Just got the call from the "Stealer", he said that my '93' 4Runner needs a valve job and possibly rings. His (unqouted) estimate ran from $2000 to $4000 bucks!!!

I told him forget it and that I'll pick up my truck later.

My question is this, how much for a rebuilt engine, I think it'll run about the same as the work mentioned above, not sure though?!?

OR: Should I take it to a local mech and get the better price for the job?

The "Stealer" said that the #3 cylynder had about 10% pressure and #5 cylinder had about 50% pressure, and when the mech took the plugs out that they had a heavey fuel smell to them.
He said that the valves "could" be worn, and the guides as well.
His diagnosis seems valid since I am getting a heavy smell from the exhaust, different than the past. He said that they would do the valve job first, then if the rings needed to be done they would have to do that next. He also said that he would not just do the valve job.


SO!?! What advice can I get from all of you YOTA gurus???

Thanks.

Hal>

 

Hey there Hal.
Take a look at these guys. I've heard good things about them.
http://www.lcengineering.com/home.htm

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

 

If the Stealer's service says they don't know for sure what is causing the bad compression they have not done a "leak down" test. Its basicly a compression test with motor oil poured into the sparkplug hole first. The oil "leaks down" around the piston rings and restores the compression temporarily, telling you that the rings are bad. If its a valve causing the low compression the readings will remain low with the oil in the chamber.

Have this test done by another shop with lots of Toyota experience. There are 2 independant shops where I live that deal only with Toyotas and I trust both if them to do the job right the first time. Look for a similar shop in your area.

 

Though I have no experience with Lcengineering I have been looking on forums, groups, etc. looking up info on rebuilt engines for about a month now and they are the ones that come recommended more than anyone. I would stay away from DOA racing if your going to go the route of a rebuilt engine cause I've read more horror stories than good from them. I was trying to find a couple of the DOA (I'm pretty sure its DOA) stories but can't happen to locate any. It seems to be a reoccuring thing with me, not being able to locate pages I went too a while ago. If it helps about a week or two ago I happened to see a couple rebuilt 22r engines on ebay with a 1yr warantee going for about 1000$. Best of luck with your engine.

 

Out of curiosity, has anyone ever tried putting the Toyota (did it come in the Tacoma or Tundra?) V8 into a 4Runner?

 

First of this year I had a #3 cylinder with 10 lbs of compression and a severe miss. Heres my story(short version)of how it went with me. Had a local mechanic do compression check. Dry check first with just the compression guage in the sparkplug hole. Next was a wet test, thats where they put oil in there. Then the dollar bill test. While at idle, hold the dollar against the tailpipe. If it tries to suck the bill up the pipe, its an exhaust valve bad. Mine had the #3 cylinder exhaust valve bad. A leak down test is where they set the engine to where the valves in the bad cylinder are closed, then they force air into it. If the exhaust valve is bad you will get air out the tail pipe. If intake valve bad, then air comes out the intake. If its the rings, then air will only come out the crankcase oil fill hole or dipstick tube. He sent me to another shop that worked on toyotas. They took about 3 to 5 days to pull the heads. They sent the head to a machine shop to be stripped and inspeacted. After they looked good, I sent them to DOA for port and polish and also sent the cams for a regrind. Got them back, sent them back to the machine shop and they could not figure out to set them up properly. BIG hassle. They finally got it right and sent them back to the mechanic. He installed the heads with new gaskits and bolts. Replaced the timing belt, water pump and all the associated parts and a radiator(mine had pinholes in it). They replaced o rings on the injectors and cleaned the intake plenum. They could not get the engine to burp. Spent 3 days on that. Then we get it back finally and drive it. One of the injectors started leaking. After 1 new injector and 3 tries, they finally got it right. Time it was in shop was about 4 months. Hassle factor...BIG. DOA mod results...NAWT TOO GOOD!!!! Maybe its the auto tranny but power is not what I hoped. There is a little difference, but really not much. You dont feel it untill about 3500 rpm. Then its a little, but thats it. Would I do the DOA mods again? No. Not enough bang for me. If you do it, send heads and cams to DOA first thing and let him do the TURN KEY package on it. It costs more, but at least the heads will be bolt on ready. Let an independent shop do the work only if they are very familiar with the odd ways of these 3vze engines. My shop was not, so they had nightmares about it. They made it good for me, but they had a hard time with it and some shops might not be as morally good as my shop was. I had 130k miles on mine and everybody told me that the bottom end on these toyotas are really good. Just broke in, as some folks told me. Well it still runs good for me, but still not really anymore powerful.

Heres a link to some pics. Look at 3vze work for a copy of my mechanics bill. This does not include the cost of the DOA mods.

http://community.webshots.com/user/williemon

 

Oh my god williemon thats a heinous story.
When in doubt, throw in a small block Chevy; thats my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

williemon

Cawabunga, $885 for a valve job. Gee, you can buy a whole 350 engine for that. Anyway, thanks for passing along the experience.

Pete

 

I was going to rebuild my 3VZE on my 4Runner, cost is about $4000 for the engine (w/ 3 yrs warranty) + labor (machining, honing, etc). I think this was from ATK. This is from the stealer, who i normally get parts from and offer me excellent discounts. If I was to go the Toyota brand, I was looking at $7000 + labor.

 

OLD POST FROM '02.
For that dollar bill test, do you hold it tight with two hands across the tail pipe, or just let it kind of dangle there? I'm just curious.

 

Hold it against the pipe with one hand (near the edge of pipe). Steady push of the bill, valves ok, bill rhythmicly sucking against the pipe, bad exh valve.

 

Thanks much for the clarification.

 

Or you can buy the tool for like $100 and as long as you have a compressor, you can perform the test yourself. The way I did a leak down test on an LT5 motor (corvette) was I simply turned the crank till I felt resistance and I couldn't move it anymore. I think I got best at 14% oddly enough on good cylinders. It's hard to pinpoint a good point at which both intake and exhaust valves are closed and takes a bit of practice, because once you break that point as your turning the crank, all air is release again and then you gotta repeat the process. the only thing is make sure you turn the crank in the direction of the way the engine normally does. I didn't and I got marked down in class for it.

 

you've got a burnt valve or two.mine did this while i was working for yota dealer.valve seats wear down and valve clearance gets less and less untill the valve just slightly stays open and burns.it took mine 202K to burn.anyway i had the heads fixed and i went ahead and rebuilt the short block while i was at it.i'm glad i did too.