marcnlori

Total Bummer, 90,000 blew a rod in passing gear on this extremely well maintained motor. unheard of you say ?? I thought so too but there is a rumor going around that Toyota made bad motors from 99-01 see edmunds.com 99" 4 runner review this has happened to others too. This thing was the best running vehicle (never a noise or a problem until now) I am still in shock.

Anybody know what year motors will bolt right up can I use a motor from a 97"or a 98"

Ringmaster

How far was it tached up when it let go?

marcnlori

It was up there around 5k but not redlined, I heard about a problem with these motors where the oil passages in the crank were not drilled big enough ? anybody else heard about this ??

OSU4Runner

Well that sucks...first I've ever heard of that....My motor is about to hit 90,000 in like 46 miles!!!! My truck was driven by an old lady before me though...Only had 54,000 miles when it was 7 years old.....So I think I'll be alright........knock on wood

Ringmaster

Mines about to roll over 136000 and no new noises yet. It gets tached up every night getting up to speed on the freeway on-ramp.

marcnlori

Thats what I thought too, I planned on keeping mine another 20 years, Oil was changed with Castrol or Mobil 1 full synthetic every 3000 miles since new

My 85 pickup with a 22r and a 5 speed went over 300,000 when I sold it in running condition it may still be running

Spence1016

mine is at 121000 and still runs like new except for at idle( gonna see what cleaning the throttle body does) with oil changes at about every 4k-5k miles. I hardly ever rev it over three thousand though

gametom

my buddy has a 2000 taco that did the same thing 300miles before the warranty ended Toyota fix it no questions asked

ciscojay

I'm shocked to hear of anything along those lines. I hear that these motors were way over-engineered (built up) for the amount of stock hp they put out.

I have 168000 on my 98 3.4L (put the supercharger on at 163000) and she has a party up to rev limit. I was concerned about going forced induction after so many miles, but I just ran a compression/leakdown test beforehand (175-180 across the board) and went for it. Can run hard and she still purrs like a kitten at idle.

icerunner

Hey,
Sorry for the loss! And I don't like to add "insult to injury" yet I have to ask you some questions.....

It sounds like you maintained your engine well yet I completely disagree with you and its incorect (and slightly arrogant) to say toyota made bad engines from 99 to 01.
I drive 35K a year and My 99' SR5 3.4 is a work truck that is Bullet proof and I have 145K and run Mobil 1 synthetic oil at 5k to 7K intervals and never a hitch.

Was the engine fully warmed up when you floored the pedal to 5K RPM's? I don't think that this is the case with you yet, I do see young idiots starting their cars and racing their cold engines down the street...
I wrote an entire thread on it a week ago "COLD ENGINES Train your Wife" Unfortunatly, the oil only protects at it best when the engine fully warms up and the oil reaches 212 F this can take 10 to 25 minutes of easy driving before the engine properly warms up....
One can massivley wear out an engine by being too aggressive (heavy foot) with a cold engine.
FYI: Just 1 piston stroke with insufficient oil is is equal to driving 50 miles of normal easy driving... Its a hard fact that "cold oil" does NOT nearly protect as well as "warm oil" (212F).
Another,thing I am wondering about is mixing Castrol and Mobil 1 synthetics as I heard that the different additives from the different brands of oil do not mix well and can gum up the small oil passage ways. Im not an oil expert (yet I did stay at a holiday in express last night).
I always thought it was never a good idea to mix different brands of oils.... i'm not really sure on this one why that happened to you. Again sorry to hear about your engine.... Just because you had a issue at 90K, its a strech to say that 99- to 01 engines are "BAD" engines....
I mean no disrespect, yet I totally disagree with you on that one.
Really sorry to hear that, and hopefully everything goes smoothly on the repair.

marcnlori

Icerunner,

I never used oil additives and anybody using them should not, there is a lot of research that proves they dont work and in many cases have caused damage and oil foaming , I completely agree with this statement, the oil pan was full level with Mobil 1 full synthetic I checked the dip stick before leaving on this camping trip the oil was and is still golden brown it was chaged only 1.5 months ago .

This engine blew 25 miles from my home on a beautiful 80 degree day, Yes I always have let this car warm up expecially in the winter it was running at normal operating temp. I completely agree with these cold engine statments too.

I was certified auto mechanic for several years, I went to something cleaner and am a machinist I know about bearings tolerances and the importance of good maintenence please believe me this was done.

I am just trying to find more people like me and I want Toyota to take some responiblity here I think I found out something you should really know about please go to www.consumeraffairs.com and search for toyota sludge settlement

I beleive I had sludge build up and it restricted oil flow to the crank journal which created this disaster

I have so far found two other write up's on two other 99" 4-runners which blew same as mine

icerunner

Man,
i feel for you, as it must be a tough week for you.....
Well you may be right (about engine sludge) as they did say that toyota engines had an issue from 1997 to 2003.
But the 3.4L too?
I really hope not or I might start with the 3k oil change intervals...
Please read my recent thread here on yotatech titled "Engine Sludge....are you a synner"
it a great article about engine sludge and It may help you out .

REMEMBER if you have your engine "torn down" PLEASE take some pictures, ESPECIALLY if it was Engine Sludge... I would really like to see it if that is the case....

naksukow

are you the original owner of the 4runner?

infiltrator

shell gas baby

killa b

every car company has engines that are bad. when you produce that many engines in a year a couple are bound to come out bad. ive got a 2002 in my 94 that came out of a rolled over truck. it runs flawlessly and is still a better engine than the 3.0. yes i know it doesnt fall into the bad engine years but these are still great engines if there well maintained.

LuminoZ

ciscojay, I was told by my local toy dealer that ideal compression was 150 on the 3.4L motor... how were your numbers attained? I'm going to feel scammed if that's not a correct statement. I had my compression tested recently, and I got 150 150 150 148 150 150... at 121k miles.

ARB1977

Man that sucks, i guess once a year oil changes are out the window for me.

marcnlori

Guys

Thanks for reading and your kind words, I really do appriciate it. Please continue to take good care of your cars and share what you learned. It does pay off

I have owned many Toyota's Celica's / Truck / Camry's all of which treated me well all exceeded 200k one near 300k.

I can easily find a used motor for about $1000 and install it myself, but this is about principle, And I dont know what a used motor has been through or if it was properly cared for. To spend 5000.00 on a rebuilt plus my time is probably too much

Hey even Toyota can make mistakes But It will be what they do to correct this issue that will effect my future decisions. I agree they may have gotten too big (Like GM) and are trying to do too much They still have a reputation to maintain.

I am ready to spend around 30 k on a new car for my wife, We were planning on a Highlander or a RAV 4 for her. Toyota's decision here will certainly effect mine.

Some of you guys are mixing up carbon with sludge, Good Shell gas will prevent carbon build up on the top of the pistons and on the valves. This also effects compression.But Only Frequent oil changes prevent sludge in the oil pan (At least it should) if the engine was manufactured correctly.

mt_goat

What weight oil were you using and does it get cold in your area?

I'm sure you could make a 97 or 98 engine work but there was changes in wiring and changes in sensors that make things tricky. Might be ok if you use the sensors and engine harness from your newer engine.

There are also some laws against putting an older year engine into newer vehicle so check your area about that.

ciscojay

Lumino,

I had my compression tested earlier this year at a firestone on a whim while getting new tires. They just told me the numbers, didn't give me a printout or anything. I'm actually curious if I was told wrong numbers now! I'm getting my knock sensors done today at Toyota Tech, a very good independent master mech shop, so I'll ask for them to do it again when they pull off the supercharger. I'll post what I get next week.