Is this engine worth putting time/effort/money into - or should I run from it?
 

For those that haven't seen my other posts here or on Yotatech...

Just picked up a 93 4WD V6 4Runner with a whole list of issues, hoping I can get it into decent running shape. I'm targeting the biggest issues first, with the idea being I need to figure out if I want to keep putting effort and time/money into other areas or cut my losses and find another truck.

Top of the list for issues... running poorly, miserably failing smog in California. Prior owner was under impression two injectors were bad and that was the biggest contributor to these issues. Timing is also off by like 6 degrees.

He had recently done a variety of tune up type tasks after the vehicle sat for a long time... oil change, coolant flush, plugs & wires, fuel and air filter, rotor. When pulling the wire connectors at the distributor there were two that didn't affect how the truck ran.

Decided I was going to just taking things apart to get to the injectors and see what I could find along the way. Plenty of old oil and crud build up all over, and several tell tale signs of things having been taking apart and pieced together later. Throttle body came off without much trouble but it was pretty dirty inside.

Inside the plenum where the throttle body mounts:
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.yot...2ebbb0ea80.jpg

Lifted the plenum up and it got worse
Overhead looking into the intake manifold:
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.yot...abdc78f676.jpg

Front 3 ports of the intake:
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.yot...854e8a70b7.jpg

Rear 3 ports of the intake:
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.yot...63983d1fb1.jpg

Front 3 ports on the plenum:
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.yot...bfe57d63c7.jpg

Rear 3 ports on the plenum:
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.yot...1f303c9e32.jpg

Now, I really don't know what I'm looking at or what this SHOULD look like on a roughly 190k 3.0... but it doesn't look good to me. I'll probably continue tomorrow and get the injectors out.

Can anyone give me a general idea how bad this is? I'm trying to figure out if I should:
1 - Swap the injectors, clean things up the best I can, put it back together and see how it runs
2 - Tear down even more and see what else I find or what else I need to repair (this would likely be beyond my ability - just swapping the injectors is pushing my knowledge/experience level)
3 - Run away from engine or truck without wasting more effort on it

Thanks for any input from you all that know more than I do. :hatsoff:

I was in the same boat as you two years ago with the same engine. The problem you'll run into the more you dig into things just out of curiosity, the more ancient parts you'll disrupt and potentially ruin. I ended up doing my head gaskets twice partially because I'm new at this but also because there was so much brittle rubber and wiring that surfaced when disturbed. From your pictures it doesn't look like you're in that bad of shape so if you're willing to put in the work it would be worth it to keep it, in my humble opinion.

You should really do a leakdown test on the engine to get a good idea of how healthy it is. Some oil in the intake runners is not too unusual.

I personally would not put much money into a 3.0.

I agree, not worth it IMO. If you have the $$$ get a 3.4l. I paid $1800 for a rebuilt 3VZ because I’m new to this and didn’t want the headache of swapping things when I already had no clue what I was looking at. Now I wish I had just bought a JDM 3.4l