I purchased a used 1995 4Runner SR5 back in 9/1999 with 52k on it. It's been a joy to own...until 2 days ago. Coming back from a long trip, she started ticking loudly. The oil pressure looked good, but I pulled her off the road anyway and shut her down. Oil was good...but she wouldn't start up again. Had her towed...mechanic says engine is fried (hasn't yet had an opportunity to see why). She has all of 82k on her. So what's the deal? Why did my engine burn after a mere 82k miles? The "recall" for the head gasket was performed by the dealer I purchased her from...so I guess I have no other recourse that to shell out the $$$ myself to get a rebuilt engine. Thanks for listening...

 

hey man..sorry to hear about your luck. but welcome aboard. hope you get things worked out so you can come back and join us.

 

Sorry to hear about your engine. Was the timing belt replaced? Toyota recommends changing the timing belt every 60K for the 2nd Gens (not sure about the 1st or 3rd Gens). Maybe the belt gave?

Also, if the original owner(s) didn't properly maintain the vechicle or break it in properly, there might have been problems that you couldn't detect until it was too late.

I've had my 4Runner for 12 years and she has 160K on the engine. Other than the head gasket fiasco and a leaky power steering pump hose, I've had no problems. I just try to follow the recommended maintenance schedule...a little bit of money now and then has so far saved me a big repair bill.

Matt

 

my 1995 4 Runner threw a rod or something back in October. It was making a loud ticking noise, but drove fine, when I got it to the mechanic, he told me there was a hole in the block large enough to fit your hand into :/

Rebuilt 3VZ engines are kind of costly, after searching for months for a used one I ended up just paying off the rest of the loan and buying a 2000

 

Timing belt would not do that.. Sounds like a head gasket to me.. Shop may not have checked the block of heads for warpage.. (PS, dealer warantey work is not always top notch..) With out further info.. I would put $$ on that.. BUT! is the motor gone?? or does it just need head gaskets and some re-work.. Did you drive it till no more?? is it siezed?? "Fried" comes in many flavors....

 

Timing belt would not do that.. Sounds like a head gasket to me.. Shop may not have checked the block of heads for warpage.. (PS, dealer warantey work is not always top notch..) With out further info.. I would put $$ on that.. BUT! is the motor gone?? or does it just need head gaskets and some re-work.. Did you drive it till no more?? is it siezed?? "Fried" comes in many flavors....

 

Sounds like the headgaket to me. My 93 3.0L V6 blew the headgasket this past January.

It broke my heart to get rid of it, but the bright side is that I got a brand new 2003 model.