Blew 2uzfe Engine in water crossing... rebuild advise please?

[toyo]

The tail pipe is under the water level. Enough said.....

 

[skott]

If that's a foot of water, I bet he also tells his girlfriend that his pecker is 14 inches long.

Just kidding with you. Too bad about your engine.

 

[SSt4r]

The tail pipe is under the water level. Enough said.....

Not enough said. With the vehicle running, water isn't getting in through the exhaust. If it was not running & the water level is ABOVE where the exhaust manifold connects to the engine, water could get in. Although that water is OBVIOSLY more than 1' deep (doesn't matter where you measured the depth, as Blackworks and 20074unnerlimited said, due to how deep the tires sank, your truck is seeing water about 2' deep + or -), it's not deep enough to get in through the manifold; it would have to be about up to that trim seam on the door.
It sounds like somehow water was forced over the inner liner. After repair you may want to try to seal it to the bumper better. I too have a steel bumper & cut the liner shorter, but I fabricated a trim piece to cover the open bottom of the bumper & attached the liner to it. Pretty well protected now.

3 gallons or 3 cups, doesn't really matter. The motor sucked water in & it was hydrolocked. It doesn't take much water to stop an engine. Think about how much room is left inside a cylinder with the piston at the top of it's range. Not much. Pretty much any more water in a cylinder than that volume & you're done. Water is incompressible. Just enough water to stop the piston 1/4" above the top of it's range, you may as well have run the piston into a block of steel. Something's gotta give. Either all the components are strong enough to survive this and it will immediately stop the engine or something will fail (as it sounds in your case).

Not trying to come down on you duffdog, you obviously didn't think the water was deep enough to be an issue. Unfortunately it was. This is only meant as informational & a warning (to everyone) as to how dangerous (to an engine or your wallet) sucking water into an intake can be.
I wish you luck with your repair or replacement.

 

[Drunner97]

Not enough said. With the vehicle running, water isn't getting in through the exhaust. If it was not running & the water level is ABOVE where the exhaust manifold connects to the engine, water could get in. Although that water is OBVIOSLY more than 1' deep (doesn't matter where you measured the depth, as Blackworks and 20074unnerlimited said, due to how deep the tires sank, your truck is seeing water about 2' deep + or -), it's not deep enough to get in through the manifold; it would have to be about up to that trim seam on the door.
It sounds like somehow water was forced over the inner liner. After repair you may want to try to seal it to the bumper better. I too have a steel bumper & cut the liner shorter, but I fabricated a trim piece to cover the open bottom of the bumper & attached the liner to it. Pretty well protected now.

3 gallons or 3 cups, doesn't really matter. The motor sucked water in & it was hydrolocked. It doesn't take much water to stop an engine. Think about how much room is left inside a cylinder with the piston at the top of it's range. Not much. Pretty much any more water in a cylinder than that volume & you're done. Water is incompressible. Just enough water to stop the piston 1/4" above the top of it's range, you may as well have run the piston into a block of steel. Something's gotta give. Either all the components are strong enough to survive this and it will immediately stop the engine or something will fail (as it sounds in your case).

Not trying to come down on you duffdog, you obviously didn't think the water was deep enough to be an issue. Unfortunately it was. This is only meant as informational & a warning (to everyone) as to how dangerous (to an engine or your wallet) sucking water into an intake can be.
I wish you luck with your repair or replacement.

Aftermarket Bumper + no fender liner = water easily getting into the intake tube. That's why I kept asking. The stock bumper/fender liner create a pretty good seal to keep water from splashing directly into the stock intake. I played hell getting in there to bolt down my snorkel and he probably would have been okay in this scenario if everything was stock unless he put the fender under.

 

[Troymclure]

If you hit water fast enough, it doesnt really matter how deep it was. With trimmed fender liners, the water from the tires splashing up hits the intake directly. Hell I hydrolocked my motor in 6" of water, hitting it at about 20mph.

 

[V8Man]

I am currently rebuilding an 03 2uzfe. It is very complicated engine. Once you get the heads off all that is left is the block. With the cross member and the front diff the bottom is not accessible. Two more bolts and it is easier to pull the engine complete. I have done it, with the transmission too.
If this is your only transportation time would be quicker for a swap too.

A little bit more information for you guys. I have an aftermarket front bumper and the plastic fender thing that used to connect to the factory bumper has been cut so that the tire doesn't hit it.

Today, I got off of work and removed my skidplates, drained the oil, removed the lower oil pan and removed the front diff.


I found a sheared off bolt head and part of a rod in the lower oil pan...:redbrick:

My question for anyone who works on the 2uz-- Is it possible to remove the pistons from the bottom of the engine?

Like I said, I would not do it this way.
You already have the heads off, exhaust manifolds off, intake, you’re down to a short block. Remove the bolts from the motor mounts, disconnect the transmission and pull the block. Once done you can really inspect everything. My money is there is something more wrong than one rod.
Have you even priced a gasket set for this engine? Bearings, pistons? They are very expensive. Price a complete engine and do the swap. Then if you have the time and money rebuild this one for a spare, looks like you might need it in the future.

To help you decide the voting is 3 to 1 for replacement.
07V8 Replace
ZiaMan Replace
V8Man Replace

JimInTn Rebuild

 

[AKmoney]

Slightly tangential topic: We all know the rubber "splash guards" in the front wheel wells deteriorate over time. Mine are gone. How important are these to preventing water ingestion?

 

[dkyleb]

Slightly tangential topic: We all know the rubber "splash guards" in the front wheel wells deteriorate over time. Mine are gone. How important are these to preventing water ingestion?

It's my opinion that splash gaurds and fender linings should be retained. If you do the modification, take the time to modify or make new splash gaurds. I definitely will be after installing my body lift.

 

[duffdog]

The Saga continues...

I was able to get an inspection scope up inside the oil pan splash guard thing and found that one of the rods is completely sheared off with the piston stuck in the top half of the cylinder. I guess that is good because there does not appear to be any scoring on the cylinder wall. The reason I asked all of this is because it is possible to just buy a piston from a junkyard with a rod and put all new connecting rod bearings in the engine and run it just like that. No new head gasket required, no seals required... just slap in a new piston and go. This is why I asked about it being possible to remove the piston from the bottom.

Now, can anyone tell me if it is possible to do this? Can the pistons be removed from the bottom???

I figure that I should try this fix for $50 before removing the whole engine and tossing it. If this works, I am getting a snorkel...not going to try to mess with the poorly placed intake.

 

[nevada]

My question for anyone who works on the 2uz-- Is it possible to remove the pistons from the bottom of the engine?

I haven't yet seen an engine that you could do that with.
they go in/out through the top.

 

[dkyleb]

Not only that, I doubt a junkyard will either a) have a 2UZFE from a 4Runner or b) willing to tear it apart so you can have a new rod and piston.

 

[dkyleb]

I figure that I should try this fix for $50 before removing the whole engine and tossing it. If this works, I am getting a snorkel...not going to try to mess with the poorly placed intake.

The issue isn't with a poorly placed intake. It's with poorly completed modifications and inexperienced drivers.

 

[CXS]

If you hit water fast enough, it doesnt really matter how deep it was. With trimmed fender liners, the water from the tires splashing up hits the intake directly. Hell I hydrolocked my motor in 6" of water, hitting it at about 20mph.

Good point! Water crossings should be slow and deep crossings require a nice bow wave to keep the water away from the motor. Splash guards help but good technique works best. My fender liners are gone so the intake now comes from under the hood which makes it a bit harder for water to get to the intake.

Hydrolocking sucks.

 

[duffdog]

Not only that, I doubt a junkyard will either a) have a 2UZFE from a 4Runner or b) willing to tear it apart so you can have a new rod and piston.

Already found some, from many sources. 2uz motors just seem to be in piles at the junkyards around here. I was going to get a free one with 260k on it, but the cost to rebuild it is huge and there are many unknowns.

Still, I got the pan off and inspected the underside of the pistons, only cylinder 8 has the broken piston rod and it looks like the piston won't fit between the counterweights. Heads are coming off next.

 

[ddnww]

WOW,thats scary, I have gone through water almost up to my hood.

 

[duffdog]

So, got the heads off and the piston out. Looks like it did not touch the valves or score the cylinder wall. Heads are going to machine shop tomorrow to get checked and decked and if all is well I will get a piston and start putting it back together.

BTW-- any 2uz builders recommend getting those H-beam rods? like this:
Eagle H-Beam Rods Toyota Tundra 4Runner 1UZFE 2UZFE 3UZFE V8

 

[jbd]

So, got the heads off and the piston out. Looks like it did not touch the valves or score the cylinder wall. Heads are going to machine shop tomorrow to get checked and decked and if all is well I will get a piston and start putting it back together.

BTW-- any 2uz builders recommend getting those H-beam rods? like this:
Eagle H-Beam Rods Toyota Tundra 4Runner 1UZFE 2UZFE 3UZFE V8

Not unless you're planing on forced induction, no

 

[smeagol]

Replacement is my vote. You have no idea if you've done damage to cylinder walls, bearings, or the other rods, without a complete disassembly and professional inspection. If you have a lot more time and skill than money, and want to learn about the 2uz guts, sure attempt a rebuild.

Otherwise there are just way too many of these motors available in junkyards that will be plug and play, relatively easy swap. Many yards will give you a 90 day warranty on the replacement too.

 

[duffdog]

Replacement is my vote. You have no idea if you've done damage to cylinder walls, bearings, or the other rods, without a complete disassembly and professional inspection. If you have a lot more time and skill than money, and want to learn about the 2uz guts, sure attempt a rebuild.

Otherwise there are just way too many of these motors available in junkyards that will be plug and play, relatively easy swap. Many yards will give you a 90 day warranty on the replacement too.

I do have "an idea" if I have done damage to the cylinder walls. There isnt the slightest scratch or mark on 7 of them and #6 where the rod broke there is only a mark near the crankcase, 1/2" up the cylinder wall from the broken rod spinning momentarily around in the case for about 20 seconds. I would also like to note that my engine only had 80k miles on it. There is no way I am going to find an 05 2uz motor that can be installed with less than 80k on it for less than $5000. It has to be from an 05 and it has to have no problems (90 day warranty or not, that is a huge risk). Every shop that I called wanted $5000 plus to swap the engine, there is just no room in the engine bay of the 05 v8. The labor book calls for 38 hours labor...THIRTY EIGHT HOURS!!! There is no way that I am going to risk all of that labor twice for a motor with any unknowns.

So, this is what is going to happen: The heads are going to be redone at a very good machine shop here in Sacramento, then I am going to get all new rods and moly piston rings and all new standard sized bearings. There is no point in boring out a cylinder that has no measurable wear, there wasn't even a ridge at the top of the cylinder when I slid out the piston.

To your credit, there are tons of 2uz-fe motors from tundras with over 200k for nothing...nearly free. I can get one with a transmission for 1200, but then it has to be rebuilt and I would rather not do that.

 

[JimInTN]

That's exactly what id do. No need in an entire new engine....

My only contention would be upgrading to 1uz rods since I was buying new ones anyway.