I recieved a free 92 4Runner with a loud knock. It has about 145000 miles. I've never owned a Toyota but lately I have been looking up all kinds of info. First of these V6 engines are pricey! I don't really mind chunking out 2 grand for a remanned engine. What do you Toyota people think should be done to this vehicle. What usually goes bad on these engines to make it knock so loud. I might try tearing it down and rebuilding it myself. I've read a little on swapping with a chevy block. Whats involved with this swap or is there a better swap like a 3.4 toyota swap

 

welcome to YT. great score getting it FREE. that is cool as hell.

 

if its knocking its most likely a bent rod or a bad crank bearing

 

sounds like you got a pretty good deal even with a rod knocking, mi's sound about right for a 3.0 that hasn't been treated to well. As far as the engine go's its quite pricey swapin in a v-8, which its cool and all, but you can wheel just as good with a 22re. As for the 3.0 it cost me $1600 for my 3.0 for the parts and the machine work, not including the d.o.a cams, and I had to assemble it myself. As for a reman motor my buddy paid $2900 for his, so if you can get your hands on one for 2k go for it. But otherwise toyotas rock and you came to the right site for help.

 

I've got a 180,000 mile v6 with rod knock sitting in my 90 4runner, and a 94 88,000 mile motor sitting on the garage floor next to it


if you look around enough you can find a motor complete (what I did) or find one with blown head gaskets that somebody wants to dump.

 

Well this "free" 4runner was from a guy i worked with in virginia beach at a Kia dealership. From what i understand, he never changed the oil since he used "synthetic". What a jackass. Well he sold it to his friend for $500 and he moved back home to Maryland. Well the vehicle was parked out on the dealership property for about 2 months. We were told no more parking in that area for some reason and of course it still sat there. I went and got a tow dolly that night and towed it to Firestone where a friend of mine works and left it in their lot. To this day, about a year now, he never came back. We filed for a title on this abandoned vehicle and there you have it. Basically FREE. Went to the dealership, gave them the VIN and a new key was cut. Well i'm definately sticking with the same engine since the swaps are costly. Like one of you guys mentioned, I'll just keep looking for a used engine and my day will come (hopefully by April which is when I plan on picking it up). Might just pay Kevin to take it apart and see how bad it really is.