Hello to everyone. I'm new here. Just bought my brother's 90 Tacoma that was possibly hydrolocked. The motor has less than 400 miles on the rebuild. He got water in the motor and did the correct things to get rid of it. Pulled plugs, dried all components, changed oil, etc. The motor starts fine but has a pretty bad knocking sound and a little bit of grey smoke out of the exhaust which smells real rich. I rechecked the oil and it seems to have a strong gas smell too. I am very mechanical and have rebuilt/replaced several motors, just not in a Toyota. The question I am asking is this:
Based on your experiences, where do I start to determine if a rod is bent or if the damage might be on the top end? Compression check? Say screw it and pull the motor? Let me hear what you think. I'm open to any and all suggestions. I'll post pictures of the rig as soon as I get them.

 

1990 there was no Tacoma. Tacoma were only made after 1995.5. Before this there was a "pick up truck". It sounds like you bent a rod. Check the compression if there is gas in the oil.

Is it s 22RE or V6 (3VZE)? If you have a V6 and it has bent a rod, just swap in a 3.4L V6 (5VZE) it is apparently very simple. Search for "3.4 swap", there is a whole section on here dedicated to it.

 

MATT16
Told you I was new to Toyotas. I stand corrected, "pick-up" it is for now on. Thanks.
The truck has the 3VZE in it not the 22RE. I hate to just replace it because my brother and Dad just rebuilt the entire thing. He put a lot of time and machine work into it and I was hoping to salvage thier efforts. I am a bit on the financially challenged side since I had to fork out $ just to get the truck. That's hard enough as it is since I am a single parent of my 13 y/o son. Kids are about as expensive as gas these days! Didn't want it to fall into someone elses hands since my brother was the original owner and has added a ton of mods to it. The price was right even if the motor is questionable.

 

BTT. Nobody wants to throw some suggestions in? I sure was hoping this would be the place to get some great experienced feedback.

 

motor = junk. sorry But thats more than likely the case. Almost garuntee u bent a rod

 

Yep, motor is gone. Swap in the newer 3.4. It is lighter than the 3.0, and puts out more horsepower. Gets better gas mileage and will pay for itself in the long run.

Next time get a snorkel?

Hell, if you are mechanically inclined, you should swap out a Lexus v8! Now there you would have some fun!

 

Since you are talking about a fresh rebuild, I would fully expect that you have a bent rod to explain the knock. If it hasn't been run too much since the U-boating, I would definitely check the compression all the way around, to locate the problem cylinder(s).

You may find the damage to be somewhat minor, but I'm sure that you are going to have to open the engine up to find out just how much damage has been done, and then determine whether is is worth fixing, or swapping. If you decide to repair, make sure that you get GOOD head gaskets and new head bolts (in addition to anything else that needs to be worked on). If you decide to swap, then take a long look at the 3.4 conversion. It is relatively easy (as conversions go), and it is a wonderful engine in our older trucks!