDK if that would work for you but they are just sitting in the garage collecting dust.

YotaFun

Thats the truth...
The first rig usually gets wrecked...
(wrecked my olds cause of blad rear tires...)
you got a offer for parts so maybe you should go that route?

littlerunner

we'll see after i ck all compression,garage full of christmas decoration boxes now.will be after december to actuallly start any wrk.hindsight always 20/20,i work at a dealer & we just trashed a 3.4 about 3 months ago-just had a slight knock-replaced with a orient engine reman.could have bought the core for $300.oh well wait & see what the new year brings

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

You need to write that down so you'll read it often. Keep the 3.0 slow in there...keep him from speeding.

95RunnerSR5

dont ya love that irony? when i drove the grand prix gt all the time i was seldom under 90...now i'm lucky to hit 90 so i usually do 60-70.....part of the reason i got my runner was to keep my tickets down

chadbobb

Very true. Im always worried i will reck my first car (the 4runner). It would suck, but i make sure to never speed, and always be careful. When wheeling i don't do the "drive 90 through the mud" thing.

YotaFun

Yeah...
I was part of teh 100MPH Club when I had my olds...
Pretty peppy for a 3.1L engine...
But now that I drive more of a bulcky vehicle, I have fall out of that club...
Only once hae I hit 110 in the Runner...
It was about 5-6 months after I got it And was going down a huge hill with a steep incline to follow...

Yeah, Being careful is good...
Gotta know your deffencive driving as well...
Never know when that drunkin idiot could be traveling at 80MPH in the wrong direction...

littlerunner

well got the front of the engine off today.t.belt,water pump,radiator.lettin the 15yr old do most of it.showing him what to take off & why.wife got me a air compressor for christmas-makes it a lot easier.i haven't done this kind of project in about 10 yrs.had all i wanted today.gonna try to get the intake off one night this week.going for the rebuild.read good things about engnbldr on here.who has had personal experience & how was it?

91_4x4runner

Unfortunately I have to disagree with this. While I don't speed or tailgate in traffic, if there's a stretch of open road that isn't uphill (and doesn't have the usual police campsites, I open up my little 3.0 to around 95-100. Think guys are bad, I know of *multiple* teenage girls who have lost their licenses doing over 130 with alcohol in the vehicle. :sigh:

littlerunner

well i'm starting to lean more toward lettin him drive my old 94 z71 & keepin the runner for myself.or sellin the z71 & gettin him a toy 4wd truck.only thing chevy 4wd aren't bringin the kanda money they used to.

964runnerKY

Good luck with rebuild, Going to Paddy's bluff next sat. if it is not TOO COLD, HA HA

littlerunner

thanks,sounds great.yeah it's turned winter here for sure now.kinda stinks after the weather we've been having.takin hte fj60 or the runner?

YotaFun

Sell the chevy!
Find an older pick-up with a solid axel fro yourself and let your son take the 4runner!
Just MHO