Blown head gasket. New 0 miles Jasper with warranty or used?

[zoski]

Or...

I’ve decided to stick with a 3rd gen. 4runner. I can find a nice used one for close to the cost of having a new motor with a 10 year/100K mile warranty installed, but then would face building it up again. That option would be pricier, but I could search for "The One". Not real excited about a used motor, but could be convinced otherwise. I’m leaning towards just dropping the cash into a new motor and keep on trucking, but I’m looking for ideas/suggestions from the collective here. What would you do/recommend? Thanks.

 

[LittleCaesar]

Used. If you have the ability to, check under the valve covers to make sure it isn't full of sludge.

 

[maverickhawk]

I paid 500 bucks for a rolled over 98 with 372000 miles on it. I figured the motor was scrap until I took off the valve covers,wow it looked like it had no wear,only tarnish. Try to find a good used engine. Unlikely you will see head gasket failure again. Some yards deal in good stuff with short warranties. Odds are you can find one that if taken care of would go another 200k.

 

[zoski]

My mechanic would be doing the install. How many hours would you anticipate a job like this taking for a good shop with certified mechanics? This is way out of my comfort zone...

Thoughts on these options?

Motor for a 1999 Toyota 4Runner 3.4

JDM 5VZ-FE ENGINE ONLY [JDM-TOYOTA-5VZFE-3.4L-V6-ENGINE] - $899.00 : JDM

Thanks for the reply. 2 votes so far for a used motor. Maybe I should have made this a poll ha!

 

[MFreund]

Why don't you just have the head gasket replaced?

 

[zoski]

^^It hydrolocked when the mechanic went to start it, and he believes digging into a motor with such high miles would not be wise/cost-effective.

 

[nissanh]

How many miles in the truck?
300K miles, may be get a low mile
200K miles, build it.

 

[zoski]

275K, and 15 years of loyal service. Lots of upgrades to suspension, and lots of regular maintenance stuff recently completed. Timing belt and water pump were due to be replaced at 280K so at least she blew before that $ bomb dropped...