Buying 1st Gen... couple quick questions/concerns

[NewVillains]

OK guys, I have an '03 4runner/lifted/33's. I'm now in the process of searching for a 1st gen. I found a decent one in California for $2300 with 220k on the odometer. it's a 4cyl 5spd. The guy says the front seal is leaking... He said these are notorious for this. Where is the front seal? I can't seem to find a thread about it. This guy must be a country dude with little education, I can barely read his texts because they are so jumbled. Any who... what I got out of our few conversations is only that the "Front Seal" is leaking. Who can help me with this and tell me what it is and if it's an easy fix or an expensive fix. I need this ASAP. I'm thinking about driving out there today in an hour to go pick it up. Thanks!

 

[SV_Dude]

What front seal is he talking about? There's a front main seal for the engine block, then there's another one on the oil pump just a few inches in front of the front main seal.

Unless that 4runner is in great shape inside and out, anything more than $1500 is too much seeing as it has a bad seal that can be a lot of work to replace. If you have to replace the front main seal you're talking about having to pull the oil pan (maybe the front diff to get the oil pan out), the oil pump, timing chain cover, lower connecting rods and the crank. Then you run into problems with removing the lower connecting rods. I personally wouldn't want to pull the crank without rebuilding the engine. Those main and rod bearings have a lot of miles on them and they might not sit the exact same when you put everything back together.

Good luck!

 

[NewVillains]

What front seal is he talking about? There's a front main seal for the engine block, then there's another one on the oil pump just a few inches in front of the front main seal.

Unless that 4runner is in great shape inside and out, anything more than $1500 is too much seeing as it has a bad seal that can be a lot of work to replace. If you have to replace the front main seal you're talking about having to pull the oil pan (maybe the front diff to get the oil pan out), the oil pump, timing chain cover, lower connecting rods and the crank. Then you run into problems with removing the lower connecting rods. I personally wouldn't want to pull the crank without rebuilding the engine. Those main and rod bearings have a lot of miles on them and they might not sit the exact same when you put everything back together.

Good luck!

Thank you so much for the feedback. I assumed there would be many more problems then what he stated. I decided to not get it. I think I'm going to opt for the 3rd Gen, even though I would absolutely love a mint 1st. I just don't have the time or the garage to put into one. Thanks so much.

 

[4runnin83]

You should look into a 2nd gen.

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