In an ongoing battle with the head gasket (already replaced once in 1995), we find ourselves with a damaged engine on a 1992 Toyota Truck 4 Runner 4WD V6-180.5 2959cc 3.0L SOHC (3VZ-E).

The local dealer where it currently sits stated it needs a new engine (a short block) and is willing to do the work for a small fee of approx $7000.00 USD. This is for a new short block and all ness work on remaining parts for a "new" engine with a 1 year/12,000 mile warranty.

This sure sounds high to me... Anyone have some insight to how much this might be in the real world?

Thanks,

 

$7,000 sure would be a good downpayment on a new vehicle. That sounds outrageously high. I would say somewhere in the $3500 neighborhood installed, with block tradeout, is par for the course from a private shop.

 

$7000 is a 95 4Runner.

That is absurd. A swap would be under $4K. And you would get more power.

See what TOR (Todd) can get you one for.

 

That is what the dealer quoted me too when I went through the swap. The block is $2500...the rest is labor. HOWEVER, I did my swap for $2500 total. www.car-parts.com - Find yourself an engine. Got mine for $1500 w/ 50k on it. Then have a local guy drop it in. Should range from $800 - $1500 for labor costs. I actually had 2 engines (3 total) dropped in. First "new" one cost $900 to put in...the second was only $600.

I say find yourself a 3.4L and drop that in. Shouldnt be much more than $3k. Come on up to Missouri...Ive got a GREAT guy to work with on engines. He'll cram a chevy 350 in there if you really want it.

 

Don't waste your time with another 3.0

If you have cash in the truck and want to keep it until it breaks in half and then use the frame that is left to make a real wheeler, get a 3.4 and try to wipe the smile off your face.

If it is just a DD and happens to be a runner, ditch it and get a used one.

You are looking at at least 4k for a 3.4 out of pocket initially. Some may be recouped by selling old stuff.

If it were me and it were my truck, I would sell my left ear to get a 3.4 in it, but that is mostly because I can't afford to sell my truck.

 

You can get a used J-spec 3.0 for that price.

Let me tell you a story about the dealer in my area. I took my Celica in because it was burning oil. They said it was the valve guides seals. But said that my engine would probably need to be replaced because they think it has been run hard. No idea how/why they thought that since all they did was a compression test (which came up 160 psi on all four). I asked if they checked the turbo. They said no.

They called me back and said that the turbo was bad too. They won't rebuild the turbo so they would have to replace it.

Total cost for a new long-block 3SGTE and a CT26 turbo: $7,200. The actual problem: Bad turbo seals which cost me $450.

The dealership is giving you a really high price, as they did with me. I can get a used engine for my celica for $2,000.

Try to find a low-mileage used 3.0 or even a 3.4.

 

Outrageous! Thank you all for the information and input. They (the Dealers) should watch out... knowledge is power and from all the schooling ya’ll are doing I may be the smartest man alive… well at least I am learned enough that I won’t now be paying them that kind of money.

Thanks to all and a progress report to follow soon!

 

when my head gasket blew we replaced the whole engine with a Jasper 6cyl. 3.0 which is basicly the exact same engine. With labor and install it probably cost around 5-6000 but then we had a toyota recall on it so they paid for most of it and it actually only ended up costing me about 1000. We did none of this through the dealership except the recall information.

 

I contacted Landers Toyota of Little Rock AR and they also wanted a high dollar amount for there engine. They wanted close to $8000 for the swap and this included a short block.

But I recently purchased a dealer drop in 3.0 from a respectable engine remanufacturer with off road cams for $3200.00 shipped.
The dealer drop in comes complete except for the fuel system, clutch, and basic pully devices.

The engine also came with a 5 year warranty.

You could do a supra swap on these trucks for the same cost but I wanted a factory bolt up no fabricating or altering engine that was as reliable as the first engine I had.