Hey all this is my 1st post -

So I'm the owner of a 1994 4Runner - V6 3.0 4WD Auto that I purchased about 4 years ago with 126k miles. It now has 147k on it. It has been problem free for the duration that I've owned it, and it's just been a pleasure. The only things it has needed is a new starter, and I replaced the timing chain. Oh, and of course the oil changes.


About 2 weeks ago the car began getting the shakes real bad when idling. Both in drive and in park. It seemed to shake worse when it was in reverse. I was hoping it was just a spark plug and I was just about to make an appointment to go get a tune up when I came home from work and put the car in the garage. After getting out of it I noticed a large pool of oil on the floor. It happened either the night before or two nights max, there's no way I could've missed that much oil for any longer. There was also a little bit of antifreeze mixed in with it. I knew it leaked coolant now and then and all the mechanics Ive taken it too told me it was not an emergency.

I started the car up in the morning and the oil pressure guage went from low middle to 0 after warming up. I managed to get it to the shop a couple blocks away even though it was shaking like scared puppy.

Couple hours later I spoke with the mechanic who told me the bad news...the motor had seized up. He said they had put about 4 quarts of oil into the engine before it finally registered on the dipstick. The drove it down the street about a mile and it completely seized.

Then came decision time between sending this middle aged 4Runner to 4Runner heaven and looking into another used car and possibly someone else's problems. Taking on a new car loan, or dropping the 3 grand into fixing this car. I decided to go with a rebuilt motor for this car, since it's just too young to quit now, and it's been an excellent car to me.

I got a rebuilt motor for $1800 from a place in Los Angeles and the mechanic has agreed to pick up for me for free and give me a heck of a discount on labor but it's still going to be about 3,000-3,200 for the entire repair.

Anyhow, I'm just looking for some advice on this matter as far as the prices sounding accurate. Has anyone else gone through this, and do the prior symptoms sound familiar?

Appreciate everyone's help, I've really enjoy reading this forum.

My baby...

All of the symptoms sound right to me... i had the same thing happen to me with the motor.. had a slow oil leak that was never really discovered and the shaking at idle started to occur. I was driving the car and ended up throwing the piston rod through the cylinder wall... i had a buddy of mine rebuild the motor so cost was no where near what you are paying... i think i paid $2000 for the labor and full rebuild...

But i just recently ran into further problems with the car... Now that i have about 2,000 miles on this new motor i was driving it two weeks ago and stopped at a 4 way stop. After a long day at work wasnt really looking around, i went through the intersection on my turn. A 70 year old man ran the stop sign and hit me in the driverside door at 40 mph. I spun and rolled up on my side. Currently im looking for a 4runner with no motor or something extremly cheap that i can piece the two together...


good luck with her! i know shes worth it

Robbie,

Thank you for your reply and confirming the symptoms. I'm really sorry to hear about your bad luck with your 4Runner. I hope you are uninjured and you are able to get some sort of insurance pay out. I know this car is worth it, and though it's expensive I know this new motor is the right decision. I have friends who know what they are doing with cars, but not any who could rebuild and put in a new motor, so I am stuck at the hands of an auto shop. Best of luck with finding a new 4Runner.

No experience as to engine rebuilds but your truck looks great. Stuff happens. Keep the faith...

im definatly keeping the faith in mine... even though shes a little beat up...
here is a link to some pics of my baby

http://www.tbu.cx/tbu/nfphpbb/viewtopic.php?t=3132

it was a fun ride

Wow Robbie, those are some powerful photos. The van is just demolished but it looks like your 4Runner kept you safe for the most part. That's wonderful. I'm surprised that the crash actually got you up on your side but I guess a higher center of gravity plus a van moving that fast will do it to you. I was going to ask you for photos but I wasn't sure if that was too personal, thanks for sharing.

no problem with the pics... still dealing with a really sore back and had a concusion from hitting the window. its a real eye opener when you walk away from something like that. took me about 15 min to finally realize what actually happend. you gotta love those mini vans... flying wedges.. got right under me. the truck did stand up real well... if i would have been in a car i would be dead soo... thank god for the runner.

Well, the price on the motor seems pretty good compared to what I've seen but the labor to swap it is more than double what I've paid...

I've had 2 engines swapped out at 2 different places and both times the labor was around $500-700.

Thanks for everyone's advice on my situation. The car came home tonight after a week at the shop. She purrs like a kitten and runs super quiet now. It was a hefty chunk of change, but I know I made the right decision with keeping this car.

happy to hear shes running again! still in the same situation i was two weeks ago and still working on that one...
good luck with the truck!

I would be VERY cautious of using a motor that was laying on its side an extended period of time. The oil and other fluids are in all the places where they shouldnt be. Just be careful!

Thank you! The truck was up on its side for about 30 min... my dad went over to the shop a week later and spent about 2 hours working on it... got it running again and drove it home, about 3 miles. Drove it home with the windshield half off and the drivers side doors not really shut but we are working on getting the engine situated... Thank you very much for the info! i will be sure to get it looked at before i get it into another truck.

Wow Rscud, that's incredible the car was able to be driven after being rolled. I'm sure it sounded horrendous...


So I just have to share this funny story about my engine... Got the bill last nite, they had to do a new water pump in the car which I found funny since I had just had a new timing belt/water pump about 15k miles ago. My mechanic said the pump was junk and if it had *actually* been replaced, it was replaced with a garbage part.

Went home, dug out my receipt for the pump (unfortunately I had it replaced in a city on the coast, about 6 hrs from where I live) and called the number on it. There was a message stating that the telephone # had been changed. Got onto Google to try and find the new #, instead I found something much more interesting. A news article for the local newspaper stating this mechanic was arrested for stealing $23,000 from customer's who thought they were having parts replaced but in fact they were not. Incredible! At this point I was in a panic thinking I have this great new motor and an old timing system that was going to kill it all. Took it immediatly back to my mechanic and shared the story, he was in disbelief as well but assured me the timing belt itself had been changed, they inspected it prior to the motor installation. Thank goodness! Got ahold of the reporter who wrote the story who directed me to a rep. from the Bureau of Auto Repair. I talked to the rep. today and have begun submitting evidence to try and get my money back for the non-replaced pump.

This has been a heck of a journey in car ownership.

Here is a suggestion.....If you still have time. Have them take apart the heads and get them ported and polished. That will make all the difference in the world if youever decide or already have bolt on performance (headers, air filter, exhaust, etc). Do it now if you still can. You should see major gains in HP and Mileage (as you will have more torque)