Well, my 98 4runner 2.7 engine is starting to consume coolant through the #1 cylinder. It has 215k on it, with no major repairs to it. I only recently replaced the valve cover gasket, since it was starting to leak on the exhaust manifold, and the wife didn't like the smell.

I've been going back and forth on the proper/efficent way to fix this, starting with taking the head off and check things out. But the engine is leaking oil from oil/rear main seal/somewhere else, and I would assume there is some slack in the timing chain and it has a vibration at idle, which feels like an engine/trans mount.

I called the engine rebuild/machine shop locally and they don't seem to have a source for a rebuilt engine. I started poking around on ebay for a source, and it makes it harder since I'm not really sure what I need. Its a 4wd, auto trans and has California emissions. Several places ask if it is 4 port or 8 port, and I was trying to determine that without taking the thing apart.

Any thoughts or opinions on what should be my plan of attack? I had thought about pulling it out and sending it to the machine shop and getting it rebuilt by them. But I'm not sure if that would be cost effective. There are several places on ebay that have used engines from Japan. Would I be able to get one of these and basically use all assys and stuff off of my engine on their long block and would it work and keep the check engine light off?

Thank you for reading this.
Adam in Delaware

Ok this is a situation I am unfortunately familiar with.

The first situation is rebuilding the current engine. It is going to cost alot by a shop to do it, but can be worth it if the warranty is right. This is good because of the parts used. If you rebuild it yourself it could save you alot, but take longer depending on your free time.

The second situation is buying a rebuilt engine from someone. I personally have bought a remanufactured engine from a local rebuilder here and regreted it. I spent 950 on it with a "warranty" and after a year the head gasket went out and the guy wouldnt warranty his work. (seller was enginehaus who is a member here) the problem with this is the quality of the work can be questionable. Wether it be not oem parts used that messes the rebuild up or the actual quality of the machine work done can be bad. The engine I had, had both things wrong with it. bad machine work and bad parts. I don't like buying rebuilds because they never run as long or as good as oem parts.

The third which is what I am most confident in. I like buying used engines from a toyota specific junk yard. These types of yards really take pride in their toyotas and usually know alot more than your average yard. They don't give a long term warranty that I know of but are ussually pretty reliable. the only thing you have to worry about is if the yard tests their engines before the pull them and before they sell them. Good yards will have videos of the engines running in the trucks before they pull them out of the weather. Then before you buy it they should to tests like oil pressure test, compression tests, and maybe a few other depending on the depth the go into. This should be one of the first questions you ask about.

When buying engines either from a yard or a rebuilder, there will always be suprises!! I can't stress that enough. Every engine I have bought I have found unpleasent suprises with them. Wether it be the crappy parts used in the rebuild or water in the spark plug holes from the yard not bringing the engine out of the weather. So ask questions, get agreements in writing. And shop around and research the reputation of the shop or yard your going to.

Good luck .

Thanks for the reply. I am looking for a good used engine. A couple of places on ebay have some, but I am still confused on what will work for me. I have coil packs and most of the pics i see have a distributor- don't know if they can be retrofitted or if they are completely unusable. I don't care if i need to swap everything over, although the one that really has my eye comes with alternator, ac compressor, etc still bolted to it.

I'm gonna call my local machine shop and see what it'll cost to rebuild it- I'm figuring it has at least a head gasket issue, but possibly a cracked head.

decisions decisions.
Thanks

Yeah toyota engines don't have distributor caps not on our runners, but maybe on other toyota engines but I doubt it. Used engines are the way to go I think. You can Car fax the engine and make sure the miles are right. It can also be used to double check the honesty of the seller, because if you ask the seller how the runner was wrecked and they say it was front collision but it might ahve been a flooded rig.. Just another way to keep the seller honest.

The JDM engines can be fairly reliable as well. Just have to find the right importer. Another member on here has bought a JDM engine and hasn't had any issues that I know of. Not sure who it was. He is from the PNW.

ok, apparently JDM engines came with distributors. I found a low mileage engine in a junk yard sorta near my house, using car-part.com. can i use an engine from a manual transmission truck into my auto 4runner? still trying to find a local place with a rebuilt engine. this is proving a little more difficult than i wanted.

thanks

I'm not sure about the 5 speed swap, I would think you could but I'm not sure.

Yeah, its a good thing/bad thing that these engines came in so many trucks. Toyota didn't do such a great job making them universal across the board. I still need to figure out how to determine if my engine has 4 intake ports or 8. I wonder if the exterior of the intake physically looks different. I certainly would like to know without having to take the engine apart.

If you have another vehicle to use, I would consider taking the head off and figuring out what the problem is. If the HG is leaking, you could have a machine shop freshen the head and install a new HG. To save time you could order a replacement cylinder head: Cylinder Heads

The only recommended salvage yard I could find in my notes was Crossroads Foreign in Mira Loma, CA. I searched for Tacoma and 4Runner 2.7l engines, but the website did not say they have one in stock. A phone call may be better, as they will know what engine will work in your '98. But CA is a long way to ship something that heavy.

A JDM 2.7l is a great option, if you can find one that will connect correctly with your existing ECU.

Lots of 2.7l engines leak oil from the RMS and I have never read about a timing chain failure. So you could nurse the coolant leak until you can locate a nearby wrecked Tacoma or 4Runner that you can buy complete (either truck or just engine). That way you can hear it run, and can CarFax it, etc.

I wouldn't be overly concerned about miles, as you can put on a timing chain (if needed), rear main seal, adjust the valves, model year 2000 and up tubular exhaust header, and any other maintenance items while it is out of the truck. So 200k or under with good compression and sounds good would work for me.

Then you can remove any Cali-emission specific items from your truck to put on the new engine.

But for what you might save on freight (~$200?) it makes more sense to me to go ahead and buy from the most reputable source you can find, and get the video evidence that it runs as discussed above. As discussed, you take a chance on any used part, but I think your odds are better than even if you do your homework.

I've had this similar issue.
Broken head gasket in 1 cyl. I bought new one of the ebay as a set of all engine gaskets for $80 with shipping to Ireland.... it last for 30k. km and gone, broken head gasket on 4th cyl.
Lesson learned. (most of the people were saying buy genuine one)
A week ago I bought new HG of Toyota for 80euro. Will see how long it will last, but I have good hope.
My point is that if you can do by yourself it's worth to try change head gasket and other seals.
Those engines are old and either way you will go rebuilding or buying new(old)one even with warranty you don't know how you will end up in time of 30-50k. km.
You can get FSM and DIY.

Pawel
96 HiluxSurf 2.7l 4WD 135k.km.

You have to send the heads out to get refinished when you change the head gasket. That might be why you have been having issues.

I am starting to reconsider my first choice of replacing the engine. Having a hard time finding one that would be a fairly easy/correct swap. I did find a 'yard that had one using car-part.com, but haven't confirmed it.

Besides the head gasket issue, it is leaking a fair amount of oil, either from the rear main or the oil pan, or both.

No abnormal noises or anything like that. Am I out of my mind thinking that I can pull this engine out, figure out what is wrong with the head, resealing everything, new t/chain, etc and put it back in without doing anything to the bottom end? When I had the v/cover off 4k miles ago, it was clean, like it had 200k less miles on it. I've owned the truck since 65k miles, and it has 217k on it now. I still need to call the machine shop and get a quote on a rebuild, but I think I can get better pricing if i buy the parts myself.

The 'yard one has 89k miles on it, and If i bought it, i'd probably do the rear main and possibly some other things on it before putting it back in.

Is there a common issue with the heads? or will it most likely be a gasket issue with some milling on the deck surface just to be sure?

Thanks

You will know a lot more once you get the head off. On the off chance you do have a bore problem, you aren't out anything: that motor needed to come out anyway.

I'm guessing you will be able to see the factory cross hatch on the cylinder walls. I would further guess that if you replace the timing chain because of slack, the new chain will have the same slack. There just isn't that much that goes wrong with the 2.7l.

Replacing the RMS, oil pan gasket, starter contacts, and other maintenance items will be much simpler with the engine on a stand.

The best part is that once you get finished you will really have EARNED this truck, and you will be ready to take on any future repair.

Thanks for showing the 3Z some love.

I've always loved this engine- no timing belts, nothing major to go wrong (usually) and they are reliable as anything else out there. And the little 4 banger gets 18-22 mpg, and can get through almost any obstacle that me or the lovely wife can put it through. She's a paramedic and she still has to go to work, even in snow and other stuff. They send the National Guard out to help make sure that essential personnel get to work during State of Emergencies. They have never had to come and get her. And with a kid on the way, we aren't buying anything new(er). Fix it is my only option.

Where is the best place to get the stuff i need to repair this engine?
Thanks

The source I use is here: Toyota Parts - Genuine OEM Toyota Auto Parts and Accessories

I figured out they are the local dealer, so I can go by and pick up parts if I'm in a hurry. I also use Rock Auto, and I have recently purchased parts from Amazon. You can do as much comparison shopping as you want.

If you find an online source that posts the parts diagrams, please post the site address. Right now I have to go by and get them to print the pages.

i'm not so mechanically inclined as most on this forum and I was wondering if anyone knew off the top of their head if the 3RZ in a 1997 4runner was a 4 port or 8 port? Or a quick and simple way to check?