I did the 3.0 route when wall pitting from head gasket leaks ruined mine.

Got so hosed by Tim at DOA Racing that by the time I was done I had ten grand in it an 10 months of downtime.

It was a terrible experience.

I looked at the costs in advance of doing a conversion and it could easily be done for under 5 grand, some have gotten it done for half that.

Tim was supposed to save me a bunch of money, NOT.

In the end power is a little better, not Vortec fast though.


When this one goes, I'd be very tempted to do a LS1, but hopefully sense will win out and I'll go with a Vortec.

 

I've been poking around here a bit and am curious about the collective opinion. I bought a '94 3.0 SR5 with 120k last year that had the recall done. I just found out this one is toast. The mechanic said Toyota redesigned the HG after all the problems and mine was probably the older design. Of course, no telling what additional damage might be hiding until stuff is pulled apart.
There are 3 other 4Runners from '91-'95 in his shop with the same issue right now. He estimates $1800-$2200 after all is said and done.

Should I cut my losses and sell the thing as is? Any idea what I could get for it with the blown HG? Should I bite the bullet and hope this isn't a cascading situation? It's a real heartbreak because I've always had awesome luck with Toyotas and hate to think that this one is just a lemon.

Thanks for your insight.

 

how do you check the oil pump relief spring? i got the same low oil pressure problem on my 89