well keep me posted, interested...

 

Well boys I just got the call. What it looks like it is is this. Near as my mechanic can figure is that either a piston ring has broke or part of the piston itself has broke off on the #4 cylinder. He says it still has some compression but is a little low, but oil is obviously getting through. And I was right about the spark plug, it was so fouled that I was only running on 5 cylinders.

So, at this point I guess I'm in the market for a new 3.4L V6. From his estimate I'm probobly looking at about 3K-4K for a rebuilt one. Anyone know where to get a rebuilt 3.4?

 

That sucks. Is there a reason that something like this happens, neglect or just time? You didn't even have 150K miles, right? Any tech out there can help a newb understand this better?

 

Well I'm at 167K right now, but I'm pretty religious when it comes to maitanance. Oil changes every 3-5K and all of the other regular maintance. In fact it wasn't about 20K ago I had the second timing belt done along with the water pump. My mechanic said he drained some of the oil to see if he could find any metal shavings but said there were none. The oil had a burned smell (I wonder why), but besides that looked pretty good. So I think we can throw neglect out the window and just lean on high miles. I guess after this I'll be hanging on to this vehicle for a while! Anyone done a 5 speed transplant into a Limited '97? I hate the auto!!

 

I know where this 4R is. Not sure if he's parting it out but I think he may. It's a '99 Limited. I'm buying the eLocker rear axle from him. Not sure of the miles on it... I'll call and ask him if you want... You could probably buy the whole truck for what you'd give for a rebuilt

 

Where is is located and is there anything left of the interior?

 

So, the engine is toast? Or is it just a bad piston ring. Just because you have no compression in one cylinder doesn't mean you must replace your motor. Whats wrong with the block itself? Lack of compression can be due to multiple reasons and a lot of those are fixable, sometimes it doesn't involve pulling the whole motor... Where the above statements all the info you got out of the tech or was there more... and what kind of tests did he perform to verify that its the piston or piston ring?

 

it's in oklahoma city. quite a ways from Utah. It has a full interior except the leather seat are going in mine (see thread https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/98-rebuild-its-alive-74826/) so it will have the cloth seats from mine (which were perfect). Along with the headliner and stereo. Other than that it was all there. Wood dash, leather doorpanels, etc...

I'll be going there this weekend to check on my truck.

 

I asked him about the '99 last time I was there and he said that it is a parts truck...
Oh... he's selling me the entire rear axle w/elocker for $300
leather seats for $300

 

If I was going to spend $4000 on a rebuilt engine, I'd look around for some wrecked ones... You'll just have to search. Locally and otherwise. You see the 4Runner I found (13,000 miles)...

This is one site I happen to have on hand http://www.ecoastauto.com/
Lots of yota's there... and they sale to the public....
To get them cheaper... look here
http://www.bid-icap.com/cgi-bin/SearchInventory.cgi

You can find lots of good deals buying wrecked ones... and hey, it's a 4x4, you're gonna wreck it anyway...

 

Thanks for the info but I'm thinking that a wrecked one is out. It would probobly take too long to find one with low miles and the parents would not be thrilled with having a wrecked 4Runner in the back yard. I think I'm just gonna have to suck it up and get a rebuilt one.

 

Well, from what he told me it's not just a bad piston ring, it's something broken in the cylinder. Either one of the oil controll rings or a piece of the piston itself. Without tearing down the motor itself we don't really know. I can't remember the exact tests he did but he told me he was very confident that that is what it was. He said the cylinder still had some compression so he did not believe the compression rings were bad, but obviously oil was getting through. The spark plug was completly covered in oil.

So you are correct in that the whole engine is not toast, but for the cost to have it rebuilt I might as well just throw a different engine in because there is no one I trust to do a rebuild around here. Also, at this point I imagine the cylinder wall is scared to hell. Again, thanks for the help and keep the ideas coming!

 

I replaced the engine in my '97 with one from a 2000 with about 12000 miles. The clutch was still attached, and my old engine was due for a timingbelt. Then engine cost me about $1250US which wasn't really bad at all. It took me an long evening with a friend and a forklift to exchange the engine.
I believe it is better to go with a factory assembled engine with low miles.

 

There's a post on here somewhere about buying engines imported from Japan or something, for not too much.

 

Well, I have decided to sell the 4Runner. If I have to put a new engine in to do it I will, but for now I'm trying to sell it as is first. See here for details.

Thanks for all of the help and sugestions guys. I can't tell you how nice it is to have a place to talk to fellow Toyota owners about, well, just about everything! Again, this place rocks!!!

 

i own a 4WD mini mitsubishi pajero io 4G93 engine. after getting stuck in mud at a nearby beach side, a few days later the car produced what sounded like a knocking sound. when i got a mechanic to have a look he suspected it had to do with the conrod bearings. i bought new sets of bearing and he changed them. when i turned the car on the knocking sound was no more. so i thought. a week later the sound came back and sounded more like it was coming from the top. what would be the problem please help me out...

 

I am also having problems. 1997 vw jetta 2.0 ABA sym: Knocking from engine and light to medium white smoke from exhaust. things I have already done. removed water belt and noise still accurses. replaced rod bearings( noticed while investigating they were worn). removed valve cover and cam to check the lifters( nothing wrong there). checked fly wheel and all bolts are tight. checked spark plugs and nothing has broken off. also used a vacuum to vacuum the combustion chamber while the spark plugs where off. checked exhaust to make sure it was tight to head. any suggestions and thanks in advance.