Hi there new to the forum. (1st post). I recently bought my first toyota. 1992 4runner. 220k. Ran great before my friend and previous owner claims to have driven through a creek and it just died. Tried to start it but it just clunked. I suspect he hydro locked the engine. I've torn the engine down to the block to find that 3 cylinders are obviously not attached to the crank or the crank is broken. I haven't pulled the motor to get into the bottom end but I'm sure it's smoked.

Questions:

Any chance of the heads surviving this incident unscathed? I don't see any signs of slap but I'm not exactly a master tech haha.

How often would a broken rod or three leave the current block in a repairable state. Or got lucky in other words.

Any one in the central oregon area that's handy with 3vze's and would enjoy meeting a new friend and wheeling buddy that happens to live across the street from a growler filling station. Haha

I called around and found 3 4runners at the local u pull that all have mostly complete engines. I can pull the engine out of one for 200 bucks. My plan is to find one that has a crank that turns smoothly (or at all would be a plus at this point)salvage the bottom end and replace.

My other option after looking around is a rebuilt from a shop called NW Team Yota. $1000 with core. Anybody have any experience dealing with them.

As it sits now I'm into the runner for $570. Body's clean, interior is clean, nearly new 31x10.50. I'd like to continue the low budget theme and just rebuild a lower end but I've never done it. I'm confident in my skills but here's my final question if this increasingly expanding maiden post. Is the 3vze bottom end a finicky rebuild patient with tons of nuances and pain in the ass qualities or am I good using a FSM, following factory specs, and just rebuilding it by the book so to speak?

I thank you in advance and am happy to have joined the forum.

KM

 

The only way to tell for sure on the block being salvageable would be disassembly. I've seen motors that looked good on the outside, only to find that a slinging rod has taken out an internal portion of the casting, rendering the block non-usable.

Personally, I wouldn't bother swapping heads from one to another. You say you can get a motor if you pull it for $200? It's a crap shoot, but with as little as you have into this thing, I'd slap a complete motor in and not worry about parts swapping.

 

X2^
Welcome to Yotatech!
If the "New" motor from the U-Pull is complete (block, heads, intake, ect.) and just needs some accessories added or what not, then just swapping it would be a good place to start. You can quickly get several hundred dollars into a rebuild and still have a lot of worn parts that may or may not cause more headaches. If the U-Pull motor doesen't work out, then you wouldn't be out a lot of money and you could look into the team yota engine.

 

Thanks. I also have 30 days to return the engine if it's shot. I think I found my new u pull place.

 

Best thread title ever.

 

Ha! I had to check it out due to the title... jejeje

 

Actually probably one of the most honest thread titles in forum history