Do you mind sharing how much you spent it total (engine, shipping, extra parts, install)?

 

For me the answer is simple,, rebuild....

I'm a wrench guy, the 22-RE in my '90 died (oil/antifreeze in the antifreeze/oil) 2 days before christmas, during a real cold stretch (-30 C). Naturally my first thought- freeze & overheat - warped head. From experience I know it's a few hours to pull the head and a couple (3) hundred bucks to get the head rebuilt & surfaced - out come the air tools!
With the head off, inspection of the head gasket showed no failure, an hour later the rest of the engine is out. The culprit? a timing chain that cut into the chain cover and through into the waterpump. A closer look showed all the bearings had started to fail, but no real marks or distortion on the crankshaft.
The complete rebuild is in the middle of being installed now and will fire tomorrow. Not only did I save over a grand, I took the time to port and polish the intake & head. Not to mention controlling the quality of and the satisfaction if doing the work yourself

 

Put a 1UZ motor in it--i read a couple articles and it seems very tempting. Now what about emissions?

 

Not a realistic possibility since I'd actually be losing money given that I have over $5K invested in this 5VZ.

 

I don't have a vast knowledge of rebuilding but i have rebuilt two motors. I had helps from my neighbor and he has a friend that is a machinist, so it was cheap for me to have the head rebuilt and block cleaned. so, budget can be an issue if you dont know what youre doing. do a research and make some calls to some machinists. get a friend to help.

patience is the key to the whole process for first timers.

 

Does anyone have an idea or a average cost on a rebuild? I dontneed one but it may be soon. Ive got 132,000 on mine. Its got a mild tick but im not sure if this is normal cause this is my first toyota. The engine sounds like its got a little knock or loud tick but not that bad. any suggestions?

 

here's my thread about the whole ordeal, scroll down to post #32 for the price

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...t=24796&page=2

 

What makes you think you will need a rebuild any time soon? What's the mileage?

I say cross that bridge when you get to the river.

 

I'm kind of on the fence with this one. If its not broken, don't try to fix it.