1990 4runner, going down the hoghway this last weekend about 65 and thought I heard a fan belt letting go, but lost all power, costed off the road and noticed the dreded blue smoke from under the hood... Tried to turn it over but got the sound of a locked engine.. Had it towed then when I got it home found oil dripping from drivers side, but could not find from where it is coming from, thought I would drain some oil to check it, what a surprise, i removed the plug and got a rush of antifreeze, nothing but antifreeze..???? What the heck... checked the radiator and it was enpty. It never got hot..... was running great when it all let lose. Any suggestions? Is this the dreaded head gasket? With no warning....? 178,000 miles.
Any help would be great.. Should I part out, or is it worth rebuilding..

 

Wow, sorry for the troubles. I locked up my engine about a month ago. All in all it has cost me about 4k to fix it. I could have gotten a low $ engine but I wanted a warranty. I also did the repair myself. If the engine is blown, unless you want to drop 4k in it, part it out or keep it as a project car.

By any chance, is your runner maroon?

 

I'd bet you were low on coolant for quite a while. Problem with temp senders is that they need to be in coolant to work properly, not air. It's also quite possible the engine siezed due to lack of proper lubrication, not heat. Water will work as a lubricant for a while, but not long.

 

The thing to do is call the Toy dealer and have them run your vin for the head gasket recall. If it went out then it might not have been done in the first place. Find out if it was done and if so when and where for proof. If not they may cover a whole new engine. Ben

 

this happen to me. the local machanic said my motor hydrolocked. whatever that is???? i've tryed to call the toyota dealer in town and they said my truck was couldn't be found in there computers.. and they said they no longer do the replacement of h/gs on the 3.0ls.

 

That is a load of BS. You should give a call to corporate Toyota and see if you can get them to reimburse you if in fact the problem was a failed HG and it hadn't been done yet.

Do not relent.

 

I agree call corp. Here's what a hydrolocked engine looks like. Scroll down...
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/engine-removal-installation-help-28306/