5vzfe JDM motor full of water

Hey guys just joined tonight.

I bought a 96 4runner 5-speed 4wd with e locker a few weeks ago. the guy i bought to from ran it out of oil so the motor was seized. so i bought a 5VZFE JDM motor thinking I'd just toss it in... Boy i was wrong.

ONE: The dealer advertised the engines being under 60,000 miles.... When I received the engine there was a sticker on the timing belt cover that said 100,000 km so that works out to over 60,000 miles even if it wasn't driven a mile after the timing belt change.

TWO: The engine appears to have been flooded... in water... probably salt water... Im thinking from a tsunami..... I removed the intake and the valley between the cylinders is pretty heavily rusted, looked at the back of the valves and they are rusty and look like they are covered in mud. so then I removed one head and there is still water sitting inside the cylinders with a mix of mud rust and oil.

I'll call the place I bought it from on monday and hope they'll send me a new one.

Any of you guys heard about this happening before? Also do you think the dealer will be understanding and send me another one? Boy I hope so. If they don't I don't know what I'm going to do.

I guess I hope you guys will comfort me and tell me everything is gonna be alright lol.

Wtf?

I'm sorry to hear it, but it's not unheard of. My post from another recent thread: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/192894-jdm-engine-blows-white-smoke.html#post1967787

You know I hadn't thought about it but your right, there's probably a gazillion flood car parts on the market right now. that's probably what was up with Michael33r's engine. I would be getting a replacement engine shipped at their expense. Make sure you take lots of pictures.

Most engine dealers usually offer some sort of warranty. You should be able to exchange it.

Who was the seller? I see a lot of junk JDM motors lately and the tsunami probably has a lot to do with it.

I got a dodgy 1UZ VVTi a while back, it's still running but sucks...

Wow, that is crazy terrible.
I hope you get your cash back or a functional motor.

So on another point, I was under the assumption that the 4 runners at least the 3rd Gens, maybe all, were built in Japan. If that is true and you can get a used motor in the states why buy a motor that has to be shipped and I would guess comes with extra cost? Other than to say you have a JDM motor in your 4 runner which you had to begin with.

And as the post with the JDM engine blowing white smoke, that 5VZFE was not even from a Hilux Surf it was out of a van.
Don't let the "JDM" hype get the better out of you, a lot of people order parts for the Hilux Surf from the states as they are cheaper than to buy in Japan. If you have a 4 runner you have a JDM engine.

BTW- the sticker that is on the timing cover is to let the owner know when the timing belt needs to be changed, once changed the shop responsible will put their sticker and the next change mileage (100,000km from the change mileage) over top of that sticker. Just did not want people confused about that being the actual mileage, as you could have a motor that went far past that and the owner never paid to have it done. Parts and labor over here from most shops is over 900 in parts and 400$ in labor.

Hope this helps, and hope you get it cleared up, sounds like a shady place trying to make a buck off the JDM stamp.
That's my 2 yen on it.

Well if u get screwed I have a motor with 98000 miles,on it that has had
Timing belt ect done in last 5000 miles , kid wrecked car
Shipping would suck but might work something out with a long haul trucker
I know ? Good luck with Jdm but it seems as of late the bad Jdm stories are
Becoming the norm

The motor is from JDM Engine Depot out of New Jersey.

As far as the engines being built in Japan I'm sure it was. Im not into the whole hype about having a "JDM" engine. I couldn't care less where the engine came from but I was under the assumption (seems i was wrong) that JDM engine are in pretty good condition. and/or have low miles when compared to used engines in the U.S.. I am told that JDM engines have under 60,000 miles compared to 90% of U.S. engines are all running around at over 200,000 miles.

Im going to call tomorrow and hopefully things go well. I'll be sure to let you guys know what happens. Thanks for all the replies and input. Also I'm amazed that there are people from Japan on here. Thats pretty cool.

SlayTank said:

The motor is from JDM Engine Depot out of New Jersey.

I was under the assumption (seems i was wrong) that JDM engine are in pretty good condition. and/or have low miles when compared to used engines in the U.S.. I am told that JDM engines have under 60,000 miles compared to 90% of U.S. engines are all running around at over 200,000 miles.

Im going to call tomorrow and hopefully things go well. I'll be sure to let you guys know what happens. Thanks for all the replies and input. Also I'm amazed that there are people from Japan on here. Thats pretty cool.

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I haven't heard good or bad about those guys I do know that there are a few companies spread across the states and they all have the same owner.

I spent a good amount of time int eh early 2000's buying and selling used JDM engines - I can tell you that the mileage and condition varies as much or more than it does on USDM stuff.

At some point I noticed the JDM stuff become increasingly crappy and I now pretty much avoid them for any customers car.

A few things to note for those who think JDM cars/parts are going to be in good shape.

(of course some of these are flagrant generalization)

- Japan is a country (island) in the middle of the sea - if you think sea air and salt spray contributes to anything good on cars, you've got another thing coming.

- It gets hot in Japan, lots of dry rot in anything rubber/plastic.

- Cars in general are considered "disposable" this means service only happens once things break. As SIN-Japan noted, service and parts are crazy expensive.

- The part where they tell you that JDM engines have low mileage is TOTAL BULLSHIT. I have personally seen these engines that have external oil leaks which were then covered by years of grime - this doesn't happen to 60K motors - I have 70K RIGHT now on my 06 GS430 and the engine looks completely new with not one oil leak or sign of any grime ( the grime usually only happens after the oil leaks) I know what motors look like at certain mileage and while it can be hard to tell between 50K and 100K - there's no way you're gonna tell me that a lot of these motors have the milage they claim to have.

Lastly - mileage is only a somewhat inaccurate depiction of the condition, I've seen motors with 20-30 or 50K be completely destroyed and I've seen motors with 300K run like new. It all comes down to how it is used and maintained.

In any case, the best way to buy an engine is to see it run first and check it out (compression, leak down and look at oil and coolant).

Second choice would be a reputable auto wrecker who is local and will stand by his engines - usually they run them up and test before pulling them.

Last choice would be to buy anything online - I have always felt like they sell the stuff online if it's suspect - I mean who is going to bother sending a motor back if they have to ship it - and wait.

As an example my 1UZ that I bought, I changed every seal and gasket in the motor except cam seals and head gaskets - well the cam seals leaked - and 1UZ guys say those don't usually leak till 150-200K miles. So how is my JDM (60K) motor leaking from the cam seals??? One guess guys.

So you have not even contacted them yet? What are you waiting for? They are the only guys who can resolve this.

Just called them and sent them pictures of the mud and water inside the engine. They said the warranty is void because the head was removed. and even if the head was not removed i would have had to pay $500 to ship the bad engine back and to receive another engine. (That was possibly bad as well lol) I said this engine is obviously bad with mud and water in it it doesn't matter if the head was removed of not. This is obviously wrong not to warranty it. The person I talked to said to bad. I said I am going to tell everyone I possibly can that JDM Engine Depot will not stand behind their engines and not to do business with this company. SO EVERYONE PLEASE LEARN FROM ME!

DONT BUY A JDM ENGINE WITH OUT LOOKING IT OVER FIRST!

DONT HAVE IT SHIPPED ACROSS THE COUNTRY...

AND DONT DO BUSINESS WITH JDM ENGINE DEPOT.

I should have know better. Lesson Learned.

SlayTank said:

Just called them and sent them pictures of the mud and water inside the engine. They said the warranty is void because the head was removed. and even if the head was not removed i would have had to pay $500 to ship the bad engine back and to receive another engine. (That was possibly bad as well lol) I said this engine is obviously bad with mud and water in it it doesn't matter if the head was removed of not. This is obviously wrong not to warranty it. The person I talked to said to bad. I said I am going to tell everyone I possibly can that JDM Engine Depot will not stand behind their engines and not to do business with this company. SO EVERYONE PLEASE LEARN FROM ME!

DONT BUY A JDM ENGINE WITH OUT LOOKING IT OVER FIRST!

DONT HAVE IT SHIPPED ACROSS THE COUNTRY...

AND DONT DO BUSINESS WITH JDM ENGINE DEPOT.

I should have know better. Lesson Learned.

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Maybe you should contact the attorney general in their state

SlayTank said:

Just called them and sent them pictures of the mud and water inside the engine. They said the warranty is void because the head was removed. and even if the head was not removed i would have had to pay $500 to ship the bad engine back and to receive another engine. (That was possibly bad as well lol) I said this engine is obviously bad with mud and water in it it doesn't matter if the head was removed of not. This is obviously wrong not to warranty it. The person I talked to said to bad. I said I am going to tell everyone I possibly can that JDM Engine Depot will not stand behind their engines and not to do business with this company. SO EVERYONE PLEASE LEARN FROM ME!

DONT BUY A JDM ENGINE WITH OUT LOOKING IT OVER FIRST!

DONT HAVE IT SHIPPED ACROSS THE COUNTRY...

AND DONT DO BUSINESS WITH JDM ENGINE DEPOT.

I should have know better. Lesson Learned.

Click to expand...

Definitely post this on their Facebook page!

Maybe you should contact the attorney general in their state

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And don't forget the BBB in Their immediate area.

I'm pretty much done with buying JDM engines - unless a local importer has one and I can check it over first, even THEN - I would prefer a local engine where I can verify milage and records.

Sorry to hear about your situation. When i bought my 04 tacoma TRD 4x4 with a blown 3.4 (po neglected a loose oil filter) i purchased a replacement motor off of ebay from a salvage yard in Az. with 69k documented miles out of a rolled 03 prerunner tacoma. I was nervous buying a motor sight unseen but ABC salvage in Tuscon emailed me many pics and the donor truck's vin so i could do some research before i made the purchase and they lowered the buy-it-now price $200 to help me with the shipping. OP they are in your state, if your interested in a local salvage yard motor check with them. Good luck!

There has got to be a manager or someone else you can talk to. Let them know you are willing to keep going up the ladder, and talk to the BBB, talk to an attorney, etc.

If it is more worth it for them to refund you than to deal with you, you'll get your money.

SlayTank said:

Just called them and sent them pictures of the mud and water inside the engine. They said the warranty is void because the head was removed. and even if the head was not removed i would have had to pay $500 to ship the bad engine back and to receive another engine. (That was possibly bad as well lol) I said this engine is obviously bad with mud and water in it it doesn't matter if the head was removed of not. This is obviously wrong not to warranty it. The person I talked to said to bad. I said I am going to tell everyone I possibly can that JDM Engine Depot will not stand behind their engines and not to do business with this company. SO EVERYONE PLEASE LEARN FROM ME!

DONT BUY A JDM ENGINE WITH OUT LOOKING IT OVER FIRST!

DONT HAVE IT SHIPPED ACROSS THE COUNTRY...

AND DONT DO BUSINESS WITH JDM ENGINE DEPOT.

I should have know better. Lesson Learned.

Click to expand...

Wow man. I'm sorry for this. That's a bunch of ******* bullshit.

However, I bought my JDM from them and knock on wood so far so good. Although I went and picked one out my self from the ware house. Also had a buddy who bought 1jz for his supra and also was good no problems. So its a hit and miss. I think its bullshit for them to void the warranty , I'd bash their heads in if I was you and lived close. Like what do they expect, of course the owner is gonna tear down and check the engine out.

But why not ask for videos of compression ?

Hope you get your money back man.!!

SlayTank said:

Hey guys just joined tonight.

I bought a 96 4runner 5-speed 4wd with e locker a few weeks ago. the guy i bought to from ran it out of oil so the motor was seized. so i bought a 5VZFE JDM motor thinking I'd just toss it in... Boy i was wrong.

ONE: The dealer advertised the engines being under 60,000 miles.... When I received the engine there was a sticker on the timing belt cover that said 100,000 km so that works out to over 60,000 miles even if it wasn't driven a mile after the timing belt change.

TWO: The engine appears to have been flooded... in water... probably salt water... Im thinking from a tsunami..... I removed the intake and the valley between the cylinders is pretty heavily rusted, looked at the back of the valves and they are rusty and look like they are covered in mud. so then I removed one head and there is still water sitting inside the cylinders with a mix of mud rust and oil.

I'll call the place I bought it from on monday and hope they'll send me a new one.

Any of you guys heard about this happening before? Also do you think the dealer will be understanding and send me another one? Boy I hope so. If they don't I don't know what I'm going to do.

I guess I hope you guys will comfort me and tell me everything is gonna be alright lol.

Click to expand...

WAIT a second!

How did you pay for it?

Paypal? - I think paypal has recently extended the time you have to file a claim.

Credit card? - Most credit cards give you 120 days to file a claim - and they honor "not as described" claims too.

Paid by bank transfer or wire transfer, or paypal "gift" - another lesson for everyone here - DON'T do it...